Lucas Swisher on How Mega Funds Can Still Do 5x Returns & Why Big Markets are the Most Important

ℹ️ 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

  guest

• Harry Stebbings

  host

🧾 EPISODE SUMMARY

In this episode of The Twenty Minute VC, featuring Lucas Swisher and Harry Stebbings, Lucas Swisher on How Mega Funds Can Still Do 5x Returns & Why Big Markets are the Most Important 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.

🔗 RELATED EPISODES

Inside Legora: Jude Law Generated $50M Pipeline | Are They Undervalued at $5.5BN? | Patrick Forquer

Cliff Weitzman: What I Learned from 100 of the World’s Top CEOs & Why Tokens Will Outspend Salaries

Shopify CEO on How AI is a Scapegoat for Mass Layoffs & Trump Derangement Syndrome in Canada

Inside Clay's Sales Playbook | Becca Lindquist

Jackie Reses: The Most Powerful Woman in Finance; Making $50BN for Yahoo on Alibaba | E996

Tom Hulme & Stan Boland: Lessons from Jensen Huang & How to Fix the UK Tech Ecosystem