20VC: The Founding of General Catalyst, What it Takes to Build a Firm That Stands the Test of Time, Why VCs Need to Give Founders Greater Permission to Go For It & Why Venture Capital is Like Tennis with David Fialkow, Co-Founder @ General Catalyst
The Twenty Minute VC (20VC): Venture Capital | Startup Funding | The Pitch
The Twenty Minute VC
4.4 • 637 Ratings
🗓️ 16 May 2022
⏱️ 50 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
David Fialkow is the Co-Founder and Managing Director @ General Catalyst, one of the leading venture firms of the last decade with a portfolio including Stripe, Snap, Airbnb, Anduril, Canva and many more amazing names. Prior to founding General Catalyst with Joel Cutler, David was a serial entrepreneur building and selling 4 successful companies.
In Today’s Episode with David Fialkow:
1.) Everything Great Starts Small:
- How did David and Joel decide on a Hawaiin beach that they wanted to start General Catalyst?
- Why did they decide to name it General Catalyst?
- How did the first fundraise go for GC Fund I?
2.) Creating a Firm: The Early Days
- What design objectives did Joel and David have when they started the firm?
- How did Joel and David think about firm expansion; going to the West Coast? Coming to Europe? Going multi-stage? What drives their decision to do new products?
- On reflection, what were some of the toughest elements of the early days with GC?
- What does David believe they got right? Why? What did they get wrong? How would he change it?
3.) The Partnership:
- What does David believe makes for a truly successful venture partnership?
- How does a great venture partnership align to what makes a successful marriage?
- How does David approach trust? How does he build it with people?
- What situations would cause David to lose trust? Why do so few people understand it?
- What does David believe is the true secret to authentic relationship building?
4.) Doing the Impossible: Generational Transition:
- What does David believe they did so right in their generational transition at GC?
- What do many firms get wrong in handing over the reins to the next generation?
- What are the biggest commonalities between venture partnerships and filmmaking?
Mentioned in Today’s Episode with David Fialkow:
David’s Favourite Book: The 7 Habits Of Highly Effective People
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Alrighty, we are back. This is 20 VC with me, Harry Stebbings, and today we have one of the founding fathers of one of the most renowned venture firms of the last decade. |
| 0:07.6 | I love these types of episodes. I find the wisdom and insight here, just unparalleled. |
| 0:12.1 | So with that, I'm thrilled to welcome David Fialcao, co-founder and managing director at General Candelist, one of the leading venture firms of the last decade, with a portfolio including the lights of Stripe, Snap, Airbnb, Anjural, Canva and many more amazing companies. |
| 0:26.1 | Prior to founding General Candelists with Joel Cutler, David was a serial entrepreneur. Check this out. |
| 0:30.4 | Building and selling no less than four successful companies. I do also want to say huge thank you to Adam Valkin, Hey Montenezer, Quentin Clark, Nico Bonatzos, |
| 0:38.5 | and many more from the GC team, such a team effort on the schedule and really did make it so special. |
| 0:43.8 | But before we move into the episode today, Harvard Management Company is constantly seeking out |
| 0:48.0 | the next generation of great investors and entrepreneurs. |
| 0:51.2 | HMC has managed Harvard University's endowment for nearly 50 years and was one |
| 0:55.5 | of the first institutional investors in venture capital. Their experience in long-term investment |
| 1:00.2 | horizon makes some ideal partners to get world-changing ideas on a path to viability and success. They work |
| 1:06.6 | as a true partner providing insightful perspectives to help managers succeed. I personally have had the |
| 1:11.8 | pleasure of working with the HMC team and can say that they're truly exceptional partners, |
| 1:16.2 | people and incredibly savvy investors. Whether you are launching your first fund or your fifth, |
| 1:21.3 | HMC welcomes the opportunity to partner with both developing and established managers. Have an idea |
| 1:26.3 | you want to share with the team? |
| 1:27.6 | Just send it to venture at hmc.harvard.edu. And speaking of amazing partners with HMC there, |
| 1:35.0 | Mercury is building full stack banking for startups. Applying under 10 minutes from anywhere |
| 1:39.6 | for FDIC insured bank accounts, physical and virtual debit cards, domestic and international wires, |
| 1:45.6 | and integrations with gusto, stripe, quickbooks, plaid, and basically every other tool your |
| 1:50.3 | startup uses. They also offer unusual features like API access, custom team management, and |
| 1:55.9 | their newly launched Mercury Treasury, a cash management product for high-growth startups. |
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