Episodes

Erik Torenberg talks to Vinod Khosla about his contrarian bets at Khosla Ventures, the firm’s strategic thinking about the future, and why his “venture assistance” is different than other funds. They also discuss his investment thesis in AI (including OpenAI), robotics, biotech, crypto, education, …

This episode features a discussion recorded in 2023 between Erik Torenberg and Joe Lonsdale, founder of 8VC, Palantir and the Cicero Institute. They cover Joe's proposed solutions to challenges in U.S. education, prison reform, homelessness, healthcare, defense, and more.

In this episode Erik Torenberg sits down with Jason Lemkin, the founder and CEO of SaaStr, a venture firm, podcast network, event series, and the world’s largest community for B2B/SaaS founders.

This episode features an interview with a16z GP and co-founder Marc Andreessen, discussing his intellectual influences and detailing his quest to understand how the world works.

This episode features a special interview with James Currier, a partner at NFX.

This episode features an interview with Scott Belsky, angel investor, Chief Strategy Officer at Adobe, and Founder of Behance.

Today's episode features an interview with Will Quist, partner at Slow Ventures.

This is a special episode featuring an interview between Forerunner Ventures founder Kirsten Green and Turner Novak of The Peel podcast and Banana Capital.

This episode features an interview with Mike Maples, Jr, the co-founder of Floodgate that took place in 2020. Mike's interview on Turpentine VC from September 2023 is one of our most popular episode to date, and this earlier interview offers relevant context to his success and discipline.

In this episode Chris Dixon, GP at a16z Crypto, joins Erik Torenberg along with cohosts Dan Romero and Antonio Garcia Martinez to discuss his recent book Read Write Own: The Next Era of the Internet, how he thinks AI and crypto will collide, and why Web3 consumer hasn’t taken off yet.

In this episode of Turpentine VC, Michael Dempsey, Managing Partner at Compound, joins Erik Torenberg to discuss thesis-driven vs founder-driven investing, Compound’s AI thesis, company building opportunities, ways to win at venture, advice for emerging managers, and much more.

In this episode of Turpentine VC, Somesh Dash, General Partner at IVP, joins Erik Torenberg to discuss how IVP differentiates itself, winning late stage deals, team construction, why venture capital in 2024 looks like private equity in 2008, the future of IVP, and much more.

In this episode of Turpentine VC, Erik is joined by Frank Rotman, the founding partner of QED investors, a fintech-focused VC firm.

In this episode of Turpentine VC, Ali Hamed, Partner at CoVenture, joins Erik Torenberg to discuss the advantages of investing across asset classes, CoVenture’s inflection points, the importance of being liked in venture, why LPs are willing to accept lower returns from big brand VCs, asset classes…

In this episode of Turpentine VC, Tomasz Tunguz, General Partner at Theory Ventures, joins Erik Torenberg to discuss the Theory Ventures model, the coming contraction in investable VC dollars, Tom’s contrarian view on blockchain, the parallels between PE and VC, and much more.

In this episode of Turpentine VC, Phin Barnes, co-founder of The General Partnership, joins Erik Torenberg to discuss Phin’s idea of building a YC for emerging fund managers, the sweat equity model, building the General Partnership, incubation at The General Partnership, how to think about starting…

In this episode of Turpentine VC, Alexis Ohanian, co-founder of Reddit and Seven Seven Six, joins Erik Torenberg to discuss how Seven Seven Six is a “tech company that deploys venture capital”, the lack of internal metrics in venture, how he plans to reinvent venture using software, why the firm ha…

In this episode of Turpentine VC, Erik Torenberg speaks to Katherine Boyle, General Partner at Andreessen Horowitz leading the firm’s American Dynamism fund. They discuss why Katherine and a16z started the American Dynamism practice and what they hope to accomplish, how the next SpaceX will be buil…

In this episode of Turpentine VC, Erik Torenberg sits with Rebecca Kaden, Managing Partner at Union Square Ventures. They discuss USV's partnership-driven model, different venture strategies, whether automation in venture is imminent, and what USV looks for in investors.

Today we’re back with Sam Lessin for a round 2 focused on the changing landscape of venture. We dig into the viability of M&A as a strategy for startups, “its always been crypto”, media businesses, and the role of reputation systems.

Today we're joined by Elad Gil, an accomplished investor and founder, who shares his insights on the idea maze. He discusses the significance of market changes and shifts in technology in identifying viable business opportunities. In addition, Gil shares his viewpoints on sectors like AI, crypto, a…

Today we're joined by Howard Morgan to dive into his illustrious career in venture. He discusses the firms he helped start, Renaissance Technologies, Idealab, First Round Capital, and now at B Capital.

Today we're joined by Logan Bartlett of Redpoint to dive into shifts in venture's past, present and future - and break down the strategies and positioning of other prestigious VCs.

Today we're joined by Kareem of Thrive Capital for one of the most extensive conversations we've had on the show—we cover the core insight that drove Thrive to invest in late-stage companies like Stripe and Slack, how they approach thinking about fund size and timing, the benefits of a concentrated…