Thanks again for having me. The world does need better venture capitalists, so I hope people watching this do enter the business and help others start up!
PUBG Play of the Game Being deeply strong in one or two things and generalist in everything else. Then being a good communicator and self aware. The best investors are able to think deeply about what the world needs, while also identifying people who can actually create solutions for those needs. Personally I am looking for someone who is a believer who is right before it is obvious. That’s how we make money after all: finding things that could be the biggest outcomes.
What sorts of things do you dislike about how other VCs may choose to handle things? From the points you've made, the ones that resonate the most are the "unity of the team" and "if we need to take control then we've chosen the wrong people to back" (or something to that effect). Lots of people work poorly together, but in my experience (I do lowly engineering/consultant work) you sort of have to watch them work in a natural environment (as opposed to being on their best behavior while you're there). Poor communication is probably the most common one. Whatever small problems they may have, would get multiplied by 100x at later stages. I know this sounds kind of funny, but in a subjective way, the team members have to kind of love each other yet also have the motivation/resolve to push each other's abilities. That's kind of the "dream team" haha. Rarely happens in reality. It's usually some compromise~
whatlions This is a great observation and is one of the most obvious reasons why startups are hard. Organizing talented type A people is hard. It’s remarkably like catherding. Bad VCs treat the business like lotto scratching. The bad version of this game is people run around trying to get one billion dollar company by whatever means necessary. That is both short term greedy and hurts founders. The good version is an iterated, infinite game where investors find great founders and help them through the worst times.
@@GarryTan Thank you for responding! Your analogy makes sense. Maximum greed with minimal involvement. Lazy. It's a different ideology. Kind of like.. is money your only objective? Or are you trying to build genuine relationships with people and have profound effects on the industries you get involved in? Although I do entirely different type of work, the mistake I often see from business owners is obsession with minor stats they get from BI and forgetting to focus on "the business of the business". The thing I always end up shoving down their throats is "look, you have to serve your customers first". Customer voices + feedback have a ton of weight. My "customer-centric" ideology often clashes with other contractors who are number-centric, or who end up using finite resources to achieve something that has zero impact on conversion/growth/etc. Always fun. I keep on having to say silly stuff like "do you guys remember that you're serving actual humans?". This point seems to get lost so easily. I'm sure you guys experience similar situations. "Cat herding" is something I'll never forget, thanks haha!
Very insightful video, Gary seems like a humble VC who’s wanting to share his experience to help founders build the future. Would love to have them as investors in the near future
feels like, even for engineers, they should figure out what growth rate is for a company they are working at to deeply understand where it is going. Thank you for the good interview!!
@@GarryTan Hello there, How do you figure out a growth rate for a company? I have alot of questions to ask about, can we connect through email or a instant messaging platform? Here's my email; amaanbmgo@gmail.com Thank you very much
This is very informative! An interesting takeaway from this video is the two kinds of people that make the best VCs: 1. Founders 2. Employee at an early-stage startup that's in hypergrowth
I wanna form a group of small investors to build big funds to become VCs ourselves, not big but enough to get started. Any advice on how I should do it?
Step 1: Get a whole bunch of money from Wall St. Step 2: Evaluate companies that typically have 0 intrinsic value through complicated and arduous metrics. Step 3: Give a whole bunch of money to a whole bunch of startups in the hopes that one of them 20xs your investment. Step 4: Tell everyone back on Wall St about your one good investment and don't let them know about your 20 other shitty ones, collect more money and repeat.
There used to be a very simple way in London: Walk into Google Campus and attend the classes and sessions. After that, work as a part-time paralegal for VC and IP law firms.
You're point on going to schools where there's a high concentration of really ambitious people resonated with me. As a junior HS student in Canada deciding between applying to local schools like Waterloo vs. US schools, what do you think is the greatest advantage (outside of network) that Stanford provided you with?
@Marton Langa Hey! lol what a coincidence. The biggest benefit would def. be the proximity for sure, and having the influence of that environment (where so much is happening) is really valuable. I'll probably apply and shoot my shot!
Thank you so much for making this video! It was very informative. What are some useful college majors for someone looking to go into VC? Does the prestige of your school matter when applying for jobs in VC? I'm currently a high schooler interested in this field. Any advice would be appreciated. :D
Saloni Nayak Like it or not I think half of VCs went to Harvard or Stanford. That’s pretty crazy right? So it does matter but hopefully matters less in the future. Computer science is probably your best bet, but I also recommend taking classes in psychology and marketing since you have to be very multidisciplinary to be able to understand the creation of new products and markets.
PUBG Play of the Game I don’t know actually. I never worked in that role. We are hiring our first associates this year actually. Probably less spreadsheet and PPT scrubbing vs investment banking. Usually more thinking ideally.
Garry, I've found twitter to be an amazing place to meet people. I'm graduating in December 2020 and would love to end up as a SWE at a high growth/high impact startup. How can I reach out to people to build relationships without sounding needy and rightly judge the trajectory of companies I might join?
Daniel Boaitey Targeted good emails to executives and founders and/or real genuine interest in what a startup is trying to do will go a long way actually
This is not helpful for everyday people who want to get into VC. Either start as an intern or have a boat load of money to invest and start your own VC. Not helpful. However, the interviewed asked the right questions.
Damn missing out on Palantir must hurt felt it in his voice.. But even with Peter Thiel behind it?? Peter Thiel doesn't really miss much with his picks and I'm sure he was the Founder of it. To be fair though Peter didn't have the resume like he does today.
Do new associates have to be well connected in order to be hired? Do you need to be able to provide deals/know high net worth individuals? Have rich parents who are part of a country club?
PUBG Play of the Game It’s hard to generalize because every firm does it in a different way. Many recruit directly out of top business schools like GSB or Wharton. Others look for ex Goldman Sachs bankers. Still others try to find strong alumni from top startups like Uber and Airbnb, or from top incubators like Y Combinator. So yes, network, but lots of variety as to which one.
PUBG Play of the Game Try to find ways to help people who make things you like and are impressed by. The rest will happen if you help the right people.
How did he get enough money to start investing in startup companies? What kind of qualities/analysis does he look for before deciding to invest in a startup company?
Commando Master I worked at Y Combinator before becoming a VC. YC is more like a startup university or guild than investor, but it let me see hundreds of companies and thousands of founders in 5 years which is more than any other VC in that time frame. It taught me how to identify companies and founders and then I raised institutional outside capital to do a lot more of it. In the end our analysis is relatively simple: product, market, team. Great product solving a real problem, team that can build and manage something big.
@@GarryTan i've recently started my career as a software engineering consultant and this is exactly what you need to run successful projects no matter the size... For sure once I save a bit of capital, I will start investing in some projects too! Thanks Garry for your insight. I wish you all the best with your prosperous future.
Why did Peter Thiel try so hard to hire you from MSFT? Was it an equal combination of your talent and referrals from the Stanford network? Asking as an early-career engineer aiming to join a high growth startup without connections to a prestigious university.
Jason It was my college friends. Peter created the conservative newspaper on campus and my college friends worked on that paper. In the end network seems to have deep impact on your career broadly. It surprised me how much going to Stanford changed my career.
Did you like the thumbnail? I took a Photoshop class to learn how to do that. Check out Garry Tan's channel if you're interested in Startups and VC stuff: th-cam.com/channels/IBgYfDjtWlbJhg--Z4sOgQ.html
PUBG Play of the Game A VC is just someone who gives money to founders to help them start the business. So the most direct way is have money and invest it in good startups. Getting a job in VC usually requires applying and often already knowing a VC who wants to hire someone to help them. The best people for this are people who have built a good startup from scratch before. That’s because those are the people that other people who build want to meet and get money from.
1. Founded a company 2. spent 2 years at a bulge bracket investment bank 3. Engineer at a startup that went public or grew substantially 4. graduate from ivy league 5. rich daddy 6. be ready to be part of a business that's all about telling people how big your dick is
Thanks again for having me. The world does need better venture capitalists, so I hope people watching this do enter the business and help others start up!
Thanks for giving back to us on the interwebs. What skills do you look for in young 20 year old associates?
PUBG Play of the Game Being deeply strong in one or two things and generalist in everything else. Then being a good communicator and self aware. The best investors are able to think deeply about what the world needs, while also identifying people who can actually create solutions for those needs.
Personally I am looking for someone who is a believer who is right before it is obvious. That’s how we make money after all: finding things that could be the biggest outcomes.
What sorts of things do you dislike about how other VCs may choose to handle things? From the points you've made, the ones that resonate the most are the "unity of the team" and "if we need to take control then we've chosen the wrong people to back" (or something to that effect). Lots of people work poorly together, but in my experience (I do lowly engineering/consultant work) you sort of have to watch them work in a natural environment (as opposed to being on their best behavior while you're there). Poor communication is probably the most common one. Whatever small problems they may have, would get multiplied by 100x at later stages. I know this sounds kind of funny, but in a subjective way, the team members have to kind of love each other yet also have the motivation/resolve to push each other's abilities. That's kind of the "dream team" haha. Rarely happens in reality. It's usually some compromise~
whatlions This is a great observation and is one of the most obvious reasons why startups are hard. Organizing talented type A people is hard. It’s remarkably like catherding.
Bad VCs treat the business like lotto scratching. The bad version of this game is people run around trying to get one billion dollar company by whatever means necessary. That is both short term greedy and hurts founders.
The good version is an iterated, infinite game where investors find great founders and help them through the worst times.
@@GarryTan Thank you for responding! Your analogy makes sense. Maximum greed with minimal involvement. Lazy. It's a different ideology. Kind of like.. is money your only objective? Or are you trying to build genuine relationships with people and have profound effects on the industries you get involved in? Although I do entirely different type of work, the mistake I often see from business owners is obsession with minor stats they get from BI and forgetting to focus on "the business of the business". The thing I always end up shoving down their throats is "look, you have to serve your customers first". Customer voices + feedback have a ton of weight. My "customer-centric" ideology often clashes with other contractors who are number-centric, or who end up using finite resources to achieve something that has zero impact on conversion/growth/etc. Always fun. I keep on having to say silly stuff like "do you guys remember that you're serving actual humans?". This point seems to get lost so easily. I'm sure you guys experience similar situations. "Cat herding" is something I'll never forget, thanks haha!
Wrong video. I wanted to become a Viet Cong.
i think joma said he was gonna make a video on that. dont worry
Nice one
I'm a Viet. Sould I be offended?
Broooo😂😂😂😂😂
Very insightful video, Gary seems like a humble VC who’s wanting to share his experience to help founders build the future. Would love to have them as investors in the near future
feels like, even for engineers, they should figure out what growth rate is for a company they are working at to deeply understand where it is going.
Thank you for the good interview!!
Norio Kosaka yes always ask. And if they don’t know or won’t tell you, it’s probably a bad startup.
@@GarryTan Hello there, How do you figure out a growth rate for a company? I have alot of questions to ask about, can we connect through email or a instant messaging platform? Here's my email; amaanbmgo@gmail.com
Thank you very much
I love how he explained things simply for beginners with limited understanding! 👍
Joma says: "i gonna quit yt"
Joma: *publishes three videos in one week
Seriy Park I changed my mind
@@jomakaze glad u did. ur videos are very informative.
@G Gonor damn, so alpha of you to say that
I really enjoyed Garry Tan talking about the VC world!! Keep doing more of this please
This interview is gold! Thank you for your honesty Garry!
Gary constantly banging his batman on the table, hurt my soul.
This is very informative! An interesting takeaway from this video is the two kinds of people that make the best VCs:
1. Founders
2. Employee at an early-stage startup that's in hypergrowth
Being a Finance major it's good to see a person in tech interviewing person in finance.
Anyone who runs is a vc , anyone who stands still is a well disciplined vc
get sum
I wanna form a group of small investors to build big funds to become VCs ourselves, not big but enough to get started. Any advice on how I should do it?
That was an excellent interview Joma and Garry!!
Amazing !! Thanks a lot Joma and Gary ;)
Joma your vids are informative and very much appreciated. I aspire to start my own startup one day and your videos really help out. Good work !
Awesome content Joma! Thanks for that
Gems 💎
Wow, this was amazing!
it will be terrific if you do live videos of start up founders pitching to you, especially pre seed folks.
great video. thank you Garry and Joma.
Very instructive again. thank you Joma!
Finally part 2 is here. Love this.
great to still see Joma here. Had originally thought he left TH-cam
I was never interested in what a VC does until now
Step 1: Get a whole bunch of money from Wall St.
Step 2: Evaluate companies that typically have 0 intrinsic value through complicated and arduous metrics.
Step 3: Give a whole bunch of money to a whole bunch of startups in the hopes that one of them 20xs your investment.
Step 4: Tell everyone back on Wall St about your one good investment and don't let them know about your 20 other shitty ones, collect more money and repeat.
Youre hot
@@Friendznco he is correct. VC is def not value investing
Appreciate this content!
great clip thanks. great sharing by Garry. always an inspiration
This was great, thanks!
Fun video. Thanks!
There used to be a very simple way in London: Walk into Google Campus and attend the classes and sessions. After that, work as a part-time paralegal for VC and IP law firms.
Working 17 hour days on something I'm passionate about sounds like living the dream to me
that is, until you have kids.
It’s amazing to have kids though!
Facts
that is one of the saddest thing i had to read in a while
@@ivyhe7234 don't have kids, simple.
damn he must need counseling after skipping palantir
Henry Haha, it was definitely a mistake
Fantastic talk, also love the Katamari Damacy reference lol
Awesome convo!
I really aspire to find a path like Gary, I’m 21 and I know I’m gonna follow a very similar path as him
Most positive guy ever!
You're point on going to schools where there's a high concentration of really ambitious people resonated with me. As a junior HS student in Canada deciding between applying to local schools like Waterloo vs. US schools, what do you think is the greatest advantage (outside of network) that Stanford provided you with?
@Marton Langa Hey! lol what a coincidence. The biggest benefit would def. be the proximity for sure, and having the influence of that environment (where so much is happening) is really valuable. I'll probably apply and shoot my shot!
dude this guy is literally the ceo for yc now, good choice
AMAZING!!!!
u gonna post more videos or no? they are amazing
Thank you so much for making this video! It was very informative. What are some useful college majors for someone looking to go into VC? Does the prestige of your school matter when applying for jobs in VC? I'm currently a high schooler interested in this field. Any advice would be appreciated. :D
Saloni Nayak Like it or not I think half of VCs went to Harvard or Stanford. That’s pretty crazy right? So it does matter but hopefully matters less in the future.
Computer science is probably your best bet, but I also recommend taking classes in psychology and marketing since you have to be very multidisciplinary to be able to understand the creation of new products and markets.
@@GarryTan Thank you so much! AHh I'm freaking out right now
@@GarryTan that statistic sounds insane but i honestly believe it 😆
Finance, Economics, Business and Marketing.
computer science has nothing to do with VC. You need high money and wealth knowledge so business school is way to go!
Wow, why am I just seeing this video?
Thanks for this
TechLead would be an awesome VC
Man do more of these!
Back here after he made 2B from 300k on the coinbase IPO😂
him skipping out on Palantir
is like Gary Vee saying he skipped on the *Uber Guys*
😭😭😭 I’d be crying all night bruh
Hows the work life balance of an Associate? How much scut work a day? How much deal sourcing a day for anew hire? Is it like investment banking?
PUBG Play of the Game I don’t know actually. I never worked in that role. We are hiring our first associates this year actually.
Probably less spreadsheet and PPT scrubbing vs investment banking. Usually more thinking ideally.
Saw him in the Vox Explained video "Code"... turtles all the way down!
I could listen to the guy speak for hours.
Do you still sometimes have regrets over the Peter Thiel offer you rejected ??
does Joma look like he is holding himself back from bursting out of laughter?
Amazing
Garry, I've found twitter to be an amazing place to meet people. I'm graduating in December 2020 and would love to end up as a SWE at a high growth/high impact startup. How can I reach out to people to build relationships without sounding needy and rightly judge the trajectory of companies I might join?
Daniel Boaitey Targeted good emails to executives and founders and/or real genuine interest in what a startup is trying to do will go a long way actually
@@GarryTan thanks for the reply! appreciate the advice
So how much is Garry Tan making per year.
What would you estimate the % of companies you invest in, that are inbound leads vs leads you find on your own?
I still have a couple Questions!
We started with a small 7 mil dolar fund... what?
I really wanna like Joma but he betrayed Clément
*Hey joma I requested for ur resume and cover letter templete n i still didn't receive!*
no love for you bityitchhh
How much do first year platform managers at a vc make?
PUBG Play of the Game It varies by firm. Top firms all pay 6 figures. It’s comparable to market salary for growth startups for exec roles typically.
Math was wrong MR.vc.... if a fund starts at $100mill and in a couple years it’s worth $200mill, that’s 100% not 1-2%
This is not helpful for everyday people who want to get into VC. Either start as an intern or have a boat load of money to invest and start your own VC. Not helpful. However, the interviewed asked the right questions.
wow now he is the president of yc?
Valuable
Do you need help completing any tasks?
Damn missing out on Palantir must hurt felt it in his voice.. But even with Peter Thiel behind it?? Peter Thiel doesn't really miss much with his picks and I'm sure he was the Founder of it. To be fair though Peter didn't have the resume like he does today.
Do new associates have to be well connected in order to be hired? Do you need to be able to provide deals/know high net worth individuals? Have rich parents who are part of a country club?
PUBG Play of the Game It’s hard to generalize because every firm does it in a different way. Many recruit directly out of top business schools like GSB or Wharton. Others look for ex Goldman Sachs bankers. Still others try to find strong alumni from top startups like Uber and Airbnb, or from top incubators like Y Combinator.
So yes, network, but lots of variety as to which one.
wonder why this video didnt go viral.
How do you validate idea? What do you think about lean startup?
Terry Tan lean startup is useful. We are big fans of Eric Ries and funded his startup Long Term Stock Exchange.
What does he mean by growth? Revenue growth? Net profit growth? Client base growth? Sounds very fishy.
Advice for introverts who don't know how to deal source?
PUBG Play of the Game Try to find ways to help people who make things you like and are impressed by. The rest will happen if you help the right people.
How did he get enough money to start investing in startup companies? What kind of qualities/analysis does he look for before deciding to invest in a startup company?
Commando Master I worked at Y Combinator before becoming a VC. YC is more like a startup university or guild than investor, but it let me see hundreds of companies and thousands of founders in 5 years which is more than any other VC in that time frame. It taught me how to identify companies and founders and then I raised institutional outside capital to do a lot more of it.
In the end our analysis is relatively simple: product, market, team. Great product solving a real problem, team that can build and manage something big.
@@GarryTan i've recently started my career as a software engineering consultant and this is exactly what you need to run successful projects no matter the size... For sure once I save a bit of capital, I will start investing in some projects too! Thanks Garry for your insight. I wish you all the best with your prosperous future.
Finally you talk about an interesting subject and your nonsense personal drama
This cool
7am -2am? Sorry but that doesnt make sense. Just work smart
cool
Hi Panda
What is VC literally ??
Venture Capitalist
@isak I don’t think wanting to help startups is greedy and rich everyone is out here trying to make money
@isak a greedy rich guy? Thats something poor people say. Hes riskin his money for businesses with a high chance of failing
I could barely keep up with this haha
Neel Sandell VC as a job is honestly simple. Find people who are great who are building something and are solving a real problem.
200 million dollar loss?!?
Why did Peter Thiel try so hard to hire you from MSFT? Was it an equal combination of your talent and referrals from the Stanford network? Asking as an early-career engineer aiming to join a high growth startup without connections to a prestigious university.
Jason It was my college friends. Peter created the conservative newspaper on campus and my college friends worked on that paper. In the end network seems to have deep impact on your career broadly. It surprised me how much going to Stanford changed my career.
hi
Hiii
nice batman rolex btw
I wanna be an anime dubber lmao-
12:18 lol
PLTR SHIEET
Damn shits dying
I swore I heard feces way too many times.
Watch Joma make a bs startup that fails, then proceeds to try for a venture capital role.
Did you like the thumbnail? I took a Photoshop class to learn how to do that.
Check out Garry Tan's channel if you're interested in Startups and VC stuff:
th-cam.com/channels/IBgYfDjtWlbJhg--Z4sOgQ.html
How do I do VC if I'm only 23?
PUBG Play of the Game A VC is just someone who gives money to founders to help them start the business. So the most direct way is have money and invest it in good startups.
Getting a job in VC usually requires applying and often already knowing a VC who wants to hire someone to help them. The best people for this are people who have built a good startup from scratch before. That’s because those are the people that other people who build want to meet and get money from.
Rich daddy
thewatcher638 honestly you are also right
A lot of rich kids in the biz
1. Founded a company
2. spent 2 years at a bulge bracket investment bank
3. Engineer at a startup that went public or grew substantially
4. graduate from ivy league
5. rich daddy
6. be ready to be part of a business that's all about telling people how big your dick is
Rachel Mckinnon LOL
So VC firms are like a shitty hedge fund that is slightly more useful.
What makes you say shitty?
16
First
How much I need to be VC I'm only teen plz response
Do you support Andrew Yang
PUBG Play of the Game yes we had an event for him at our office last year
@@GarryTan I hear you guys are hiring your first associates this year. Does it hurt to apply even if you feel unqualified?
Hi