logo
episode-header-image
Jun 2024
56m 29s

20VC: Foundation Models are the Fastest ...

Harry Stebbings
About this episode

Michael Eisenberg is a Co-Founder and General Partner @ Aleph, one of Israel's leading venture firms with a portfolio including the likes of Wix, Lemonade, Empathy, Honeybook and more. Before leading Aleph, Michael was a General Partner @ Benchmark.

In Today's Show with Michael Eisenberg We Discuss:

1. The State of AI Investing:

  • Why does Michael believe that "foundation models are the fastest depreciating asset in history"?
  • Are we in an AI bubble today? As an investor, what is the right way to approach this market?
  • Who will be the biggest losers in this AI investing phase?
  • Where will the biggest value accrual be? What lessons does Michael have from the dot com for this?

2. Where Is the Liquidity Coming From?

  • Why does Michael believe that it is BS that private equity will come in and buy a load of software companies and be the primary exit destination?
  • Why does Michael believe that IPO windows are always open? Should founders go out now? What is good enough revenue numbers to go out into the public markets?
  • Why does Michael believe that Lina Kahn is a threat to capitalism? How does Michael predict the next 12-24 months for the M&A market?

3. AI as a Weapon: Who Wins: China or the US:

  • Does Michael agree with the notion that China is 2 years behind the US in AI development?
  • Does Michael agree that AI could be a more dangerous weapon in wars than nuclear weapons?
  • Why does Michael suggest that for all founders in Europe, they should leave?
  • US, China, Israel, Europe, how do they rank for innovating around data regulation for AI?

4. Venture 101: Reserves, Selling Positions and Fund Dying:

  • Why does Michael only want to do reserves into his middle-performing companies?
  • What framework does Michael use to determine whether he should sell a position?
  • Which funds will be the first to die in this next wave of venture?
  • Why does Michael not do sourcing anymore? Where is he weakest in venture?
  • Why does Michael believe that no board meeting needs to be over 45 mins?

 

 

Up next
Today
20VC: Base44's Maor Shlomo on How Vibe Coding Will Kill SaaS and Salesforce | Why it is BS that Vibe Coding Platforms Do Not Have Defensibility and Bad Margins | Why He Worries About Google, Not Replit and Lovable | Why Long Anthropic, Not OpenAI?
<p dir="ltr">Maor Shlomo is the Founder and CEO of Base44, the AI building platform that Maor built from idea to $80M acquisition by Wix, in just 8 months. Today the company serves millions of users and will hit $50M ARR by the end of the year. Before Base44, Maor was the Co-Foun ... Show More
1h 11m
Nov 21
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
<p dir="ltr">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 Redd ... Show More
1h 19m
Nov 20
20VC: Cursor Raises $2.3BN: Who Wins the Coding War | Peter Thiel and Softbank Sell NVIDIA: Analysed | Why Venture Capital Will Hit $1TRN and the Opening of Retail | Why Stripe and the Best Companies Will Never Go Public
<p dir="ltr">AGENDA:</p> <p dir="ltr">04:47 Cursor Raises $2.3BN at $29BN Valuation</p> <p dir="ltr">11:36 What Gemini 3 Means for Lovable, Cursor and Replit</p> <p dir="ltr">30:54 Peter Thiel and Softbank Sell NVIDIA: The Bubble Bursting?</p> <p dir="ltr">48:54 Oracle Credit Def ... Show More
1h 22m
Recommended Episodes
Sep 2018
SaaStr 192: Why Multi-Year Deals Are Not All Good, What Whatever Funding You Think You Will Need Double It & The Challenges of Building A Company and A Category Simultaneously with Michael Katz @ mParticle
<p><a href="https://twitter.com/mkatz0630"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">Michael Katz</span></a> <span style= "font-weight: 400;">is the Founder & CEO @</span> <a href= "https://www.mparticle.com/"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">mParticle</span></a><span style= "font-weight: ... Show More
29m 51s
Jul 2023
Bridgewater's Greg Jensen on AI, Inflation and What Markets Are Getting Wrong
Every industry is trying to figure out just how AI or Large Language Models can be used to do business. But Bridgewater Associates, the world's largest hedge fund, has already been at it for a long time. For years, it has explored AI and adjacent technologies in order to analyze ... Show More
57m 31s
Mar 2019
Michael Mauboussin – The Four Sources of Alpha - [Invest Like the Best, EP.126]
My guest this week for the third time is Michael Mauboussin. If there is a major question about markets and investing, Michael has usually written one of the best pieces of research on that topic. Today’s conversation is a mix of several of his research pieces, but focuses on the ... Show More
1h 8m
Mar 2023
What's Your Investing Thesis?
It's always a good idea to know why you're about to invest in a business. (0:21) Jason Moser discusses: - Short-term catalysts, long-term trends, and why it's ok to invest in both - The importance of understanding how a business makes money - Reasons to sell a stock (10:17) Dei ... Show More
22m 14s
Jul 2021
Private equity: what’s causing London interest?
<p class="MsoNormal">With private equity deals up in recent years, IGTV’s Jeremy Naylor discusses what’s happening with Colin McLean, founder of SVM Asset Management, which has interests in the private capital space. What’s happening, why now, and what’s the outlook?</p> <p clas ... Show More
14m 14s
Sep 2022
Fall Preview for Investors
With four months left in 2022, what should investors be focusing on? (0:30) Emily Flippen and Jason Moser discuss: - Getting ready to "eat the volatility" - Why they're watching holiday shopping and the Fed's language - Meta Platforms and Lululemon need a strong end to the year ... Show More
39m 26s
Jan 2023
Stocks For China’s New Bull Market
A bull market in the MSCI Asia Pacific index doesn’t mean investors should make rash investment decisions.   (0:21) Bill Mann discusses: - How U.S. companies can be a better way to play China’s reopening - Jay Powell’s latest speech reinforcing the Fed’s focus on stability - The ... Show More
23m 33s
May 2021
Using The Law Of The First Deal To Quit Your Job And Generate Mailbox Money | Michael Blank
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In this episode of the</span> <em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Millionaire Mindcast</span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;">, we have a remarkable guest, Michael Blank who share his insights and pieces of knowledge on the framework and pro ... Show More
59m 12s
Nov 2022
Money Talks: The tech reckoning
Most of America’s biggest technology firms are having a bad time - and not just the ones who have been recently acquired by a mercurial billionaire. More than $1tn has been wiped from their market value in recent weeks. Is the sell-off just investor jitters? Or is it a symptom of ... Show More
35m 28s