logo
episode-header-image
Mar 2020
1h 5m

Ajay Agarwal, Partner at Bain Capital sh...

Jason Calacanis
About this episode

0:51 Jason intros Bain Capital's Ajay Agarwal

3:17 Are we experiencing late-stage capitalism? Is capitalism broken?

8:22 Why is upward mobility stalling?

15:29 What is it about founders & startups that made him dedicate his life's work to?

18:46 What piece of knowledge got him in startups? Ajay describes gross margin & incremental costs

23:03 Two insights on why enterprise software is the best business

30:11 Mitt Romney at Bain Capital & issues with cultural appropriation

36:44 Ajay's early days at Trilogy Software, how software sales were different in the 1990s

42:23 Companies going from sales-driven culture to product-driven

46:52 Ajay describes one of his best investments: FourKites

49:13 Ajay describes the biggest miss of his anti-portfolio: Pinterest, and why some firms care about stage and some are stage-agnostic

54:57 Has Bain ever participated in every round of a companies life-cycle?

58:15 Effects of the SoftBank Vision Fund on venture capital as a whole

Up next
Mar 2021
Matt Mullenweg on pioneering remote work, investing in open-source, crypto & more | Angel S5 E7
Check out Automattic: https://automattic.com FOLLOW Matt: https://twitter.com/photomatt FOLLOW Jason: https://linktr.ee/calacanis Show notes: 1:07 Jason intros Matt Mullenweg & they discuss starting WordPress & getting into angel investing 5:47 Angel investing in the early 2000's ... Show More
1h 23m
Feb 2021
Reid Hoffman on the Joby Aviation SPAC, lessons from early Airbnb & Facebook bets, passing on Stripe & SpaceX, investment thesis & more | Angel S5 E6
Check out Greylock: https://greylock.com FOLLOW Reid: https://twitter.com/reidhoffman FOLLOW Jason: https://linktr.ee/calacanis Show notes: 1:07 Jason intros Reid Hoffman & they discuss the Joby Aviation VTOL SPAC, VTOLs vs. self-driving 11:53 Assure - Get 20% off your first SPV ... Show More
1h 10m
Feb 2021
Mark Cuban on the resurgence of retail investors, NBA's potential entry into wagering & digital assets, DeFi & much more | Angel S5 E5
FOLLOW Mark: https://twitter.com/mcuban FOLLOW Jason: https://linktr.ee/calacanis Thanks to our partners: Odoo - Get your first app free & $1000 off your first implementation pack at https://odoo.com/twist OurCrowd - Sign up for a free account at https://www.ourcrowd.com/twist Li ... Show More
1h 3m
Recommended Episodes
Jan 2020
Inside Angel Funding: Fundamental Science, and Finding the Right Investor for You
The 2019 Angel of the Year in the U.K., Sunil Shah from o2h Ventures, joins Richard Howard to discuss the realities of running and growing a business from scratch (it’s not what they teach you in business school); why first-time entrepreneurs in the biotech and therapeutics space ... Show More
22m 36s
Jan 2023
#220: Ultimate Advice for Investors And Entrepreneurs From A Mega-VC
<p>Randall Kaplan has invested in more than 60 tech companies and is the co-founder of several others – including a company that is part of the S&P 500 with nearly 8,000 employees. If there's anyone who is well-equipped to talk about entrepreneurship, investing and business – it' ... Show More
1h 10m
Feb 2021
Responsible Innovation and Venture Capital
Hemant Taneja, a managing director at General Catalyst and the founder of the firm’s Silicon Valley operations, joins Scott to discuss the venture capital space, why he’s bullish on the healthcare sector, and why responsible innovation is more important than ever. Hemant also sha ... Show More
1h 3m
Apr 2017
Recode Decode: Bijan Sabet, general partner, Spark Capital
Spark Capital General Partner Bijan Sabet talks with Recode’s Kara Swisher about being a venture capitalist based on the East Coast, and how he became an early investor in companies like Twitter, Tumblr and Cruise. Sabet also discusses why he has become more politically vocal und ... Show More
55m 14s
Jun 2024
2925 Unlocking Startup Potential: Driving Product Adoption and Retention
tail spinning
25m 13s
Oct 2020
SoCal Super Angel - why accelerators? By David Mandel.
<p><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/david3712/">David Mandel</a>, SoCal-based super Angel, investing in emerging technology startups who Invested in over 500 startups up to date, talks about early stage startups. We focused our conversation on how helpful accelerators can be ... Show More
30m 23s