The Twenty Minute VC (20VC): Venture Capital | Startup Funding | The Pitch - 20VC: David Friedberg on The Framework for Business Value Creation, The Bifurcation in Venture Today That No One Talks About, The Impact of Interest Rate Hikes on Venture and Step by Step; How TPB Incubates, Funds and Exits The Next Generation of Companie

20VC: David Friedberg on The Framework for Business Value Creation, The Bifurcation in Venture Today That No One Talks About, The Impact of Interest Rate Hikes on Venture and Step by Step; How TPB Incubates, Funds and Exits The Next Generation of Companie

03/14/22 • 44 min

3 Listeners

The Twenty Minute VC (20VC): Venture Capital | Startup Funding | The Pitch

David Friedberg is Founder and CEO of The Production Board (TPB), a holding company established to solve the most fundamental problems that affect our planet, by reimagining global systems of production. Prior to founding The Production Board, David founded The Climate Corporation, a 10-year journey that culminated in their $930M acquisition by Monsanto. If that was not enough, David is the Founder and Chairman at Metromile and also sits on the board of Soylent, Clara Foods, Tillable, Cana Technologies and more.

In Today’s Episode with David Friedberg You Will Learn:

1.) Origins:

How David made his way into the world of startups and technology from academia and physics?
What were David's biggest takeaways from scaling The Climate Corp to $930M exit to Monsanto?
How did the exit put pressure on David for all future companies he builds? How does he manage that?

2.) The Macro: Venture + The Economy

How does David foresee the impending rate hikes? What impact will this have on venture and the economy?
What segment of the market will be first to be hit? Why is growth investing last to be hit? How does early stage play out in this very new environment?
How will we see the velocity of capital deployment change in this new period? What does David believe are some of the crucial flaws of the venture model?
How does David reflect on his own price sensitivity? What lessons has he learned from deals he has done or missed that have changed his perspective?

3.) David Frankel: The Business Builder

What is David's rubrik for business value creation? How has this changed with time?
How mentally plastic does one have to be around the time it takes to see margins, unit economics etc change from negative to positive?
How does David and the team approach building new companies at TPB? Where do they find the founding teams? How do they incentivise them?
How does TPB approach continuous funding for the companies they create? What milestones need to be hit? How do they assess them?
How does David approach liquidity with regards to exits for the companies they create? Why does their holding company structure mean they have different incentives to VCs?

4.) David Friedberg: Father and Husband

How does David reflect on his own relationship to money today? How has it changed over time?
What have been David's biggest realisations on what provides him true happiness?
How did having children change his operating mentality? What does being a great father mean to David?

Item’s Mentioned In Today’s Episode with David Friedberg

David’s Favourite Book: Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind

In Today’s Episode with David Friedberg You Will Learn:

1.) Origins:

How David made his way into the world of startups and technology from academia and physics?
What were David's biggest takeaways from scaling The Climate Corp to $930M exit to Monsanto?
How did the exit put pressure on David for all future companies he builds? How does he manage that?

2.) The Macro: Venture + The Economy

How does David foresee the impending rate hikes? What impact will this have on venture and the economy?
What segment of the market will be first to be hit? Why is growth investing last to be hit? How does early stage play out in this very new environment?
How will we see the velocity of capital deployment change in this new period? What does David believe are some of the crucial flaws of the venture model?
How does David reflect on his own price sensitivity? What lessons has he learned from deals he has done or missed that have changed his perspective?

3.) David Frankel: The Business Builder

What is David's rubrik for business value creation? How has this changed with time?
How mentally plastic does one have to be around the time it takes to see margins, unit economics etc change from negative to positive?
How does David and the team approach building new companies at TPB? Where do they find the founding teams? How do they incentivise them?
How does TPB approach continuous funding for the companies they create? What milestones need to be hit? How do they assess them?
How does David approach liquidity with regards to exits for the companies they create? Why does their holding company structure mean they have different incentives to VCs?

4.) David Friedberg: Father and Husband

How does David reflect on his own relationship to money today? How has it changed over time?
What have been David's biggest realisations on what provides him true happiness?
How did having children change his operating mentality? What does being a great father mean to David?

Item’s Mentioned In Today’s Episode with David Friedberg

David’s Favourite Book: Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind

Previous Episode

undefined - 20VC: Gitlab CEO Sid Sijbrandij on Why You Are Not Allowed to Present in Meetings at Gitlab, Why it is a Pipedream We Will Go Back to Offices and What is the Future of Work & CEO Coaches; What Makes The Best, When To Have Them and When To Change Them

20VC: Gitlab CEO Sid Sijbrandij on Why You Are Not Allowed to Present in Meetings at Gitlab, Why it is a Pipedream We Will Go Back to Offices and What is the Future of Work & CEO Coaches; What Makes The Best, When To Have Them and When To Change Them

Sid Sijbrandij is the Co-founder & CEO @ GitLab. GitLab’s single application helps organizations deliver software faster and more efficiently while strengthening their security and compliance. Prior to their IPO last year, Sid raised funding from some of the best including ICONIQ, GV, Tiger, Coatue and D1 to name a few. Under his leadership, the company has grown to over 1,500 employees and over 30 million registered users. If that was not enough, Sid is also an active angel and sits on the board of Meltano, a spinout of Gitlab that allows you to manage all the data tools in your stack.

In Today’s Episode with Sid Sijbrandij You Will Learn:

1.) The Founding of Gitlab:

How did Sid make his way into the world of tech and startups?
What was it about Gitlab as a project that excited Sid so much from Day 1?
How did Sid convince his co-founder to turn Gitlab from a project into a company?

2.) The Future of Work:

Why does Sid believe it is a fallacy that everyone will go back to the office?
What are the 1-2 most important things for companies to do when moving to a remote work environment? Where does Sid see many make mistakes?
What have Gitlab done to create a remote working environment so successfully? What have they tried that has not worked?
What stage of company building does remote work best for? When is it most challenging?

3.) Sid: The Leader

How has Sid changed and evolved as a leader over the Gitlab journey?
How does Sid look to get as much feedback as possible on his leadership?
How does Sid create an environment of safety where everyone feels they can provide feedback?
How does Sid work with his CEO coach? Should every CEO have one? What should one look for in them? How do you know when you need to change your CEO coach?

4.) Sid: The Board Member:

What have been Sid's biggest lessons on what makes successful board management?
In prep for the meeting, what materials does Sid provide? When does he send them? Does he present to the board? What mistakes do founders make in boards?
From being on the other side as a board member, what does Sid believe the best members do?
What would Sid most like to change about board meetings today?

Item’s Mentioned In Today’s Episode with Sid Sijbrandij

Sid’s Favourite Book: High Output Management

Next Episode

undefined - 20 Product: Lenny Rachitsky on The 3 Key Roles of the Product Manager, 5 Skills All The Best PMs Have, When To Hire Your First PM, How to Structure the Hiring Process for PMs & What Leaders Can Do to Make Their PMs Successful

20 Product: Lenny Rachitsky on The 3 Key Roles of the Product Manager, 5 Skills All The Best PMs Have, When To Hire Your First PM, How to Structure the Hiring Process for PMs & What Leaders Can Do to Make Their PMs Successful

Lenny Rachitsky is one of the OGs of product, having spent over 7 years at Airbnb as a product lead he left to start his newsletter, find it here. This has scaled to thousands upon thousands of readers and is one of the most popular newsletters on Substack. Lenny is also an extremely active angel investor with a portfolio including Figma, Sorare, Clubhouse, Vanta, WhatNot and many more incredible companies. If that was not enough, Lenny also has the best course on product management, check it out here.

In Today’s Episode with Lenny Rachitsky You Will Learn:

1.) Origins in Product:

How did Lenny make his way iunto the world of product management at Airbnb?
What were some of his biggest takeaways from his time at Airbnb on product?
What mistakes did he make on product at Airbnb? How did it impact his product thinking?

2.) Product Management: 101

How does Lenny define product management today? How is the role of PM changing?
When is the right time to hire your first PM as a startup?
What is the difference between Head of Product and CPO? When do you hire each?
What are the biggest mistakes founders make when hiring their first product hires?

3.) The Hiring Process: