How a Top Investor Sees the World with Saar Gur
In this episode, James Currier converses with guest Saar Gur about his entrepreneurial journey in Silicon Valley. They discuss Saar's transition from entrepreneur to venture capitalist, his approach to investing, and the importance of emotional connection. They delve into Saar's successful investments in DoorDash and Patreon, the power of creators, and the potential in Patreon. The conversation also covers identifying investment opportunities through Reddit communities and crypto movements, characteristics of successful founders, and a case study on Ring's evolution.
Key Points
- Sara, a seasoned investor, emphasizes the importance of a founder's unique insight into a problem and an original, creative approach to solving it, which can be indicative of a startup's potential for product-market fit and success.
- The concept of "dreaming the dream" with an entrepreneur is crucial for Sara, where a startup's big idea and the team's vision resonate deeply with him, driving his investment decisions and commitment to support the company's growth.
- Sara's investment strategy includes observing passionate, extreme users and communities, such as those on Reddit, who hack together solutions and exhibit deep engagement with a product or movement, as these can be early indicators of a significant consumer trend or opportunity.
Saar Gur is one of the best investors in Silicon Valley and has a gift of identifying the next big consumer trends earlier than most. As a General Partner at CRV, he was recently highlighted as #34 in the Forbes Midas List of the World's Best Venture Capital Investors In 2021. Saar loves products that consumers and customers love and is passionate about helping his companies succeed.
His early investment in the food delivery company DoorDash was in the 2013 seed round, which eventually resulted in the company going public last December. Gur made a similar early bet on smart home company Ring the same year; Amazon acquired that company for $1 billion in 2018. Gur is also an investor in multiple fast-growing tech startups like Patreon, which is now worth $3 billion, and Classpass, which is worth more than $700 million. Others include Niantic, Bird, and Dropbox.
Today, longtime friend and NFX Partner James Currier talks with Saar to uncover these early investment stories and his pattern recognition in early-stage founders. James also uncovers who he is as a person, what he looks for in early-stage Founders, and how he sees the world as a whole.
Chapters
| 0:00 | |
| 4:55 | |
| 8:32 | |
| 15:24 | |
| 18:12 | |
| 25:20 | |
| 32:36 | |
| 36:25 | |
| 37:48 | |
| 39:26 |
Transcript
Loading transcript...