20VC: Bessemer’s Byron Deeter On Lessons From Investing in 14 $Bn Companies, What The Heck Is Going On In Cloud Today and Why Cloud IPO Floodgates Are About To Burst Open
The Twenty Minute VC (20VC): Venture Capital | Startup Funding | The Pitch
The Twenty Minute VC
4.4 • 637 Ratings
🗓️ 8 July 2019
⏱️ 33 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Byron Deeter is a Partner @ Bessemer Venture Partners where he has established himself as one of the leading investors in SaaS and Cloud authoring the iconic laws on the state of cloud computing. In terms of track record, fourteen of Byron’s investments are valued above one $1 billion, including eight IPOs and counting. Byron's investments include the likes of Twilio, Intercom, SendGrid, Gainsight, Box, DocuSign and many more. Prior to the world of venture, Byron was a Bessemer Founder raising his Series A from them back in 2000 with Trigo Technologies. The company rapidly scaled to profitability and was acquired by IBM.
In Today’s Episode You Will Learn:
1.) How Byron made his way into the world of venture from founding Trigo Technologies and selling to IBM in 2005? How have seeing multiple booms and busts impacted Byron's investment mentality today?
2.) What the heck is going on in cloud today? Is Byron concerned by the very rich multiples being paid in the ecosystem today? How does Byron think about how public market performance impacts his day to day role investing? Why does Byron believe that the floodgate for cloud IPOs is about to burst open?
3.) Having seen so many cloud IPOs, what should founders take from the lessons of those that have already been so successful? With 14 $Bn companies, what does Byron attribute his investing success to today? How does Byron think about what he wants to invest in today? Are we in an entirely new wave of cloud?
4.) As a former founder, how does Byron think that he engages differently with founders than more financial backgrounded VCs? What can board members really do to build that trusted relationship with the founder in the early days? Is it good for founders and board members to be friends? Is there a line of professionalism that has to be drawn?
5.) How has Byron seen his style of board membership change over the last decade? What would his advice be to someone who has just gained their first institutional board seat? What does Byron believe makes the best board members? What founder he has worked with most excels when it comes to board management? What made them so extraordinary?
Items Mentioned In Today’s Show:
Byron’s Fave Book: AI Superpowers, Legacy
Byron’s Most Recent Investment: ScaleFactor
As always you can follow Harry, The Twenty Minute VC and Byron on Twitter here!
Likewise, you can follow Harry on Instagram here for mojito madness and all things 20VC.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome back to the 20 minute VC with me, Harry Stebbings at H. Stebbings, 1996 with 2Bs on |
| 0:05.0 | Instagram, and I'd love to welcome you behind the scenes there. I have to say, though, looking |
| 0:08.4 | back at the last few weeks on the show, Bill Gurley, Pad at Sequoia, and the quality continues |
| 0:12.9 | today with the guests that I've been a fanboy of for a long time. He quite literally has more |
| 0:16.9 | IPOs under his belt than I've done podcast episodes. And so with that, I'm thrilled to welcome |
| 0:21.0 | back to the show, Byron Dieter, partner at Bessemer Venture Partners. There, Byron has established himself |
| 0:26.1 | as one of the leading investors in SaaS and Cloud, authoring the iconic laws on the state of cloud |
| 0:30.8 | computing. In terms of track record, check this out. 14-1-4 of Byron's investments are valued |
| 0:36.8 | above $1 billion, including eight IPOs and counting. |
| 0:40.3 | Byron's investments include the likes of Twilio, Intercom, Sendgrid, Gainsight, Box, doxysign, and |
| 0:46.0 | many more incredible companies. And prior to the world of venture, Byron was a best of |
| 0:49.6 | founder himself, raising his Series A from them back in 2000 with Trigo Technologies. The company rapidly |
| 0:55.1 | scaled to profitability and was ultimately acquired by IBM. And I do also have to add, I had |
| 0:59.2 | Byron on the show about two years ago or so, and he's been a constant source of support to me, |
| 1:03.7 | and I really do so appreciate that, a very special individual indeed. But before we get into |
| 1:07.9 | the episode today, I'd like to give a big shout out to my friends over at Multiple. |
| 1:11.3 | Widely regarded as the go-to firm for game-changing companies when it comes to building your brand, |
| 1:15.9 | crafting your culture, and gearing up your growth. |
| 1:18.3 | They've worked with breakthrough companies such as We Transfer, pipe drive, mix cloud, unbbbles, Signal and Kalo. |
| 1:24.1 | And when we set up Stride.VC, they were the first call we made to help us get our |
| 1:28.1 | story straight, and what makes Multiple really special is their empathy for and experience |
| 1:32.6 | of the entrepreneurial journey. That's because they've actually been on the front line |
... |
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