The Twenty Minute VCInsights from Coatue's Growth Investor Lucas Swisher
Episode Details
EPISODE INFO
- Released
- February 23, 2026
- Duration
- 1h 6m
- Channel
- The Twenty Minute VC
- Watch on YouTube
- ▶ Open ↗
EPISODE DESCRIPTION
Lucas Swisher co-leads the growth fund at Coatue where he has partnered with iconic companies like OpenAI, Harvey, Deel, Canva, Openevidence, Anthropic, and others. Prior to Coatue, he was on the investment team at Kleiner Perkins, where he focused on growth stage software businesses. ----------------------------------------------- Timestamps: 00:00 Intro 01:04 Why Public SaaS Is Getting Crushed in the AI Wave 07:35 Durability of Revenue in AI 15:28 Market Size vs Founder Quality: What Wins? 16:52 Why Price is the Last Thing to Matter 23:32 Mega-Funds Math: Can $5B+ Funds Still Generate Venture Returns? 27:01 What Returns Are 'Enough'? Why 3x Isn't Exciting at Growth 29:54 When Double-Downs Go Wrong: Overestimating TAM and Multi-Product Expansion 32:37 Margin Matters… But at Scale: AI Gross Margins, Cost Curves & Efficiency 37:11 Why it has never been harder to be a seed investor 40:11 Is 'Kingmaking' a Myth: When Capital Helps (and When It Hurts) 45:23 Is Canva Really a Platform Company? Multi S-Curves and Leaning into AI Early 46:52 Lessons from Mary Meeker 50:08 Lessons from Mamoon Hamid 51:34 LP 'Pick One' Games: Mamoon Hamid, Mary Meeker, Insight Partners 53:40 OpenAI vs Anthropic: Who Wins? 59:17 Most Memorable Founder Meeting 01:01:35 Career Decisions & Misses ----------------------------------------------- Subscribe on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3j2KMcZTtgTNBKwtZBMHvl?si=85bc9196860e4466 Subscribe on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-twenty-minute-vc-20vc-venture-capital-startup/id958230465 Follow Harry Stebbings on X: https://twitter.com/HarryStebbings Follow Lucas Swisher on X: https://twitter.com/LucasSwisher1 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/contact ----------------------------------------------- #20vc #harrystebbings #lucasswisher #lead #growth #ai #coatue #megafunds
SPEAKERS
Lucas Swisher
guestHarry Stebbings
host
EPISODE SUMMARY
In this episode of The Twenty Minute VC, featuring Lucas Swisher and Harry Stebbings, Insights from Coatue's Growth Investor Lucas Swisher explores coatue’s Lucas Swisher on AI, mega-funds, and durable growth returns Swisher argues public SaaS is being “crushed” because investors are questioning SaaS’s terminal durability as AI changes switching costs, product moats, and value capture—creating broad uncertainty about which incumbents survive.
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