Zach Perret: Why ‘Founder Mode’ is the Most Dangerous Blog Post for Founders | E1215

ℹ️ EPISODE INFO

Released

October 16, 2024

Duration

50m

Channel

The Twenty Minute VC

Watch on YouTube

▶ Open ↗

📝 EPISODE DESCRIPTION

Zach Perret is the CEO and Co-Founder of Plaid, a technology platform reshaping financial services. To date, Zach has raised over $734M for Plaid from the likes of NEA, Spark, GV, Coatue and a16z, to name a few. Today, thousands of companies including the largest fintechs, several of the Fortune 500, and many of the largest banks use Plaid. In addition, Zach is also a Co-Founder of Mischief, an early-stage venture fund in San Francisco. ----------------------------------------------- Timestamps: (00:00) Intro (00:52) What Triggered Plaid’s Recent Growth (05:53) Are Great CEOs Defined by Resource Allocation? (09:03) What Is a Grinder Problem? (10:37) Is There Defensibility on Day One? (14:17) Biggest Lessons on How To Do Outreach (17:57) Hiring Mistakes (18:32) Founder Mode (21:05) Popular Silicon Valley Beliefs That Zach Disagrees With (23:17) Is Speed the Key to Going from 0 to 1? (25:02) How Zach Balances Big Rounds with Dilution & Valuation? (28:12) Making Money or Taking Secondaries Changed the Mindset? (30:52) On Raising $13.4BN Valuation (32:51) Is M&A Completely Shut Down? What Could Lead to Its Revival? (33:49) IPO Markets Today (36:41) The Biggest Flaw as a CEO (40:42) How Fatherhood Impacted Zach (42:47) Is Investing While Running Plaid a Distraction? (46:41) How Has VC Funding Moved the Needle for Plaid? (47:39) Quick-Fire Round ----------------------------------------------- In Today’s Episode with Zach Perret We Discuss:

1. Founder Mode: Why “Founder Mode” will be the most dangerous blog post written in the last decade for founders? What is most misleading about it? What are “grinder problems”? Why does Zach believe that grinder problems are the best problems for startups to try and solve? Why does Zach believe that OKRs are BS and should be removed? What should be used instead?

1. Lessons from Raising $734M for Plaid: Why does Zach believe the VC model is on it’s last legs? What needs to change? What is the worst advice that VCs give that most founders take? Why does Zach believe that angel investing is more distracting than helpful for founders to do? What are the pros of investing alongside running a company? Why does Zach encourage founders to raise money as infrequently as possible? What does this mean for the size and price of rounds Zach thinks we should see occur?

1. The $5BN Exit and the $13.4BN Round: Why did Zach turn down the $5BN exit to Visa? Was it the right choice? Does Zach regret raising at such a high price of $13.4BN when the exit did not happen? Would Zach sell the company today for $13.4BN if offered it? What did Zach not do that he wish he had done? What did he do that he wishes he had not done? ----------------------------------------------- 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 Twitter: https://twitter.com/HarryStebbings Follow Zach Perret on Twitter: https://twitter.com/zachperret 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 #zachperret #plaid #angelinvesting #venturecapital #ceo #founder

🎤 SPEAKERS

• Zach Perret

  guest

• Harry Stebbings

  host

• Narrator

  other

🧾 EPISODE SUMMARY

In this episode of The Twenty Minute VC, featuring Zach Perret and Harry Stebbings, Zach Perret: Why ‘Founder Mode’ is the Most Dangerous Blog Post for Founders | E1215 explores zach Perret warns founder-mode hype, champions grind, discipline, nuance Zach Perret, co-founder and CEO of Plaid, reflects on walking away from a $5B Visa acquisition, the difficulty and sequencing of turning Plaid into a multi-product, international company, and the importance of ‘grinder problems’ that competitors won’t endure. He critiques popular Silicon Valley doctrines—like OKRs, early VP of Sales hires, and Paul Graham’s ‘founder mode’ essay—as often dangerously misapplied without context. Perret dives deep into how he thinks about building products through atomic teams, hiring for ‘spikes’ while updating his views on experience, and raising capital as infrequently as possible while staying accountable to investors and employees. He also covers founder secondaries, M&A/IPO environments, his own leadership flaws, and why angel investing can distract founders unless systematized.

🔗 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