“We've looked at our portfolios recently and it's comical how low the mortality rates are. That's obviously shifting in real time, right? And will go up.”
quote is from the automated transcript, cleaned for reading:
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More from Sam Lessin
Opinion
Lessin: Founders who ask VCs for help are weak
“Because I, if you're coming to me for help, my view is you're almost by definition, or you're saying, I need help or whatever I want help. I think you're a weak founder.”
Sam LessinAug 11, 2023▶ 44:28DEBATE: State of Seed Investing w/ Jason Lemkin, Sam Lessin, Frank Rotman & Harry Stebbings | E1047 · 20VC with Harry Stebbings
Opinion
Lessin: Venture fund paper markups are irrelevant and often negative signals
“I know full well, I know this is an investor. That the marks that you made up or the marks of SoftBank listed something somewhere are completely irrelevant. In fact, the negative signal in a lot of cases. So like the marks are irrelevant and stupid.”
Sam LessinJun 5, 2025▶ 4:41Is DPI The Only Thing That Matters? with Sam Lessin, Jason Lemkin & Rory O’Driscoll · 20VC with Harry Stebbings
Opinion
Lessin: $1 billion venture capital funds operate in a death zone
“I don't know how you make multiples on a billion dollars consistently, right? In VC. I think once you're doing 10, you're playing a completely different game of asset gathering and asset deployment where you no longer have the same Goals. So I personally think…”
Sam LessinJun 5, 2025▶ 8:54Is DPI The Only Thing That Matters? with Sam Lessin, Jason Lemkin & Rory O’Driscoll · 20VC with Harry Stebbings
Opinion
Lessin: Most capital deployed into Series A rounds is completely wasted
“Most of the money at Series A is completely wasted, right?”
Sam LessinJun 5, 2025▶ 14:45Is DPI The Only Thing That Matters? with Sam Lessin, Jason Lemkin & Rory O’Driscoll · 20VC with Harry Stebbings
Opinion
Lessin: Chime is not an important or paradigm-shifting company
“Is Chime an important company? I just don't see it, right? Like, is it, you know, it's good company? Like, they provided some banking products to unbanked people or underbanked people. I get it. It's not bad. They did a good job. They built a good app. But lik…”
Sam LessinJun 5, 2025▶ 31:10Is DPI The Only Thing That Matters? with Sam Lessin, Jason Lemkin & Rory O’Driscoll · 20VC with Harry Stebbings
PredictionNot checkable as stated
Lessin: The factory model of seed investing is dead and won't return
“My view when I say Seed is dead is that I think the factory model of Seed, which supported massive scaling of it, is dead. And we're kind of back to where we have been historically, which is Seed is a bespoke It's a bespoke thing. Some people can do it well. I…”
Sam LessinAug 11, 2023▶ 2:45DEBATE: State of Seed Investing w/ Jason Lemkin, Sam Lessin, Frank Rotman & Harry Stebbings | E1047 · 20VC with Harry Stebbings
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