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Nov 1, 2022 · 24m · saastr

SaaStr CRO Confidential: How to Raise in Late 2022 with Jason Lemkin and Sam Blond of Founders Fund

Sam Blond · 13m spoken Jason Lemkin · 9m spoken
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Jason Lemkin and Founders Fund partner Sam Blond examine the evolving dynamics of tech hubs, the late-2022 venture capital contraction, and actionable go-to-market strategies for scaling B2B SaaS startups.

How this conversation actually went

Every chapter scored 0–10 on four independent dynamics. Hover any point for the reasoning behind the score. Jason holds 42.2% of the talking time here. How this is scored →

Jason as informed peer 7.3 Guest teaching 2.8 Guest disagreement 2.0 Jason pushing back 3.3
05100:0010:0020:000:05–3:11 · Jason as informed peer 6/10 Assessing Miami's Evolution as an Emerging Tech Hub Lemkin draws on his multi-year history running meetups to express skepticism about Miami becoming a true B2B hub. Blond politely counters by citing specific B2B startups being built out of Founders Fund's Miami office while acknowledging overall SF volume remains higher.3:12–10:24 · Jason as informed peer 7/10 San Francisco's Talent Density Versus Modern Urban Challenges Blond reframes Lemkin's legacy assumption that international B2B founders must relocate to SF, explaining geographic strategy is no longer one-size-fits-all. Lemkin demonstrates his own operational perspective by arguing that massive floors of junior sales reps will never return to SF.10:25–18:03 · Jason as informed peer 8/10 Venture Capital Slowdown and the Rise of Zombie Startups Lemkin details his published 'Postmates effect' concept to explain why lower-tier market competitors got overfunded during the boom. When Blond labels non-viable companies as zombies that should release their talent, Lemkin qualifies that strong founders can pivot zombie companies into massive wins like Slack.18:04–24:27 · Jason as informed peer 8/10 Founders Fund Investment Focus and Operational CRO Value Add Lemkin dominates the segment with a strong perspective on VC board dynamics, asserting that most venture capitalists lack any practical knowledge of sales or revenue operations. Blond agrees collaboratively and details his tactical CRO value-add for early-stage B2B portfolio companies.0:05–3:11 · Guest teaching 3/10 Assessing Miami's Evolution as an Emerging Tech Hub Lemkin draws on his multi-year history running meetups to express skepticism about Miami becoming a true B2B hub. Blond politely counters by citing specific B2B startups being built out of Founders Fund's Miami office while acknowledging overall SF volume remains higher.3:12–10:24 · Guest teaching 4/10 San Francisco's Talent Density Versus Modern Urban Challenges Blond reframes Lemkin's legacy assumption that international B2B founders must relocate to SF, explaining geographic strategy is no longer one-size-fits-all. Lemkin demonstrates his own operational perspective by arguing that massive floors of junior sales reps will never return to SF.10:25–18:03 · Guest teaching 3/10 Venture Capital Slowdown and the Rise of Zombie Startups Lemkin details his published 'Postmates effect' concept to explain why lower-tier market competitors got overfunded during the boom. When Blond labels non-viable companies as zombies that should release their talent, Lemkin qualifies that strong founders can pivot zombie companies into massive wins like Slack.18:04–24:27 · Guest teaching 1/10 Founders Fund Investment Focus and Operational CRO Value Add Lemkin dominates the segment with a strong perspective on VC board dynamics, asserting that most venture capitalists lack any practical knowledge of sales or revenue operations. Blond agrees collaboratively and details his tactical CRO value-add for early-stage B2B portfolio companies.0:05–3:11 · Guest disagreement 2/10 Assessing Miami's Evolution as an Emerging Tech Hub Lemkin draws on his multi-year history running meetups to express skepticism about Miami becoming a true B2B hub. Blond politely counters by citing specific B2B startups being built out of Founders Fund's Miami office while acknowledging overall SF volume remains higher.3:12–10:24 · Guest disagreement 2/10 San Francisco's Talent Density Versus Modern Urban Challenges Blond reframes Lemkin's legacy assumption that international B2B founders must relocate to SF, explaining geographic strategy is no longer one-size-fits-all. Lemkin demonstrates his own operational perspective by arguing that massive floors of junior sales reps will never return to SF.10:25–18:03 · Guest disagreement 3/10 Venture Capital Slowdown and the Rise of Zombie Startups Lemkin details his published 'Postmates effect' concept to explain why lower-tier market competitors got overfunded during the boom. When Blond labels non-viable companies as zombies that should release their talent, Lemkin qualifies that strong founders can pivot zombie companies into massive wins like Slack.18:04–24:27 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Founders Fund Investment Focus and Operational CRO Value Add Lemkin dominates the segment with a strong perspective on VC board dynamics, asserting that most venture capitalists lack any practical knowledge of sales or revenue operations. Blond agrees collaboratively and details his tactical CRO value-add for early-stage B2B portfolio companies.0:05–3:11 · Jason pushing back 4/10 Assessing Miami's Evolution as an Emerging Tech Hub Lemkin draws on his multi-year history running meetups to express skepticism about Miami becoming a true B2B hub. Blond politely counters by citing specific B2B startups being built out of Founders Fund's Miami office while acknowledging overall SF volume remains higher.3:12–10:24 · Jason pushing back 3/10 San Francisco's Talent Density Versus Modern Urban Challenges Blond reframes Lemkin's legacy assumption that international B2B founders must relocate to SF, explaining geographic strategy is no longer one-size-fits-all. Lemkin demonstrates his own operational perspective by arguing that massive floors of junior sales reps will never return to SF.10:25–18:03 · Jason pushing back 4/10 Venture Capital Slowdown and the Rise of Zombie Startups Lemkin details his published 'Postmates effect' concept to explain why lower-tier market competitors got overfunded during the boom. When Blond labels non-viable companies as zombies that should release their talent, Lemkin qualifies that strong founders can pivot zombie companies into massive wins like Slack.18:04–24:27 · Jason pushing back 2/10 Founders Fund Investment Focus and Operational CRO Value Add Lemkin dominates the segment with a strong perspective on VC board dynamics, asserting that most venture capitalists lack any practical knowledge of sales or revenue operations. Blond agrees collaboratively and details his tactical CRO value-add for early-stage B2B portfolio companies.

speaking balance: gold is Jason, purple is the guest (3 minute bins)

0:00 · Jason 41.2% · guest 58.8%0:00 · Jason 41.2% · guest 58.8%3:00 · Jason 15.1% · guest 84.9%3:00 · Jason 15.1% · guest 84.9%6:00 · Jason 27.3% · guest 72.7%6:00 · Jason 27.3% · guest 72.7%9:00 · Jason 55.2% · guest 44.8%9:00 · Jason 55.2% · guest 44.8%12:00 · Jason 33.8% · guest 66.2%12:00 · Jason 33.8% · guest 66.2%15:00 · Jason 48.6% · guest 51.4%15:00 · Jason 48.6% · guest 51.4%18:00 · Jason 52.8% · guest 47.2%18:00 · Jason 52.8% · guest 47.2%21:00 · Jason 66.8% · guest 33.2%21:00 · Jason 66.8% · guest 33.2%24:00 · Jason 17.6% · guest 82.4%24:00 · Jason 17.6% · guest 82.4%
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 15:51 Blond on zombie startups needing to die

Blond takes an unvarnished stance arguing that overfunded 'zombie businesses' that lack viable fundamentals need to fail so their talent can be redistributed across the ecosystem.

 Hardest push from Jason ▶ 17:05 Lemkin defending zombie startup turnaround potential

Lemkin challenges Blond's broad dismissal of zombie companies by bringing up Slack's origins as a failing gaming startup to prove that top founders can pivot into massive successes.

 Biggest teaching moment ▶ 6:45 Blond dismantling the one-size-fits-all SF requirement

Blond directly updates Lemkin's longstanding advice to foreign founders by demonstrating that global hubs like New York and Miami are now equally viable alternatives to SF.

 Jason holds their own ▶ 14:18 Lemkin outlining the Postmates effect

Lemkin articulates his own market framework explaining how peak bull-market valuations distorted venture investing by temporarily turning 4th and 5th tier players into paper unicorns.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
ChapterTopicJason as informed peerGuest teachingGuest disagreementJason pushing backWhy
Assessing Miami's Evolution as an Emerging Tech Hub 6324 Lemkin draws on his multi-year history running meetups to express skepticism about Miami becoming a true B2B hub. Blond politely counters by citing specific B2B startups being built out of Founders Fund's Miami office while acknowledging overall SF volume remains higher.
San Francisco's Talent Density Versus Modern Urban Challenges 7423 Blond reframes Lemkin's legacy assumption that international B2B founders must relocate to SF, explaining geographic strategy is no longer one-size-fits-all. Lemkin demonstrates his own operational perspective by arguing that massive floors of junior sales reps will never return to SF.
Venture Capital Slowdown and the Rise of Zombie Startups 8334 Lemkin details his published 'Postmates effect' concept to explain why lower-tier market competitors got overfunded during the boom. When Blond labels non-viable companies as zombies that should release their talent, Lemkin qualifies that strong founders can pivot zombie companies into massive wins like Slack.
Founders Fund Investment Focus and Operational CRO Value Add 8112 Lemkin dominates the segment with a strong perspective on VC board dynamics, asserting that most venture capitalists lack any practical knowledge of sales or revenue operations. Blond agrees collaboratively and details his tactical CRO value-add for early-stage B2B portfolio companies.

Statements from this episode (10)

Opinion
Lemkin: Miami is a tech hub, but may not become a B2B hub
“I'm not sure it will become a B to B hub. I'm confident it's already a tech hub of some sort, but even our last Miami meetup, which you were at, it was great.”
Jason Lemkin Nov 1, 2022 ▶ 0:47
Disclosure
Blond: Five Senior Founders Fund Personnel Relocated from SF to Miami
“At the beginning of 2020 everyone in Founders Fund was in San Francisco. There may have been an exception or two. And today in this office there's Keith Matias, Delian myself as the investors. Mike Solano's a VP here not on the investing side, but five fairly …”
Sam Blond Nov 1, 2022 ▶ 4:08
Opinion
Blond: San Francisco Still Retains Unique Tech Talent Density
“All of that migration built in, there is still a unique talent density in San Francisco, unlike any other place.”
Sam Blond Nov 1, 2022 ▶ 4:49
Prediction Not checkable as stated
Lemkin: Startups Will Never Bring Massive In-Office Sales Teams Back to SF
“We will never have floor after floor after floor of AEs and SDRs. So there's an element of all this that is just, it's never, no matter what happens, the floor of floor of AEs and SF, they can't afford to live there. They don't want to live there. They don't g…”
Jason Lemkin Nov 1, 2022 ▶ 9:59
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Blond: Growth-stage venture investing is nearly nonexistent in late 2022
“On the growth stage side many of the best companies raised a lot of money last year, and given what's happened in the public markets, it's difficult to justify, certainly an up round and maybe even the valuations at which, Those businesses raised, and many of …”
Sam Blond Nov 1, 2022 ▶ 11:34
Opinion
Blond: VC quality bar was definitionally lowered in 2021
“I think generally speaking almost definitionally, the bar was lowered. There were, there was so much more capital being deployed in so many more companies last year compared to this year at every stage.”
Sam Blond Nov 1, 2022 ▶ 13:36
Prediction Not checkable as stated
Blond: Many companies that raised in 2021 cannot raise again
“I think because of that, there will be a lot of companies that were able to raise money last year that aren't forward, aren't able to raise going forward.”
Sam Blond Nov 1, 2022 ▶ 14:05
Insight
Blond: Market correction is healthy by redistributing talent to winning companies
“I would argue, That this, let's call it a correction that is happening right now is probably healthy for the ecosystem broadly, because you know, there are likely great people at some of these companies that aren't going to make it and so distributing some of …”
Sam Blond Nov 1, 2022 ▶ 16:40
Disclosure
Blond: Founders Fund targets 10% minimum ownership and $1M seed checks
“On a seed deal, you know, like we would like to get like the 10% ownership of the company as sort of a minimum. And so that's, I think like sort of a million dollars would be minimum check size.”
Sam Blond Nov 1, 2022 ▶ 19:36
Opinion
Lemkin: VC board members know nothing about sales or revenue
“Every single board I've been on, and I try not to be on too many boards I'm the only one that knows anything about sales or revenue. No one. No one. I don't even care where they were. They don't know. I'm always the only one”
Jason Lemkin Nov 1, 2022 ▶ 21:50
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