E4: Sam Lessin on Why the Seed & “Factory System” Era of Venture is Dead

This week Erik is joined by Sam Lessin, General Partner at the early-stage VC firm Slow Ventures, essayist, and former VP of Product at Facebook. If you’re looking to make fund administration easy and intuitive, check out: http://carta.com/turpentine

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SPONSORS:

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RELATED SHOWS:

If you like Turpentine VC, check out our show The Limited Partner with David Weisburd, where David talks to the investors behind the investors: https://link.chtbl.com/thelimitedpartner

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X / TWITTER:

@lessin (Sam)

@eriktorenberg (Erik)

@slow (Slow Ventures)

@TurpentineVC

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TIMESTAMPS:

(00:00:00) Episode Preview

(00:01:22) On Screenshot Essays, writing, and being OK with being wrong

(00:04:04) Sam's thesis on the factory system of venture capital

(00:07:18) What does venture look like when the factory line is over?

(00:10:14) Sam's bearishness on YC and a16z

(00:12:36) What are the best firms going to look like in the future?

(00:15:36) Sponsor: Carta

(00:16:17) The future state of company building and venture

(00:21:46) The biggest factors of luck in life and company building

(00:23:15) Sam's thesis on constellation software

(00:28:38) ​​Team Shares and why that's Sam's most bullish investment

(00:31:49) Sponsors: Synaptic | Pesto Tech

(00:33:15) Why Sam is bullish on crypto

(00:38:32) The different models of finance and investing in creators

(00:42:08) Sam's advice for future investors in 2040

(00:45:21) Is the LP landscape going to change significantly?

(00:52:17) Lower variance founders

(00:56:08) Kardashians and the future of media / celebrity

(00:57:42) Sam on Balaji's protech and anti-journalist class

(1:01:00) How can we represent social capital on the internet?

(1:02:41) On the end of capitalism

(1:05:38) Slow Ventures today and where they expect to go in the future

(1:07:26) Sponsor: Carta

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This show is produced by Turpentine: a network of podcasts, newsletters, and more, covering technology, business, and culture — all from the perspective of industry insiders and experts. We’re launching new shows every week, and we’re looking for industry-leading sponsors — if you think that might be you and your company, email us at [email protected].