20VC Newsletter - 23rd November 2025
Here are the transcripts and top takeaways from 20VC episodes released this last week.
Monday’s episode with Andrew Ng, Managing General Partner @ AI Fund:
Download the full transcript:
My 7 key takeaways:
I Have Never Met an AI Person Who Think They Have Enough Compute
Get us any amount of compute, we will use it all & say we still don’t have enough.
We have excess demand for inference.
We do not have enough chips & power to meet that demand.
Models as a Source of Geopolitical Influence
AI models shape global views when people ask about borders, history or politics.
They will become a new form of soft power like K-pop in South Korea or Hollywood in the US.
China’s low cost, open-weight models will give them this advantage.
How Export Controls Are Chips Massively Back Fired
China’s semiconductor industry was moving slowly.
Export controls on NVIDIA & AMD incentivized them to accelerate their semiconductor development.
It is paying off for China.
If I Had One Wish for European Regulators
Stop regulating AI so much and focus on building.
We are still in the early days of AI. Europe has plenty of talent who are willing to work hard.
Being leaders in AI regulation is not a competitive advantage.
AI Means You Do Not Need to Learn Coding Is the Worst Advice Ever
Telling people not to learn coding because of AI will age very badly.
If AI makes coding easier, then more people should learn to code.
Those who understand code will have unparalleled advantage in most job functions.
CS Students Who Don’t Know AI Are the Most F**ked of All
The 4 tiers of software engineers today:
Engineers with 10+ years of experience & understands AI.
Fresh college grads who understand AI.
Engineers with 10+ years of experience but do not use AI.
Fresh college grads who don’t understand AI.
If you are #4, you are f**ked in the job market.
Do Margins Matters in a World of AI
They are absolutely important.
But when you have a clear view of where the technology is going, you are building for the margins of the future.
That is an important distinction.
Thursday’s episode with Rory O’Driscoll, GP @ Scale, Jason Lemkin, Founder @ SaaStr & Tomasz Tunguz, GP @ Theory Ventures:
Download the full transcript:
My 6 key takeaways:
Why 30BN for Cursor Is a Good Deal
They have huge revenue, strong revenue growth, and a large TAM.
They went from $1M-$100M a year ago, then $100M-$1BN this year.
Newton’s laws of motion require it to go to $3-4BN next year, which will be 10x NTM revenue.
Who Will Be the Top 3 in AI Coding?
Cursor: They are first & ahead.
GitHub: They can bundle with Microsoft
Anthropic: They can bundle at the model level.
Which AI Products Will Have Churn vs Not
In SaaS, the number one predictor of retention is the number of integrations.
If the product is easily interchangeable, you will rip it out if it is cheaper.
If the product is integrated into 5+ things & you have to speak to IT, you won’t bother.
The Late-Stage Business Is either the Best or the Worst
When prices go up, you are easily turning $100M to $200M with little to no effort on your side.
When prices go down, it is the worst business in the world.
There is nothing you can do to determine which one it is.
How Oracle Shows Why the Bubble Could Pop
Oracle is borrowing money to build data centres as part of their deal with OpenAI.
They have 3 times the credit default swap spreads of the federal government, Microsoft, and other major tech companies.
The risk is still small but it suggests a meaningful repricing of risk.
A Crash Is Coming and These Are the Data Points That Show It
Oracle’s CDS are three times Amazon and Microsoft’s.
Subprime borrowers have hit the highest auto-loan delinquency rates in the past 60 days in recorded history.
Blue Owl has frozen redemptions for a non-traded BDC vehicle.
Friday’s episode with Max Altman, Co-Founder & Managing Partner @ Saga Ventures:
Download the full transcript:
Behind the scenes:
Let us know what your big takeaways from this week’s shows were in the comments below!
Thank you for reading, and don’t miss the great guests we have next week:
Monday episode: Maor Shlomo, Founder @ Base44
Thursday episode: Jason Lemkin & Rory O’Driscoll
Friday episode: John McMahon, Author
Thank you for reading 20VC.
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