Take
Be an LP for the learning, not the returns
Shaan asked friends who are LPs in Andreessen, Founders Fund, and SV Angel whether it's a good way to make money. The answer: for pure returns, deploy into your own business or liquid assets instead. The real edge of being an LP is the inside view of every deal, which makes you smarter and more money long-term.
“I said, so why the hell do you do this? And they go, oh, I do it because A, I like innovation, B, by being an LP, I get to see all their stuff. So it's a huge learning advantage, which in the end makes a lot more money for me at the end. And so, yeah, I make some money on the returns itself. But then I also get to learn throughout the whole process because I'm on the inside of these deals.”
Steal thisTreat LP positions as a tuition for inside access to deal flow and thinking, not as your primary return engine.
Story
A startup raised $8M copying the org-chart idea from the show
After Shaan and guest Daniel Gross brainstormed a public, crowdsourced org-chart tool on the pod, a stealth startup called The Org launched doing exactly that and raised $8M from Sequoia and Founders Fund.
“There's actually a startup that came out of Stealth that is doing this after we talked about it. Clearly stole our idea. It's called The Org. They raised $8 million from Sequoia and Founders Fund, and it looks like they're doing exactly this.”
Number
HQ Trivia: $10M raised at $100M valuation, 1M+ concurrent players
HQ Trivia ran a live mobile game show at 6pm daily, peaked at over a million concurrent players, gave away over $1M in prizes, and raised $10 million from Founders Fund at a $100 million valuation before fading as a fad.
$100M
Company valuation · USD
“And so this thing had this run, and they got tons of funding. Founders Fund funded them, $10 million in funding at $100 million valuation.”
Story
Founders Fund: the worst companies need the most help, the best need none
Shaan recounts pitching Founders Fund, asking the partner directly how much value-add they bring—and getting the honest answer that the worst companies need the most help and can't be saved, while the best never need help.
“I said, you tell me, like, you know, how much value add do you guys really bring? And I'm ready to hear like the sales pitch. And he goes, honestly, the worst companies need the most help and I can't save them. The best companies never need my help. And so, and then there's everybody else in between.”