Opinion certainty 5/5 debate potential 4/5

Lemkin: Investing in OpenAI at high valuations is too risky due to non-technical leadership

Jason Lemkin · OpenAI Buys TBPN & Their Management Team Reboot | Mercor Hack & Why Now is the Time for Cyber · 20VC with Harry Stebbings · Apr 9, 2026 · at 28:09

Jason Lemkin (SaaS investor) discloses his personal investment boundary against funding OpenAI or companies with high executive turnover led by non-technical founders like Sam Altman.

0:00 / 0:29exact quote · 29.2s
▶ Watch the full episode on YouTube → 720p mp4 · rendered on demand · StarZero watermark
“I'm just not into the tumult at open AI. I'm not into the drama. I'm not into a non tech, non deeply technical founder leadership. It's just not my vibe. Like I wouldn't invest in anything like open AI at a high price. It doesn't matter what it is. Cause it's just, I just find it so risky that, that the turnover and not being led by a deeply technical CEO, that's just, In my life at investing, I ain't doing those risks anymore, right?”

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 Jason Lemkin

Prediction Open · timeframe May 2027
Lemkin: AI will replace half of knowledge workers in 24 months
“Half of these knowledge workers are going to be gone in 24 months”
Jason Lemkin May 8, 2025 ▶ 31:31 Benchmark vs a16z: Why Stage Specific Firms Win · 20VC with Harry Stebbings
Opinion
Every crypto company offering an Earn program is a fraud
“I believe every crypto company that has an EARN program is a fraud.”
Jason Lemkin Jan 4, 2024 ▶ 14:24 Jason Lemkin: Predictions for 2024 - What Does a Trump Administration do for Startups? | E1099 · 20VC with Harry Stebbings
Opinion
Lemkin: Coinbase's 10% high-yield crypto program is a pyramid scheme
“And even, I know Coinbase is the good one, but where are they getting this 10%? It's a pyramid scheme. It's fraud.”
Jason Lemkin Jan 4, 2024 ▶ 14:56 Jason Lemkin: Predictions for 2024 - What Does a Trump Administration do for Startups? | E1099 · 20VC with Harry Stebbings
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Lemkin: Every venture capital firm has a fraudulent company in its portfolio
“And every VC has a fraud in their portfolio. Every single VC has a fraud in their portfolio.”
Jason Lemkin Aug 9, 2023 ▶ 52:06 Jason Lemkin: Every VC has a FRAUD in their portfolio; The IPO market is about to EXPLODE | E1046 · 20VC with Harry Stebbings
Opinion
Lemkin: Governments should guarantee 0% financing for AI data centers
“We have to guarantee zero percent financing for all data centers. We'll get all our money back.”
Jason Lemkin Feb 5, 2026 ▶ 0:44 The SaaS Massacre: Public Market Collapse |Microsoft Lost $360B & NVIDIA’s $100B Dispute with OpenAI
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Lemkin: Non-engineering software categories face existential seat shrinking
“Every category that I know of outside of engineering and product is at existential risk of shrinking seats.”
Jason Lemkin Feb 12, 2026 ▶ 41:06 Anthropic's Super Bowl Ad: Who Won & Lost? | Sierra Hits $150M ARR: Is Customer Support Too Crowded? · 20VC with Harry Stebbings
Made with StarZero

Turn any episode into a week of clips.

This entire site, over 1,200 episodes transcribed, diarized, checked and made playable, runs on the StarZero media pipeline. Drop in your own episode and the podcast clipper finds the moments worth sharing, cuts them, captions them, and reframes them for every feed.