The Twenty Minute VC (20VC): Venture Capital | Startup Funding | The Pitch
01:07:12 · Harry Stebbings, Carles Reina
[01:07:12] S1: Final one and then a quick fire. What do you want to do with Baba? Do you want this to be venture fund that's like a $500,000,000 fund in its own right? [01:07:20] S0: So far, like what I want to do is like, want to build a generational fund, something that like actually will I would leave us all ideally. Like smaller funds, like keep raising relatively often, but being there for founders, like I wanna be there for founders. Has to be the operator led fund that actually is there for them. It's like doing the right thing [01:07:38] S1: Can you what be there for founders, dude, if you've got 40 and you're a sales leader, honestly, and then you do another fund? [01:07:45] S0: I think it is possible. I think it's like a ruthless prioritization of your time and where you put the effort. I talk constantly to my founders on WhatsApp all the time. I will dedicate weekends, late nights, early mornings. [01:07:58] S1: Do have kids? [01:07:58] S0: No. That helps, [01:08:00] S1: for sure, right? Helps a lot. It helps a [01:08:02] S0: lot. Like I go [01:08:03] S1: Do want kids? [01:08:04] S0: I 100% want. But... And maybe at some point, you end up having to decide on which one you go further, right? Do take you one? Do you take the other one? And so on. [01:08:13] S1: Yeah. I wanna do a quick fire round. I've loved this. So what have you changed your mind on in the last twelve months? Like, specifically on investing, it's like you [01:08:21] S0: need to also be investing, like, in founders that actually care about, like, sales, not only the technical aspect of it.
01:08:21 · Carles Reina, Harry Stebbings
[01:08:21] S0: need to also be investing, like, in founders that actually care about, like, sales, not only the technical aspect of it. [01:08:28] S1: What's the single biggest mistake you see sales leaders make today? [01:08:32] S0: That they don't spend enough time talking to customers directly and signing contracts themselves. What's the [01:08:37] S1: biggest mistake CEOs make in how their relationship is with their sales leaders? [01:08:42] S0: That they would just force a number to their sales leaders and expect that they deliver without understanding what [01:08:48] S1: are the implications of all of it. What channel or method is like super outdated in sales? Often people say that like cold calling. What is outdated? [01:08:58] S0: Outdated, I think is like emails. Like sending an email, no one replies. There is so much like outbound that is like fundamentally AI generated, no one replies. Like the the conversion rate on emails these days has dropped to like like 0.00 something whatever. [01:09:14] S1: What's your biggest insecurity?
01:09:14 · Harry Stebbings, Carles Reina
[01:09:14] S1: What's your biggest insecurity? [01:09:16] S0: What's my big insecurity that like I might not be able to get to the end of the quarter for the number that I wanted. Has that ever happened? Yeah. A 100%. But like, you live with it, right? Like, we all make mistakes all the time and you live with it. But I think it's important because like as a sales leader, you always need to be worrying like, am I gonna get to the end of the quarter? Because it means that like, you are pushing really fucking hard. If you know that like you're gonna be get there, you're gonna get there, you're gonna relax. I don't want that.: [01:09:43] S1: Let's be honest. You don't need the money anymore. ElevenLabs Revolut as angels. It's not about the money. Are you a better sales leader because you're richer?: Yes. [01:09:53] S0: I don't get compensated on how much sales we make. It means that I'm fully independent because that is not like, I don't believe in that. I don't believe, like, if the company makes X amount of money, then it's fantastic. If they make Z fantastic, my goal is to make sure we make as much money as possible based on the plan that we've committed. And the plans are actually bananas, right? That we always like shoot for the stars. But my role is to make sure that I get compensated on equity side, not on how much money we make. I think it's wrong. If I
01:09:53 · Carles Reina, Harry Stebbings
[01:09:53] S0: I don't get compensated on how much sales we make. It means that I'm fully independent because that is not like, I don't believe in that. I don't believe, like, if the company makes X amount of money, then it's fantastic. If they make Z fantastic, my goal is to make sure we make as much money as possible based on the plan that we've committed. And the plans are actually bananas, right? That we always like shoot for the stars. But my role is to make sure that I get compensated on equity side, not on how much money we make. I think it's wrong. If I [01:10:24] S1: were to say the person is listening for the next sixty seconds, and this is all that they're going to take from our conversation and from all of your writing, from everything they've seen in the news about you, what would you most want that person to take from this and from everything in the next sixty seconds? [01:10:43] S0: Constantly up on people. I think it's important. But like like essentially spend time with the team, spend time with your customers, treat them as a community, not as a proper transactional sale. Be with them, be on the road all the time because if you're not, you're missing the reality of what your team, what your company is going through. And the only way to actually like be a better sales leader and the only way to actually get to your sales target is fundamentally like going through the pain yourself every single day. [01:11:14] S1: Dude, this has been such a joy. I've loved this. It also feels like I've known you for a long time. But thank you for being so brilliant.
01:11:14 · Harry Stebbings, Carles Reina
[01:11:14] S1: Dude, this has been such a joy. I've loved this. It also feels like I've known you for a long time. But thank you for being so brilliant. [01:11:22] S0: Thank you so much for inviting me. This was this was really, really good.
01:11:27 · Harry Stebbings
[01:11:27] S1: But before we leave you today, a quick shout out to a company I've been genuinely blown away by and have been tracking Rox. I've been watching this team closely and the speed they're operating at and the level of applied AI talent they've assembled, it's honestly remarkable. Rox is pioneering revenue agents for the global 2,000, plugged into your data warehouse and CRM, and delivering board level ROI in just ninety days. These sales and revenue agents handle the end to end sales process for large enterprises from research prep to deal risk, outreach, and opportunity management. So sellers spend more time with customers and less time in tools. This isn't another productivity app. Christ, we've all had enough of those. Rox gives reps a single interface on top of their GTM stack powered by a knowledge graph across your internal and external data. So if you wanna boost AE productivity, increase revenue per rep, and consolidate your stack, try Rox at rocks.com slash sign up. And speaking of great companies, we have to talk about Monaco. For years, I've watched some of the best founders and early go to market teams struggle with sales. Too many CRMs, too many point solutions, too much manual work. Well, that changes with Monaco. Monaco replaces your legacy CRM and fragmented sales stack with a single AI native platform. Monaco's agents automatically build and score your entire TAM, layer in real time signals, create and run outbound sequences, schedule calls, and record and transcribe meetings. Your pipeline practically manages itself. Monaco creates reminders, drafts follow-up emails for you, and keeps deals moving forward. So that means more meetings, higher conversion rates, and faster revenue growth. If you're an early stage startup, tired of duct taping sales tools together and looking to grow revenue faster, check out Monaco at monaco.com. While Monaco runs your sales pipeline, Framer runs your website. A website should help your business grow, not slow it down. If updates to your.com feel harder than they should, Framer is the shortcut you've been looking for. Framer is an enterprise grade, no code website builder that works like your team's favorite design tool and is used by companies like Perplexity, Miro, Mixpanel to move faster.