Sam Lessin
Founding Partner, Slow Ventures. On 5 shows, 149 appearances. The Shows tab opens the full record on each.
investorfounderexecutivehostauthor@lessin ↗LinkedIn ↗wlessin.com ↗
Sam Lessin is a founding partner at Slow Ventures and the former VP of Product Management at Facebook. Earlier in his career, he founded Drop.io, which Facebook acquired in 2010, and co-founded Fin Analytics.
5shows
149appearances
1,536statements
101resolved
64supported
23contradicted
63%fully supported
76said about them ↓ Everything Sam Lessin said on any show that made the record, most notable first. Each card names its show and opens the statement there.
Sam Lessin: Elon Musk and Sam Altman deliberately lie to motivate followers
“I think that Elon and Sam Altman lie, right? I think they say things they know to not be true, to Get people to do things. Right. And like, go on like with them. I just believe that from what I've seen, like, I think they're both way too smart to believe what …”
Sam Lessin: A novel virus will definitely be invented using AI
“The main fear is that a novel virus is, you know, invented, and then crispered, and we have serious problems. Which will definitely happen.”
Sam Lessin: AI labs seeking regulatory capture is cynical and anti-American
“I think it's very cynical for these companies to even try to switch the field of play from business to politics, right? Like, I think that's a very cynical, anti-American thing to do, to be like, okay, we're not going to play and compete in capitalism in a fai…”
Sam Lessin: AI eliminates Silicon Valley's advantage over New York finance workers
“I'd actually argue the average person in Silicon Valley is not as smart as like the average person in New York finance, right? They're not the best marketers. They're not the best at anything. The advantage in Silicon Valley was actually knowing how to write t…”
Lessin: The pro-Palestinian movement is winning the memetic information war
“Well, I think the most successful information warfare mimetic war right now is actually being won by, like, the pro-Palestinian crowd.”
Sam Lessin: Backing founders with small children is generally a bad idea
“Parents of small children that is generally a bad idea. Not always, but generally a bad idea to back parents of small children.”
Sam Lessin calls VCs the least sophisticated financiers on the planet
“I actually think that venture capitalists are probably the least sophisticated financiers, like on the planet. They just have hope, right? Like it's the only hopeful version of finance, right? Because it is like, you know, you're basically investing in people …”
Sam Lessin: AI Is a Terrible Business with Almost No Monetizable Patterns
“I think the answer is almost none of them, and I think AI is a terrible business.”
Sam Lessin: People Will Kill Themselves and Others Because of AIs
“And like, at some point people are going to start killing themselves and each other because of AIs.”
Sam Lessin: OpenAI obviously stole O'Reilly Safari books to train models
“I think I saw this thing about Tim O'Reilly saying like, it's pretty obvious that like they stole all the proprietary information from Safari and like their books to like build it. And it's like, it's total. I'm sure it's true. We all know that they stole ever…”
Lessin: Whenever SoftBank buys, you sell; they are the worst investors
“Whenever SoftBank buys, you sell. Right. Like they are the worst investors in the history of the world. Right. And so it's just like, I've watched them crush so many companies by over capitalizing them by get, they're like, you know, they, it's hilarious. I lo…”
Lessin: VR Appeals Primarily to People Whose Real Lives Are Unfulfilling
“Like, I think the reality is like VR and like immersive experiences and all other realities are kind of great if your life sucks, right? Because then you're like, I'm gonna like live in a video game. But like, I think a lot of the problem with that type of stu…”
Sam Lessin: SoftBank is probably the worst investor in history
“Probably the worst investors in history. We've lost so much money in valuable companies because of SoftBank.”
Sam Lessin: Men dominate top leadership because they are higher-beta risk-takers
“Because men have nothing to lose and are worthless, and therefore are very high beta, right? Like, it's just like, you just get more, like, the dumbest people in the world are men, and some of the smartest are. The highest risk takers are men. Guess what? It t…”
Sam Lessin: Google has never had a high-performance culture
“Yes, Google has not had a high performance culture Like ever.”
Sam Lessin: Google invented tech's low-work engineer culture
“So like this idea that it's work from home, Google invented the low work engineer culture.”
Lessin predicts OpenAI equity value is headed to zero
“Guys, I've been saying OpenAI zero the entire time. And I'm gonna keep saying it.”
Sam Lessin: AI Startups Will Yield Zero Value and Go Bankrupt
“And so if you're someone like me, who's in the camp of this is a great disruptive Business technology, and zero dollars will accrue to startups, and they're all going bankrupt. I am now a zealot for no fucking way, right?”
Lessin: Most media business talent are 'B-players' and not talented
“You have the media business talent, which with a few exceptions, I have to say that because there are some people I like, they're bees, right? They're not very talented.”
Sam Lessin: The AI revolution is fake outside of narrow applications
“I don't think the AI, I think the AI revolution is fake. We all know this.”
Sam Lessin: Operational 'number twos' are always expendable
“Those number twos are always expendable. They have to be.”
The other half of the tape: Sam Lessin's own voice is left out of every number here. Other people bring the name up 67 times in 27 episodes across the shows. 9 statements on the record name them. every mention, with the transcript →
Who brings them up most Harry Stebbings 27John Coogan 10Dave Morin 7Matt Mazzeo 6Jason Lemkin 3Mike Maples 2Jordi Hays 2Will Quist 1
Statements about Sam Lessin, by other people (9)
Brit Morin: First AI to ingest personal health data wins superior moat
“However, whoever wins the like ingestion of all the data, though, first is going to have such a superior advantage unless you're Sam lesson and you think you can just export from one model to another, which I tried and it was very difficult.”
Dave Morin: People will wear two smart rings within five years
“I think two, Sam. I think you've got, yeah, you've got health and probably AI interface. Seems like it's pretty clear gonna happen.”
Brit Morin: US will ban Chinese e-commerce companies
“Especially when Chinese companies get banned, then what are you gonna do, Sam?”
Morin: Voice AI will reliably book restaurant reservations within five years
“Five years from now, you will, Sam.”
Morin: Body optimization protocols represent a new moral framework, not a fad
“This is not just a fad. This is, like, actually a new moral framework. Like, I think this is actually, like, a new moral framework.”
Coogan: Lessin uses snarky posts to drive engagement
“Sam's the master of, like, throwing in some kind of, like, snarky little bit to his, like, screenshot essay just to kind of get people's hackles up, and that actually drives engagement, so good content marketing.”
Dave Morin: Sam Lessin and I launched a cryptocurrency meme coin
“We didn't buy any domain names, but we did launch a meme coin.”
Rosenberg: Lessin rented a billboard declaring AI is not your moat
“He actually took out a physical billboard on the one-on-one like with all, like amongst all of these like advertisements for AI companies that says, AI is not your moat. Like love slow kind of thing.”
Every mention by year
tap a year for its mentions
20VC 48
TBPN 19
2026 1 mention in 1 episode
2025 13 mentions in 7 episodes 2 per episode
- DJI Suspicions, Stargate Turmoil, OpenAI Operator, F40 for the Mind
- Logan Bartlett talks about the history of VC, current sentiment, and are we back to 2021?
- Elon’s Empire: SpaceX, Tesla, Neuralink After the Storm & Anduril’s $2.6BN Power Move · 20VC with Harry Stebbings
- Figma’s IPO: The Full Breakdown & Why Melio’s $2.5BN Acquisition is “Discouraging” · 20VC with Harry Stebbings
- Weekly Recap: Tesla Robotaxi, Mr. Beast's AI Tool, Yacine, The Social Network 2, Neuralink Update
- WELLNESS Is the New WEALTH | Kirsten Green ON TBPN April 4th
- The END of Ski Season? (E26)
- every mention in 2025, scene by scene →
2024 9 mentions in 4 episodes 2 per episode
2023 13 mentions in 6 episodes 2 per episode
- Phin Barnes: The Services Model of Venture Capital is Broken, The Best Founders Do Need Help | E1067 · 20VC with Harry Stebbings
- Beezer Clarkson: Are LPs Open for Business & Why Do LP Incentive Mechanisms Need to Change? | E1073 · 20VC with Harry Stebbings
- Is the VC Model Broken? Jason Lemkin, Mike Maples, Eric Paley & Harry Stebbings Debate | E1062 · 20VC with Harry Stebbings
- Jason Lemkin: Every VC has a FRAUD in their portfolio; The IPO market is about to EXPLODE | E1046 · 20VC with Harry Stebbings
- Miles Grimshaw: The 5 Pillars of Venture Capital & Why Co-Pilot is an Incumbent Strategy | E1061 · 20VC with Harry Stebbings
- Adam Mosseri: Why Video Is Bad For Business; Does Feed Matter Anymore? | E1039 · 20VC with Harry Stebbings
- every mention in 2023, scene by scene →
2022 2 mentions in 1 episode
2020 5 mentions in 1 episode
2019 2 mentions in 2 episodes 1 per episode
- 20VC: Why Startup Founders Have One Core Job, How To Reduce Risk & Increase Probability In Your Startup & Why You Should Not Send A Pitch Deck Pre-Investor Meeting with David Rogier, Founder & CEO @ Masterclass
- 20VC: How To Build Meaningful Relationships With Your Investors, 4 Key Elements CEOs Must Focus On In Scale Mode & How Top Optimise Leadership Team Dynamics with Joel Flory, Founder & CEO @ VSCO
- every mention in 2019, scene by scene →
2017 1 mention in 1 episode
2016 21 mentions in 4 episodes 5 per episode
- 20VC: Dave Morin on Why Building A Fund Is Like A Company, Why Venture Is A Craft & The Journey To Establish Slow Ventures
- 20VC: Lowercase's Matt Mazzeo on Being Chris Sacca's Partner and The 3 KPIs to Successful Investing
- 20VC: The Information's Jessica Lessin on The Future For Online Journalism & The Benefits Of A Subscription Based Business Model
- 20VC: Digg CEO, Gary Liu on The Rebirth Of Digg & The Evolution Of Content
- every mention in 2016, scene by scene →
One line per show, most statements first. The link opens Sam's full record on that show: the calibration, argument clarity, speaking style and every statement made there.
| Show | Role there | Eps | Statements | Record | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 MORE OR LESSLEDGER | Founding Partner, Slow Ventureshost | 139 | 1,372 | 60% 55/92 | full record on More or Less → |
| 20VCLEDGER | Founding Partner, Slow Ventures | 4 | 66 | 100% 5/5 | full record on 20VC → |
| TBPNLEDGER | Founding Partner, Slow Ventures | 4 | 57 | 100% 2/2 | full record on TBPN → |
 AMERICAN OPTIMISTLEDGER | Founding Partner, Slow Ventures | 1 | 21 | 100% 2/2 | full record on American Optimist → |
 LENNY'S PODCASTLEDGER | Founding Partner, Slow Ventures | 1 | 20 | — | full record on Lenny's Podcast → |