20VC: Mark Suster on The Biggest Fundraising Lessons for VCs, Why the Correction in Venture is Still to Come, Why Private Equity Will Replace IPOs and M&A as the Exit Path & The Woke Left and a Trump Administration; What Happens?

The Twenty Minute VC (20VC): Venture Capital | Startup Funding | The Pitch

The Twenty Minute VC

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

4.4 • 637 Ratings

🗓️ 1 May 2024

⏱️ 59 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Mark Suster is a General Partner @ Upfront Ventures, one of LA's leading early-stage venture firms. Prior to leading Upfront, Mark was a serial entrepreneur having founded two software companies, selling both with the last selling to Salesforce.com. Mark is also a prolific writer and one of his favourite pieces, Lines Not Dots is one for the ages.

In Today's Episode With Mark Suster We Discuss:

1. From Serial Entrepreneur to Leading VC:

How Mark made his way into the world of venture having sold two prior companies?
What does Mark know now that he wishes he had known when he started in venture?
What advice does Mark give to all young investors starting their career today?

2. How to Raise a Fund:

What are Mark's single biggest lessons from 15 years of fundraising for funds?
Should managers look to institutions or friends and family first?
Are LPs sheep? Do institutions anchoring funds lead to many others jumping in?
What is the right amount to do a first close on? What is the right way to message the first close?
What are the single biggest mistakes Mark sees managers make when raising?

3. Exit Environments are F******: What Now:

Why are IPOs not the liquidity events that everyone thinks they are?
When does Mark believe IPO windows will open again?
How does Mark evaluate the M&A landscape today?
With little M&A and IPO activity, why does Mark believe private equity will step into their shoes?
With the change to private equity being the buyer, what does that mean for the sale price of the assets? What does that mean for the future of venture returns?

4. Trump, The Woke Left and The World Around Us:

Is Mark concerned about the potential of Trump winning the election?
Would Mark rather a Biden administration as the alternative?
Why is Mark so worried by the woke left?
Does Mark always believe there has been this deep-seated anti-semitism in the US education system? What can be done to remove this from our education system?

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	1998, 99, 2000 are nothing compared to the overvaluations of 2021. So we're two years into a
0:07.6	correction. I think it's going to take another five. Of the 1,200, 60% were marked by four firms,
0:14.4	SoftBank, Tiger, Koachoo, and Insight. People invest the most amount of money when the market is just about to hit the peak.
0:22.6	When markets fall, that's when everyone sells. And they sell because you start looking and I'm
0:28.0	taking losses. I can't absorb these losses. Welcome back. This is 20 VC with me, Harry Stebbings,
0:32.9	and I'm so excited for the show stay. So I first met this guest seven years ago when we did our first show.
0:38.6	It was such a special one to do then and so this was even more cool to do in person in the studio
0:43.2	in London last week. So joining me in the hot seat is Mark Suster, general partner at Upfront
0:47.7	Ventures, one of LA's leading early stage venture firms. And before leading Upfront, Mark was a serial
0:53.0	entrepreneur, having founded two
0:54.6	software companies selling both with the last selling to Salesforce.com. And fun fact, I really
0:59.9	learned a lot of what I know in venture through Mark's blog. It's really one of the best,
1:04.2	both sides of the table, so do check that out. But before we dive in, as face it, your employees
1:09.4	probably hate your procurement process.
1:11.7	It's hard to follow.
1:12.6	It's cobbled together across systems, and it's a waste of valuable time and resources.
1:16.6	And as a result, you probably are facing difficulties, getting full visibility, managing compliance and controlling spend.
1:23.5	It's time for a better way.
1:25.0	Meet Zip, the first modern intake to pay solution that can handle procurement and all of its complexities, from intake and sourcing to contracting purchase orders and payments.
1:35.0	By providing a single front door for employee purchases, Zip seamlessly orchestrates the procurement process across systems and teams, meaning you can procure faster with the least amount of
1:45.0	risk and get the best spend ROI for your business. With over 4.4 billion in savings for
1:50.6	our customers, Zip is the go-to solution procurement for enterprise and industry disruptors,
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from The Twenty Minute VC, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of The Twenty Minute VC and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.