# Turpentine VC: the investor podcast, by episode

> Turpentine VC: Venture investors on their theses and how they run their firms, from its archive. 87 episodes, each linked to the investors in it.

Source: https://millionrounds.com/podcasts/turpentine-vc (Millionrounds; every figure on the page links to its filing or article)

Investors · new episode 22 Apr 2025

# Turpentine VC

Hosted by **Erik Torenberg**

Venture investors on their theses and how they run their firms, from its archive.

Follow on Apple PodcastsBrowse the episodes

**87** episodes

**43** investors heard as guests

**57 min** an average episode

0 in the last 12 months

## The regulars

Investors named as guests in the most episode titles on Turpentine VC.

[SL *3* **Sam Lessin** SAM LESSIN](https://millionrounds.com/person/sam-lessin)[EV *2* **Eric Vishria** Benchmark](https://millionrounds.com/person/eric-vishria)[IF *2* **Ilya Fushman** Kleiner Perkins](https://millionrounds.com/person/ilya-fushman)[MH *2* **Mamoon Hamid** Kleiner Perkins](https://millionrounds.com/person/mamoon-hamid)[MM *2* **Mike Maples** Floodgate](https://millionrounds.com/person/mike-maples)[TT *2* **Tomasz Tunguz** Theory Ventures](https://millionrounds.com/person/tomasz-tunguz)[AK *1* **Alex Kolicich** 8VC](https://millionrounds.com/person/alex-kolicich)[AL *1* **Alfred Lin** Sequoia Capital](https://millionrounds.com/person/alfred-lin)[AH *1* **Ali Hamed** CoVenture](https://millionrounds.com/person/ali-hamed)[AB *1* **Andrew Braccia** Accel](https://millionrounds.com/person/andrew-braccia)[AP *1* **Andy Price** Artisanal Ventures](https://millionrounds.com/person/andy-price)[AA *1* **Anish Acharya** Andreessen Horowitz](https://millionrounds.com/person/anish-acharya)

## Every episode 87 · page 1 of 3

- 87 **E86: Inside Mischief VC's Evolution with Zach Perret and Lauren Farleigh** 22 Apr 2025 · 46 min [Lauren Farleigh](https://millionrounds.com/person/lauren-farleigh)[Zach Perret](https://millionrounds.com/person/zach-perret)[Mischief](https://millionrounds.com/fund/mischief) About this episode In this episode of Turpentine VC, Erik Torenberg interviews Lauren Farleigh and Zach Perret from Mischief VC, discussing their experiences as founders and how they leveraged those to build their venture firm. 📰 Be notified early when Turpentine drops new publication: https://www.turpentine.co/exclusiveaccess… ▶Show page
- 86 **a16z's Voice AI Investment Strategy** 15 Apr 2025 · 60 min [Revolution](https://millionrounds.com/fund/revolution)[Anish Acharya](https://millionrounds.com/person/anish-acharya) About this episode This week on Turpentine VC, we are releasing an episode from The Cognitive Revolution, hosted by Nathan Labenz. Nathan sits down with Olivia Moore and Anish Acharya from Andreesen Horowitz to discuss the trends, investment strategies, and future potential of AI voice technology in both B2B and consumer sectors,… ▶Show page
- 85 **E84: How Accel Captures Companies Outside Traditional VC Reach with Andrew Braccia** 8 Apr 2025 · 45 min [Andrew Braccia](https://millionrounds.com/person/andrew-braccia)[Accel](https://millionrounds.com/fund/accel)[Reach](https://millionrounds.com/fund/reach) About this episode Andrew Braccia, partner at Accel for nearly two decades, sits down with Erik Torenberg to discuss the firm's evolution from Silicon Valley early-stage investor to global, multi-stage powerhouse. Braccia explains Accel's two major strategic shifts: global expansion with local teams in Europe, India, and beyond; and the… ▶Show page
- 84 **E83: Chad Byers on Why Susa is a Purpose-Built Seed Specialist [Classic Interview]** 25 Mar 2025 · 54 min [Chad Byers](https://millionrounds.com/fund/chad-byers) About this episode This week on Turpentine VC, we’re sharing Erik Torenberg’s interview with Susa Venture’s Chad Byers, which originally aired in September 2023. Chad discusses the firm's journey, their fund structures, and their vision for specialized seed investing, emphasizing the importance of focus, discipline, and adapting to… ▶Show page
- 83 **E82: Fundraising in Bear Markets: How Nichole Wischoff Closed $50M [How I Invest]** 19 Mar 2025 · 29 min [David Weisburd](https://millionrounds.com/person/david-weisburd) About this episode This week on Turpentine VC, we’re dropping an episode from David Weisburd’s “How I Invest Podcast” with Nichole Wischoff of Wischoff Ventures. Nichole discusses her impressive $50 million fundraise, closed in a bear market, sharing her strategy, brand-building efforts, and tips on leveraging social media to attract… ▶Show page
- 82 **E81: Inside Seven Seven Six with Alexis Ohanian [Classic Interview]** 11 Mar 2025 · 54 min [Alexis Ohanian](https://millionrounds.com/fund/alexis-ohanian)[Seven Seven Six](https://millionrounds.com/fund/seven-seven-six) About this episode This week, we’re re-releasing Erik Torenberg’s interview with Alexis Ohanian. Alexis discusses his journey from co-founding Reddit to creating the venture firm Seven Seven Six, detailing its unique approach of using software to enhance venture capital operations and founder support, transparency, and accountability … ▶Show page
- 81 **E80: Logan Bartlett on How Great VC Firms Truly Operate** 4 Mar 2025 · 1h 2m [Redpoint](https://millionrounds.com/fund/redpoint) About this episode This week on Turpentine VC, we’re re-releasing Erik Torenberg’s interview with Logan Bartlett, partner at Redpoint and host of The Logan Bartlett Show. They discuss Redpoint's approach to venture, patterns in the VC ecosystem, and the strategies of venture's most consequential firms. 📰 Be notified early when… ▶Show page
- 80 **E79: Now at $2B Valuation: Mercor CEO On How They Started** 25 Feb 2025 · 52 min [Brendan Foody](https://millionrounds.com/fund/brendan-foody)[Christina Farr](https://millionrounds.com/person/christina-farr) About this episode This week on Turpentine VC, we are releasing an episode from 1 to 100 hosted by Usman Hanif. Usman interviews Brendan Foody, founder and CEO of Marcor, an AI-powered recruitment platform that automates the process of hiring, vetting, and paying employees. Brendan discusses Mercor's rapid growth, technology behind… ▶Show page
- 79 **E78: Why Benchmark is Different Than Other Firms with Sarah Tavel & Eric Vishria** 18 Feb 2025 · 1h 27m [Eric Vishria](https://millionrounds.com/person/eric-vishria)[Sarah Tavel](https://millionrounds.com/person/sarah-tavel) About this episode In this episode of Turpentine VC, we're sharing Erik Torenberg's 2023 interview with Sarah Tavel and Eric Vishria from Benchmark, exploring the firm's unique minimalistic approach, commitment to deep founder partnerships, and their deliberate avoidance of platform teams. 📰 Be notified early when Turpentine… ▶Show page
- 78 **E77: IVP's Somesh Dash on Growth Stage Investing and Strategic Discipline** 11 Feb 2025 · 56 min [Somesh Dash](https://millionrounds.com/person/somesh-dash) About this episode This week on Turpentine VC, we're re-releasing one of our most popular episode: Erik Torenberg’s interview with Somesh Dash. Somesh is a General Partner at IVP, shares insights on IVP's unique positioning in the venture capital ecosystem, the importance of team construction, the future of venture capital, and how IVP… ▶Show page
- 77 **E76: Thrive Capital's Bold Bets on Category-Defining Companies with Kareem Zaki** 4 Feb 2025 · 1h 6m [Kareem Zaki](https://millionrounds.com/person/kareem-zaki) About this episode Kareem Zaki shares the founding and development of Thrive Capital, emphasizing their strategy of opportunism combined with a focus on category-defining companies, their unique approach to talent cultivation and company-building in various sectors, especially healthcare, and their intentional media minimalism. 📰… ▶Show page
- 76 **E75: Greg Castle (Anorak VC) on the Biggest AR/VR and Spatial Computing Opportunities** 28 Jan 2025 · 46 min [Greg Castle](https://millionrounds.com/person/greg-castle)[Anorak Ventures](https://millionrounds.com/fund/anorak-ventures)[Founders Fund](https://millionrounds.com/fund/founders-fund)[Delian Asparouhov](https://millionrounds.com/person/delian-asparouhov) About this episode Greg Castle, founder of Anorak Ventures, discusses the evolution and future of spatial computing, particularly in AR, VR, and technology's impact on human interaction and learning. This conversation took place in February 2023. 📰Be notified early when Turpentine drops new publication:… ▶Show page
- 75 **E74: General Catalyst CEO on Running VC Like an Enduring Company** 21 Jan 2025 · 43 min [Hemant Taneja](https://millionrounds.com/person/hemant-taneja) About this episode Hemant Taneja, CEO of General Catalyst discusses the firm's evolution from an artisanal business to an enduring venture platform, focusing on operational rigor, fund size, talent strategy, and investments in companies like Stripe and Snap, while emphasizing the importance of responsible innovation and long-term… ▶Show page
- 74 **E73: Aydin Senkut on Building Felicis Ventures** 14 Jan 2025 · 57 min [Aydin Senkut](https://millionrounds.com/fund/aydin-senkut) About this episode Today on Turpentine VC, we’re releasing one of our most popular episodes: Erik’s interview with Aydin Senkut, founder and managing partner of Felicis Ventures. Aydin discusses the evolution and distinct strategies of Felicis Ventures, their focus on mental health, and insights on successful generalist investing in… ▶Show page
- 73 **E72: Keith Rabois: On Identifying Talent [Classic Interview]** 7 Jan 2025 · 59 min About this episode This episode of Turpentine VC was recorded in front of a live audience in San Francisco in October 2018.Keith Rabois discusses his frameworks for identifying talent, sharing anecdotes about notable operators and companies like PayPal, LinkedIn, and Square. He emphasizes the importance of talent assessment, strategic… ▶Show page
- 72 **E71: How to Scale Talent | Andy Price, Artisanal Ventures [Cross Post]** 31 Dec 2024 · 54 min [Andy Price](https://millionrounds.com/person/andy-price)[Kelli Dragovich](https://millionrounds.com/person/kelli-dragovich) About this episode This week on Turpentine VC, Andy Price, a veteran executive recruiter and venture capitalist, joins Nolan Church and Kelli Dragovich from HR Heretics, a Turpentine podcast, for a deep dive into the crucial aspects of hiring, retaining, and developing top talent. Andy has built leadership teams for renowned companies… ▶Show page
- 71 **E70: Martin Casado of a16z on AI Innovation and AGI** 24 Dec 2024 · 1h 44m [Martin Casado](https://millionrounds.com/person/martin-casado)[Andreessen Horowitz](https://millionrounds.com/fund/andreessen-horowitz)[Revolution](https://millionrounds.com/fund/revolution) About this episode Today we're sharing a conversation between Martin Casado, general partner at Andreessen Horowitz and Nathan Labenz, AI scout, which originally aired on The Cognitive Revolution podcast from Turpentine. Their discussion explores AI systems complexity and debates whether AI development will lead to AGI. The conversation… ▶Show page
- 70 **E69: Lost Tapes: Elad Gil on the Eve of the AI Boom** 18 Dec 2024 · 46 min [Elad Gil](https://millionrounds.com/fund/elad-gil)[Founders Fund](https://millionrounds.com/fund/founders-fund)[Google](https://millionrounds.com/fund/google-assistant-investments) About this episode This ‘lost episode’ of Turpentine VC with investor Elad Gil was recorded at a unique moment in time (September 2022), before ChatGPT, Claude and Perplexity launched. Drawing from his experiences at Google, Elad discusses early ML systems, the open source debate, NVIDIA, labor markets, and AI alignment and shares some… ▶Show page
- 69 **E68: How Theory Ventures Differentiates in a Crowded VC Market** 11 Dec 2024 · 53 min [Theory Ventures](https://millionrounds.com/fund/theory-ventures) About this episode This week on Turpentine VC, we feature a compilation episode of our popular interviews with Tom Tunguz, General Partner at Theory Ventures who just announced a $450M second fund less than two years after launching. Over the course of the episode Tomasz explains their concentrated portfolio approach, and expands on… ▶Show page
- 68 **E67: Defense Tech’s Rise with 8VC’s Alex Kolicich** 3 Dec 2024 · 54 min [Alex Kolicich](https://millionrounds.com/person/alex-kolicich)[Molly O'Shea](https://millionrounds.com/person/molly-o-shea) About this episode This week on Turpentine VC, we’re releasing Sourcery’s Molly O'Shea’s interview with Alex Kolicich, founding partner at 8VC to discuss Alex's H1 2024 report on the venture landscape, covering AI investment challenges, the resurgence of defense technology, and broader economic trends impacting markets. For full show… ▶Show page
- 67 **E66: Why Inception Investing Beats Traditional Seed with Ed Sim of Boldstart** 26 Nov 2024 · 52 min About this episode This week on Turpentine VC, Erik Torenberg interviews Ed Sim, founder of boldstart, on growing the firm from a $1 million fund to $800 million in assets, with a focus on early-stage enterprise and AI investments. For full show notes, visit: https://highlightai.com/share/d0139578-d85f-4171-b879-059dd2813450 🙏… ▶Show page
- 66 **From The a16z Podcast: “Marc Andreessen on Building Netscape & the Birth of the Browser”** 19 Nov 2024 · 1h 46m [Marc Andreessen](https://millionrounds.com/fund/marc-andreessen)[Ben Horowitz](https://millionrounds.com/fund/ben-horowitz) About this episode Today, we’re sharing a special episode from our friends at the chart-topping a16z Podcast. In this conversation, a16z co-founders Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz dive deep into the REAL story behind the creation of Netscape, the web browser co-created by Marc that revolutionized the internet and changed the world. As… ▶Show page
- 65 **E64: Chris Paik on the End of Software and the Future of AI Infrastructure** 12 Nov 2024 · 49 min [Chris Paik](https://millionrounds.com/person/chris-paik) About this episode Chris Paik, general partner at Pace Capital, discusses the evolution of the venture capital industry, his frameworks for understanding AI's impact on software, and the future of consumer companies in light of changing infrastructure requirements. For full show notes, visit:… ▶Show page
- 64 **E63: How Mamoon Hamid and Ilya Fushman Continued Kleiner Perkins’ Legacy** 4 Nov 2024 · 58 min [Ilya Fushman](https://millionrounds.com/person/ilya-fushman)[Mamoon Hamid](https://millionrounds.com/person/mamoon-hamid)[Kleiner Perkins](https://millionrounds.com/fund/kleiner-perkins) About this episode This week on Turpentine VC, we’re re-releasing Erik Torenberg’s 2023 interview with Mamoon Hamid and Ilya Fushman of Kleiner Perkins to talk about how they have taken over the firm's iconic history and helped drive the next chapter. For full show notes, visit:… ▶Show page
- 63 **E62: Wing's Chris Zeoli on AI Infrastructure Opportunities** 30 Oct 2024 · 49 min About this episode Wing Capital's Chris Zeoli discusses AI infrastructure trends, foundation models, data center challenges, cloud security, and Wing's strategic investments. For full show notes, visit: https://highlightai.com/share/6e5d9973-6c77-4ed2-aab7-355be82b9133 📰 Be notified early when Turpentine drops new publication:… ▶Show page
- 62 **E61: Rabois, Bartlett, Ryan, and Weinberg on AI, Gambling, and Healthcare** 22 Oct 2024 · 1h 16m About this episode Keith Rabois, Logan Bartlett, Kevin Ryan, and Zach Weinberg share a rare anecdote about the first venture investment into OpenAI, lay out the bull and bear case for the leading AI companies and discuss regulatory chess games at play in American politics. For full show notes, visit:… ▶Show page
- 61 **E60: How Lightspeed Invests in AI and Beyond with Arif Janmohamed** 15 Oct 2024 · 33 min [Arif Janmohamed](https://millionrounds.com/person/arif-janmohamed) About this episode This week on Turpentine VC, Erik Torenberg is joined by Arif Janmohamed, partner at Lightspeed Ventures to dive into the world of AI investment. They explore Lightspeed's evolution from a strong focus on enterprise early-stage investing to becoming a global multi-stage firm with a $7 billion capital reach. Arif shares… ▶Show page
- 60 **E59: Mike Maples Jr. on Disruptive Investing** 10 Oct 2024 · 55 min [Mike Maples](https://millionrounds.com/person/mike-maples)[Floodgate](https://millionrounds.com/fund/floodgate) About this episode Mike Maples Jr., Founding Partner at Floodgate, sits down with David Weisburd to discuss Mike’s new book “Pattern Breakers: Why Some Start-Ups Change the Future”. This is a masterclass on early-stage venture investing. Mike shares his views on identifying ideas and founders that led to his early investments in Lyft,… ▶Show page
- 59 **E58: Roger Ehrenberg on Mastering Seed Investing** 1 Oct 2024 · 42 min [Roger Ehrenberg](https://millionrounds.com/fund/roger-ehrenberg)[IA Capital](https://millionrounds.com/fund/ia-capital)[Noah Smith](https://millionrounds.com/person/noah-smith) About this episode In this episode of Turpentine VC, we’re releasing one of our most popular interviews with Roger Ehrenberg, owner of IA Capital Partners and the Managing Partner of Eberg Capital. Roger discusses his contrarian strategy to seed investing that has allowed him to generate 10x fund returns, and emphasizes the importance… ▶Show page
- 58 **E57: a16z's Anish Acharya on Consumer AI** 26 Sept 2024 · 43 min [Anish Acharya](https://millionrounds.com/person/anish-acharya)[Andreessen Horowitz](https://millionrounds.com/fund/andreessen-horowitz)[Noah Smith](https://millionrounds.com/person/noah-smith) About this episode Anish Acharya, General Partner at Andreessen Horowitz, dives deep into the transformative potential of AI in the consumer technology sector. Anish discusses a16z’s "Abundance Agenda," detailing how AI is set to revolutionize personal finance, education, wellness, and social interactions. From the concept of… ▶Show page

## Who the show talks about

Firms named in its episodes, and people named in descriptions: talked about, rather than on the show.

[N **Noah Smith** *6*](https://millionrounds.com/person/noah-smith)[**Andreessen Horowitz** *5*](https://millionrounds.com/fund/andreessen-horowitz)[B **Ben Horowitz** *4*](https://millionrounds.com/fund/ben-horowitz)[C **Christina Farr** *4*](https://millionrounds.com/person/christina-farr)[**Floodgate** *4*](https://millionrounds.com/fund/floodgate)[**Founders Fund** *4*](https://millionrounds.com/fund/founders-fund)[**Revolution** *4*](https://millionrounds.com/fund/revolution)[D **Delian Asparouhov** *3*](https://millionrounds.com/person/delian-asparouhov)[**Kleiner Perkins** *3*](https://millionrounds.com/fund/kleiner-perkins)[**Slow Ventures** *3*](https://millionrounds.com/fund/slow-ventures)[**Theory Ventures** *3*](https://millionrounds.com/fund/theory-ventures)[A **Alexis Ohanian** *2*](https://millionrounds.com/fund/alexis-ohanian)

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