E10: No Process, High Conviction — The Iconoclastic Founders Fund DNA

Trae Stephens, General Partner at Founders Fund, joins Erik Torenberg to chat through how the firm's focus on independent thinking and debate culture, and counterintuitive lack of true process, has been key in helping them build an enduring fund. If you’re looking to improve your sourcing, tracking, and due diligence, check out: https://synaptic.com/turpentine

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SPONSORS:

Synaptic unifies over one hundred real-time company performance metrics across alternative datasets like user traffic, employee data, app downloads, product reviews, and more. It’s your all-in-one source for alternative data that helps you make better investment decisions. To learn how Synaptic can improve your sourcing, tracking, and due diligence, visit https://synaptic.com/turpentine

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RELATED SHOWS:

If you like Turpentine VC, check out our show The Limited Partner with David Weisburd, where David talks to the investors behind the investors: https://link.chtbl.com/thelimitedpartner

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X / TWITTER:

@traestephens (Trae)

@eriktorenberg (Erik)

@foundersfund

@TurpentineVC

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TIMESTAMPS:

(00:00) Episode preview

(01:24) Debate culture and why that's key to Founders Fund's success

(03:59) How Founders Fund's pitch is different from a16z's

(06:56) FF’s unique market position

(09:09) How FF recruits their partners

(13:10) Sponsor: Synaptic

(14:16) The deal-making process, or lack thereof

(16:14) Governance at Founders Fund

(19:27) Comparing the YC approach 

(21:41) How they measure success against other funds

(22:50) Trae's journey at Founders Fund

(24:54) On incubating Anduril

(28:04) Why having no process forces partners to be higher conviction

(30:15) Core debates at Founders Fund

(32:24) The key to Founders Fund's current approach

(34:22) Trae's request for startups in gov tech

(36:03) Erik's On Deck question

(37:58) What does the future look like for Founders Fund?

(39:47) What gets misunderstood about the firm

(44:06) On Mike Solana

(47:01) The three eras of Founders Fund summarized