On Turpentine VC, host and venture capitalist Erik Torenberg delves deep into the art and science of building successful venture firms through conversations with the world’s best investors and operators. Hear about insider strategies on decision-making, investment theses, and building firms for the long term—from the ground-level, VC to VC. Guests in season 1 include Ben Horowitz of a16z, Mamood Hamid and Ilya Fushman of Kleiner Perkins, and Alfred Lin of Sequoia. Turpentine VC is part of the Turpentine podcast network. Learn more: turpentine.co
Site
RSS
Apple
Recent rankings
Latest chart positions across Apple Podcasts and Spotify rankings.
Shared links between episodes and podcasts
Links found in episode descriptions and other podcasts that share them.
E69: Lost Tapes: Elad Gil on the Eve of the AI Boom
Season 1 · Episode 69
Wednesday, December 18, 2024 • Duration 50:17
This ‘lost episode’ of Turpentine VC with investor Elad Gil was recorded at a unique moment in time (September 2022) — before ChatGPT, Claude and Perplexity launched. Drawing from his experiences at Google, Elad discusses early ML systems, the open source debate, NVIDIA, labor markets, and AI alignment and shares some behind the scenes anecdotes.
—
🙏 Help shape our show by taking our quick listener survey at https://bit.ly/TurpentinePulse
—
RECOMMENDED PODCAST:
Check out Modern Relationships, where Erik Torenberg interviews tech power couples and leading thinkers to explore how ambitious people actually make partnerships work. Founders Fund's Delian Asparouhov and researcher Nadia Asparouhova kick off the series with an unfiltered conversation about their relationship evolution.
Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/id1786227593
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5hJzs0gDg6lRT6r10mdpVg
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ModernRelationshipsPod
--
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.
🤲🏼GiveWell spends 50,000 hours every year doing deep-dives into different charitable programs to try to find the ways to do the most good for your dollar. GiveWell has now spent over 17 years researching charitable organizations and only directs funding to a few of the HIGHEST-IMPACT opportunities they’ve found. Visit https://www.givewell.org to find out more or make a donation. (Select PODCAST and enter Econ 102 at checkout to support our show.)
💥 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:
Attention Is All You Need: https://proceedings.neurips.cc/paper_files/paper/2017/file/3f5ee243547dee91fbd053c1c4a845aa-Paper.pdf
AI Revolution - Transformers and Large Language Models (LLMs): https://blog.eladgil.com/p/ai-revolution-transformers-and-large
Elad’s website: https://eladgil.com/
High Growth Handbook by Elad Gil: https://growth.eladgil.com/ | https://www.amazon.com/High-Growth-Handbook-Elad-Gil/dp/1732265100
—
FOLLOW:
@eladgil
@eriktorenberg
@TurpentineVC
—
HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE EPISODE:
This episode was recorded in 2022, before the launch of ChatGPT, Claude, and other major AI applications that are now common. This interview captured a moment in time when industry leaders were anticipating major breakthroughs in AI.
Elad explained how AI's definition has evolved from basic automation in the 1980s to sophisticated applications, with Google emerging as the first true "AI-first" company at scale through its search and ad targeting systems.
The 2017 "Attention is All You Need" paper proved pivotal, with six of its eight authors going on to start companies, creating what Gil compared to a "Xerox PARC moment" where Google developed breakthrough technology but others, particularly OpenAI, commercialized it.
Elad outlined three main categories of emerging AI companies: platforms and infrastructure providers like OpenAI, AI-first standalone companies, and tech-enabled incumbents adding AI capabilities.
Initial predictions about AI's impact on labor markets proved incorrect, with AI currently affecting white-collar, repetitive tasks more than blue-collar jobs, and creative and caring fields experiencing more disruption than anticipated.
The semiconductor industry lacks a massive AI-specific chip company, with NVIDIA's continued success attributed to strong founder leadership, superior software tooling, and advanced interconnect capabilities.
Elad emphasized the importance of open-source models and predicted the AI platform market would likely consolidate into an oligopoly similar to cloud infrastructure, with a few dominant players rather than a single winner.
E68: How Theory Ventures Differentiates in a Crowded VC Market
Season 1 · Episode 68
Wednesday, December 11, 2024 • Duration 57:41
This week on Turpentine VC, we feature a compilation episode of our popular interviews with Tom Tunguz, General Partner at Theory Ventures who just announced a $450M second fund less than two years after launching. Over the course of the episode Tomasz explains their concentrated portfolio approach, and expands on their key theses in AI, decentralized infrastructure, and the future for data businesses (like Databricks and Snowflake).
—
🙏 Help shape our show by taking our quick listener survey at https://bit.ly/TurpentinePulse
—
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.
🤲🏼 GiveWell spends 50,000 hours every year doing deep-dives into different charitable programs to try to find the ways to do the most good for your dollar. GiveWell has now spent over 17 years researching charitable organizations and only directs funding to a few of the HIGHEST-IMPACT opportunities they’ve found. Visit https://www.givewell.org to find out more or make a donation. (Select PODCAST and enter Econ 102 at checkout to support our show.)
💥 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:
Tom’s Website: https://tomtunguz.com/
Theory Ventures: https://theory.ventures/
—
FOLLOW:
@ttunguz
@Theoryvc
@eriktorenberg
@TurpentineVC
—
HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE EPISODE:
Theory Ventures has launched a $450 million second fund and focuses on making concentrated investments after extensive research in specific sectors.
The venture capital industry has grown from $8 billion to $300 billion over the last 12 years but is expected to settle back to around $150-180 billion.
Blockchain technology is viewed as a contrarian investment in 2024, but there's potential for practical enterprise applications beyond cryptocurrency.
Databricks has seen massive growth, with its data warehousing revenue increasing from $100 million to $400 million in just one year.
The modern data infrastructure stack includes companies like Fivetran for moving data and DBT for transforming data once it's in a database.
The most valuable part of the data infrastructure business is compute workload processing, not data storage.
Tom’s take on NVIDIA's future value
E59: Mike Maples Jr. on Disruptive Investing
Season 1 · Episode 59
Thursday, October 10, 2024 • Duration 57:49
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. Oracle is offering to cut your cloud bill in half. See if your company qualifies at 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"
E58: Roger Ehrenberg on Mastering Seed Investing
Season 1 · Episode 58
Tuesday, October 1, 2024 • Duration 46:19
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
E57: a16z's Anish Acharya on Consumer AI
Season 1 · Episode 57
Thursday, September 26, 2024 • Duration 46:53
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
E56: Upfront Ventures' Mark Suster on Fund Management and the Exit Landscape
Season 1 · Episode 56
Tuesday, September 17, 2024 • Duration 01:03:44
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
E55: Keith Rabois, Logan Bartlett, Kevin Ryan, and Zach Weinberg Dissect the Current Funding Climate
Season 1 · Episode 55
Tuesday, September 10, 2024 • Duration 01:28:18
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
E54: Trae Stephens on Founders Fund
Season 1 · Episode 54
Tuesday, September 3, 2024 • Duration 55:53
In this episode of Turpentine VC, we revisit one of our most referenced interviews with Trae Stephens, General Partner at Founders Fund and co-founder of Anduril.
Trae discusses the unique DNA of Founders Fund, emphasizing the firm's culture of open debate and high conviction in investments. He highlights the importance of concentrated portfolios, and how Founders Fund's no-process approach differentiates them from other VC firms. They also discuss Founders Fund decision-making, governance, and incubation practices.
🔥 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/us/podcast/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. Oracle is offering to cut your cloud bill in half. See if your company qualifies at oracle.com/turpentine
🛠️ 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:
Founders Fund: https://foundersfund.com/
Anduril Industries: https://www.anduril.com/
—
FOLLOW ON X:
@eriktorenberg (Erik)
@traestephens (Trae)
@turpentinemedia (Turpentine)
—
TIMESTAMPS:
(00:00) Intro
(00:49) Debate culture and why that's key to Founders Funds success
(03:39) How Founders Fund's pitch is different from a16z's
(06:34) FF's unique market position
(08:51) How FF recruits their partners
(12:48) Sponsors: WorkOS and NetSuite
(14:31) The deal-making process, or lack thereof
(16:42) Governance at Founders Fund
(19:55) Comparing the YC approach
(22:09) How they measure success against other funds
(23:18) Trae's journey at Founders Fund
(25:21) Sponsor: Squad
(26:31) On incubating Anduril
(29:03) Why having no process forces partners to be higher conviction
(31:50) Core debates at Founders Fund
(33:58) The key to Founders Fund's current approach
(35:56) Trae's request for startups in gov tech
(37:12) The importance of team and talent
(39:33) What does the future look like for Founders Fund?
(41:22) What gets misunderstood about the firm
(45:42) On Mike Solana
(48:36) The three eras of Founders Fund summarized
(52:09) Wrap
E53: Tomasz Tunguz on the Evolution of the Data Ecosystem
Season 1 · Episode 53
Tuesday, August 27, 2024 • Duration 47:21
In this episode of Turpentine VC, Erik Torenberg welcomes back Tomasz Tunguz, GP of Theory Ventures. They dissect the investment landscape of data businesses through the lens of Databricks. They analyze the company's growth trajectory, competition with Snowflake, and its potential in the AI era. Tom presents bull and bear investment cases, discusses valuation metrics, and explores the strategic importance of data catalogs. They also cover the emerging trends in the modern data stack, potential market consolidation, and the impact of AI on investment opportunities.
🔥 Apply to join over 400 founders and Execs in the Turpentine Network: https://hmplogxqz0y.typeform.com/to/JCkphVqj
—
RECOMMENDED PODCASTS:
🎙️ 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/id1765665937
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2HwSNeVLL1MXy0RjFPyOSz
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ThisWontLastpodcast
—
SPONSORS:
🛠️ 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:
Tomasz’ website: https://tomtunguz.com/
Theory Ventures: https://theory.ventures/
Databricks: https://www.databricks.com/
Databricks' Accelerating Growth: https://tomtunguz.com/databricks-growth-2024/
—
FOLLOW ON X:
@eriktorenberg (Erik)
@ttunguz (Tomasz)
@turpentinemedia (Turpentine)
—
TIMESTAMPS:
(00:00) Introduction
(00:40) Tomasz' initial thoughts on Databricks
(02:09) Understanding Databricks' technology
(05:00) Unstructured data pipelines & applications
(06:11) Databricks' market opportunity & competitors
(08:05) Investability of Databricks
(10:24) Databricks vs. Snowflake: investment insights and market predictions
(13:10) Sponsors: WorkOS | Squad
(15:36) Bull & bear case for Databricks
(14:12) Unbundling of the database
(17:23) Databricks bullish outlook & investment considerations
(21:51) Databricks: a difficult technical problem
(23:15) The power of the data catalog
(25:25) Open vs. closed source: the Databricks & Snowflake dynamic
(28:58) The importance of compute workloads
(30:01) The modern data stack and the AI strategy
(31:31) Investor perspective and the evolution of the market
(33:30) The evolution of business intelligence
(35:55) Databases & Al models
(37:46) The GPU market and NVIDIA's future
(43:09) Wrap
E52: Charting the Course of Biotech with Laura Deming, GP of Longevity Fund, and Will Eden of Sylvan Consulting
Season 1 · Episode 52
Tuesday, August 20, 2024 • Duration 01:27:02
This week on Turpentine VC, we’re releasing a conversation between Erik Torenberg, Laura Deming of The Longevity Fund and Will Eden of Sylvan Consulting (prior to that, with Thiel capital) focused on the past, present and future of biotech.
Recorded in 2019, they discuss platform companies and the evolving biotech investment landscape, examining segments like therapeutics, cell and gene therapies. Will and Laura share insights on the historical waves of biotech, the FDA's role, and the intersections of biotech and tech investment strategies. They address challenges in evaluating biotech startups, the growth in longevity research since 2011, and the potential for extending life spans through various scientific advancements.
🔥 Apply to join over 400 founders and Execs in the Turpentine Network: https://hmplogxqz0y.typeform.com/to/JCkphVqj
—
RECOMMENDED PODCASTS:
🎙️ 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/id1765665937
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2HwSNeVLL1MXy0RjFPyOSz
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ThisWontLastpodcast
—
SPONSORS:
🛠️ 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-TCR
💥 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:
The Longevity Fund: https://www.longevity.vc/
Sylvan Consulting: https://www.sylvanconsulting.bio/
—
FOLLOW:
Laura Deming
Website: https://www.ldeming.com/
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/laura-deming-b255362a/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/laurademing
Will Eden
Website: https://becomingeden.com/start-here/
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/williamaeden/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/williamaeden
Erik Torenberg
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eriktorenberg/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/eriktorenberg
—
TIMESTAMPS:
(00:00) Intro
(01:17) Breaking down biotech investments
(04:31) The rise of digital health
(06:12) Innovations in nanotechnology
(07:02) Understanding platform companies and The Longevity Fund’s focus
(10:43) Historical Context of Biotech Investing
(11:55) Evolution of biotech investing over past decades
(14:56) New modalities in biotech
(18:42) Challenges in biotech startups
(21:47) Sponsors: WorkOS | Squad
(32:00) Impact of public market sentiment
(39:00) The Martin Shkreli effect
(42:23) The rising costs of drug development
(43:40) FDA's evolving role in drug approval
(44:44) Innovations in clinical trials
(46:44) Comparing FDA and venture capital
(48:06) The role of VCs in creating biotech companies
(57:15) The future of patents and pharma
(01:03:16) Deterministic vs. indeterministic worldviews in biotech
(01:14:49) Current state and future prospects of longevity research
(01:21:54) Wrap
Read more
Collapse
Read more
Collapse
Apple Podcasts
🇫🇷 France - investing
20/04/2026
#95
🇫🇷 France - investing
04/06/2025
#98
🇫🇷 France - investing
29/04/2025
#72
🇫🇷 France - investing
26/04/2025
#94
🇬🇧 Great Britain - investing
25/04/2025
#72
🇫🇷 France - investing
25/04/2025
#68
🇬🇧 Great Britain - investing
24/04/2025
#44
🇺🇸 USA - investing
24/04/2025
#88
🇫🇷 France - investing
24/04/2025
#40
🇬🇧 Great Britain - investing
23/04/2025
#54
Spotify
No recent rankings available
Related Shows Based on Content Similarities
Discover shows related to "Turpentine VC" | Venture Capital and Investing , based on actual content similarities. Explore podcasts with similar topics, themes, and formats, backed by real data.
