Opinion
Sidana: The x86 computing architecture is effectively dead
“These days I'm primarily focused on AI. Cybersecurity, data, and then I have a small practice in an area that I'm calling the depth of the x-ray six. So because the x-ray six architecture is now effectively dead that's going to create some opportunities, and I…”
Opinion
Sidana: LP risk is higher in venture partnerships than in solo GPs
“Obviously your risk is much higher in a partnership. In a partnership, by definition, there is someone who is a good investor and someone who's a little bit less good investor. So you're getting an average. So as it is, you're getting slightly lower. And then …”
Insight
Sidana: Venture returns are maximized by writing the largest check upfront
“And by definition, you maximize carry or you maximize multiple by making your largest investment first. And so that is very much the strategy of engineering capital. The first check is always the largest.”
Insight
Sidana: AI is the first cycle disrupting every tech stack layer
“The second thing that has happened with AI is that for the first time, we have the entire technical stack being innovated on at the same time. This has never happened before. So, you know, in the PC era, all the innovation was the PC. In the mini era, all the …”
Opinion
Sidana: Kubernetes is not how AI inference and training workloads deploy
“We had Kubernetes in the cloud, but Kubernetes is not how you deploy your AI imprints and your AI training workloads.”
Insight
Sidana: Technical founders fail by 'playing house' rather than finding traction
“One of the very common failure modes of founders, especially technical founders, is what I call playing house. What I mean by playing house is that in any company, and this is related to that prioritization point, in any company, there's a large amount of work…”
Insight
Sidana: A well-run VC fund should pay carry within 10 years
“In a good business, in a well-run business, you should definitely get carry checks in less than 10 years.”
Insight
Sidana: Data Is the New Asbestos That Can Destroy Your Company
“I like to say data is also the new asbestos. In other words, data is toxic, and data will kill your company if you're not careful how you manage the data in your organization.”
Assertion Contradicted
Sidana: The Average Venture Capital Firm Generates Flat or Negative Returns
“General belief is that the average venture capital firm has either zero or perhaps even negative returns net of fees. So as an asset class, venture capital on average Is not a profitable business.”
Insight
Sidana: Venture capitalists should break rules rather than make them
“I believe in venture capital, you shouldn't make rules. In fact, our job is to break the rules.”
Opinion
Sidana: Facebook never regained its pre-Cambridge Analytica product-market fit
“And then one day, someone published a blog post in the UK about Cambridge Analytica, and in 1:02, the product market fit of Facebook changed to the point that even today, it has never achieved that same level of product market fit.”
Opinion
Sidana: Bay Area high costs stem from California government failure
“The Bay Area has become expensive because of Essentially political dysfunction. I mean, it is basically the failure of the California state and the city governments that it has become so expensive.”
Prediction Not checkable as stated
Sidana: Vibe coding will match Visual Basic's historical software impact
“It will have as much impact as Visual Basic had on the nature of software development.”
Opinion
Sidana: The Bay Area is still cheap relative to startup value creation
“You know, relative to the value that you can create, and the amount of money that is available to a software company, it's still cheap. Bay Area is still cheap. That's why Bay Area still exists, is because relative to that, I mean, if you can actually get to a…”
Insight
Sidana: AlexNet, not ChatGPT, was the true technical AI inflection point
“The technical inflection point was AlexNet, because AlexNet is what demonstrated that by scaling a neural net, you get disproportionate outcome.”
Opinion
Sidana: Most Silicon Valley VC Ignores Technical Roots for Market Insights
“I started engineering capital in 2015 because I noticed that even here in Silicon Valley, most of venture capital is actually focused on market insights or consumer insights. We had drifted away from our original roots, which of course was Silicon Valley.”
Insight
Sidana: Successful Venture Investing Requires Being Physically Local With Founders
“Investing is a very local business. You really have to be local. You have to spend time in the market. You have to spend time with the entrepreneurs if you want to be a good investor.”
Prediction Not checkable as stated
Sidana Predicts Postman Alumni Will Seed India's Next Technical Startup Ecosystem
“And now with the success of Postman in India, I predict that as Postman succeeds, it goes public, people will learn that playbook, more people will leave. And if those other factors can exist around it, then you will see a blossoming of true technology insight…”
Opinion
Sidana: Top-Down Market Sizing Is Incredibly Dangerous for Venture Capital Evaluation
“I think a top-down market size is an incredibly dangerous way to think about a market from a venture perspective.”
Insight
Sidana: The Primary Risk for Startup Founders Is Feature Gluttony, Not Starvation
“The risk factor for you is not starvation. It is gluttony. You are aiming for too many features, aim for less, and you are more likely to be successful.”
Insight
Sidana Rejects Steve Jobs' Claim That Customers Don't Know What They Want
“Steve Jobs often said that the customer does not know what he wants, he or she wants. I don't believe that. I believe that if you spend time with customers and you really understand and really listen to what they are saying, you can identify the problem and yo…”
Disclosure
Sidana maintained identical portfolio strategy from Fund 1 to Fund 5
“My portfolio construction is identical. Nothing has changed since then I started engineering capital. In fact, as we were chatting earlier, you know, I closed fund five late last year, and I use the exact same slides that I used in fund one, just in terms of d…”
Prediction Not checkable as stated
Sidana predicts Rubrik will remain an enduring independent business
“I actually believe it will exist. I think, you know, it is one of those long lasting, independent, successful businesses.”
Disclosure
Sidana: Engineering Capital avoids scientific deep tech in favor of engineering
“Engineering capital, the name comes from the fact that I invest in engineers who are going to solve interesting technical engineering problems, not science problems. So I don't do deep tech in the sense of science, but it can be technically very challenging.”
