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Tom Blomfield

Member of Technical Staff, Anthropic · 2 appearances on the record, plus 1 compilation re-air.

computed by AI from the episodes · how this works → · full disclaimer →

founderexecutiveinvestorengineer@t_blom ↗blomfield.com ↗Wikipedia ↗

Tom Blomfield is the co-founder and former CEO of Monzo and the co-founder of GoCardless. He later became a General Partner at Y Combinator before joining Anthropic.

106statements → 43claims → 21claims resolved → 67%fully supported → 3.92/5average certainty → 2.15/5average debate potential → 4.7/5argument clarity · the sources → 18said about them ↓

14 supported 6 partly supported 1 contradicted 3 not yet assessed 19 not checkable as stated how the 43 claims stand · each chip opens the sources

5 predictions · 38 assertions · 24 opinions · 19 insights · 18 disclosures · 2 what ifs · every statement was checked. The predictions and assertions are the 43 claims: statements the public record can support or contradict. 21 are resolved, 3 are not yet assessed, and 19 name no date, number or outcome precise enough to check. Everything else (opinions, insights, what ifs, disclosures) can never be settled by the record, so it carries no assessment.

The record, in short

What the tape says about how Tom argues and how the claims held up. Everything they said, and everything said about them, is in the tabs below.

Their most notable supported claim

Assertion Supported
Blomfield: Monzo received 96 consecutive investor rejections for a 2020 flat round
“And I had 96 no's in a row for that fundraise to try and do a flat round.”
Tom Blomfield May 13, 2024 ▶ 4:59 Tom Blomfield: Do the Best All Raise Pre-Demo Day & YC's Fundraising Advice to Startups | E 1152 · 20VC with Harry Stebbings

Their most notable contradicted claim

Assertion Contradicted
Blomfield: Roughly 60% of Monzo customers deposit their salary into Monzo
“So then we spent the two years getting everyone to put their salary in, and now it's something like 60% of customers put their salary in.”
Tom Blomfield May 13, 2024 ▶ 9:01 Tom Blomfield: Do the Best All Raise Pre-Demo Day & YC's Fundraising Advice to Startups | E 1152 · 20VC with Harry Stebbings

Expressed certainty vs assessment result

none yet certainty 1
none yet certainty 2
63% certainty 3
82% certainty 4
92% certainty 5

weighted support: a fully supported claim counts one, a partly supported claim counts half. Each filled bar is clickable and opens exactly those claims; "none yet" means nothing said at that certainty level has resolved yet

Argument clarity: do they answer the question? how? →

4.7 / 5 directness 4.8 · coherence 5 · precision 4.8 · compression 4.1

answered every one of 39 assessed questions directly

This is a score against a rubric. It is not a rank. Every host question → answer exchange is scored with names hidden on directness, coherence, precision and compression, 1–5 each, on meaning alone: disfluencies are ignored, and only raw unedited episodes count. This is the score that measures thought. Every scored exchange, scores shown → · The rubric and its checks →

How they sound: speaking style how? →

282 words/min while actually speaking · 13.1 um and uh per 1k words · 11.8 false starts per 1k · 35% of pauses land inside a clause

Measured by listening to the audio itself: 11,229 words across 1 episode of raw-level tape, transcribed verbatim with every um and uh kept, each one attributed only where the alignment onto our timed stream is unambiguous. These are measurements of speaking style. We do not rank them: across this corpus, fluency and argument quality are nearly uncorrelated (ρ≈0.2), and smooth talking does not signal clear thinking. How it's measured →

How the interview went all their pushback → series average →

Across 3 rated episodes:

host pushback ▾ 2.7/10
pushed back at the host ▾ 2.7/10
setup questions received 65%

Everything Tom Blomfield said on 20VC that made the record, most notable first. Filter by type, assessment or year in the ledger →

Opinion
Blomfield: US-Europe startup gap is optimism and ambition, not work ethic
“I really don't think it's a work ethic question at all. I think there are other big differences. I think the big difference is one of, like, positivity, optimism, and ambition.”
Tom Blomfield May 13, 2024 ▶ 14:14 Tom Blomfield: Do the Best All Raise Pre-Demo Day & YC's Fundraising Advice to Startups | E 1152 · 20VC with Harry Stebbings
Opinion
Blomfield: SoftBank's London team is arrogant and unwelcome on cap tables
“Probably SoftBank. I had a very unpleasant experience with the SoftBank London team. Just a bunch of pretty arrogant, like, Deutsche Bank traders turned venture capital investors. They were not fun at all.”
Tom Blomfield May 13, 2024 ▶ 1:00:07 Tom Blomfield: Do the Best All Raise Pre-Demo Day & YC's Fundraising Advice to Startups | E 1152 · 20VC with Harry Stebbings
Opinion
Blomfield: Sam Altman was distracted at YC by OpenAI from early on
“And then really, honestly, under Sam Altman, I think it expanded in a bunch of different weird areas, and it just lacked strong, and Sam was distracted. He was doing OpenAI from very, very early on.”
Tom Blomfield May 13, 2024 ▶ 1:03:48 Tom Blomfield: Do the Best All Raise Pre-Demo Day & YC's Fundraising Advice to Startups | E 1152 · 20VC with Harry Stebbings
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Tom Blomfield: AI applications are 80-90% traditional software and 10% AI
“Most people building application layer stuff in an AI say it's 80 to 90% traditional software with 10% AI.”
Tom Blomfield May 24, 2024 ▶ 15:08 Sam Altman, Arthur Mensch and more discuss:Which Startups Are Threatened vs Enabled by OpenAI?|E1156 · 20VC with Harry Stebbings
Assertion Supported
Blomfield: Monzo received 96 consecutive investor rejections for a 2020 flat round
“And I had 96 no's in a row for that fundraise to try and do a flat round.”
Tom Blomfield May 13, 2024 ▶ 4:59 Tom Blomfield: Do the Best All Raise Pre-Demo Day & YC's Fundraising Advice to Startups | E 1152 · 20VC with Harry Stebbings
Assertion Supported
Blomfield: European neobanks N26, Revolut, and Monzo failed initial US expansion
“N-twenty-six has failed, Revolut's failed, Monzo's, the first go's failed”
Tom Blomfield May 13, 2024 ▶ 16:49 Tom Blomfield: Do the Best All Raise Pre-Demo Day & YC's Fundraising Advice to Startups | E 1152 · 20VC with Harry Stebbings
Insight
Blomfield: VCs should back arrogant, obnoxious founders if they build massive businesses
“I don't think so. I mean, it helps, it makes your life more fun, but there are people who are just like a little bit scary, you know, it's like they're a little bit arrogant, perhaps a little bit obnoxious, a little bit too sure of themselves, and I wouldn't w…”
Tom Blomfield May 13, 2024 ▶ 20:40 Tom Blomfield: Do the Best All Raise Pre-Demo Day & YC's Fundraising Advice to Startups | E 1152 · 20VC with Harry Stebbings
Insight
Blomfield: People who constantly call out broken systems make great startup founders
“I think it makes great founders, where they're like, just so annoyed if something's broken, they have to fix it, and they have to tell people something's wrong, and it's a, you can make a shitty employee, but a really good founder.”
Tom Blomfield May 13, 2024 ▶ 21:35 Tom Blomfield: Do the Best All Raise Pre-Demo Day & YC's Fundraising Advice to Startups | E 1152 · 20VC with Harry Stebbings
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Blomfield: YC partners gather enough evaluation data in 3 to 4 minutes
“Get enough in three or four minutes, but it seems rude to finish the interview so quickly.”
Tom Blomfield May 13, 2024 ▶ 23:23 Tom Blomfield: Do the Best All Raise Pre-Demo Day & YC's Fundraising Advice to Startups | E 1152 · 20VC with Harry Stebbings
Opinion
Blomfield: Standard Oxford-to-McKinsey career paths are 'boring' for YC candidates
“That's the kind of exceptionalism that we're looking for in some area of their life. And it might come out through the application, it might be the interview video, or the interview itself, but we're looking for that spark that they are not average, like they'…”
Tom Blomfield May 13, 2024 ▶ 24:31 Tom Blomfield: Do the Best All Raise Pre-Demo Day & YC's Fundraising Advice to Startups | E 1152 · 20VC with Harry Stebbings
Insight
Blomfield: Repeatedly pivoting a startup indicates the founder is the problem
“Pivoting is like divorces. Like maybe one or two is reasonable, but if you're doing it multiple times in a row, maybe the problem is you.”
Tom Blomfield May 13, 2024 ▶ 32:16 Tom Blomfield: Do the Best All Raise Pre-Demo Day & YC's Fundraising Advice to Startups | E 1152 · 20VC with Harry Stebbings
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Blomfield: Shutting down Continuity improved YC's relationships with multi-stage VCs
“Shutting down continuity, our growth fund, has enabled to have a, enabled WIC to have a much more collaborative relationship with multi-stage VCs.”
Tom Blomfield May 13, 2024 ▶ 32:42 Tom Blomfield: Do the Best All Raise Pre-Demo Day & YC's Fundraising Advice to Startups | E 1152 · 20VC with Harry Stebbings
Insight
Blomfield: Preemptive VC offers yield lower valuations than Demo Day auctions
“They give you a preemptive offer. But the valuation is not as good as you would get by demo day, because that's why they're doing this, right?”
Tom Blomfield May 13, 2024 ▶ 33:36 Tom Blomfield: Do the Best All Raise Pre-Demo Day & YC's Fundraising Advice to Startups | E 1152 · 20VC with Harry Stebbings
Assertion Supported
Blomfield: YC maintains an internal database rating 10,000 venture investors
“So YC has an investor database, which has 10,000 people in. I'm sure you're in there. We can perhaps look it up. And it has reviews from all of the YC founders that have taken investment from them, both on their process and what they would like to work with af…”
Tom Blomfield May 13, 2024 ▶ 38:23 Tom Blomfield: Do the Best All Raise Pre-Demo Day & YC's Fundraising Advice to Startups | E 1152 · 20VC with Harry Stebbings
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Tom Blomfield: YC founders deny meetings to poorly rated investors
“And all YC companies have a huge amount of inbound investor interest, and before they book meetings, they will look each investor up in the database and see, I, have you treated found as well or have you not? And if you've not treated found as well, you're not…”
Tom Blomfield May 13, 2024 ▶ 38:41 Tom Blomfield: Do the Best All Raise Pre-Demo Day & YC's Fundraising Advice to Startups | E 1152 · 20VC with Harry Stebbings
Disclosure
Blomfield: YC tracks VC meeting conversion rates and expected meeting value
“This is what I'm doing right now with another of our partners, Brad, We have data on how many meetings each VC takes, how many investments they actually make, and what the checker size is, and so we can tell our founders what is the percentage chance of conver…”
Tom Blomfield May 13, 2024 ▶ 39:58 Tom Blomfield: Do the Best All Raise Pre-Demo Day & YC's Fundraising Advice to Startups | E 1152 · 20VC with Harry Stebbings
Prediction Not checkable as stated
Tom Blomfield: AI innovations will be replicated across competitors within months
“The US has made like non-competes even less enforceable now. People, talent is going to jump between these places so quickly. So you discover an innovation at one place, and if weeks or months later, it's replicated everywhere else, I think.”
Tom Blomfield May 13, 2024 ▶ 47:50 Tom Blomfield: Do the Best All Raise Pre-Demo Day & YC's Fundraising Advice to Startups | E 1152 · 20VC with Harry Stebbings
Prediction Not checkable as stated
Blomfield: OpenAI will not displace specialized vertical AI startups
“And like, I don't think OpenAI is going to come and steamroll, like, the construction company, AI companies, because they're not going to deeply integrate into the processes and software that exists in each of those industries.”
Tom Blomfield May 13, 2024 ▶ 49:32 Tom Blomfield: Do the Best All Raise Pre-Demo Day & YC's Fundraising Advice to Startups | E 1152 · 20VC with Harry Stebbings
Prediction Open · timeframe May 2027
Blomfield: Every computer worker will have an AI assistant by 2027
“So I really believe everyone who works with a computer will have an AI co-pilot assistant thing in the next two or three years, whether you're like an oncologist or a law professor.”
Tom Blomfield May 13, 2024 ▶ 49:42 Tom Blomfield: Do the Best All Raise Pre-Demo Day & YC's Fundraising Advice to Startups | E 1152 · 20VC with Harry Stebbings
Insight
Blomfield: AI B2B SaaS startups should target mid-market, not other startups
“Big companies are now more willing to spend money on this stuff than they ever were. So the previous advice of, like, go and sell to other startups, I think is actually not good for very, and maybe a dev tool startup, go and sell to other startups, but in gene…”
Tom Blomfield May 13, 2024 ▶ 51:40 Tom Blomfield: Do the Best All Raise Pre-Demo Day & YC's Fundraising Advice to Startups | E 1152 · 20VC with Harry Stebbings
Disclosure
Blomfield: Monzo scaling to 1,000 employees created culture clash over work-life balance
“The first, absolutely first two, three years at Monzo, we were working like crazy people. I mean, the first 50 people at Monzo were so spectacularly talented, and gave, like, I'm friends with so many of them now still, and they're like, they Bear the scars of …”
Tom Blomfield May 13, 2024 ▶ 55:27 Tom Blomfield: Do the Best All Raise Pre-Demo Day & YC's Fundraising Advice to Startups | E 1152 · 20VC with Harry Stebbings
Opinion
Blomfield: I ended up hating Monzo because it became bloated and over-regulated
“I loved the product all the way through, but by the end I hated the company because it got so big and so over-regulated in my opinion,”
Tom Blomfield May 13, 2024 ▶ 56:22 Tom Blomfield: Do the Best All Raise Pre-Demo Day & YC's Fundraising Advice to Startups | E 1152 · 20VC with Harry Stebbings
Opinion
Blomfield: Complacency is the single biggest threat to Y Combinator
“Complacency, I think. We could coast on our laurel, rest on our laurels, I guess, not to mix metaphors, for quite a long time without realizing it. Yeah, and then we just recruit bad partners who give bad advice, but continue to recruit reasonable companies, a…”
Tom Blomfield May 13, 2024 ▶ 1:04:23 Tom Blomfield: Do the Best All Raise Pre-Demo Day & YC's Fundraising Advice to Startups | E 1152 · 20VC with Harry Stebbings
Insight
Blomfield: Passionate customer love is the single prerequisite for scaling
“Do your customers love this product? Is the, I think the only thing that actually matters at that point. I like this question of, to try and figure this out, asking your customers, how would you feel if we took this product away? And it's sort of like, I would…”
Tom Blomfield Nov 30, 2018 ▶ 11:28 20VC: Monzo's Tom Blomfield on The 3 Phases of Startup Scaling, The Secret To Building a 1.2m Community with No Advertising & How To Use Boards As A Tool To Instil Operational Excellence

Show 24statements(82 left)

The other half of the tape: Tom Blomfield's own voice is left out of every number here. Other people bring the name up 18 times in 7 episodes on 20VC. every mention, with the transcript →

Who brings them up most Harry Stebbings 17TS Anil 1

Every mention by year

tap a year for its mentions
004182201820192020202120222023202420252026episodesmentions
012201820192020202120222023202420252026episodes it came up in
004182201820192020202120222023202420252026episodesmentions per episode
2026 1 mention in 1 episode
2025 6 mentions in 2 episodes 3 per episode
2024 1 mention in 1 episode
2023 8 mentions in 1 episode
2019 1 mention in 1 episode
2018 1 mention in 1 episode

Appearances (3)

EpisodeDateSpeaking time
Sam Altman, Arthur Mensch and more discuss:Which Startups Are Threatened vs Enabled by Ope compilation May 24, 2024 58s
Tom Blomfield: Do the Best All Raise Pre-Demo Day & YC's Fundraising Advice to Startups | May 13, 2024 49m
20VC: Monzo's Tom Blomfield on The 3 Phases of Startup Scaling, The Secret To Building a 1 Nov 30, 2018 22m
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