"Turpentine VC" | Venture Capital and Investing

Chris Paik, general partner at Pace Capital, discusses the evolution of the venture capital industry, his frameworks for understanding AI's impact on software, and the future of consumer companies in light of changing infrastructure requirements. For full show notes, visit: https://highlightai.com/share/5eeb1531-f0b6-437f-95f6-3949c0ce780c 

—

📰 Be notified early when Turpentine drops new publication: https://www.turpentine.co/exclusiveaccess 

—

SPONSORS:

📑 Discover Carta, the innovative end-to-end accounting platform revolutionizing private fund management with streamlined operations and on-demand insights. Experience the new standard at carta.com/investors.

💳 Imagine total control over your company's spending with Rippling Spend, the all-in-one platform for expense reports, corporate cards, and bill pay. Control spend, set custom approval chains, and close your books 3x faster. Visit rippling.com/spend for a free demo and one month free trial.

☁️Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) is a single platform for your infrastructure, database, application development, and AI needs. OCI has four to eight times the bandwidth of other clouds and offers one consistent price. If you want to do more and spend less, take a free test drive of OCI at https://oracle.com/cognitive

📝 Notion offers powerful workflow and automation templates, perfect for streamlining processes and laying the groundwork for AI-driven automation. With Notion AI, you can search across thousands of documents from various platforms, generating highly relevant analysis and content tailored just for you - try it for free at notion.com/upstreampod 

💥 Head to Squad to access global engineering without the headache and at a fraction of the cost: head to https://choosesquad.com/ and mention “Turpentine” to skip the waitlist.

—

LINKS:

Pace Capital: https://pacecapital.com/ 

The End of Software: https://docs.google.com/document/d/103cGe8qixC7ZzFsRu5Ww2VEW5YgH9zQaiaqbBsZ1lcc/edit?tab=t.0 

The Three Brothers Parable: https://docs.google.com/document/d/14BBVzpSSFZkPS3ja3s2LbfFV_inpjsbxPezIV06O9s8/edit?tab=t.0 

—

FOLLOW:

@cpaik (Chris)

@eriktorenberg (Erik)

@TurpentineVC

This week on Turpentine VC, we’re re-releasing Erik Torenberg’s 2023 interview with Mamoon Hamid and Ilya Fushman of Kleiner Perkins to talk about how they have taken over the firm's iconic history and helped drive the next chapter. For full show notes, visit: https://highlightai.com/share/bc08c5ad-9680-4c40-8764-cba7fdf68d16 

—

📰 Be notified early when Turpentine drops new publication: https://www.turpentine.co/exclusiveaccess 

—

SPONSORS:

💳 Imagine total control over your company's spending with Rippling Spend, the all-in-one platform for expense reports, corporate cards, and bill pay. Control spend, set custom approval chains, and close your books 3x faster. Visit rippling.com/spend for a free demo and one month free trial.

📑 Discover Carta, the innovative end-to-end accounting platform revolutionizing private fund management with streamlined operations and on-demand insights. Experience the new standard at carta.com/investors.

☁️ Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) is a single platform for your infrastructure, database, application development, and AI needs. OCI has four to eight times the bandwidth of other clouds and offers one consistent price. If you want to do more and spend less, take a free test drive of OCI at https://oracle.com/cognitive

📝 Notion offers powerful workflow and automation templates, perfect for streamlining processes and laying the groundwork for AI-driven automation. With Notion AI, you can search across thousands of documents from various platforms, generating highly relevant analysis and content tailored just for you - try it for free at notion.com/upstreampod 

💥 Head to Squad to access global engineering without the headache and at a fraction of the cost: head to https://choosesquad.com/ and mention “Turpentine” to skip the waitlist.

—

LINKS:

Kleiner Perkins: https://www.kleinerperkins.com/ 

—

FOLLOW:

@mamoonha (Mamoon)

@ilyaf (Ilya)

@eriktorenberg (Erik)

@TurpentineVC

Wing Capital's Chris Zeoli discusses AI infrastructure trends, foundation models, data center challenges, cloud security, and Wing's strategic investments. For full show notes, visit: https://highlightai.com/share/6e5d9973-6c77-4ed2-aab7-355be82b9133 

—

📰 Be notified early when Turpentine drops new publication: https://www.turpentine.co/exclusiveaccess 

—

SPONSORS:

💳 Imagine total control over your company's spending with Rippling Spend, the all-in-one platform for expense reports, corporate cards, and bill pay. Control spend, set custom approval chains, and close your books 3x faster. Visit rippling.com/spend for a free demo and one month free trial.

📑 Discover Carta, the innovative end-to-end accounting platform revolutionizing private fund management with streamlined operations and on-demand insights. Experience the new standard at carta.com/investors.

☁️ Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) is a single platform for your infrastructure, database, application development, and AI needs. OCI has four to eight times the bandwidth of other clouds and offers one consistent price. If you want to do more and spend less, take a free test drive of OCI at https://oracle.com/cognitive

📝 Notion offers powerful workflow and automation templates, perfect for streamlining processes and laying the groundwork for AI-driven automation. With Notion AI, you can search across thousands of documents from various platforms, generating highly relevant analysis and content tailored just for you - try it for free at notion.com/upstreampod 

💥 Head to Squad to access global engineering without the headache and at a fraction of the cost: head to https://choosesquad.com/ and mention “Turpentine” to skip the waitlist.

—

LINKS:

Wing Venture Capital: https://www.wing.vc/ 

Subscribe to Chris’ newsletter: https://substack.com/@chriszeoli

FOLLOW:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/chriszeoli/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/eriktorenberg/ 

Keith Rabois, Logan Bartlett, Kevin Ryan, and Zach Weinberg share a rare anecdote about the first venture investment into OpenAI, lay out the bull and bear case for the leading AI companies and discuss regulatory chess games at play in American politics. For full show notes, visit: https://highlightai.com/share/8a2ea800-ab8a-4115-80c7-04c059d3fb10 

—

📰Be notified early when Turpentine drops new publication: https://www.turpentine.co/exclusiveaccess 

—

RECOMMENDED PODCAST:

🎙️This Won't Last

Eavesdrop on Keith Rabois, Kevin Ryan, Logan Bartlett, and Zach Weinberg's monthly backchannel. They unpack their hottest takes on the future of tech, business, venture, investing, and politics.

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/this-wont-last-with-keith-rabois-kevin-ryan-logan/id1765665937

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2HwSNeVLL1MXy0RjFPyOSz 

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ThisWontLastpodcast 

—

SPONSORS:

💳 Imagine total control over your company's spending with Rippling Spend, the all-in-one platform for expense reports, corporate cards, and bill pay. Control spend, set custom approval chains, and close your books 3x faster. Visit https://www.rippling.com/turpentine for a free demo and one month free trial.

📑 Discover Carta, the innovative end-to-end accounting platform revolutionizing private fund management with streamlined operations and on-demand insights. Experience the new standard at carta.com/investors.

💥 Head to Squad to access global engineering without the headache and at a fraction of the cost: head to https://choosesquad.com/ and mention “Turpentine” to skip the waitlist.

—

FOLLOW ON X:

@rabois

@kevinryan

@loganbartlett

@zachweinberg

@eriktorenberg

@turpentinemedia

This week on Turpentine VC, Erik Torenberg is joined by Arif Janmohamed, partner at Lightspeed Ventures to dive into the world of AI investment. They explore Lightspeed's evolution from a strong focus on enterprise early-stage investing to becoming a global multi-stage firm with a $7 billion capital reach. Arif shares insights on identifying market opportunities, their frameworks for investing in AI, and the future of cybersecurity. 

—

🔥 Apply to join over 400 founders and Execs in the Turpentine Network: https://www.turpentinenetwork.co/

—

SPONSORS:

💳 Imagine total control over your company's spending with Rippling Spend, the all-in-one platform for expense reports, corporate cards, and bill pay. Control spend, set custom approval chains, and close your books 3x faster. Visit https://www.rippling.com/turpentine for a free demo and one month free trial.

📑Discover Carta, the innovative end-to-end accounting platform revolutionizing private fund management with streamlined operations and on-demand insights. Experience the new standard at carta.com/investors.

💥 Head to Squad to access global engineering without the headache and at a fraction of the cost: head to https://choosesquad.com/ and mention “Turpentine” to skip the waitlist.

—

LINKS:

Lightspeed: https://lsvp.com/

—

TIMESTAMPS:

(00:00) Intro

(01:06) History and Evolution of Lightspeed Ventures

(03:16) Lightspeed's global and multi-sector approach

(06:12) AI investing at Lightspeed

(08:24) Foundation models and AI applications

(12:09) Sponsors: Rippling | Carta

(14:19) The future of AI and enterprise software

(18:25) AI in corporate travel

(19:00) AI agents in enterprise

(19:35) The future of work with AI

(21:19) Historical tech shifts and AI

(21:42) Sponsor: Squad

(22:48) Market timing and investment

(23:19) AI's impact on business models

(27:36) Cybersecurity in the AI era

(32:09) Global entrepreneurship

(33:13) Wrap

Mike Maples Jr., Founding Partner at Floodgate, sits down with David Weisburd to discuss Mike’s new book “Pattern Breakers: Why Some Start-Ups Change the Future”. This is a masterclass on early-stage venture investing. Mike shares his views on identifying ideas and founders that led to his early investments in Lyft, Twitter, and Okta. They also cover how Mike thinks about fundraising from LPs, his learnings from legendary LP David Swensen, and the power and importance of pursuing non-consensus ideas.

—

🔥 Apply to join over 400 founders and Execs in the Turpentine Network: https://www.turpentinenetwork.co/

—

RECOMMENDED PODCAST:

🎙️The 10X Capital Podcast

David Weisburd interviews LPs and GPs to examine the Venture Capital ecosystem through the lens of Limited Partners. 

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2MHgyKMmJgznPI66MLxZfC 

Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1697772657 

Youtube: https://youtube.com/@10xcapitalpodcast 

—

SPONSORS:

📑Discover Carta, the innovative end-to-end accounting platform revolutionizing private fund management with streamlined operations and on-demand insights. Experience the new standard at carta.com/investors.

☁️Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) is a single platform for your infrastructure, database, application development, and AI needs. OCI has four to eight times the bandwidth of other clouds and offers one consistent price. If you want to do more and spend less, take a free test drive of OCI at https://oracle.com/turpentine

💥 Head to Squad to access global engineering without the headache and at a fraction of the cost: head to https://choosesquad.com/ and mention “Turpentine” to skip the waitlist.

—

LINKS:

Floodgate: https://www.floodgate.com/

Pattern Breakers Website: https://www.patternbreakers.com/

Pattern Breakers: Why Some Start-Ups Change the Future: https://www.amazon.com/Pattern-Breakers-Start-Ups-Change-Future/dp/1541704355 

10x Capital Newsletter: https://10xcapitalpodcast.com/

—

X / TWITTER:

@m2jr (Mike Maples)

@dweisburd (David Weisburd)

@TurpentineVC

—

TIMESTAMPS:

(00:00) Intro

(01:03) Introduction to "Pattern Breakers"

(02:22) The role of startup capitalists

(04:40) The Twitter story and insights on early-stage investing

(07:04) The importance of founder future fit

(15:13) Product market fit: deciding when to pivot vs. stay the course\

(21:33) Sponsors: Carta | Oracle

(23:22) Insights empowering new business models

(28:48) Creating movements and the role of passion

(33:19) Building relationships with LPs

(38:39) Sponsor: Squad

(39:45) Advice for new VCs raising money

(41:44) The importance of pursuing non-consensus ideas

(45:18) Lessons from David Swensen

(49:28) Benefits of a compatible partnership

(51:16) Circle of competence and competitive advantage in VC

(53:54) How to find Mike’s new book "Pattern Breakers"

In this episode of Turpentine VC, we’re releasing one of our most popular interviews with Roger Ehrenberg, owner of IA Capital Partners and the Managing Partner of Eberg Capital.

Roger discusses his contrarian strategy to seed investing that has allowed him to generate 10x fund returns, and emphasizes the importance of focusing on concentrated portfolios to achieve outsized success. They talk about the impact of interest rates, macroeconomic factors, and the potential of sports investments.

—

🔥 Apply to join over 400 founders and Execs in the Turpentine Network: https://www.turpentinenetwork.co/

—

RECOMMENDED PODCASTS:

🎙️ECON 102 W/ NOAH SMITH

Keeping econ entertaining - Noahpinion author Noah Smith and Erik Torenberg break down business news and politics every week.

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1696419056

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6q7Gn5lP8TTtBPuV1NJSGs

—

SPONSORS:

💳 Imagine total control over your company's spending with Rippling Spend, the all-in-one platform for expense reports, corporate cards, and bill pay. Control spend, set custom approval chains, and close your books 3x faster. Visit https://www.rippling.com/turpentine for a free demo and one month free trial.

💥 Head to Squad to access global engineering without the headache and at a fraction of the cost: head to https://choosesquad.com/ and mention “Turpentine” to skip the waitlist.

—

LINKS:

Eberg Capital: https://www.ebergcapital.com/

—

X / TWITTER:

@infoarbitrage (Roger)

@eriktorenberg (Erik)

@TurpentineVC

—

TIMESTAMPS:

(00:00) Intro

(01:17) IA Ventures' firm strategy

(03:25) Roger's thoughts on the rise of seed

(07:12) Would Roger do anything differently if he started IA today?

(10:59) Is the future of venture going to be craftsman or platform?

(15:38) Sponsors: Rippling | Squad

(18:04) What players are going to be favored in today's venture ecosystem?

(21:08) Roger's macro lesson on higher interest rates

(25:58) Prediction on where interest rates will normalize

(27:54) On the future for YC and a16z

(33:07) Lessons from crypto, and why Roger's excited about sports for the future

(38:02) Why more people should look into the sports space

(42:18) Wrap

Anish Acharya, General Partner at Andreessen Horowitz, dives deep into the transformative potential of AI in the consumer technology sector. Anish discusses a16z’s "Abundance Agenda," detailing how AI is set to revolutionize personal finance, education, wellness, and social interactions. From the concept of "self-driving money" to AI-powered companions and personalized learning, Anish paints a vivid picture of the future while shedding light on the firms decision making and focus areas. He also discusses the challenges and opportunities for startups, offering valuable insights for entrepreneurs and investors alike.

—

🔥 Apply to join over 400 founders and Execs in the Turpentine Network: https://www.turpentinenetwork.co/

—

RECOMMENDED PODCASTS:

🎙️Econ102 w/ Noah Smith

Keeping econ entertaining - Noahpinion author Noah Smith and Erik Torenberg break down business news and politics every week.

Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1696419056 

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6q7Gn5lP8TTtBPuV1NJSGs 

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ECON102Podcast 

—

SPONSORS:

💳 Imagine total control over your company's spending with Rippling Spend, the all-in-one platform for expense reports, corporate cards, and bill pay. Control spend, set custom approval chains, and close your books 3x faster. Visit https://rippling.com/turpentine for a free demo and one month free trial.

💥 Head to Squad to access global engineering without the headache and at a fraction of the cost: head to https://choosesquad.com/ and mention “Turpentine” to skip the waitlist.

—

LINKS:

a16z: https://a16z.com/

Abundance Agenda: https://gamma.app/docs/a16z-Consumer-Abundance-Agenda-ieotbnzbxj81biu?mode=doc

Hi, AI: Our Thesis on AI Voice Agents: https://a16z.com/ai-voice-agents/

—

FOLLOW ON X:

@illscience

@a16z

@eriktorenberg

@TurpentineMedia

—

TIMESTAMPS:

(00:00) Intro

(00:46) a16z's approach to AI Investing

(03:23) The Abundance Agenda: AI's impact on consumers

(04:42) Platform Shifts and consumer AI

(06:51) AI's role in creativity and content generation

(13:27) Voice technology and productivity

(17:41) Companionship and social AI

(22:49) The rise of creative builders

(23:14) Sponsors: Rippling | Squad

(25:30) AI and human interaction

(26:57) The future of personal finance

(28:38) Opportunities in fintech

(32:06) AI's impact on education

(36:35) The future of higher education

(39:02) Voice technology and AI agents and scribes

(41:11) AI in wellness and mental health

(42:25) Wrap

This week on Turpentine VC, we’re releasing Molly O’Shea’s interview with Mark Suster, Managing Partner of Upfront Ventures. In this episode, Mark discusses the value of disciplined investments and Upfront Ventures' focused investment strategy. He emphasizes the importance of founder-market fit and market timing in investment decisions. Mark shares his perspectives on promising sectors such as healthcare, national defense, and space, while also reflecting on the lessons from his time as a CEO and the significance of understanding historical context in relation to current trends.

—

🔥 Apply to join over 400 founders and Execs in the Turpentine Network: https://www.turpentinenetwork.co/

—

RECOMMENDED PODCASTS:

🎙️Sourcery

Interviews with the top VCs & Founders leading the next tech innovation cycle.

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2Ni3Tese9CtZa3oxpCjgTg?si=9b01b3dbcca242f0 

Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/sourcery/id1738124704 

🎙️This Won't Last

Eavesdrop on Keith Rabois, Kevin Ryan, Logan Bartlett, and Zach Weinberg's monthly backchannel. They unpack their hottest takes on the future of tech, business, venture, investing, and politics.

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/this-wont-last-with-keith-rabois-kevin-ryan-logan/id1765665937  

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2HwSNeVLL1MXy0RjFPyOSz 

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ThisWontLastpodcast  

—

SPONSORS:

💳 Imagine total control over your company's spending with Rippling Spend, the all-in-one platform for expense reports, corporate cards, and bill pay. Control spend, set custom approval chains, and close your books 3x faster. Visit rippling.com/spend for a free demo and one month free trial.

🛠️ Building an enterprise-ready SaaS app? WorkOS has got you covered with easy-to-integrate APIs for SAML, SCIM, and more. Join top startups like Vercel, Perplexity, Jasper & Webflow in powering your app with WorkOS. Enjoy a free tier for up to 1M users! Start now at https://bit.ly/WorkOS-Turpentine-Network

💥 Head to Squad to access global engineering without the headache and at a fraction of the cost: head to https://choosesquad.com/ and mention “Turpentine” to skip the waitlist.

—

LINKS:

Upfront Ventures: https://upfront.com/ 

Subscribe to Sourcery: https://www.sourcery.vc/

Book Recommendations:

Freedom's Forge: How American Business Produced Victory in World War II - Arthur Herman: 

https://www.amazon.com/Freedoms-Forge-American-Business-Produced/dp/0812982045 

Chip War: The Quest to Dominate the World's Most Critical Technology by Chris Miller:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09TX24J5Y

The End of the World Is Just the Beginning: Mapping the Collapse of Globalization by Peter Zeihan:

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=The+End+of+the+World

Israel: A Simple Guide to the Most Misunderstood Country on Earth:

https://www.amazon.com/Israel-Simple-Guide-Misunderstood-Country/dp/B08R7VV25R/ref=sr_1_1

—

FOLLOW:

https://twitter.com/msuster  

https://twitter.com/MollySOShea 

—

TIMESTAMPS:

(00:00) Intro

(01:17) Upfront Ventures' fund structure and investment approach

(10:50) Conviction factors: founder, market, and upfront fit

(19:23) The barbell strategy and upfront's integrity

(24:17) Lessons learned as a founder and the importance of directness

(29:10) Emerging categories and macro trends

(35:17) Challenging the misconceptions about capital-intensive categories

(37:46) Hardware and the evolving software landscape

(41:41) Exit opportunities and market dynamics

(43:52) The future of exits: private equity and M&A

(49:00) Book recommendations and closing thoughts

(01:00:38) Wrap

This week we’re dropping the first episode of Logan Bartlett, Keith Rabois, Kevin Ryan, and Zach Weinberg's newest podcast This Won’t Last. The show is an unfiltered backchannel where they unpack the hype cycles in venture, startup culture, and business.

In this episode they discuss Paul Graham’s Founder Mode, AI valuations, the state of the venture market, and free speech concerns with Telegram and TikTok.

--

Apply to join over 400 founders and Execs in the Turpentine Network: https://www.turpentinenetwork.co/

--

RECOMMENDED PODCAST: This Won't Last

Eavesdrop on Keith Rabois, Kevin Ryan, Logan Bartlett, and Zach Weinberg's monthly backchannel. They unpack their hottest takes on the future of tech, business, venture, investing, and politics.

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/id1765665937

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2HwSNeVLL1MXy0RjFPyOSz

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ThisWontLastpodcast 

--

SPONSORS

Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) is a single platform for your infrastructure, database, application development, and AI needs. OCI has four to eight times the bandwidth of other clouds and offers one consistent price. If you want to do more and spend less, take a free test drive of OCI at https://oracle.com/cognitive

Building an enterprise-ready SaaS app? WorkOS has got you covered with easy-to-integrate APIs for SAML, SCIM, and more. Join top startups like Vercel, Perplexity, Jasper & Webflow in powering your app with WorkOS. Enjoy a free tier for up to 1M users! Start now at https://bit.ly/WorkOS-Turpentine-Network

Head to Squad to access global engineering without the headache and at a fraction of the cost: head to https://choosesquad.com/ and mention “Turpentine” to skip the waitlist.

--

LINKS

High Output Management by Andy Grove https://www.amazon.com/High-Output-Management-Andrew-Grove/dp/0679762884/ 

Keith Rabois' lecture notes from 2013: How to Operate https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6fQHLK1aIBs 

Tesla vs Edison: The Last Days of Night: A Novel by Graham Moore https://www.amazon.com/Last-Days-Night-Novel/dp/0812988922 

Disruptive Innovation by Clayton M. Christensen https://hbr.org/2015/12/what-is-disruptive-innovation 

The Success Equation: Untangling Skill and Luck in Business, Sports, and Investing by Michael J. Mauboussin https://www.amazon.com/Success-Equation-Untangling-Business-Investing/dp/1422184234 

Dark Wire by Joseph Cox https://www.amazon.com/Dark-Wire-Incredible-Largest-Operation/dp/1541702697 

On railroads: Engines That Move Markets by Alistair Nairn https://www.amazon.com/Engines-That-Markets-Alisdair-Nairn/dp/0857195999/ 

The Kremlin has entered your chat https://www.wired.com/story/the-kremlin-has-entered-the-chat/

The Logan Bartlett Show https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCugS0jD5IAdoqzjaNYzns7w

--

TIMESTAMPS

(00:00) Intro

(01:01) Show origins

(01:52) Kevin comes back from Burning Man

(03:33) Paul Graham's Founder Mode, founder mode intuitive Keith, Pierre Lamond anecdote

(06:11) Keith's response to kernel of Founder Mode, Andy Grove High Output Management

(07:40) Zach asks what's unique about Founder Mode and Keith clarifies

(08:25) Manager vs. Founder

(12:09) Founder moral authority

(14:12) Investing in founder driven CEOs

(17:55) OCI | WorkOS Ads

(19:56) State of venture markets

(22:25) Driverless car future

(28:35) Revenue quality in Al valuations

(32:54) Squad Ad

(36:33) New technology being disruptive or helpful for incumbents

(39:12) Al in Biotech

(42:14) Al impacting fund AUM

(45:56) Al as the transistor

(46:50) Hurdle to return Al CapEx

(48:00) Unrealized Capital Gains Tax

(50:56) Sweden's tax vs Norway and corporation tax rates

(58:23) Medicare and Social Security, beneficial tax policies and misleading life expectancy stats

(1:05:44) Lina Khan, Antitrust effect on tech industry

(1:13:46) Perplexity shocking Google

(1:15:59) Pavel Durov and Russia's Influence in Telegram

(1:20:15) Not using TikTok & Telegram, risk in capital in Chinese companies

(1:25:55) Closing