Redpoint Ventures and Stepstone Group on VC Deployment, M&A, and Google's AI Strategy | E1934

This Week in Startups is brought to you by… Hubspot for Podcast Network. Looking to up your marketing game? Check out HubSpot's Chatbot Builder:  https://clickhubspot.com/s0u Chatbot Tutorial here: https://clickhubspot.com/mfx DevSquad. Most dev agencies only offer developers. Why? Because product management is hard. Get an entire product team for the cost of one US developer plus 10% off at https://www.devsquad.com/twist Mercury is the fintech startups use for banking* and all their financial workflows. Paying bills, staying in control of company spend, and closing the books doesn't need to be so complex — that's why Mercury powers it all from the one thing every business needs: the bank account. Join 200K startups who use Mercury to operate at their best at http://mercury.com *Mercury is a financial technology company, not a bank. Banking services provided by Choice Financial Group and Evolve Bank & Trust, Members FDIC. * Todays show: David Weisburd hosts Logan Bartlett, Hunter Somerville, and Jason Calacanis to discuss the fundraising market (3:07), M&A (26:45), Google’s huge investment in generative AI (58:15), and much more! * Timestamps: (0:00) David Weisburd intros Logan Bartlett, Hunter Somerville, and Jason Calacanis (3:07) Tiger's recent fund and fundraising indicators (11:55) HubSpot’s Chatbot Builder - https://clickhubspot.com/s0u https://clickhubspot.com/mfx (13:26) The challenges and realities of venture capital (25:14) DevSquad - Get an entire product team for the cost of one US developer plus 10% off at https://www.devsquad.com/twist (26:45) Startup acquisitions, due diligence, and unethical behaviors in the industry (31:27) Selling partial positions in startups and structuring the selling of shares (37:18) Mercury - Join 200K startups who use Mercury to operate at their best at http://mercury.com ⁠ (38:20) Cendana and Kline Hill’s $105M fund to buy stakes in seed VC funds (46:59) The correlation between capital consumption and equity value, and the dangers of excess capital (54:28) The role of private equity in tech M&A and the future of tech IPOs (58:15) Google's $100 billion investment in AI and competition in the AI ecosystem (1:06:30) The challenge of capacity in seed stage investing and the value of a strong community in portfolio management * Follow Logan: X: https://twitter.com/loganbartlett LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/loganbartlett Check out: https://www.redpoint.com * Follow Hunter: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hunter-somerville-2a24117 Check out: https://www.stepstonegroup.com/ * Follow David: X: ⁠https://twitter.com/DWeisburd⁠ LinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/dweisburd⁠ Check out: ⁠https://10xcapital.com * Follow Jason: X: ⁠https://twitter.com/jason⁠ Instagram: ⁠https://www.instagram.com/jason⁠ LinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncalacanis * Thank you to our partners: (11:55) HubSpot’s Chatbot Builder - https://clickhubspot.com/s0u https://clickhubspot.com/mfx (25:14) DevSquad - Get an entire product team for the cost of one US developer plus 10% off at https://www.devsquad.com/twist (37:18) Mercury - Join 200K startups who use Mercury to operate at their best at http://mercury.com * Check out the Launch Accelerator: https://launchaccelerator.co * Check out Founder University: https://www.founder.university * Subscribe to This Week in Startups on Apple: https://rb.gy/v19fcp * Great 2023 interviews: Steve Huffman, Brian Chesky, Aaron Levie, Sophia Amoruso, Reid Hoffman, Frank Slootman, Billy McFarland * Check out Jason’s suite of newsletters: https://substack.com/@calacanis * Follow TWiST: Substack: https://twistartups.substack.com Twitter: https://twitter.com/TWiStartups YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thisweekin Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thisweekinstartups TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thisweekinstartups * Subscribe to the Founder University Podcast: https://www.founder.university/podcast