20VC: The Crowdstrike Memo: Accel's Sameer Gandhi on Leading Multiple Internal Rounds for Crowdstrike, Telling George Kurtz to Go Shop His Term Sheet, How To Think Through Market Sizing & The Importance of Speed of Execution and Knowing When To Go Slow To

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4.4 • 637 Ratings

🗓️ 2 September 2021

⏱️ 37 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Sameer Gandhi is a Partner @ Accel, one of the leading venture firms of the last decade with a portfolio including the likes of Facebook, Dropbox, Atlassian, Hopin, Spotify and more. As for Sameer, he led investments in Crowdstrike, Dropbox, Flipkart, Spotify and more. Prior to Accel, Sameer spent close to 10 years as a Partner @ Sequoia.

In Today’s Episode with Sameer Gandhi You Will Learn:

1.) How Sameer first came to meet George, Crowdstrike Founder and CEO? How did a 30-minute meeting turn into a 2-hour discussion leading to Accel's investment?

2.)The Market: How did Sameer analyze and break down the market at the time of the investment? What hypothesis did he have on market evolution going in? What elements went as thought? In what way did the market evolve in a way Sameer did not expect? How does Sameer think through market timing today? Through what approach does Sameer assess market sizing today?

3.) Financing: How did Sameer build the confidence to lead multiple rounds of financing, one after the other? How did Sameer build the trust and strength of relationship with George to win each round? Why did Sameer advise George to "go shop his term sheet"? What was the rationale? How does Sameer advise founders on taking pre-emptive rounds today?

4.) Execution: What specifically allowed Crowdstrike to move so fast in the early days? Does Sameer believe that speed of execution is the strongest moat a company can have? How does Sameer advise companies today on services revenue? In what shape did this look with Crowdstrike in the early days? What is a healthy proportion of services to product revenue?

5.) The Team: How did George evolve and develop as a leader in the decade Sameer worked with him? What were some of the core inflection points that caused those changes? Who are some of the unsung heroes behind the scenes who moved the needle for Crowdstrike? What is Sameer's favorite memory from working with the company?

Item’s Mentioned In Today’s Episode with Sameer Gandi

Go to thetwentyminutevc.com to download the original Crowdstrike Investment Memo.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	We are back for my favourite 20 VC of any month. Yes, it's the memo where we dive deep on the
0:04.3	investment memo from one of the greatest companies of the last decade, and what pertinent
0:07.9	timing for our company this month? Just last week, they were added to the NASDAQ 100 index,
0:12.3	a very special moment for any company, and since their IPO, they've soared from a listing
0:16.5	price of $6.8 billion to stay currently valued at $63.75 billion. It is, of course, Crowdstrike,
0:23.9	and the person to unpack the investment and incredible journey, Sumer Gandhi, partner at Excel,
0:28.7	and leader of multiple different crowd strike rounds. For context, Sumer has also led investments
0:32.9	in the likes of Dropbox, Flipkart, DJI, Spotify and more. And prior to Excel, Sam is spent close to
0:39.4	10 years as a partner at Sequoia. I'd also want to say a huge thank you to David, George
0:43.2	and Andreessen, and George Kurtz, crowdstrike founder. Some amazing questions suggestions today
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	...

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