Sarah Guo, investor at Greylock Partners, analyzes macro shifts in the startup ecosystem and how increased seed-stage competition impacts Series A investing.
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“The cost to start one that really matters has come down dramatically in many areas, right? AWS increased seed capital, a cultural shift where it's okay to drop out of school and start a company, three D printing, a bigger sort of supportive ecosystem, you name it. And so we have a lot more young companies, but the cost to scale has either stayed the same or increased because you have such increased competition from all those companies that are starting.”
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More from Sarah Guo
Opinion
Guo: Tiger Global's index-style early-stage strategy will perform poorly
“Short on a multi-stage fund. I think early in growth investing is more different than it appears. And so I think there are firms that like, you know, tried the early stage investing route with like a blanket based approach. And like, I don't know if that's goi…”
Sarah GuoApr 28, 2023▶ 45:22Sarah Guo: On Her New $101M Fund; How AI Impacts Inequality; AI Startups vs Incumbents | E1007 · 20VC with Harry Stebbings
Opinion
Guo: Raising larger funds for higher fees does not drive returns
“I think the pressure to like raise bigger funds and like collect larger fees and do more things is real. It's just like, doesn't matter. Right? Like, will that generate returns? I don't think so.”
Sarah GuoApr 28, 2023▶ 15:34Sarah Guo: On Her New $101M Fund; How AI Impacts Inequality; AI Startups vs Incumbents | E1007 · 20VC with Harry Stebbings
Insight
Guo: Looking for defensibility at the seed stage is a mistake
“Yeah, it doesn't exist, right? Like quite literally you're starting with nothing. And so I think that it is a like I think investors are wrong to look for it. What you are investing in is trajectory, right? And the ability for founders to navigate a market and…”
Sarah GuoApr 28, 2023▶ 33:03Sarah Guo: On Her New $101M Fund; How AI Impacts Inequality; AI Startups vs Incumbents | E1007 · 20VC with Harry Stebbings
Opinion
Guo: Most LPs lack individual conviction and blindly follow big brands
“But the LP landscape overall is very clubby, right? And I'm sure you experienced this. Much like venture, a lot of investors they lack individual conviction. They simply follow bigger brands.”
Sarah GuoApr 28, 2023▶ 50:16Sarah Guo: On Her New $101M Fund; How AI Impacts Inequality; AI Startups vs Incumbents | E1007 · 20VC with Harry Stebbings
Opinion
Sarah Guo: AI Is the Largest Value Creation Opportunity in Our Lifetimes
“So AI is the biggest value creation opportunity in our lifetimes.”
Sarah GuoApr 28, 2023▶ 3:08Sarah Guo: On Her New $101M Fund; How AI Impacts Inequality; AI Startups vs Incumbents | E1007 · 20VC with Harry Stebbings
PredictionHeld up
Guo: 10- to 20-person teams will build billion-dollar AI businesses
“Like I'm quite confident that we're going to have 10 and 20 person teams building billion dollar businesses.”
Sarah GuoApr 28, 2023▶ 3:13Sarah Guo: On Her New $101M Fund; How AI Impacts Inequality; AI Startups vs Incumbents | E1007 · 20VC with Harry Stebbings
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