Phil Black

Everything Phil Black said on any show that made the record, most notable first. Each card names its show and opens the statement there.

20VC Assertion Not checkable as stated

The primary VC funding gap is the $3M to $7M Series B

“Right now in today's funding market, I, you know, to me, the gap that has been present for a while has been what we've referred to as the rational B round, you know, and that historically has been kind of a three to five, five to seven million dollar round of …”

Phil Black Sep 4, 2017 ▶ 16:01 20VC: True Ventures Founder, Phil Black on 4 Major Risk Categories for Startups, Why The Funding Gap Is At The "Rational B" Round & Why VCs Must Start Small But Think Big

20VC Disclosure

Phil Black named Jet.com, Zenefits, and Magic Leap as struggling unicorns

“So I had a Twitter post about this about, I don't know, nine months ago. And I said my three favorite unicorns that I think are in trouble were at that time, jet.com, Zenefits, and Magic Leap.”

Phil Black Sep 4, 2017 ▶ 20:50 20VC: True Ventures Founder, Phil Black on 4 Major Risk Categories for Startups, Why The Funding Gap Is At The "Rational B" Round & Why VCs Must Start Small But Think Big

20VC Insight

Bridge rounds work for product delays, not market or team failures

“If it really is, you know, it took a little longer for the product, but it's awesome. We just need three more months before we can have that customer traction. I think that the bridge round is probably going to be fine. If it's, well, we need six more months b…”

Phil Black Sep 4, 2017 ▶ 13:07 20VC: True Ventures Founder, Phil Black on 4 Major Risk Categories for Startups, Why The Funding Gap Is At The "Rational B" Round & Why VCs Must Start Small But Think Big

20VC Opinion

Convertible notes and SAFEs are like alcohol: use only in moderation

“Oh, they're okay, but it's kind of like alcohol, and it should only be used in moderation.”

Phil Black Sep 4, 2017 ▶ 19:19 20VC: True Ventures Founder, Phil Black on 4 Major Risk Categories for Startups, Why The Funding Gap Is At The "Rational B" Round & Why VCs Must Start Small But Think Big

20VC What-if

Walmart could have bought Jet.com for one dollar by waiting

“That would have, they could have had that for a dollar if they just would have waited.”

Phil Black Sep 4, 2017 ▶ 21:17 20VC: True Ventures Founder, Phil Black on 4 Major Risk Categories for Startups, Why The Funding Gap Is At The "Rational B" Round & Why VCs Must Start Small But Think Big

20VC Insight

Founders spend large early rounds over 12 to 18 months regardless

“The problem with saying, well, we'll just raise a whole bunch more on the first round is that it's human nature. You don't divide that number by 36 and spend accordingly. You tend to just Divide that number again by that 12 or that 18. And so then you're spend…”

Phil Black Sep 4, 2017 ▶ 10:29 20VC: True Ventures Founder, Phil Black on 4 Major Risk Categories for Startups, Why The Funding Gap Is At The "Rational B" Round & Why VCs Must Start Small But Think Big

20VC Prediction Held up

True Ventures will never invest in another fitness step-counter startup

“We're never going to go after another fitness counter, a step counter kind of idea. That's old and in the market now.”

Phil Black Sep 4, 2017 ▶ 17:33 20VC: True Ventures Founder, Phil Black on 4 Major Risk Categories for Startups, Why The Funding Gap Is At The "Rational B" Round & Why VCs Must Start Small But Think Big

20VC Disclosure

Phil Black rounded his $4.64M angel fund to $5M to sound bigger

“Oh, it was 4.64 million dollars, and I rounded up to five million to make myself a You know, sound bigger.”

Phil Black Sep 4, 2017 ▶ 5:58 20VC: True Ventures Founder, Phil Black on 4 Major Risk Categories for Startups, Why The Funding Gap Is At The "Rational B" Round & Why VCs Must Start Small But Think Big

The other half of the tape: Phil Black's own voice is left out of every number here. Other people bring the name up 30 times in 8 episodes across the shows. every mention, with the transcript →

Who brings them up most Harry Stebbings 23Puneet Agarwal 2Matt Mullenweg 2Adam D'Augelli 2Brian Wong 1

Every mention by year

One line per show, most statements first. The link opens Phil's full record on that show: the calibration, argument clarity, speaking style and every statement made there.

Show	Role there	Eps	Statements	Record
20VCLEDGER	Founder, True Ventures	1	8	100% 1/1	full record on 20VC →