20VC: CapitalG Founder David Lawee on Why People Overvalue Diversification in Venture, Why Investment Clubs Are More Successful Than Investment Partnerships & How Growth Funds Think About Portfolio Construction, Loss Ratio & Reserves

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The Twenty Minute VC

Finance, Venturecapital, Tech News, News, Siliconvalley, Technology, Investing, Startups, Business

4.4 • 637 Ratings

🗓️ 8 October 2020

⏱️ 25 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

David Lawee founded CapitalG, Alphabet’s independent growth fund, in 2013, drawing on his experience both at Google and as a serial entrepreneur. Since then, he has helped transform high-potential startups into some of the most highly valued businesses of our generation, including Airbnb, Lyft, Snap, Robinhood, Credit Karma, Oscar, Lending Club and Thumbtack. Prior to CapitalG, David played a pivotal role in Google’s growth story--first as Google’s Chief Marketing Officer and then as the instrumental VP of corporate development where his group spearheaded over 100 acquisitions for the company.

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In Today’s Episode You Will Learn:

1.) How David made his way into the world of startups, came to be the first CMO @ Google and how that led to his founding CapitalG?

2.) Having operated and invested through both the dot com and 08', how has seeing the booms and busts impacted David's investing mindset? How does David think about temporal diversification today with CapitalG? Why does David believe diversification is largely overrated?

3.) How does David think about portfolio construction today, given CapitalG is a growth fund? How does David compare early-stage to growth today? How does David think about loss ratios at growth? How does David benchmark good vs great from a multiple perspective at growth?

4.) How does CapitalG approach investment decision making today? How does David avoid consensus thinking/following the crowd when it comes to deals? Why does David believe investment clubs operate much more successfully than partnerships? How does that change the structure for CapitalG?

5.) How has David seen himself evolve and develop as a board member of the years? What type of board member would David say he is today? How does that change with the founder? Who is the most memorable board member David has sat on a board with?

Items Mentioned In Today’s Show:

David’s Fave Book: Born A Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood

David’s Most Recent Investment: Albert

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Likewise, you can follow Harry on Instagram here for mojito madness and all things 20VC.

Transcript

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0:00.0	This is the 20-minute VC with me, Harry Stebbings, and what a show we have in store for you today.
0:03.8	I'm such an admirer of the incredible institution this individual has built,
0:07.4	and so I'm delighted to welcome David Lowey to the hot seat today.
0:10.3	David founded Capital G, Alphabet's independent growth fund in 2013,
0:14.6	drawing on his experience both at Google and as a serial entrepreneur.
0:18.1	Since then, he's helped transform high potential startups into some of the most highly
0:21.6	valued businesses of our generation, including the lights of Airbnb, Lyft, Snap, Robin Hood,
0:27.1	Credit Karma, Oscar, Lending Club and Thumbtack.
0:30.3	And prior to capital, G, David played a pivotal role in Google's growth story,
0:33.9	first as Google's chief marketing officer, And then there's the instrumental VP of
0:37.5	corporate development where his group spearheaded over 100 acquisitions for the company. Truly incredible
0:42.4	story there. I'd also have to say a huge thank you to Eli Gille, Gene France and Layla Sturdy
0:47.1	for some fantastic questions pre this episode happening. I really do so appreciate that.
0:52.1	But before we move into the show today, I want to take a moment to mention HelloSign,
0:55.5	a great example of a company that found success in building a product focused on user experience.
1:00.4	HelloSign is an effortless e-signature solution used by millions to securely send and request
1:05.5	legally valid digital signatures and agreements.
1:08.1	They raised a total of $16 million in funding and recently got acquired
1:11.6	by Dropbox for an impressive $230 million. Check out HelloSign.com forward slash 20 VC to join the
1:18.4	thousands of companies and founders who value fast, secure and simple e-signatures. And if
1:23.9	HelloSign helps you sign that term sheet, you need to get the term sheet in the first
1:27.6	place. And I want to give a mention to Draper-a-Sprisbury, a publicly listed VC fund that
	...

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