20VC: Max Altman on The New Seed War: Can Anyone Compete with Sequoia and a16z | Leaving $2BN on the Table with Reddit | Lessons from Backing Rippling at $25M Post | Why Climate Tech is a Mirage and Disaster
Max Altman is Co‑Founder & Managing Partner at Saga Ventures, a US$125 M early‑stage fund. Before Saga Max was an investor with Apollo Projects, Hydrazine Capital and Altman Capital (where he helped deploy over US$500 M) into breakout names such as Rippling and Reddit.
AGENDA:
03:55 – Venture Capital Is FULL of Tourists With Single-Digit IQs
06:20 – Inside the Madness of Parker Conrad: Genius, Chaos, and WTF Emails
10:35 – The Rippling Deal That Changed Everything
12:40 – Living in Sam Altman's Shadow: The Confession
17:30 – $200M Fund Mistakes: Max's Brutal Lessons From Hydrazine
22:05 – The $2B Reddit Return… and the $2B Left on the Table
25:00 – Why Climate Tech Is a Total VC Mirage
28:40 – The New Seed War: Can Anyone Survive Sequoia & Andreessen?
46:55 – Max's Boldest Predictions
Max Altman & Ben Braverman chart Saga VC's maiden voyage with Mark Suster | E1948
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Today's show:
Max Altman and Ben Braverman of Saga VC join guest host Mark Suster to discuss building up Saga VC’s maiden voyage fund (2:23), the advantage of witnessing “great” at the top of the industry (21:14), praise for Saga VC’s Thomson Nguyen (52:59), and more!
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Timestamps:
(0:00) Max Altman and Ben Braverman of Saga VC join guest host Mark Suster.
(2:23) Building up Saga VC’s maiden voyage fund.
(7:48) Saga VC’s reason to live and uniqueness.
(9:48) Mercury - Join 200K startups who use Mercury to operate at their best at https://mercury.com
(11:22) What Ben Braverman brings to Saga VC.
(13:17) Ben speaks about what he learned working with Ryan Peterson at Flexport.
(15:12) Max’s background that brought him to Saga and lessons he learned from Parker Conrad
(19:58) NetSuite. By popular demand, NetSuite has extended its one-of-a-kind flexible financing program for a few more weeks! Head to http://www.NetSuite.com/twist
(21:14) The advantage of witnessing “great” at the top of the industry.
(25:54) The X-Factor in strong leaders and founders.
(29:16) Curotec - Check out http://www.curotec.com/twist
(30:27) Unique advantages Max and Ben on the foray into venture.
(44:01) What Saga VC looks for in AI companies to fund.
(52:59) Praise for Saga VC’s Thomson Nguyen in his absence.
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Check out Saga VC website: https://www.sagavc.com/
Check out Saga VC on X: https://twitter.com/Saga_Ventures
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Follow Max:
X: https://twitter.com/maxaltman
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maxhaltman/
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X: https://twitter.com/braveben
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ben-braverman-a1120314/
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Follow Thomson:
X: https://twitter.com/itsthomson
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/randomforest/
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Follow Mark:
X: https://twitter.com/msuster
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marksuster/
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(9:48)Mercury - Join 200K startups who use Mercury to operate at their best at https://mercury.com
(19:58) NetSuite. By popular demand, NetSuite has extended its one-of-a-kind flexible financing program for a few more weeks! Head to http://www.NetSuite.com/twist
(29:16) Curotec - Check out http://www.curotec.com/twist and get $5000 off
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