Why CEOs need to think more like athletes, with investor Byron Deeter
Byron Deeter has spent two decades at the epicenter of tech as an investor with Bessemer Venture Partners. His portfolio includes some of the most innovative companies in the world, from Anthropic to Waymo to Canva. He talks with host Jeff Berman about his advice for both founders and investors in this moment of AI transformation, why CEOs need to think more like athletes, and more.
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20VC: Do Margins Matter in AI? | Is Defensibility Gone For Good? | Is Vertical SaaS Dead in a World of AI | What SaaS Rules Are BS and No Longer Apply in a World of AI | The Future of Venture: Why Chanel vs Walmart is BS with Byron Deeter
Byron Deeter is a Partner at Bessemer Venture Partners, and one of the most renowned SaaS investors. Byron has led 19 unicorn investments, including IPO successes like ServiceTitan, Procore, Twilio, Box, Gainsight, Intercom, DocuSign, SendGrid. His portfolio includes eight companies that have gone public. Insane.
Agenda:
00:00 – Why are the stakes in AI higher than ever before?
05:20 – Is defensibility in AI gone for good?
07:40 – Do margins even matter when backing the next Anthropic or Perplexity?
09:50 – How does Byron think about future dilution when investing in AI today?
12:10 – With 40% of venture money going to 10 deals, is there any point investing elsewhere?
13:40 – Is vertical SaaS dead? Is there any point when the large players can own it?
18:00 – Will AI shift from the tech budget to the human labor budget and unlock trillions?
21:10 – Are we entering the era of billion-dollar businesses built by 10 people?
25:20 – Is treble-treble-double-double now too slow for AI companies?
33:10 – In today's AI gold rush, is it better to scream the loudest or just build the best product?
41:10 – What specific growth rates are best in class, good and not good enough today?
55:00 – Is venture now just a game of scale — Chanel vs. Walmart?
SaaStr 484: The State of the Cloud 2021, How to Build a Cloud Unicorn with Bessemer Venture Partners
BVP partners Byron Deeter, Mary D'Onofrio, and Elliott Robinson share a state of the cloud economy, tactical lessons and case studies for early-stage founders, private market analysis, alongside key predictions and trends driving innovation in SaaS around the globe.
Full video: https://youtu.be/HZDOQAGW6-E
Blog post: https://www.saastr.com/the-state-of-the-cloud-2021-how-to-build-a-cloud-unicorn-with-bessemer-venture-partners-podcast-484-and-video/
Sponsors:
https://www.invoca.com/
https://stripe.com/
https://www.ontheclock.com/
SaaStr 471: SaaStr CEO & Founder, Jason Lemkin and Byron Deeter, Partner at Bessemer Venture Partners, Discuss Why The Cloud is On Fire in 2021
A great deep dive on why the Cloud is on fire right now, and what it means for founders. Learn more at TheCloud100.com, a free digital event with the Top 100 private Cloud and SaaS companies on Aug 10!!
Video + notes: https://www.saastr.com/25-of-the-cloud-100-is-growing-100-at-100m-arr-woah/
20VC: The Twilio Memo: Bessemer's Byron Deeter on How a $125K Initial Check Became Bessemer's Largest Position, What The Influx of Late-Stage Capital Means For Venture Today & Why The Incumbent Advantage Is Now An Incumbent Disadvantage
Byron Deeter is a Partner @ Bessemer Venture Partners and one of the world's leading investors in SaaS and cloud. To date, nineteen of Byron's investments are valued above $1 billion, including ten IPOs and counting. Some of the incredible companies within Byron's portfolio include Twilio, ServiceTitan, Hashicorp, Canva, Intercom, DocuSign, SendGrid, the list goes on. Prior to joining the world of venture, Byron was an entrepreneur, raising a Series A from Bessemer and scaling the company to be one of the first global SaaS companies, reaching profitability and successfully selling to IBM.
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In Today's Episode with Byron Deeter You Will Learn:
1.) How Deven made his way into the world of venture and how that led to his becoming a Managing Director @ Insight, way back in 2000?
2.) The Market: Many people passed on Twilio, what did Byron see that others did not? Did Byron have concerns around the TAM? What made Byron feel comfortable they were not too early? How did Byron assess whether customers would churn off Twilio when they scaled to a size they could build their own infrastructure? How does Byron advise founders on this challenge today?
3.) The Team: What did Byron find some compelling about Jeff so early on? Jeff has been an incredible CEO from pre-seed to post-IPO, what has enabled Jeff specifically to scale with the company so successfully? What does Byron do to build the trust and rapport with founders that he does? What works? What does not work? How does that look today with Zoom?
4.) The Incumbents & Competition: Why does Byron believe the incumbent advantage is actually an incumbent disadvantage? What specifically has Byron found underwhelming about how the incumbents have tried to respond? In what tangible and specific way are startups better placed to win than incumbents? How does Byron advise founders to assess other startup competitors?
5.) The Funding: Twilio is Bessemer's single largest position ever, how does Byron know when is the right time to double down on an investment? What signals does he look for? Has this changed with the massive price inflation we have seen over the last year? How does Byron analyse the influx of new capital? Where is it good? What are the challenges to it?
Item's Mentioned In Today's Episode with Byron Deeter
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As always you can follow Harry and The Twenty Minute VC on Twitter here!
SaaStr 436: The 2021 State of the Cloud with Bessemer Venture Partners
In today's SaaStr podcast the team at Bessemer Venture Partners unveils the 2021 state of the cloud. Listen in as Byron Deeter, Elliott Robinson and Mary D'Onofrio share the latest trends and predictions for the cloud marketplace.
Video + blog post: https://www.saastr.com/state-of-the-cloud-2021-with-bessemer-venture-partners/
SaaStr 373: The State of the Cloud 2020, The COVID Beneficiaries Edition with Byron Deeter and Elliott Robinson of Bessemer Venture Partners
Bessemer's 5th Annual State of the Cloud Report returns for a definitive look at the cloud industry today. Byron Deeter and Elliott Robinson, partners at Bessemer Venture Partners, offer macro trends in the public and private cloud markets, strategic advice to cloud founders, and insights into why entrepreneurs should feel auspicious about the future.
This episode is an excerpt from a session at SaaStr Annual @ Home.
Full video: https://youtu.be/WrGhD0qaIow
Podcast transcript: https://www.saastr.com/saastr-podcasts-for-the-week-with-byron-deeter-elliott-robinson-henry-schuck-and-jason-lemkin/
SaaStr 324: SaaStr CEO Jason Lemkin and Bessemer Venture Partners' Partner Byron Deeter on The Current State of Venture Capital & Cloud
Join SaaStr CEO Jason Lemkin and Bessemer Venture Partners Partner Byron Deeter for a deep dive on what's going on in Venture Capital and Cloud.
This podcast is an excerpt from Jason and Byron's webinar "Bridging the Gap: The Current State of Venture Capital and Cloud." You can find the full webinar on our YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/UDfIC5prskA
20VC: Bessemer's Byron Deeter On Lessons From Investing in 14 $Bn Companies, What The Heck Is Going On In Cloud Today and Why Cloud IPO Floodgates Are About To Burst Open
Byron Deeter is a Partner @ Bessemer Venture Partners where he has established himself as one of the leading investors in SaaS and Cloud authoring the iconic laws on the state of cloud computing. In terms of track record, fourteen of Byron's investments are valued above one $1 billion, including eight IPOs and counting. Byron's investments include the likes of Twilio, Intercom, SendGrid, Gainsight, Box, DocuSign and many more. Prior to the world of venture, Byron was a Bessemer Founder raising his Series A from them back in 2000 with Trigo Technologies. The company rapidly scaled to profitability and was acquired by IBM.
In Today's Episode You Will Learn:
1.) How Byron made his way into the world of venture from founding Trigo Technologies and selling to IBM in 2005? How have seeing multiple booms and busts impacted Byron's investment mentality today?
2.) What the heck is going on in cloud today? Is Byron concerned by the very rich multiples being paid in the ecosystem today? How does Byron think about how public market performance impacts his day to day role investing? Why does Byron believe that the floodgate for cloud IPOs is about to burst open?
3.) Having seen so many cloud IPOs, what should founders take from the lessons of those that have already been so successful? With 14 $Bn companies, what does Byron attribute his investing success to today? How does Byron think about what he wants to invest in today? Are we in an entirely new wave of cloud?
4.) As a former founder, how does Byron think that he engages differently with founders than more financial backgrounded VCs? What can board members really do to build that trusted relationship with the founder in the early days? Is it good for founders and board members to be friends? Is there a line of professionalism that has to be drawn?
5.) How has Byron seen his style of board membership change over the last decade? What would his advice be to someone who has just gained their first institutional board seat? What does Byron believe makes the best board members? What founder he has worked with most excels when it comes to board management? What made them so extraordinary?
Items Mentioned In Today's Show:
Byron's Fave Book: AI Superpowers, Legacy
Byron's Most Recent Investment: ScaleFactor
As always you can follow Harry, The Twenty Minute VC and Byron on Twitter here!
Likewise, you can follow Harry on Instagram here for mojito madness and all things 20VC.
20VC: Bessemer's Byron Deeter on The Commonalities Of Truly Great Founders and Learnings From Investing In Box, Twilio and GainSight
Byron Deeter is a Partner at Bessemer Venture Partners. Prior to being a VC, Byron himself was a veteran cloud CEO & Founder returning to venture capital in 2005 to lead Bessemer's global cloud practice where he has been actively involved with over 100 cloud investments representing a third of the market cap of all public cloud companies. Byron has lead investments in the likes of Box, Twilio, Intercom, Cornerstone On Demand and many many more. Byron's pedigree is recognised globally as he is consistently ranked one of the top global investors across all industries.
In Today's Episode You Will Learn: 1.) How did Byron make his way into VC from being a veteran cloud CEO and Founder?
2.) What are the commonalities angst the truly exceptional operators that Byron has worked with? What is it that makes the likes Aaron Levie so special?
3.) We saw a $63bn drop in late stage SaaS valuations, so what does this really mean for the early guys? In these markets should founders be placing greater emphasis on unit economics?
4.) With the increasing importance of customer retention will we see further increased growth in the field of customer success? How important is it really now for startups?
5.) How does Byron define efficient growth, what does cash is king mean? Where does Byron stand on the bottoms up sales approach, is this the new sales method of the 21st century?
6.) What have been the biggest takeaways for Byron of watching Box, Sendgrid, Twilio go into hyper growth mode and scale into the rocketships that they are
Items Mentioned In Today's Episode:
Byron's Fave Book: The Everything Store
Byron's Fave Productivity Tools: Clutter
Byron's Fave Blog: Bleacher Report, Techcrunch
Byron's Most Recent Investment: Rainforest QA
As always you can follow The Twenty Minute VC, Harry and Byron 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!