Podcast Summary: How I Invest with David Weisburd Episode E230: What Great VCs Actually Do for Founders Date: October 24, 2025 Guest: Vivek, VC and Two-Time Founder

Episode Overview

In this episode, host David Weisburd sits down with Vivek, a seasoned venture capitalist and repeat founder, to unpack what truly differentiates great VCs in supporting founders. The conversation dives deep into the actual value-add of VCs, the evolving landscape shaped by AI, the characteristics of exceptional founders, and the tangible shifts affecting startups at every stage—from conception to Series A.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. The Revolution in Programming: From Code to English

• The Impact of LLMs: Vivek reflects on how large language models (LLMs) have eliminated the syntax barrier in programming, allowing non-engineers to build automations directly in English, democratizing access and efficiency ([00:08], [36:37]).
  • Quote: “You can just in straight plain English describe what you want to do and get it done. There is no engineering roadblock in creating some kind of software or automation.” (Vivek, [00:17])
• Practical Usage: Vivek automates founder sourcing by scanning LinkedIn and X for early signals, enabling him to meet high-potential founders earlier than ever ([00:49], [39:04]).
  • Quote: “I've built my own automations to Go scan through LinkedIn, scan through X and find those kind of social signals for people who might be potential founders.” (Vivek, [00:49])

2. Investing at the Earliest Stages

• Backing Non-Consensus Ambition: Vivek prefers to invest before market traction is clear, relishing the chance to witness and support ideation and decision-making firsthand ([01:16]).
  • Quote: “I prefer to back founders and their ambition before it's consensus, before it's been priced in by the market, before traction is obvious.” (Vivek, [01:30])
• Thought Partner, Not Puppet Master: He sees his role not as shaping the business, but as a sounding board—challenging assumptions and cultivating trust without overstepping ([02:38]).
  • Quote: “My role is not to influence their business and their choices too much, but really become more of a thought partner…help them bounce their ideas off of me.” (Vivek, [02:38])

3. The VC as Shock Absorber and Therapist

• Handling Crises and Vulnerability: Great VCs absorb shocks, providing solutions rather than amplifying problems. This supports founder sanity and builds deeper trust ([07:11]).
  • Quote: “A great investor will actually say, okay, this is a situation, understand it's bad. Here are some solutions. Instead of going into kind of victim mode themselves.” (David, [07:11])
• Moderation of Extremes: The VC helps founders remain level-headed during highs and lows—a vital support when leadership can’t show vulnerability to their teams ([08:07]-[09:06]).

4. The Art of Constructive Pushback

• Best Practices: Asking probing questions—rather than making prescriptive statements—is the most effective way to challenge founders, especially given their innate drive for autonomy ([09:39], [09:51]).
  • Quote: “The best in the business...do this by asking questions instead of telling founders what to do.” (Vivek, [09:51])
• Believability and Expertise: Inspired by Ray Dalio’s “believability,” Vivek stresses authenticity about one’s domain expertise, knowing where to lean in and where to just ask questions ([10:51]).
  • Quote: “Part of being a great partner is not making it about yourself...the more you can make it about the company, the better.” (Vivek, [11:27])

5. The Double-Edged Sword of Ego

• Ego and Founder Success: A strong ego fosters the relentless belief needed to tackle improbable startup journeys—and can be similarly important for VCs in a high-failure environment ([12:52]-[15:28]).
  • Quote: “For founders to be relentless, they have to have a high ego...And the same goes with VCs.” (Vivek, [13:14])
• Power Law and Ambition: The capacity to believe in world-changing outcomes skews toward founders (and investors) with “irrational self-confidence,” necessary for success in venture’s power law world ([15:28]).

6. Execution > Idea: The Fallacy of "The Idea"

• Ideas are Overrated: Most great companies evolved dramatically from their initial concepts—relentless iteration and customer feedback matter more ([16:08]-[18:22]).
  • Quote: “Startup ideas are too abstract at the start...To create true value, you have to have relentless iteration and the ability to pivot.” (Vivek, [16:23])
• The Idea Maze: The nuanced journey and struggle founders endure to reach product-market fit become the real moat of the business ([19:35]).

7. Traits of Exceptional Founders

• Predictors of Endurance:
  • Scrappiness: Doing more with less; resourcefulness.
  • Intellectual Honesty: Ability to see reality clearly and pursue product-market fit, not just pitch metrics ([21:17]).
  • Early-stage conversations reveal these traits before founders shift to “storytelling mode” ([24:02]).
  • Quote: “I look for...scrappy people who are able to do a lot with very limited resources...[and] true intellectual honesty.” (Vivek, [21:17])

8. Series A in 2025: The New Bar

• Greater Expectations:
  • Seed rounds are larger, so Series A investors now expect more traction—ARR benchmarks have shifted dramatically upward (e.g., $7M ARR at the 75th percentile) ([29:21]).
  • Founders must show efficiency (“violently aggressive” with resource use) and present further progress in product and go-to-market ([29:21]-[31:48]).
  • Quote: “If you were going to spend a million dollars, you should just be much further ahead in every single function than you would have been five years ago.” (Vivek, [31:54])

9. AI's Profound Impact Across Functions

• Engineering & Sales Transformation: AI allows one engineer or salesperson to achieve the outputs of many, compressing complexity and amplifying capacity ([35:07], [35:29]).
  • Quote: “Three salespeople serve as an army if they're tasked with the right AI mindset and AI tools.” (Vivek, [35:29])
• Go-to-Market Acceleration: From lead generation to personalized outreach, AI multiplies impact across every business function ([31:54]-[36:15]).

10. How To Learn "Everyman’s Coding"

• Getting Started: Begin with a concrete project, ask ChatGPT to outline steps, iterate and learn by doing—avoid “info gathering traps” ([41:30]-[43:11]).
  • Quote: “The best first step is just starting, right? You start somehow and figure out the first roadblock you hit.” (Vivek, [41:42])

11. Skills for the Next Generation

• Post-AI Priorities: Persuasion, empathy, deep listening, and true understanding of customer needs trump pure technical skill as barriers to building fall ([44:09]).
  • Quote: “The skill that is going to be most valuable is persuasion and connecting with people in different ways...truly connecting with people, understanding what they need and want at a, at a really deep level.” (Vivek, [44:09])

12. Venture Studio Model & Seedstrapping

• Pioneer Square Labs: Vivek’s firm offers both venture capital and a founder studio, meeting founders “where they are”—regardless of risk tolerance ([47:13]).
• Seedstrapping & Lean Teams: The studio experiments with how far a solo founder can go with technology, but Vivek remains unconvinced that capital is obsolete for competitive scaling ([47:22]-[50:18]).
  • Quote: “How far can we take a one person company...so we are constantly pushing ourselves...on seed strapping. I'm not fully sold on that idea yet.” (Vivek, [49:07])

13. Advice for New VCs

• Embrace Vulnerability and Authenticity: Don’t fake expertise—be honest, learn openly, and build relationships grounded in transparency ([52:07]).
  • Quote: “Stop bullshitting...Early on I think a lot of VCs and I certainly did it, are trying to fake it too much...I would have tried to learn and as a result I would have learned a lot more.” (Vivek, [52:07])

14. The Impact of Parenthood

• Longer-Term Focus and Ruthless Prioritization: Becoming a parent has amplified Vivek’s focus on long-term thinking and effective time management ([56:17]).
  • Quote: “I've just gotten already a lot better at saying no and prioritizing. So I find myself understanding my own priorities a lot better, which is so powerful as you start to realize that there is just so much wasted time.” (Vivek, [56:25])

Notable Quotes & Timestamps

| Timestamp | Speaker | Quote | |-----------|---------|-------| | 00:17 | Vivek | "You can just in straight plain English describe what you want to do and get it done." | | 01:30 | Vivek | "I prefer to back founders and their ambition before it's consensus..." | | 09:51 | Vivek | "The best in the business that do this, do this by asking questions instead of telling founders what to do." | | 13:14 | Vivek | "For founders to be relentless, they have to have a high ego...the same goes with VCs." | | 16:23 | Vivek | "Startup ideas are too abstract at the start...To create true value, you have to have relentless iteration and the ability to pivot." | | 21:17 | Vivek | "I look for...scrappy people who are able to do a lot with very limited resources...[and] true intellectual honesty." | | 31:54 | Vivek | "...if you as a founder aren't leveraging AI to make every single function in your business a lot more efficient, then you are behind." | | 35:29 | Vivek | "...three people serve as an army if they're tasked with the right AI mindset and AI tools." | | 41:42 | Vivek | "The best first step is just starting...if you're looking to learn a lot before you start, I think you can fall in this trap of information gathering." | | 44:09 | Vivek | "The skill that is going to be most valuable is persuasion and connecting with people in different ways." | | 52:07 | Vivek | "Stop bullshitting...I would have tried to learn and as a result I would have learned a lot more." |

Memorable Moments

• Accidentally Choosing a Portfolio Company as Example: David's choice of "Airbnb for Dogs" (Rover.com) as a meme led to a humorous exchange due to its actual success ([26:22]).
• Reflection on Ego: The candid and nuanced discussion about ego, its necessity, and its pitfalls for both founders and VCs ([12:52]-[15:28]).
• Parenthood's Impact: The discussion about prioritization and long-term thinking following the birth of Vivek’s daughter brought a personal, human element ([56:17]).

Major Takeaways

• Great VCs function as mirrors, sounding boards, and shock absorbers, not as drivers.
• AI is radically transforming both the capacity and expectations of startups, resetting what 'traction' means at every stage.
• Traits like resilience, resourcefulness, and intellectual honesty predict founder success better than any pitch deck or idea.
• Embrace honesty and learning over image-building—it's essential for compounding growth in venture.
• Listening, empathy, and deep customer understanding are the new superpowers in a world where “making” has become frictionless.

For those seeking to better understand what great VCs truly do, this conversation offers a refreshingly candid, highly actionable perspective, directly from someone who’s walked both sides of the founder-investor divide.