20VC Newsletter - 9th March 2025
Here are the transcripts and top takeaways from 20VC episodes released this last week.
Monday’s episode with Mike Krieger, Co-Founder of Instagram & CPO @ Anthropic:
Download the full transcript:
My 7 key takeaways:
Where Is Value in a World of AI
It will be in industries with a differentiated go-to-market or industries with special data.
Finance, legal, healthcare – they can fine-tune models for their specific use cases.
The thing that’s going to make you durable over the long run is your ability to sell into those places & have something that you understand uniquely.
How PMs and Designers Need to Change Their Mindset in a World of AI
They are designing a product around a fundamentally nondeterministic system.
The evaluation, model quality, prompting on the backend is all a part of the product design.
Models change over time so you need a good framework around it.
The Ultimate Formula for Social Networks and What Models Can Learn From Them
Social media platforms like Instagram are made up of:
Format: Feed, stories, video…
Audience: Hipster photographers, then everybody else.
Vibes: It was very different to Snapchat & Facebook even with similar features.
AI products still need to find their formula.
Build for the Models We Have Today or Wait for Those Tomorrow?
Don’t wait for the models to be perfect.
Explore the space, be frustrated by the current generation of models.
Aggressively try the next ones until you can finally deliver on your vision.
Where Has Anthropic Under-Invested?
Two things:
Faster iteration speed on first party products.
Better API abstractions beyond basic token input/output.
Why Anthropic Was So Slow to Ship Product
We were running a larger company playbook.
We got too calcified on organizational boundaries.
We cannot afford that right now.
What Does Anthropic Learn and Take From DeepSeek
They told their story better than we did with Claude – more people know about DeepSeek than Claude.
They went from having no product to a decent iOS app in an extremely short amount of time.
We need to focus on getting ideas out to market quicker.
Top comments from the show:
“What a refreshingly grounded interview after what feels like a very, very surreal time in the industry.” @waldonumberone (YT)
“Truly good questions from interviewer.” @Normi19 (YT)
“Wow this is so well done from every side. Thank you” @robincowie5139 (YT)
Wednesday’s episode with Anton Osika, Co-Founder & CEO @ Lovable:
Download the full transcript:
My 5 key takeaways:
We Have Better Retention Than ChatGPT
Our month-one retention on paying customers is better than ChatGPT’s.
It is 85% and going up.
North Star Metric and How Many Hit It?
We focus on how many users go all the way to site publish.
We want them getting visitors to the sites they built.
We have almost 40,000 paying users as the proxy metric.
When Your Comps Raise Big, Do You Have to Also?
No, you can always bootstrap.
They can outspend you on talent, customers & marketing.
But the only thing that matters is execution.
Why Europe Is Not F***ed and Companies Will Be Mega Here
Even though the US has a better startup culture, Europe has more raw talent available.
I want to prove you can build a category defining company in Europe.
We have a strong underdog mentality and that is crucial.
Why the Fastest Growing Company in Europe Turned Down YC
We felt like at best we would get some acceleration but a lot of dilution.
At worst it is a distraction to go to SF for all those events.
We took some funding instead and focused on building talent.
Top comments from the show:
“85% month 1 retention is insane, incredible job”- @bozicrok (YT)
“Bootstrapping is a skill and if you can you probably should. Lovable has done exceptionally well! Great product that speaks for itself”- @typeoneerror (Tiktok)
“A big part of all of it in relation to start ups is what happened and continues in Sillicon Valley with founders exiting and becoming VCs. That doesn't happen to the same degree in the EU” - @sausagemeows (Tiktok)
Friday’s episode with Julian Teixeira, CPO @ 1Password:
Download the full transcript:
My 5 key takeaways:
What Is a Sales Playbook?
It is breaking down the anatomy of a win: What steps should you be repeating to have a higher rate of success?
You are not hiring people to take orders; you are hiring them to sell.
If you do not have the right skills development, your playbook isn’t worth shit.
Does the Founder Have to Be the One to Create the Playbook?
You need to get involved early on as a founder.
You need to get firsthand exposure on the front line and understand how the customers are reacting.
You need that leverage to call bullshit on anyone that you’re going to trust sales to in the future.
What Should We Look for in Our First Sales Hire?
You need someone with:
Humility
Patience
Low ego
High curiosity
You want somebody who has something to prove.
You do not want someone with a fancy cover who’s shown up at the right company at the right time.
Sales People Today Are Not Ready for the Next Wave of Sales
The industry is very different from what it was 20-30 years ago.
Too many people get into sales thinking they can wing it with their charisma.
A lot of them go into this field and realize this isn’t what they signed up for.
Churn Rate in Sales Teams: 30%
Our non-regrettable attrition is around 29-30%.
We’re putting more emphasis on the hiring process but some people are just great interviewers.
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:
Niklas Östberg, Co-Founder and CEO @ Delivery Hero
Antoine Martin, Co-Founder & CEO @ Amo
Mathias Biilmann, CEO @ Netlify
Thank you for reading 20VC.
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