Sriram Krishnan joins Theo Jaffee and Sofia Puccini just after concluding his tenure as Senior White House Policy Advisor on AI to discuss one of the biggest weeks yet for open-source AI. They unpack the rapid release of models including Kimi K3 and Qwen, why open models are putting pressure on frontier labs, and what it means for pricing, competition, and the future of AI infrastructure.
They also discuss AI policy, distillation, cybersecurity, the role of open-weight models, whether the U.S. should respond to China's growing AI capabilities, and how governments and frontier labs should navigate the next phase of AI development.
Resources:
Follow Sriram Krishnan on X: https://x.com/sriramk
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Please note that the content here is for informational purposes only; should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security; and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any a16z fund. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures.
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As part of our summer replay series, we're revisiting one of our most-discussed conversations from the past year.
David Sacks joins Marc Andreessen, Ben Horowitz, and Erik Torenberg to discuss the intersection of AI, crypto, regulation, and American competitiveness.
The conversation explores the Trump administration's approach to AI and crypto policy, open source AI, export controls, energy and infrastructure, the global race with China, and the role regulation plays in shaping innovation. They also discuss stablecoins, the future of AI development, permissionless innovation, and why they believe America's long-term advantage depends on enabling builders rather than slowing them down.
Along the way, Sacks shares his perspective on AI safety, decentralized technology, federal versus state regulation, and what it will take for the U.S. to remain the global leader in emerging technologies.
Resources:
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Please note that the content here is for informational purposes only; should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security; and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any a16z fund. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures.
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David Sacks, White House AI and Crypto Czar, joins Marc, Ben, and Erik to explore what's really happening inside the Trump administration's AI and crypto strategy. They expose the regulatory capture playbook being pushed by certain AI companies, explain why open source is America's secret weapon, and detail the infrastructure crisis that could determine who wins the global AI race.
Stay Updated:
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Please note that the content here is for informational purposes only; should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security; and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any a16z fund. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures.
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Please note that the content here is for informational purposes only; should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security; and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any a16z fund. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures.
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Sriram Krishnan was never interested in policy. But after seeing a gap in AI knowledge at senior levels of government, he decided to lend his expertise to the tech-friendly Trump administration. Senior White House Policy Advisor on AI Sriram Krishnan joins Elad Gil and Sarah Guo to talk about America’s AI Action Plan, a recent executive order that outlines how America can win the AI race and maintain its AI supremacy. Sriram discusses why winning the AI race is important and what that looks like, as well as the core goals of the Action Plan that he helped to author. Together, they explore how AI is the latest iteration of American cultural exportation and soft power, the bottlenecks in upgrading America’s energy infrastructure, and the importance of America owning the “full stack” from GPUs and models to agents and software.
Sign up for new podcasts every week. Email feedback to show@no-priors.com
Follow us on Twitter: @NoPriorsPod | @Saranormous | @EladGil | @skrishnan47 | @sriramk
Chapters:
00:00 – Sriram Krishnan Introduction
01:00 – Sriram’s Role in Government
03:43 – Impetus for the America AI Action Plan
06:14 – What Winning the AI Race Looks Like
10:36 – Algorithms and Cultural Bias
12:26 – Main Tenets of the America AI Action Plan
19:13 – Infrastructure and Energy Needs for AI
22:56 – Manufacturing, Supply Chains, and AI
24:52 – Ensuring American Dominance in Robotics
26:30 – Translating Policy to Industry and the Economy
29:30 – Should the US Be a Technocracy?
32:33 – Understanding the Argument Against Open Source Models
36:07 – Conclusion
(0:00) The Besties welcome Gavin Baker!
(1:51) Markets: Pricing in tariffs, Trump vs. Powell, solving the debt crisis
(19:24) The $10 trillion AGI prize, what artificial general intelligence and superintelligence looks like in the economy
(38:33) Sacks and Bo Hines join to discuss the GENIUS Act and the CLARITY Act passing the House this week, and what it means for crypto in the US
(52:42) AI Infrastructure: $90B in new investments announced, Nvidia H20 export restrictions lifted
(1:06:06) Sacks interviews Senator Bill Hagerty on the passing of the GENIUS Act
Follow Gavin Baker:
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Intro Music Credit:
https://rb.gy/tppkzl
https://x.com/yung_spielburg
Intro Video Credit:
https://x.com/TheZachEffect
Referenced in the show:
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-07-16/trump-likely-to-fire-powell-soon-white-house-official-says
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/16/us/politics/trump-powell-firing-letter.html
https://polymarket.com/event/fed-decision-in-september?tid=1752872350388
https://www.cnbc.com/2025/07/15/cpi-inflation-report-june-2025.html
https://www.cnbc.com/quotes/US30Y
https://polymarket.com/event/will-trump-remove-jerome-powell
https://polymarket.com/event/who-will-trump-announce-as-next-fed-chair?tid=1752854752131
https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2025/07/15/congress/house-gop-crypto-bills-trump-00455645
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/15/us/politics/trump-ai-pittsburgh-speech.html
Jessica is joined by former Trump advisor Kellyanne Conway to break down the latest chaos inside the administration. They dive into the fallout from Signalgate—and the possible repercussions of Trump’s Liberation Day tariff threats. Plus, the Supreme Court is set to weigh in on Trump’s most aggressive immigration policies. And finally, looking ahead: What does a post-Trump world look like for both parties, and how seriously should we take the possibility of a third Trump term?
Follow Jessica Tarlov, @JessicaTarlov.
Follow Prof G, @profgalloway.
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In this episode, David Sacks and Evan Owen of Glue join Jason to demo their new “slack killer” product (4:38), explain the role of AI within Glue (14:14), discuss building products with remote vs in-person teams (36:47), and more!
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Timestamps:
(0:00) David Sacks and Evan Owen join Jason to show us newly launched Glue.
(2:42) David Sacks answers, “Why build another product?”.
(4:38) Evan jumps into a demo of Glue.
(9:37) Squarespace - Use offer code TWIST to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain at http://www.Squarespace.com/TWIST
(12:15) Popular data sources users are incorporating into Glue.
(14:14) Digging deeper on the AI of Glue and when it will be able to be proactive in its participation.
(19:42) LinkedIn Jobs - Post your first job for free at https://www.linkedin.com/twist
(21:07) Glue’s strategy on converting users from tools like slack in this competitive landscape.
(27:18) Glue’s approach to pricing.
(30:16) Dot Tech Domains - Don’t miss our “Jam with JCal” contest. To apply and get more details go to https://jamwithjcal.tech/
(31:45) Training models and the heated subject of privacy and security.
(34:12) How building a company now, fourteen years after Yammer, has been different for Sacks.
(36:47) Diving into the topic of building products with remote vs in-person teams.
*
Check out Glue: https://gluegroups.com/
Glue on X: https://x.com/GlueAI
*
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*
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X: https://x.com/kainosnoema
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/evanaowen/
*
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X: https://twitter.com/Jason
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncalacanis
*
Thank you to our partners:
(9:37) Squarespace - Use offer code TWIST to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain at http://www.Squarespace.com/TWIST
(19:42) LinkedIn Jobs - Post your first job for free at https://www.linkedin.com/twist
(30:16) Dot Tech Domains - Don’t miss our “Jam with JCal” contest. To apply and get more details go to https://jamwithjcal.tech/
*
Great 2023 interviews: Steve Huffman, Brian Chesky, Aaron Levie, Sophia Amoruso, Reid Hoffman, Frank Slootman, Billy McFarland
*
Check out Jason’s suite of newsletters: https://substack.com/@calacanis
*
Follow TWiST:
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TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thisweekinstartups
*
Subscribe to the Founder University Podcast: https://www.founder.university/podcast
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Today’s show:
Sunny Madra and David Sacks join Jason to break down all the chaos of the past few days at OpenAI including why the situation is so unprecedented (17:46), the board’s failure (30:18), the impact on startups (43:34), and much more!
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Time stamps:
(0:00) Recapping the chaotic past few days at OpenAI plus some immediate impacts from the fallout
(16:43) NetSuite - Download your free KPI Checklist at http://netsuite.com/twist
(17:46) David Sacks joins the show and explains why this situation is so unprecedented in Silicon Valley
(28:51) LinkedIn Marketing - Get a $100 LinkedIn ad credit at https://linkedin.com/thisweekinstartups
(30:18) How the board could have handled this better, Sam Altman's misaligned incentives packages (or lack thereof)
(37:14) Silicon Valley's battle-tested standard structure, and why you shouldn't innovate on corporate structure
(42:20) Brave - Try the Brave Search API at http://brave.com/jason
(43:34) Impact on startups reliant on OpenAI's models, a brutal momentum killer for OpenAI
(50:39) Predictions: Return of the King? Mass Exodus? Something else?
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Follow Sunny: https://twitter.com/sundeep
Follow Sacks: https://twitter.com/DavidSacks
*
Great 2023 interviews: Steve Huffman, Brian Chesky, Aaron Levie, Sophia Amoruso, Reid Hoffman, Frank Slootman, Billy McFarland
Check out Jason’s suite of newsletters: https://substack.com/@calacanis
*
Follow Jason:
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*
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*
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Are you curious to learn what the future of SaaS will look like in 2024? Well, look no further. In this informative interview, two of the biggest pioneers of SaaS, David Sacks, Founder and General Partner of Craft Ventures and Jason Lemkin, SaaStr Founder and CEO, team up to discuss the potential landscape for AI-focused SaaS over the next five years. From understanding what it takes to raise a Series A these days to discovering how AI will shape the industry, get a unique insight into the world of SaaS as two leading experts share their predictions and experience. Don't miss your chance to keep ahead of the competition – listen now!
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Today’s show:
SaaSGrid Co-Founders Ethan Ruby and David Sacks join Jason to demo SaaSGrid and break down the solution it provides for founders (3:12). They also cover the software recession (26;18), AI’s impact on SaaS (36:41), and much more!
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Time stamps:
(0:00) David Sacks and Ethan Ruby join Jason
(3:12) The solution SaaSGrid provides for founders
(7:02) Ethan demos SaaSGrid
(9:25) House of Macadamias - Get 20% off and a free box of Namibian Sea Salted Macadamia Nuts at https://houseofmacadamias.com/twist by using code TWIST20
(10:45) Burn multiple and startup efficiency
(16:27) Fixed cost of a SaaS business today and major roadblocks in SaaS
(20:40) Determining target customers and when outbound makes sense
(25:10) Vanta - Get $1000 off your SOC 2 at https://vanta.com/twist
(26:18) Headwinds against SaaS and the software recession
(30:12) The MRR chart and analyzing contraction and churn
(35:13) Fitbod - Get 25% off at https://fitbod.me/twist
(36:41) AI’s impact on SaaS companies
(41:47) The ZIRP/COVID-19 bubble and founders skipping funding rounds
(44:37) The 3 MOST important things for SaaS companies to pay attention to
*
Check out SaaSGrid: https://www.saasgrid.com/
FOLLOW Ethan: https://twitter.com/ethanjruby
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*
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Great recent interviews: Steve Huffman, Brian Chesky, Aaron Levie, Sophia Amoruso, Reid Hoffman, Frank Slootman, Billy McFarland, PrayingForExits, Jenny Lefcourt
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Sriram Krishnan is a GP at a16z Crypto and a defector from Web2 to Web3. Formerly a Product Lead at Facebook, Twitter, and Snapchat, Sriram has seen basically everything there is to see in the world of Web2, and especially Web2 social. He also hosts a podcast with his wife covering tech and internet creators, so he knows a thing or two about the world of creators, internet social platforms, and crypto.
------ ✨ DEBRIEF | Unpacking the episode: https://www.bankless.com/debrief-sriram-krishnan ------ What’s broken about Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook? And how can it be fixed? Can it be fixed? Sriram has many profound ideas.
Growing up in a small town in India with little opportunity, Sriram used the internet to change the course of his life. Now he worries that these same opportunities won’t be available for the next generation. He believes Web3 is the only way to keep the internet full of opportunity for the next generations.
In today’s episode, we cover why Sriram defected from Web2 to Web3, why Twitter can topple world governments but can’t sell ads effectively, why every social media network has to start with status, how crypto and AI intersect, and much more.
------ Topics Covered
0:00 Intro 7:14 Eliezer Yudkowsky 8:19 Sriram’s Thoughts on A.I. 11:35 Sriram’s Background & North Star 16:10 The Early Internet Explained 19:54 The Permissionless of the Internet Today 22:18 What Are API Keys? 25:55 Towers vs. Townsquares 28:24 TikTok Hearings & Web2 Solutions 36:13 Twitter 43:25 New Age of Twitter 49:29 Web3 Social Tour 1:02:46 Overcoming Web2 Network Effects 1:20:20 How to Crypto-Pill Elon 1:22:38 Web2 Pausing Web3 Adoption 1:26:32 Future of Creators 1:30:25 Web3 & Creators 1:35:06 Crypto & AI 1:40:33 Sriram’s Closing Arguments 1:42:22 Closing & Disclaimers
------ Resources:
Sriram & His Wife’s Podcast https://www.youtube.com/@AarthiAndSriram/videos https://www.aarthiandsriram.com/
Sriram’s Twitter https://twitter.com/sriramk
Eugene Wei’s Status-as-a-Service https://www.eugenewei.com/blog/2019/2/19/status-as-a-service
----- Not financial or tax advice. This channel is strictly educational and is not investment advice or a solicitation to buy or sell any assets or to make any financial decisions. This video is not tax advice. Talk to your accountant. Do your own research.
Disclosure. From time-to-time I may add links in this newsletter to products I use. I may receive commission if you make a purchase through one of these links. Additionally, the Bankless writers hold crypto assets. See our investment disclosures here: https://www.bankless.com/disclosures
It’s both easier and harder than ever to build a successful podcast. In this episode, we chat with Sriram and Aarthi from the Good Time Show, who ventured into the world of audio peak pandemic and have since interviewed the likes of Elon Musk, Calvin Harris, and Naomi Osaka.
We get their perspective on how to succeed in this competitive landscape, differentiation and the sliding scale of entertainment and information, the difference between an audience and a community, podcast analytics and how they’re changing, and even what Sriram has learned from his frontrow experience at Twitter recently.
Topics Covered:
00:00 - Intro
02:20 - Podcast trivia
06:07 - Starting a podcast
08:45 - Differentiating
13:10 - Information vs entertainment
18:08 - Getting off the talk track
20:40 - Growth and metrics
22:31 - Authenticity
27:10 - Secret sauce of podcasting
28:10 - Advice for new podcasters
29:58 - In-person events
32:06 - Tech as a force for good
34:50 - The next wave of social
37:23 - Creator middle class
41:16 - Podcast infrastructure
42:55 - ChatGPT
45:10 - Swapping lives with a celebrity
52:26 - Your personal monopoly
Resources:
Find Sriram on Twitter: https://twitter.com/sriramk
Find Aarthi on Twitter: https://twitter.com/aarthir
Find Aarthi and Sriram on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@AarthiAndSriram
Check out the Good Time Show: https://www.aarthiandsriram.com/
Stay Updated:
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Find us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/a16z
Subscribe on your favorite podcast app: https://a16z.simplecast.com/
Follow our host: https://twitter.com/stephsmithio
Please note that the content here is for informational purposes only; should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security; and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any a16z fund. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures.
Stay Updated:
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Listen to the a16z Show on Spotify
Listen to the a16z Show on Apple Podcasts
Follow our host: https://twitter.com/eriktorenberg
Please note that the content here is for informational purposes only; should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security; and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any a16z fund. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures.
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Brought to you by Vanta—Automate compliance. Simplify security | Dovetail—Bring your customer into every decision | LMNT—Zero-sugar hydration
—
Aarthi Ramamurthy and Sriram Krishnan are founders, angel investors, and product leaders who host the podcast Aarthi and Sriram’s Good Time Show. They have both held leadership roles at major technology companies including Meta, Twitter, Snap, Microsoft, and Netflix. In today’s episode, we dive into how and why to build your personal brand, how to deal with impostor syndrome, and stories from Aarthi’s time at Clubhouse and Sriram’s time working with Zuck. Aarthi and Sriram share their lessons from past failures, their experience building communities, and their techno-optimism, and Sriram offers his hot take on the Jobs to Be Done framework.
Find the full transcript at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/hot-takes-and-optimism-from-techs
Where to find Sriram Krishnan and Aarthi Ramamurthy:
• Aarthi’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/aarthir
• Sriram’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/sriramk
• Good Time Show Twitter: https://twitter.com/aarthisrirampod
• Good Time Show website: https://www.aarthiandsriram.com/
Where to find Lenny:
• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/lennysan
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/
Referenced:
• Naval Ravikant on Twitter: https://twitter.com/naval
• Marc Andreessen on Twitter: https://twitter.com/pmarca
• Clubhouse: https://www.clubhouse.com/
• Eugene Wei’s Status as a Service: https://www.eugenewei.com/blog/2019/2/19/status-as-a-service
• Kylie Jenner on Snapchat: https://www.snapchat.com/add/kyliejenner
• The Rock on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/therock/
• Cristiano Ronaldo on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cristiano
• Charli D’Amelio on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@charlidamelio
• Addison Rae on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@addisonre
• The founder of TikTok’s speech: https://ludlow.notion.site/Alex-Zhu-TikTok-4631f80fdcc4423a845e145e807d8e2b
• Naval’s network tweet: https://twitter.com/naval/status/847134295600746496?lang=en
• Y Combinator: https://www.ycombinator.com/
• How Duolingo reignited user growth: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/how-duolingo-reignited-user-growth
• Hunter Walk on impostor syndrome: https://hunterwalk.com/2023/03/01/imposter-syndrome-is-definitely-misnamed-might-be-a-condition-of-privilege-has-a-fascinating-history/
• On Reviews: https://boz.com/articles/reviews
• Jobs to Be Done framework: https://jobs-to-be-done.com/jobs-to-be-done-a-framework-for-customer-needs-c883cbf61c90
• First-principles thinking: https://fs.blog/first-principles/
In this episode, we cover:
(00:00) Sriram and Aarthi’s backgrounds
(04:16) How Sriram and Aarthi got Elon Musk on their podcast
(08:47) Reflections on Clubhouse and other social networks
(14:14) Why Aarthi and Sriram are optimistic about tech
(25:53) Why you should put yourself out there and build your personal brand
(27:09) Why you should build a network with authentic relationships, and how to do it
(28:56) Sriram’s curated communities
(31:20) What you need to get right when starting a community
(38:35) Why everyone who wants to should create content
(44:22) Why you shouldn’t try to project expertise when you’re still learning
(47:54) Dealing with impostor syndrome, and why you should lean into your strengths
(54:01) Transitioning to a role of authority
(57:30) What Sriram learned about effective management from Mark Zuckerberg
(1:01:20) The biggest failure Aarthi had, and why you shouldn’t fall for fads
(1:02:08) Sriram’s lesson from building mobile
(1:09:21) Why Sriram hates the Jobs to Be Done framework
(1:18:06) Advice for immigrants
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President Biden came into office with an incredibly slim legislative majority. And yet despite just 50 Democratic seats in the Senate, the first two years of Biden's Presidency saw the passage of some extremely ambitious laws. The potential exists for the infrastructure bill, the CHIPS Act, and the Inflation Reduction Act to reshape the economy in ways that we haven't seen in a long time. Brian Deese has been the head of the National Economic Council these last two years, and was thus directly involved in the passage and shaping of these laws. So what will they accomplish, and how will they ultimately be judged. We spoke to Brian in his final week in the NEC role about this new era of "industrial strategy", and what he learned during this two-year stint.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
GDP is booming. The labor market is booming. However inflation is elevated, and consumer sentiment is deeply depressed. So where does the White House go next with its economic strategy? On this episode, we speak with Brian Deese, the director of the National Economic Council under President Joe Biden. Deese walks us through what the White House has done over the last year on supply chains, what's working, and where the administration is going next with its economic agenda.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
You're the founder of a nicely growing SaaS startup that has just raised a Series A, Series B, or Series C funding round. You need to hire rapidly to seize the opportunity. But how much should you hire, what roles should you hire, and what should the org chart look like when you're done?
David Sacks, co-founder and general partner at Craft will share what works from the 20 unicorns he's invested in, including AirBnB, Bird, ClickUp, Eventbrite, Facebook, Houzz, Lyft, OpenDoor, Palantir, Postmates, Reddit, Slack, SpaceX, Twitter, Uber, and Wish.
Blog post and video: https://www.saastr.com/the-saas-org-chart-by-series-with-david-sacks/
Sponsors:
https://shortcut.com/saastr
https://www.litmus.com/saastr
https://www.ontheclock.com/
My guest today is David Sacks, General Partner at Craft Ventures and founding COO of PayPal. During our conversation, we explore what differentiates Enterprise SaaS from DTC subscriptions, what makes for a magical product launch event, and what key growth metrics David uses to measure success. David has written extensively on his idea of operating cadence, and we explore how that applies to the various functions within an organization. As time goes on, I am more and more impressed at the talent that existed within the original PayPal mafia, and I couldn’t help but ask David to highlight the superpowers for a few of his early partners. This was an incredibly informative conversation with fun threads throughout. Please enjoy my conversation with David Sacks.
For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here.
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Show Notes
[00:03:30] - [First question] - Defining what it means when a company can explode
[00:05:39] - What it would look like if a company didn’t have what it takes to explode
[00:06:17] - Key factors that make for a strong product hook
[00:08:51] - Whether or not there has been a divergence at the early stage of B2B investing compared to B2C
[00:11:36] - Reasons why products that make people collaborate are always stronger
[00:14:14] - Nuances between team subscriptions and team product use
[00:15:37] - Describing the burn multiple metric and how it can be applied to companies
[00:18:18] - The gross margin problem and issues for businesses in this area writ large
[00:22:34] - Common practices amongst sales programs that have and haven’t worked
[00:24:22] - What about new founders makes him most excited
[00:25:58] - Explaining cadence and why he groups product and marketing as one bucket and sales and finance as another
[00:30:44] - The anatomy of a great product launch
[00:32:17] - Ways in which external dependencies can be landmines for growing companies
[00:34:06] - Whether or not he’s willingness to invest in a business with regulatory variables
[00:36:59] - What he’s seen in company culture that breaks a company as they scale
[00:39:55] - Things a founder actually does in order to reign in and tame their culture
[00:42:08] - Unique traits of founders who are both investors and operators
[00:44:12] - Peter Thiel’s superpower
[00:44:57] - Max Levchin’s superpower
[00:45:38] - Elon Musk’s superpower
[00:46:07] - Roelof Botha’s superpower
[00:47:15] - Reid Hoffman’s superpower
[00:47:43] - Keith Rabois’ superpower
[00:48:41] - What zones of change in the world have his attention writ large
[00:51:43] - Why teams want to be pushed and how we can apply that to business
[00:55:25] - The kindest thing anyone has ever done for him
Startups can get messy. Especially in growth. David Sacks (Yammer, PayPal) shares how to navigate from 50-500 employees.
This episode is an excerpt from David's session at SaaStr Summit: The New New in Venture.
Full video: https://youtu.be/G0sMviH3G24
Podcast transcript: https://www.saastr.com/saastr-podcast-349-with-craft-ventures-general-partner-david-sacks-how-to-turn-your-saas-startup-into-an-army/
David Sacks is the Co-Founder @ Craft Ventures, one of Silicon Valley's leading early-stage funds with David's portfolio including the likes of Facebook, Tesla, SpaceX, Palantir, Affirm, Airbnb, Slack and Bird to name a few. David started his career in tech as the first product leader and COO @ Paypal, growing payment volume from $0-$500M per month, leading to their $1.5Bn acquisition by eBay. David then founded Geni.com, creating a family tree for the whole world, the company was acquired 3 years later by MyHeritage. David then founded Yammer, the secure solution for internal corporate communication and collaboration, acquired by Microsoft for $1.2Bn. Finally, David then became COO and Interim CEO @ Zenefits before starting Craft.
In Today's Episode You Will Learn:
1.) How David made his way from founding Yammer to creating one of the valley's newest and most prestigious firms in Craft Ventures? Given David's operating success he could have angel invested continuously, why decide to start a fund? What does he ultimately want to achieve with Craft?
2.) How did experiencing the Dot Com Bubble with Paypal and then 2008 impact David's investing and operating mindset? Does David believe VCs really are "open for business" today? How is VC behaviour shifting when comparing early to later stage? How is Craft responding?
3.) Unit Economics: How does David assess unit economics in early-stage opportunities he is looking to invest in? What does proper attribution look like? Where do many go wrong with unit economics? Is it too early to try and assess unit econ at seed? How does David think about having mental plasticity towards unit economics, recognising how they change over time?
4.) Customer Acquisition: Does David agree with Peter Fenton, "there is a complete lack of free and open distribution"? What are the rules of thumb on CAC that David does and then does not agree with? How does David feel about blended CAC? What separates good from great when it comes to CAC/LTV?
5.) Churn: How does assess net negative churn in the businesses he works with? What is great, good, decent and poor? How does avid think about logo vs dollar retention? How does David advise founders who feel COVID has not impacted churn for them? What should they expect?
6.) Burn + Capital Efficiency: How does David analyse burn and capital efficiency today? What does he mean when he discusses "the burn multiple"? How should the burn multiple change with the stage of the business? How does David advise founders on how aggressively to cut burn today?
Items Mentioned In Today's Show:
David's Fave Book: Thucydides' Trap
David's Most Recently Announced Investment: Sourcegraph
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Likewise, you can follow Harry on Instagram here for mojito madness and all things 20VC.
0:01 Jason & Chamath catch us up on their quarantines
1:20 Chamath intros David Sacks
4:40 David explains what their poker group chat has been like since COVID-19 started, and how Jason, Chamath & himself fall on the optimistic/pessimistic spectrum
6:58 How have the past few months defined David's view on the world, and what is his reaction to the US government's response?
12:22 Did the US health apparatus do its job? How could it improve? Why aren't masks already mandated?
19:33 Culture clash between scientific experts & entrepreneurs, thoughts on Chloroquine as a treatment method
27:00 Are US bureaucrats taking the intelligence of US citizens for granted? How liable is Trump?
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