The Twenty Minute VCCoinbase Cuts AI Spend by 50% | Kalshi's $40B Valuation & Impending IPO | The Year for SaaS Roll-Ups
Episode Details
EPISODE INFO
- Released
- July 2, 2026
- Duration
- 1h 18m
- Channel
- The Twenty Minute VC
- Watch on YouTube
- ▶ Open ↗
EPISODE DESCRIPTION
Jason Lemkin is one of the leading SaaS investors of the last decade with a portfolio including the likes of Algolia, Talkdesk, Owner, RevenueCat, Saleloft and more. Rory O’Driscoll is a General Partner @ Scale where he has led investments in category leaders such as Bill.com (BILL), Box (BOX), DocuSign (DOCU), and WalkMe (WKME), among others. ----------------------------------------------- Timestamps: 00:00 Intro 00:57 Coinbase Cuts AI Spend 50% 07:09 Is Open Source Killing Frontier Model Revenue Growth? 11:16 Token ROI Crisis: Nobody Can Show the Lift From AI Spend 17:22 Anthropic Accuses Chinese Models of Distillation 20:19 Anthropic's Real Play: Get the US Government to Ban Chinese Open Source Models 28:30 Microsoft Deep Dive: Growth Decelerating & No Standalone AI Product 33:14 Microsoft Has 30% of OpenAI But No State-of-the-Art Model of Its Own 38:51 Kalshi’s $40BN Valuation: Is This Peak Casino Economy? 41:13 Prediction Markets: Sports Betting vs Financial Betting 44:03 SpaceX IPO Volatility: Does It Delay the Anthropic & OpenAI IPOs? 45:04 Bending Spoons IPO at $20BN 47:06 The Bending Spoons B2B Opportunity: Who Buys Broken SaaS Next? 58:22 Chamath Goes CEO: Can a VC Billionaire Actually Grind a Startup? 1:01:24 Harry's Controversial Tweet 1:11:07 Claude Tag in Slack: Existential Threat to Salesforce or Just an Entry Point? ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Subscribe on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3j2KMcZ... Subscribe on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast... Follow Harry Stebbings on X: https://x.com/harrystebbings Follow Jason Lemkin on X: https://x.com/jasonlk Follow Rory O’Driscoll on X: https://x.com/rodriscoll Follow 20VC on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/20vchq Follow 20VC on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@20vc_tok Visit our Website: https://www.20vc.com Subscribe to our Newsletter: https://www.thetwentyminutevc.com/con... ----------------------------------------------- Legal Disclaimer: The content of this podcast is for informational and entertainment purposes only and does not constitute financial or investment advice. Any discussion of stocks, public markets, or investment strategies reflects the personal opinions of the speakers and should not be relied upon when making investment decisions. Figures, valuations, and financial data referenced may be estimates or subject to error. Always consult a qualified financial adviser before making any investment decision. The views expressed are those of the individual speakers and do not represent the views of 20VC or its affiliates. ----------------------------------------------- #20vc #harrystebbings #roryodriscoll #jasonlemkin #coinbase #anthropic #ai #kalshi #bendingspoons #saas
SPEAKERS
Jason Lemkin
guestSaaS investor and operator known for founding/leading SaaStr and advising SaaS founders on scaling and go-to-market.
Rory O’Driscoll
guestVenture investor and operator focused on SaaS and technology businesses.
Harry Stebbings
hostFounder and host of The Twenty Minute VC (20VC), interviewing and moderating discussions with leading investors and operators.
EPISODE SUMMARY
In this episode of The Twenty Minute VC, featuring Jason Lemkin and Rory O’Driscoll, Coinbase Cuts AI Spend by 50% | Kalshi's $40B Valuation & Impending IPO | The Year for SaaS Roll-Ups explores aI token spend scrutiny reshapes frontier revenue, SaaS, and regulation debates Coinbase’s reported 50% reduction in AI spend despite higher usage is treated as a signal that enterprises are learning to route, optimize, and substitute with open source—potentially slowing frontier model revenue growth.
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