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00:22:38 · Kosta, James Lowe, Sam
[00:22:38] S0: Yeah. And maybe maybe one last question before I have our next guest on. Tell us what was the moment internally where you saw this sort of hockey stick? Like, what what... How how are you feeling internally? Because it's a very rare thing to experience. There's probably a handful of companies that have ever experienced it in the whole world. What's going through your mind? What was the moment where you saw like, oh, wow. This thing's, like, scaling almost uncontrollably? [00:23:00] S4: Yeah. Yeah. Honestly, it feels like a blur. Right? So, like, whole team went from... You know, the ramp was literally something like 200, 400 k, 3,000,000, 22,000,000, 27,000,000, you know, 43,000,000 per month. Like, it actually sort of went like that. [00:23:14] S1: Same. [00:23:15] S4: And so, as the team is is dealing with grappling with this, you're literally going every day going, my god. Like, we're fighting another fire, fighting another fire, fighting another fire. This is probably the first one we've we've had to slightly breathe and go, wow, we've gone into a completely different level of stable state. We've built all these systems. For the first time, everybody in the company feels like we could delegate to AI to kind of solve a a lot of these problems. We're building really good systems now to to scale further. And so it felt like a complete blur, and I don't think we we were expecting any of this. And every month, we just have to unblock the most important problem step by step, step by step Yeah. Until we build the systems to to keep scaling from
00:23:15 · James Lowe, Kosta, Sam, Ed Leon Klinger
[00:23:15] S4: And so, as the team is is dealing with grappling with this, you're literally going every day going, my god. Like, we're fighting another fire, fighting another fire, fighting another fire. This is probably the first one we've we've had to slightly breathe and go, wow, we've gone into a completely different level of stable state. We've built all these systems. For the first time, everybody in the company feels like we could delegate to AI to kind of solve a a lot of these problems. We're building really good systems now to to scale further. And so it felt like a complete blur, and I don't think we we were expecting any of this. And every month, we just have to unblock the most important problem step by step, step by step Yeah. Until we build the systems to to keep scaling from [00:23:55] S0: And and that time frame is what? Sorry? [00:23:57] S4: That was all happening in six months. [00:23:58] S1: That's insane. [00:23:59] S0: I don't [00:23:59] S1: know how you I don't know how you're sleeving. We we we have a nice guest coming in. [00:24:04] S3: So thank [00:24:05] S0: you so much. Wonderful as always. [00:24:07] S1: So good to see you. [00:24:07] S4: See you. [00:24:08] S1: See you [00:24:08] S0: soon. Dude, always... We'll see [00:24:09] S4: you later as well. Take care. [00:24:10] S1: Cheers, dude. Get well. Sorry. Are you good? Dude? Okay. There you go. [00:24:13] S0: Think we are ready for our next guest. Sam, do you maybe wanna see or James check who's I think we have one of the [00:24:18] S1: a 16 z partners. Yeah.
00:24:18 · Sam, Kosta, Fabian, James Foster
[00:24:18] S1: a 16 z partners. Yeah. [00:24:20] S0: Think. Sam can have a quick check. [00:24:22] S1: We can we can check. [00:24:25] S0: We'll just see who's who's available. Whoever whoever wants It'll be James or Anish or Angela. [00:24:30] S1: Yeah. Angela. I'm sure [00:24:31] S0: if they're outside waiting. A lovely environment where I wish we could show people a [00:24:36] S1: little bit more [00:24:36] S0: of the room because this is a stunning It is. It is. A stunning set. [00:24:42] S1: A beautiful bar in front of me right now. It's [00:24:45] S0: very How was your how was your breakfast [00:24:46] S6: this morning? [00:24:47] S1: It was lovely. I went for I went for the standard English breakfast, you know, fry up vibe. Oh, yeah? And... Yeah. Here we go. We got James. [00:24:56] S0: The guy's coming in live to the show. [00:24:58] S1: Here he is. Are the main man. [00:25:00] S0: Hello. Good to see you, mate. Lovely to see you. How [00:25:03] S7: are we? [00:25:04] S0: How are you feeling after time on the show. [00:25:05] S7: It's my first time on the show. [00:25:07] S1: Look at [00:25:07] S7: that. But not the first time in The UK. So... [00:25:09] S1: Okay. That's good. Okay. [00:25:10] S0: How are feeling after last night? [00:25:12] S7: I'm feeling wonderful. How are you feeling? [00:25:13] S0: I'm feeling pretty fresh. [00:25:14] S1: Although I lost to a world champion at poker. So Yeah. That's pretty rough. [00:25:18] S7: Yes. But I I think, fortunately, everyone did, and then he donated the winnings back to [00:25:24] S0: us.
00:25:24 · Kosta, Sam, James Foster
[00:25:24] S0: us. [00:25:24] S1: Okay. That's very kind. That's very kind. [00:25:25] S0: Let's kick off. James, it's first time on the show. Yes. Maybe a little bit of an intro where your focus is today. What's getting you excited in terms of trends? And then we can kick off with some questions. [00:25:36] S7: Cool. Absolutely. Well, I'm from The UK originally, actually. I grew up in Sheffield of all places and Sheff. Over time found my way to London, found my way to the startup ecosystem. In a past life, I founded a YC company similar to, you know, Amonzo or Revolut in East Africa, Rates VC, and then eventually moved over to San Francisco. And I've been at Andreessen the last two and a half years investing, especially at the seed and series a stage in b to b AI companies. But I really, really love early stage investing. And I have a soft spot for British founders as well. [00:26:17] S0: There you go. I love it. How has your investing thesis changed over time? I assume it looks a lot different today than it did maybe a year or two ago. Like, how are you adapting to what's happening right now in the whole world? [00:26:28] S7: Yeah. Mean, one thought is like we're in such a disruptive time that you really want to kind of some of it is sort of just like I mean, one mental model like for investing is you want to back the best founders in every credible market. And I think, you know, in periods of disruption like now, who knows what markets are going to look like in in five years time. [00:26:51] S0: A month time.
00:26:51 · Kosta, James Foster, S5
[00:26:51] S0: A month time. [00:26:52] S7: In a in a month time. Right? Just in terms of how industries are being reshaped, whether, you know, from SaaS pricing to outcome based pricing or, you know, companies that historically were, you know, just a HR software platform or just a system of record in a given vertical. They're actually expanding because it's so easy to build things. They're expanding much further beyond, like, you know, what their product would have been in the past. And so one lens I have is just actually it comes back to founders. Right? Is the founder encyclopedic about the market? Do they have like a sense of kind of going out for revenge into the world and the company that they're trying to build and just backing people that are just absolute learning machines and can adopt to those those changing [00:27:37] S5: I have to jump
00:27:37 · S5, Kosta
[00:27:37] S5: I have to jump [00:27:37] S0: in very quickly because you know what I'm gonna... I know. Like, when we were in Monaco, I can't remember how many months it was now, you gave an amazing speech right at the end of the the last night at the dinner. And I was getting the mic taken out of me for the whole time when we were on the trip because I kept telling everyone, was like, guys, this is reminding me a lot of Monte Carlo Monte Cristo. Yes. We're in the cove, you know, we're in this beautiful area. It's very old. And everyone was taking the mic out of me for it. They're like, you know, shut up. I wouldn't stop being all about the book. And then you stood up and gave a speech at the end of dinner. You mentioned this one of your favorite places because the areas because it reminds you of the book of the Count of Monte Cristo and the tale of revenge and how that can be applied to founders today. Can you just tell us a little bit about that thesis? Why do you think revenge can be used as a tool for good?