Is DPI The Only Thing That Matters? with Sam Lessin, Jason Lemkin & Rory O’Driscoll

ℹ️ EPISODE INFO

Released

June 5, 2025

Duration

1h 27m

Channel

The Twenty Minute VC

Watch on YouTube

▶ Open ↗

📝 EPISODE DESCRIPTION

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. 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. Sam Lessin is a Partner at Slow Ventures, where he has backed breakout companies like Robinhood, Airtable, Ro and Solugen. Previously, he was VP of Product at Facebook, where he led core product and identity. He also founded Drop.io, which was acquired by Facebook. ---------------------------------------------- In Today’s Episode We Discuss: 00:00 Intro 00:54 TVPI Is Bullshit? 08:06 Mid-Tier VC Funds Are Getting Annihilated 14:55 The Impact of Mega Funds on Startups 24:37 The War on Relevance: What Companies Truly Matter? 38:25 Mary Meeker’s AI Report: What Everyone Missed 40:31 $600B in AI CapEx - Where Is the Revenue?! 53:34 The Existential Dread Missing in Most B2B Startups 01:04:24 IPO Market Is Back: What Actually Matters Now? 01:09:32 YC Startups at $60M Valuations: How Should You Play It? 01:13:34 Why 3% Ownership Could Still Work—Maybe 01:17:39 Kalshi Quick-Fire Round ----------------------------------------------- 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 Jason Lemkin on X: https://twitter.com/jasonlk Follow Rory O’Driscoll on X: https://twitter.com/rodriscoll Follow Sam Lessin on X: https://twitter.com/lessin 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 #roryodriscoll #jasonlemkin #samlessin #openai #tesla #ipo #ycombinator #meta #startups #jonyive

🎤 SPEAKERS

• Sam Lessin

  guest

  Venture capitalist and early-stage tech investor.

• Rory O’Driscoll

  guest

  Venture capitalist and growth-stage investor focused on fund performance and portfolio construction.

• Harry Stebbings

  host

  Founder and host of The Twenty Minute VC (20VC).

• Jason Lemkin

  guest

  SaaS investor and founder of SaaStr, focused on B2B software and go-to-market.

🧾 EPISODE SUMMARY

In this episode of The Twenty Minute VC, featuring Sam Lessin and Rory O’Driscoll, Is DPI The Only Thing That Matters? with Sam Lessin, Jason Lemkin & Rory O’Driscoll explores venture returns, AI capex, and relevance in a shifting market landscape The panel argues that net DPI (cash returned) is the ultimate measure of venture success, while TVPI can be a noisy, often-marketed proxy whose usefulness depends on time horizon and mark quality.

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