E40: Dave McClure on Delivering a 60x & 40x fund and Founding 500 Startups

Dave McClure sits down with David Weisburd to discuss his journey into venture capital, including luck, his investment strategy, and the challenges he faced breaking into the industry. He provides an analysis on his two 40x+ funds, 500 Startups, and the misalignment between LPs and GPs. (0:00) Introduction to Dave McClure and his journey in Silicon Valley (4:00) McClure's entry into venture capital and creation of the Start-Up Metrics for Pirates model (12:14) Dave McClure's investment strategy and the role of luck in venture capital (20:09) McClure's struggle to break into the venture capital field and his rejection from Sequoia (23:10) The premise and analysis of 500 Startups' investment outcomes (27:34) The misalignment between LPs and GPs and the math behind achieving breakout success (33:07) The aggressive investment pace and international strategy of 500 Startups (37:16) The concept of practical venture capital and the challenges of long hold times (44:29) The competition in the secondary market and the trade-off between unrealized TVPI and realized DPI (47:12) Wrap up and introduction of the 10X Capital Podcast Newsletter