Sam Lessin: Market downturns free VC partners by devaluing unvested carry
Sam Lessin · #29: Is the Year of Startup Austerity Over? What Can Save the News Business? · More or Less Podcast · Jan 12, 2024 · at 21:40
Following Keith Raboi's move from Founders Fund back to Khosla Ventures, Slow Ventures GP Sam Lessin explains how fund compensation economics govern venture partner mobility.
0:00 / 0:35exact quote · 35.1s
▶ Watch the full episode on YouTube → 720p mp4 · rendered on demand · StarZero watermark
“One thing I would mention is that if you think about how venture capital compensation works, now's a good time for folks to move around because their carry in the last few funds ain't worth very much. And so if you think about it this way, it's like, there's like the problem with most venture firms and systems is you get really locked into like your platform. Just economically, like your vests are so long, like you look at your balance sheet of like private stuff, you're like, oh my God, like I can't leave. I have tons of value on the table. But like when everyone looks like, ah, well, the last two funds are not going to be great. You know, we invested them at the wrong time, wrong thesis, whatever. It basically like loosens up the pieces on the chessboard a little bit, 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 Sam Lessin
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…”