Mignot: Systematic post-IPO selling beats market timing across VC portfolios
Martin Mignot · Index Ventures Partner, Martin Mignot: Figma, Scale, Wiz: Inside Index’s Decacorn Factory · 20VC with Harry Stebbings · Aug 11, 2025 · at 46:50
Martin Mignot, Partner at Index Ventures, shares insights from internal analysis comparing systematic share selling schedules against market timing strategies.
0:00 / 0:19exact quote · 19.3s
▶ Watch the full episode on YouTube → 720p mp4 · rendered on demand · StarZero watermark
“If we looked at, if we had taken different schedules, we would have been worse off, and so we felt that overall, if you look across a basket, a portfolio, and again, it's a portfolio approach, so you may be wrong on one or two, but if you take a portfolio approach, and you do it for long enough, and consistently enough, then we, you know, we realized that that was the best outcome.”
quote is from the automated transcript, cleaned for reading: filler sounds and stutters are removed, nothing is rephrased. names can be misheard (the analysis reads context, assessments check outside sources). how →
More from Martin Mignot
Mignot: Mega VC funds benefit managers financially but not entrepreneurs
“I think this push towards larger asset gathering is very good for VCs who do it. You know, it can make a lot of sense financially. It can make a lot of sense for them. I'm not sure it makes so much sense for the entrepreneurs themselves.”
Mignot: Social media algorithms must be public and auditable
“I think it should be loud, but there should be a bigger conversation about social networks and about the openness of algorithms, which don't only apply to TikTok, but, you know, applies to X, applies to Facebook. I think those algorithms should be should be pu…”
Mignot: Building venture-backed hyper-growth startups requires seven-day workweeks
“If you look at the most incredible companies in the past, you know, you look at Revolut, you look at Deliveroo, all of these companies, the amount of work that these founders and these early teams put in was tremendous. I mean, it was seven days a week, you kn…”
Mignot: Index Ventures never passes on early-stage deals over price
“We never lose a deal or pass on a deal because of price in the early stage.”
Mignot: Mega funds distract VCs and hinder early-stage investing
“On the early stage you know, either seed or early venture or early growth, I don't think you need, you know, those mega assets, and I think they distract you, and they tend to pull you towards the later stage, and, you know, if you have so much capital to depl…”
Mignot: Midas List presence is the top predictor of VC returns
“I was chatting with you know, with Iliad, Quantumlight, and he, about it the other day, and they said the number one factor that they noticed was a good predictor of future returns was whether a partner was on the Midas list, a partner, an early stage investor…”