The Twenty Minute VC (20VC): Venture Capital | Startup Funding | The Pitch
01:00:11 · Venky Ganesan, Harry Stebbings
[01:00:11] S0: Look at the windshield, the rearview mirror. The results and financial performance are rearview mirror calculations, and they're good about telling you what they did in the past. They don't tell you how some firm's gonna do. Performance is a lagging indicator, and it's actually a five to seven year lagging indicator. So my advice would be call a bunch of entrepreneurs or successful AI companies and ask them who are the partners they respect. And my email didn't take the money. And if the firm you're talking to doesn't have a few of those partners in the mix, then that's your that's your windshield. [01:00:48] S1: How do you stop your team getting arrogant? You guys have got the winning hand. [01:00:52] S0: You're only as good as your last investment. It doesn't matter if you're the lion or the antelope in the savannah. You wake up in the morning if you're the lion. If you don't run, you don't eat. If you're the antelope, you don't run, you don't live. You just had to run. I feel like you have to think about the most important meeting is the next one. The most important investment is the next one. The most important board meeting is the next one. And if you don't spend time in the present thinking about it, I think you'll lose this game. [01:01:18] S1: What's the secret to marriage when you scale wealth over time together? Oh, wow.
01:01:18 · Harry Stebbings, Venky Ganesan
[01:01:18] S1: What's the secret to marriage when you scale wealth over time together? Oh, wow. [01:01:24] S0: Well, you gotta marry someone better than you, which I did. Thank you. Thank you. That's... Thank... And and you gotta convince her to stay with you or him, whatever your preference might be. Finding a life partner who inspires you to be the best version of yourself and supports you to be that is, I think, critical. And if we can do that for each other, I think that'll... Because I I think at the core of long term marriage is, I think, real respect. It's love and real respect, but I think respect is super important, and and and that comes from inspiring each other to be the best version of you can be. [01:01:56] S1: What's the best advice you've ever been given? You mentioned mister Steve Sloan and his father-in-law. His father-in-law is one of my closest friends, and he once said to me, you're never wrong to do the right thing, but the right thing is very often the hard thing.
01:01:56 · Harry Stebbings, Venky Ganesan
[01:01:56] S1: What's the best advice you've ever been given? You mentioned mister Steve Sloan and his father-in-law. His father-in-law is one of my closest friends, and he once said to me, you're never wrong to do the right thing, but the right thing is very often the hard thing. [01:02:10] S0: Yeah. I think the best advice I've gotten have really centered around being around people. Like, like, think I think that Ronald Reagan has a quote that Tom Reilly, who was a CEO of Trico, told me he wanted to do that. There's no limit to what a person can do as long as you don't care who gets the credit. I have felt when I was early in my career, I was very focused on getting credit. I really... Like, am I gonna get credit? It's it's it's... And then I have let go of that and focused on just doing what's right and not worrying about if I'm gonna get credit. That's actually been pretty freeing, and I think that's made me a better teammate. [01:02:48] S1: I love that. I don't think there's a better way to end than on that. Your humility is astonishing. It's it's really just like, one, you're very calming. I almost feel like you should be, like, on headspace or calm, one. And two, it's just a wonderful humility that I rarely see as a venture investor. But thank you so much for doing this. [01:03:08] S0: You have too many successful people on your show. I I try to lower the bar for you. [01:03:11] S1: I've so enjoyed this. Thank you for doing it. And you see shows like this why it's so much better in person. You can't have this virtually, so thank you for doing it.
01:03:11 · Harry Stebbings, Venky Ganesan
[01:03:11] S1: I've so enjoyed this. Thank you for doing it. And you see shows like this why it's so much better in person. You can't have this virtually, so thank you for doing it. [01:03:19] S0: Thank you, Harry, and thank you for... Look. I have to say my colleague Claire was coming to me and she said, I watch Harry all the time. He has become my favorite show, especially the one you do with Rory and Jason. And this is what she said. This is Trump the all in podcast as as my number one show. So I have to say, you're getting fans all over the place.
01:03:40 · Harry Stebbings
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01:05:58 · Harry Stebbings
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