Inside the Logan Bartlett Show, Investing Through Market Cycles + Bubbles, Dissecting VC Frameworks
Logan Bartlett is a Managing Director at Redpoint.
If you like startups and you listen to podcasts, you’re probably familiar with his podcast, the Logan Bartlett Show. We talk about how it first got started, plus all his tricks for growing the podcast, including his canonical episodes in 2022 that helped pop the web3 bubble.
We also talk market cycles and bubbles, and what Logan’s seeing in the data today, especially in AI, plus Logan’s philosophy’s on venture capital as an asset class, his favorite under the radar investors, and advice for his younger self.
Timestamps:
(00:00) Intro
(01:33) Not getting invited to Michael Rubin’s white party
(04:29) Meeting on Twitter during COVID
(11:09) How Logan and I benefited from Twitter
(16:55) Early days of the Logan Bartlett Show
(22:10) Why podcasts are so hard to grow, and how Logan did it
(24:50) Learning YouTube’s the best for podcast growth
(29:51) Inside Logan’s web3 episodes with Zach Weinberg
(32:07) Lessons from studying history and market cycles
(33:15) Producer Ben fact checking Logan's historical railroad statistics
(39:42) How to invest in and around bubbles
(51:00) Market data from Redpoint’s 2024 AGM update
(55:12) Differences between companies valued at 100x and 5x ARR
(1:00:04) The Barbell Theory of asset management and why Logan disagrees it will happen in VC
(1:09:40) Ways VCs can actually add value
(1:12:27) Redpoint’s founding story + greatest hits
(1:18:14) The most underrated investors and founders
(1:21:35) Advice for young people: pick a niche, go deep, stay focused
If you enjoy this conversation and you’re not already, make sure to like, comment, follow, and subscribe to my newsletter in the show notes to get future episodes in your inbox every week.
Referenced:
Clearspace https://www.getclearspace.com/
Acquired’s TikTok episode https://www.acquired.fm/episodes/tiktok
Gorilla Game https://www.amazon.com/Gorilla-Game-Picking-Winners-Technology/dp/0887309577
Redpoint’s AGM Update https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1T3kGf-n4cmd6_UqOQNb79ZXFL723b9HdZyTnk9sLOlM/edit
Where to find Logan:
Twitter: https://x.com/loganbartlett
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/loganbartlett/
Where to find Turner:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/TurnerNovak
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/turnernovak/
Newsletter: https://www.thespl.it/
SaaStr 746: What's Really Happening in Venture Capital Today with Redpoint Ventures Managing Director Logan Bartlett
SaaStr 746: What's Really Happening in Venture Capital Today with Redpoint Ventures Managing Director Logan Bartlett
There are a lot of haves and have-nots in the software industry today. Some companies have more people throwing money at them than they know what to do with, and others are struggling to raise any money at all.
Logan Bartlett, Managing Director at Redpoint Ventures, shares their yearly "State of the Market" report to understand what is and isn't happening in venture capital today. 2024 is the tale of two markets, so let's get into some of the data on today's episode.
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Join us in 2024 at:
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This episode is sponsored by Pendo, the all-in-one product experience platform.
Pendo helps your users do the things you really want them to do. You can try Pendo for free at Pendo.io/saastr and check out Mind The Product, the community for product people like… us.
EP 103: The Untold Story of Marcus Ryu (Co-Founder Guidewire & Partner at Battery Ventures) Scaling to $10B and Diving into VC
After 18 years leading Guidewire (~$10B), Marcus Ryu made the transition from CEO to partner at Battery Ventures. In the episode, Marcus shares his journey of co-founding Guidewire in 2001, steering the company through its IPO in 2012, and building one of the largest vertical software businesses in the world. He shares his insights on how to build a durable company in troubling times, what he looks for in entrepreneurs, the future of vertical software, and much more.
(00:00) Intro
(01:31) The Philosophical Approach to Investing and Strategy
(03:27) Unpacking the Strategy: Diagnosis, Market Definition, and Execution
(04:31) The Intricacies of Investment Decisions and Entrepreneurial Insight
(10:39) From Philosophy to Silicon Valley: A Personal Journey
(12:29) The Dot-com Bubble and Lessons Learned
(26:19) Guidewire's Founding: Identifying a Niche in the Insurance Industry
(37:13) The Early Days: Building from Scratch
(37:34) The Founder's Balance Sheet: Energy, Time, and Market Demand
(37:54) Starting with Nothing: The Humble Beginnings of a Startup
(38:14) The Power of Insight and Precision in Startup Success
(39:58) Product Development and Market Strategy: The Binder's Role
(40:37) The Brutal Reality of Go-to-Market: Rejection and Resilience
(42:59) The Parable of the Horse: Navigating Startup Highs and Lows
(45:23) Overcoming Legal Battles and Finding a Moral Purpose
(48:37) The CEO Transition: Learning from Leadership Changes
(50:49) Foundational Principles for Sustaining Founder Relationships
(53:41) Cultivating a Company Culture Based on Core Values
(01:01:31) The Journey from Founder to Investor: A New Chapter
(01:03:53) The Role of a Board and Achieving Founder-Investor Alignment
(01:08:25) Managing Founder Psychosis and Scaling as a Leader
(01:12:52) The Founder's Journey and Commitment
(01:13:27) The Philosophical Underpinnings of Insurance
(01:14:03) Insurance: A Civilizational Necessity
(01:15:01) The Impact of Insurance on Society and Innovation
(01:19:32) Navigating the Complexities of Insurance Regulation
(01:21:07) The Dark Side of Ad Tech and Its Societal Impact
(01:28:41) The Challenge of Communication and Leadership
(01:31:46) The Future of Software: Vertical Specialization
(01:42:05) Evaluating Founders and the Essence of Entrepreneurship
(01:45:56) Emerging Opportunities and the Specificity of Markets
(01:48:53) Concluding Reflections on Authentic Leadership
Executive Producer: Rashad Assir
Producer: Leah Clapper
Mixing and editing: Justin Hrabovsky
Check out Unsupervised Learning, Redpoint's AI Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@UCUl-s_Vp-Kkk_XVyDylNwLA
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About the Show
Logan Bartlett is a Software Investor at Redpoint Ventures - a Silicon Valley-based VC with $6B AUM and investments in Snowflake, DraftKings, Twilio, and Netflix. In each episode of The Logan Bartlett Show, we sit down with the people behind today’s most important startups and extract the tactics, lessons, and frameworks they’ve learned the hard way. Conversations span hiring to GTM, product, growth, fundraising and everything in between - collectively forming the ultimate playbook to make you a better CEO, investor or board member.
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Gen-Z is rewriting the rules of the Internet, and here's how startups should respond
Why the extra edition? Because Battery Ventures dropped an interesting report on Gen-Z and we wanted to talk about it.
Alex got Courtney Chow, a vice president at Battery and one of the report's authors to chat about it. You can read the report itself here.
This is what we got into:
The fracturing of culture: Gen-Z is large, and very diverse. The trend away from monolithic cultural primacy that began years ago has accelerated with the generation, making culture itself more personal, and more distinct. For startups, this means branding will become a different challenge if they want to reach this demographic slice.
Everything is short-form video: Given massive usage of TikTok by Gen-Z and the popularity of other platforms that feature short-form video, we were curious how smaller companies can compete with incumbents that already have a Reels strategy, if you will.
Ethical capitalism: One of the most interesting areas of the Battery report was its notes on how entrepreneurial Gen-Z is, and how diverse they are. Gen-Z also has expectations around goods and services they purchase relating to the actions of the companies behind the sale. So, if you want to sell to Gen-Z, you might need to care about climate change, for example.
Now, that's officially it for us this week. Enjoy the rest of your weekend, and we'll catch up on Monday!
For episode transcripts and more, head to Equity’s Simplecast website.
Equity drops at 7 a.m. PT every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, so subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify and all the casts. TechCrunch also has a great show on crypto, a show that interviews foundersand more!
Credits: Equity is produced by Theresa Loconsolo with editing by Kell. Bryce Durbin is our Illustrator. We'd also like to thank the audience development team and Henry Pickavet, who manages TechCrunch audio products.
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20VC: Is Now Really the Best Time to Be Investing? WTF is Happening at Growth Stage Investing? Why VCs Have Gotten Lazy Over the Last 2 Years? Investing Lessons from Hitting with Braze and Missing with Snowflake with Logan Bartlett, Managing Director @ Re
Logan Bartlett is a Managing Director @ Redpoint, a firm with a portfolio including the likes of Stripe, Nubank, Twilio, Netflix, Snowflake and many more incredible names. As for Logan, at Redpoint he has led investments in the likes of Ramp, Monte Carlo, Cribl, Crossbeam and Acuity MD to name a few. Before joining Redpoint, Logan spent over 5 years with the team at Battery where he made investments in Pendo, Amplitude, Dataiku, Braze and Kustomer.
In Today's Episode with Logan Bartlett We Discuss:
1.) Entry into Venture:
How Logan made his way into the world of venture joining Battery Ventures?
What are 1-2 of Logan's biggest takeaways from his time with Battery?
What does Logan know now that he wishes he had known when he started in venture?
2.) The Venture Landscape Today:
Is now really the best time to be investing? How does Logan compare today to prior vintages? How does this differ when comparing consumer to B2B?
How does Logan analyze the state of the growth market? Is anyone really doing deals today? If so, what is the discount on price vs last year?
How do the public markets impact the later stage financings which have disappeared in the last 3 months? How do the later stage financings impact the early stage?
Does Logan agree that "venture has never been less collaborative as it is today"?
3.) The Role of the Venture Investor:
Why does Logan believe that VCs have gotten lazy over the last 2 years? Does Logan believe we will see even more GPs at the top retire in the downturn?
How does Logan analyse his role as a board member today? How has his style changed over time?
What is the single best board Logan is on? Why that one? Who is the best board member Logan works with? What makes this board member so good?
How does Logan assess the importance of personal brand in venture today? Why does Logan believe no company should hire PR firms from the early days?
4.) Investing Style and Lessons:
What has been Logan's single biggest hit as an investor? How did seeing that impact his mindset?
What has been Logan's biggest miss? How did not doing the investment change how he thinks about making new investments today?
How does Logan assess his own relationship to price? How has it changed over time?
As a growth investor today, how important is ownership? How does this change with stage?
Items Mentioned in Today's Episode:
Logan's Favourite Book: Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln
Logan's Most Recent Investment: AcuityMD
SaaStr 582: SaaS Secret Sauce: How the CEO -- CRO Dynamic Drives Growth with Marketo Former EVP Sales Bill Binch
We've learned Saas companies strive to achieve the T2D3 model. Join Bill Binch, Former EVP Sales, Marketo (currently Operating Partner at Battery Ventures) as he discusses Marketo's success and why the same old playbook needs to be adapted for today. Learn from Bill on how the CEO & CRO relationship shapes this and what new ideas founders need to think through.
Full video: https://youtu.be/MS3e6_T5RYs
Want to join the SaaStr community? We're the 🌎largest community for B2B software.
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(TWTR SPC) Techpocalypse Now! W/ @EricNewcomer @loganbartlett & @alexrkonrad
Techpocalypse Now! W/ @EricNewcomer @loganbartlett & @alexrkonrad
How bad is it? How bad can it get? How do we get out of this?
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SaaStr 177: Why Career Paths Are For B Players in Sales, How To "Rig The Recruiters" To Ensure The Best Talent Pipeline & Successfully Moving From Transactional To Enterprise with Bill Binch, CRO @ Pendo.io
Bill Binch is a leader and expert in the SaaS sales industry, currently CRO @ Pendo.io, the startup that helps you understand and guide your users, creating a product experience they can't live without. They have raised over $58m in VC funding from some of the best in their space with the likes of Battery Ventures, Spark Capital and Salesforce Ventures, all backing them. As for Bill, prior to Pendo, Bill was the Senior Vice President of Global Sales at Marketo for 8 years. He joined when it was a small venture-backed startup with a mission to reinvent marketing automation. It was his sales leadership and expertise that formed a critical component in building Marketo into one of the fastest-growing enterprise software companies in the world, recognized through his being awarded worldwide VP of sales in 2011.
In Today's Episode You Will Learn:
How Bill made his way into the world of SaaS and came to be employee #18 at Marketo before making the transition to today, as CRO @ Pendo?
Bill has said before that career paths are for B players. First, what is wrong with the current thinking around career paths? Why does that inherently mean that A players do not align with them? How can one determine when is the right time to step away from the career paths? What characteristics and attributes do those truly special opportunities have?
Bill has successfully made the transition from transactional business to enterprise business many times, what have been his core learnings on what it takes to make this transition successfully? What are the biggest challenges in making the transition? How does the internal structure of the team change when making this transition?
What does Bill mean when he says you have to "rig the recruiters"? What incentives can be placed in front of them that ensure you will be a priority for them? On the flip side, what incentives do you have to give the recently on boarded employees to encourage grassroots, word of mouth on the company brand?
How does the company and sales cycle fundamentally change when moving from $0-1m ARR? What does that mean for the company policy on discounting and pilots? How does the company alter when transitioning from $1-10m in ARR? How can sustainable social validity be built in this stage? How does a company successfully move from $15m-100m in ARR?
60 Second SaaStr?
What does Bill know now that he wishes he had known at the beginning?
What keeps Bill up at night?
What does Bill mean when he says you have to check your ego?
Read the full transcript on our blog.
If you would like to find out more about the show and the guests presented, you can follow us on Twitter here:
Jason Lemkin
Harry Stebbings
SaaStr
Bill Binch
If you're looking to simplify file version control, ensure data security and save time while increasing accessibility, Egnyte is the right solution for your business. Egnyte delivers secure content collaboration, compliant data protection and simple infrastructure modernization; all on a single SaaS platform. Founded in 2007, Egnyte is privately held, headquartered in Mountain View, CA and supports thousands of businesses worldwide. For more information, please visit www.egnyte.com/SaaStr.
SaaStr 026: How To Hire & Motivate The Best Sales Team with Bill Binch, Former SVP of Sales @ Marketo
Bill Binch is a leader and expert in the SaaS sales industry. Bill was the senior vice president of worldwide sales at marketo for 8 years and he joined when it was a small venture backed startup with a mission to reinvent marketing automation, it was his sales leadership and expertise that formed a critical component in building Marketo into one of the fastest growing enterprise software companies in the world. Recognized through his being awarded worldwide VP of sales in 2011.
In today's show with Bill we discuss:
What were Bill's biggest takeaways from his time scaling the sales organisation at Marketo??
Why did Bill find it enticing selling to sales and marketers with Marketo?
How can startups go about approaching the topic of the sales cycle? What does the right cadence look like?
How can sales leaders look to establish a quota that is achievable and confident? Why is it about deal frequency not dollar size?
How can we optimise the hiring process for sales professionals? What are the benefits to over hiring? Is this sustainable in a downturn?
Does Bill agree that customer success will be the new sales, as Nick Mehta stated?
In a round we call the 60 Second Saastr, we also hear:
SaaS tools that Bill could not live without?
Creating your own scorecard?
What does Bill know now that he wished he had known at the beggining
If you would like to find out more about the show and the guests presented you can follow us on Twitter here:
Jason Lemkin
Harry Stebbings
Saastr
Bill Binch
20VC: The Rise Of The Celebrity VC & The Pros and Cons Of Staying Private with Logan Bartlett @ Battery Ventures
Logan Bartlett is an investor @ Battery Ventures, where he focuses on growth investments for B2B software companies. He is currently involved in Battery’s investment in Pendo and StreamSets. Before joining Battery, Logan was in investment banking with Spurrier Capital Partners, a boutique merchant bank focused on the technology sector. There, he sourced application-software deals with a focused on the marketing-automation sector as well as sales force automation, human-capital management, work management/collaboration, front-office analytics and data-services companies. Prior to that, Logan served as an investment banking analyst at Deutsche Bank focusing on financial technology. In Today's Episode You Will Learn: 1.) How Logan made his way into the wonderful world of venture capital?
2.) So as young chap entering the industry, I would love to hear how you have gone abut trying to build your brand and identity? What are the key personal marketing strategies for you? How important do you think the brand of the VC is? How do you address the juxtaposition of branding and marketing yourself and battery?
3.) How does Logan approach the deal sourcing aspect of the job? What is his approach to this vital thesis?
3.) Moving to more financial matters I want to address both the seed end and the later stage end of the market today. So starting with the seed funding environment, in recent years we have seen a massive drop in the cost of company creation in conjunction with a large rise in seed funding,. What is the effect of this for you as a Series A-B investor, potentially located in what some may call the funding gap?
4.) You are very much located in the B2B space, d I am intrigued wht kind of ARR do you look for at the stage you are investing and what price point per customer do you believe allows for that ARR metric to be hit within a reasonably short amount of time?
5.) Moving to the later stages of the market I have seen in a slide of yours from the past that you stated that more institutional investors have made their way into the private markets and startups are staying private longer. You followed up by staying that this is a win win for all? Why do you think that is? Does it not mean later stage VCs are priced out of rounds due to the inflow of public money? Does it not mean later stage startups attain inflated valuation that will only lead to a down round at follow on or IPO?
Items Mentioned In Today's Episode:
Logan's Fave Book: Gang Leader For A Day
Logan's Fave Blog Or Newsletter: Dan Primack: Term Sheet
As always you can follow The Twenty Minute VC, Harry and Logan on Twitter here! If you would like to see a more colourful side to Harry with many a mojito session, you can follow him on Instagram here! The Twenty Minute VC is brought to you by Leesa, the Warby Parker or TOMS shoes of the mattress industry. Lees have done away with the terrible mattress showroom buying experience by creating a luxury premium foam mattress that is order completely online and ships for free to your doorstep. The 10 inch mattress comes in all sizes and is engineered with 3 unique foam layers for a universal, adaptive feel, including 2 inches of memory foam and 2 inches of a really cool latex foam called Avena, design to keep you cool. All Leesa mattresses are 100% US or UK made and for every 10 mattresses they sell, they donate one to a shelter. Go to Leesa.com/VC and enter the promo code VC75 to get $75 off!
20VC: The Best Determinant Of Product Market Fit & Why Prior Experience Is Not Required For Founder Success with Neeraj Agrawal, General Partner @ Battery Ventures
Neeraj Agrawal is a general partner at Battery Ventures investing in SaaS and Internet companies across all stages. He was a founding investor in BladeLogic in 2001 and has invested in several other companies that have gone on to stage IPOs, including Bazaarvoice, Guidewire Software, Marketo, Omniture, RealPage and Wayfair. His current, private investments include AppDynamics, Catchpoint, Chef, Cohesity, Coupa, Glassdoor.com, Nutanix, Optimizely, Pendo, SmarterHQ, Sprinklr, StellaService, Tealium and Yesware. For the last six years, Neeraj has been recognized on the Forbes Midas List, which ranks the top 100 venture capitalists in the world. Click To Play In Today's Episode You Will Learn: 1.) How Neeraj made his way into the world of VC?
2.)Question From Logan Bartlett: 'What is your thought process on what makes a good vs a bad deal? Also, how have you developed your ability to process deals and poke holes in logic?'
3.) How can early stage Saas founders determine the extent to their product market fit??
4.) What is it like to back rocketships like GlassDoor or Marketo and helping scale operations when you’re in hyper growth mode? Does Neeraj agree with Sheryl Sandberg’s statement, it doesn’t matter where you sit, as long as you have a seat on the rocketship?
5.) Neeraj previously stated in a Nasdaq article that it is all about the team and the market. So I am intrigued what are Neeraj's thoughts on VC founder alignment? Neeraj also places emphasis on the market, so how does Neeraj view the juxtaposition between current and future market?
6.) One hurdle preventing some companies from growth is the ability to attain later rounds of funding so as a largely Series B investor, why is raising a Series B so tough? Is it the embodiment of the funding barbell?
Items Mentioned In Today's Episode:
Neeraj's Fave Blog: Brad Feld, Jason Lemkin
Neeraj's Most Recent Investment: Pendo.io
As always you can follow The Twenty Minute VC, Harry and Neeraj on Twitter here! If you would like to see a more colourful side to Harry with many a mojito session, you can follow him on Instagram here! The Twenty Minute VC is brought to you by Leesa, the Warby Parker or TOMS shoes of the mattress industry. Lees have done away with the terrible mattress showroom buying experience by creating a luxury premium foam mattress that is order completely online and ships for free to your doorstep. The 10 inch mattress comes in all sizes and is engineered with 3 unique foam layers for a universal, adaptive feel, including 2 inches of memory foam and 2 inches of a really cool latex foam called Avena, design to keep you cool. All Leesa mattresses are 100% US or UK made and for every 10 mattresses they sell, they donate one to a shelter. Go to Leesa.com/VC and enter the promo code VC75 to get $75 off!
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