20VC: Oren Zeev on Raising 3 Funds and $1BN in 12 Months; Why Temporal Diversification is BS, Why Both LPs and GPs are Way Over-Diversified & Why Venture Partnerships are Sub-Optimal and Challenging
The Twenty Minute VC (20VC): Venture Capital | Startup Funding | The Pitch
The Twenty Minute VC
4.4 • 637 Ratings
🗓️ 23 May 2022
⏱️ 44 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Oren Zeev is the Founding Partner @ Zeev Ventures and one of the OGs of solo capitalism. Oren has an incredible portfolio including investments in Audible, Houzz, Chegg, Riverside, Tipalti, TripActions, and Firebolt to name a few. Oren is also very unlike any other VC firm, he does not employ any associates, principals, or staff. He doesn't have partners or partner meetings. No LP meetings. No processes. No investment committees or memos. Nada. Oren is doing it differently. Prior to starting Zeev Ventures, Oren spent 12 years as a GP @ Apax Partners where he c-headed their technology practice in their Silicon Valley office.
In Today’s Episode with Oren Zeev You Will Learn:
1.) Origins into Venture:
- How did Oren make his way into venture over 20 years ago?
- How does the crash of today compare to the dot com and 2008? What is the same? What is different?
- Why did Oren decide to leave Apax and start Zeev Ventures on his own?
2.) Deployment Pace:
- Why does Oren believe that the benefits of temporal diversification are overstated?
- Oren raised 3 funds and over $1BN in a year, how does this current environment impact how Oren thinks about deployment pace? Will he change anything?
- How does Oren explain deployment pace to LPs who question him?
3.) Ownership:
- How central a role does ownership play for Oren in terms of his investor psychology?
- Does Oren believe it is possible to increase your ownership in subsequent rounds, in your best companies?
- What are the biggest mistakes that big funds make with regards to ownership requirements?
- Why is there a misalignment between GP and LP when it comes to increasing ownership vs markups?
4.) Price Sensitivity:
- How does Oren evaluate his own relationship to price today?
- What have been some of Oren's biggest lessons on price from his biggest wins and losesses?
- What mistake do the majority of investors make when it comes to price?
5.) Diversification:
- Why does Oren believe that both GPs and LPs are wildly over-diversified in their portfolios?
- What is the right amount of companies for GPs to have in their portfolio?
- How does Oren advise LPs on the right amount of funds for them to be invested with?
6.) Oren Zeev: AMA:
- What does Oren know now that he wishes he had known when he started his career in venture?
- What elements of the world of LPs would Oren most like to change?
- Why does Oren feel that the concept of pro-rata is a lazy one?
Item’s Mentioned In Today’s Episode with Oren Zeev
Oren’s Most Recent Investment: Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome back to 20VC with me, Harry Stebbings. That was an incredibly excited start. |
| 0:04.6 | I'm just so excited for the show today. This is one of those guests where they have such a |
| 0:08.4 | contrarian stance. They have an opinion, they're not afraid to share it, and these are the types |
| 0:12.4 | of shows that I love. Our guest today has become a friend and mentor to me over the years. |
| 0:16.3 | He's one of the OGs of solo capitalism, and I couldn't be more thrilled to welcome back, Oran Zeev. Oran is the founding |
| 0:21.9 | partner at Zeev Ventures, with investments in the lights of audible, Howells, Chegg, Riverside, |
| 0:26.9 | Tipalty, trip actions, and Firebolt, to name a few. Oran is also very unlike any other VC firm. |
| 0:32.8 | He does not employ any associates, principals or staff. He doesn't have partners or partner meetings. |
| 0:38.2 | He doesn't have LP meetings. No processes, no investment committees or memos, nada. |
| 0:43.4 | Orrin is doing it differently. It's been incredible to see. And prior to starting Zeev ventures, |
| 0:47.9 | Orrin spent 12 years as a GP at Apex Partners. And I do also want to say a huge thank you to |
| 0:52.2 | Mike Chalfin, a dear friend. Some amazing question suggestions today. I so appreciated that, Mike, as always. |
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