Nikhil Basu Trivedi is Co-Founder &amp; General Partner at , an early-stage focused venture firm investing its first fund. In his venture career, he has invested in the early rounds of several companies that have exited or are currently valued at over $1B, including Athelas, , ClassDojo, Color Health, Frame.io, Imperfect Foods, , and The Farmer's Dog. Prior to Footwork, Nikhil was a Managing Director at Shasta Ventures, on the investment team at Insight Partners, and on the founding team at Artsy.    In Today's Episode with Nikhil Basu Trivedi We Discuss:   1. From Summer Intern to Founding a Firm: The 13 Year Journey:    How did Nikhil first make his way into venture as an intern at Insight Partners in NYC? What does Nikhil know now that he wishes he had known on his first day in venture? Why does Nikhil advise all young VCs to "not look at their business card"? Why does title not matter in venture? Should founders meet with Juniors as well as GPs and more senior people?    2. Small Funds Outperform Large Funds:    Why does Nikhil believe that small funds outperform large funds? Why is AUM the biggest bullshit metric in VC? How does Nikhil advise seed stage founders who have offers from seed firms for smaller rounds at lower valuations and are weighing them against larger rounds with higher valuations from multi-stage funds? Does Nikhil believe that platform value-added services really provide any value?    3. The Art of Investing:    What has been Nikhil's biggest investing win? How has it changed his approach to investing? How does Nikhil prioritize between people, traction, and market? What is most important? What has been Nikhil's biggest investing miss? How has that changed his approach? Does Nikhil believe the great founders are immediately obvious? Why is market size the single question that keeps Nikhil up the most?    4. The Dysfunctions of Venture Capital:    What are the single biggest areas of misalignment between GP and LP? What do many GPs see and know well that LPs should know and see more of? What are the biggest ways that decision-making breaks down in a venture fund? Why does Nikhil believe that so much of the investment in AI is going to go up in flames?

20VC: Why Small Funds Outperform Large Funds & AUM is a Vanity Metric | Why 99% of Investments in AI Startups Will Go To Zero | Being a "Traction First" VC & Investing Lessons from Investing in Canva and Missing Figma with Nikhil Basu-Trivedi

Doug Adamic is the CRO @  and leads the company's revenue and growth strategy. Prior to Brex, Doug was most recently the Chief Revenue Officer at , a provider of travel spend management solutions and services. During his 16-year tenure oversaw an organization of 600+ employees. He was responsible for all aspects of revenue, generating go-to-market strategies and departments. Prior to SAP Concur, he had a five-year tenure as an Enterprise Sales Manager for Kronos, Inc.    In Today's Episode with Doug Adamic We Discuss:   1. Entry into Sales:    Does Doug believe that love of sales is innate or can be learned? When did he discover his love? What does Doug know now about sales he wish he had known when he started? What are 1-2 of his biggest takeaways from leading 600+ people at SAP?    2. Discovery, Pipeline and Qualification:    What are the three core reasons why companies buy software today? How do the best sales teams use those needs to get deals done fast? What does great sales discovery mean today? Why do you have to make customers feel uncomfortable to understand their true needs? What are the biggest mistakes sales teams make when asking questions, determining customer pain, willingness to pay etc etc? Why does Doug believe that everyone in the company is responsible for demand creation? What are the core pillars to success in qualification? Where do so many go wrong?    3. Getting Deals Done:    Why does Doug disagree that now is the hardest time to be selling? Are companies buying new software today? What is the secret to opening up organizations that say they are not open for buying new software? How can sales teams create multiple champions in a prospect? How can they determine who is really a buyer vs who is an influencer in a prospect? What are the biggest tactics that can be used to reduce sales cycles and create urgency in a sales process?    4. Discounting, Trust and Deal Reviews:    What is a good reason to lose a deal? What is a bad reason to lose a deal? How does Doug and Brex conduct deal reviews? What makes a good vs a bad deal review? What is the fastest way to lose trust either with prospects or with customers? Why does Doug believe discounting is BS and should not be used?

20Sales: Why Discounting is BS, Why Everyone is Responsible for Demand Generation, How to Reduce Sales Cycles and Create Urgency and Deal Reviews; Good and Bad Reasons to Lose a Deal with Doug Adamic, CRO @ Brex

David Velez is the Founder and CEO of , one of the largest and fastest-growing financial institutions in the world. 1 in 2 people in Brazil alone have a Nubank account. Nubank's purple credit card in Mexico is the highest-rated NPS product of any consumer product in the world. Before founding Nubank in 2013, David was a partner at  between 2011 and 2013, in charge of the firm’s Latin American investments group. Before Sequoia, David worked in investment banking and growth equity at Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and General Atlantic.    In Today's Episode with David Velez We Discuss:   1. From Sequoia Partner to Creating One of the Largest Financial Institutions:    What was the Sequoia interview process like? What questions did Doug Leone really dive into when hiring David? What impressed David most about how Sequoia interview and win talent? What are 1-2 of David's biggest lessons from working with Doug Leone?    2. From a Small House to a $BN Public Company:    What does David believe are the 1-2 core but non-obvious reasons why Nubank scaled so fast? What does David believe are the most non-obvious but massive opportunities Nubank has to 10x from here? Why does David believe emerging market fintech providers will be more valuable than Western fintechs? What does David believe Western fintechs and regulators can learn from BRIC economy fintechs?    3. How AI Changes The Future of Financial Services:    How does David believe AI will change financial services? What products are the lowest-hanging fruit? Which products will be harder for AI to serve? How will AI handle the ambiguity of which master to serve; the consumer and their experience or the bank and their fees and profit motive? Will banks need to own and operate their own models? If using other models, what will differentiate them when they are layers on top of someone else's technology?    4. David Velez: The Leader and Father:    What does it mean to be a great listener? How does David approach it? What has been David's biggest lessons from Sequoia on culture? What works? What does not? What are David's biggest pieces of advice to raise kids that are not spoiled and are hard-working and humble? How does David think about "efficient giving" with the philanthropy he does today? What is the big paradox and challenge in philanthropy today?

20VC: Lessons Building Nubank to the Largest Neobank in the World, How AI Changes The Future of Finance, Leadership Lessons from Sequoia's Doug Leone & What European and US Fintech Can Learn From LATAM with David Velez, Founder @ Nubank

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