20VC: Kleiner Perkins' Mamoon Hamid on Investing Lessons from Leading Rounds in Figma, Slack and Rippling | Lessons Building a Generational Defining Firm with Kleiner Perkins | AI: Where Value Accrues, Startups vs Incumbents & Scaling Laws

**Mamoon Hamid** (0:00)
I love products that create markets. Slack created a market. Figma created a market. They get to create the playing field, they play on the playing field, and they win the game. There is more capital in our industry than ever before. That capital at times thinks that everything will be a deck of corn, and you're overfunding some companies. There's a lot of time being spent on a lot of the middle layer between the foundation models and the applications. There's just a lot going on there. I feel like perhaps it's a little over-invested. We've invested in a lot of application layer companies. We took actually the top 20 jobs in the US and it's doctors, it's lawyers, and it's developers. How do we help supercharge these people who are highly scarce, highly skilled, and we're not producing enough of them?

**Harry Stebbings** (0:43)
This is 20VC with me, Harry Stebbings, and today we are joined by one of the greatest venture investors of our time, Mamoon Hamid, General Partner at Kleiner Perkins. I will tell you why he's the best. He is able to consistently see greatness at moments in a company's lifetime when it is not clear. He did Figma when it had almost no revenue at a $100 million valuation. Similarly, he did Slack when it had almost no revenue at a $250 million valuation. The company ultimately sold for $27 billion. He also did Rippling, pre-inflation point. The man is a master picker. He's also been a dear friend. I met him at Saasda nine years ago and he's been a mentor to me ever since. This was such a special show to do. But before we dive in, this episode is presented by Brex, the financial stack founders can bank on. Brex knows that nearly 40% of startups fail because they run out of cash. So they built a banking experience that takes every dollar further. It's a stark difference from traditional banking options that leave your cash sitting idle while chipping away at it with fees to help you protect your cash. And Brex combined the best things about checking, treasury and FDIC insurance in one powerhouse account. You can send and receive money worldwide at lightning speed. You can get 20x the standard FDIC protection through program banks. And you can earn industry leading yield from your first dollar while still being able to access your funds anytime. Brex is a top choice for startups. In fact, it's used by one in every three startups in the US. To join them, visit brex.com/startups. And finally, let's talk about Squarespace. Squarespace is the all-in-one website platform for entrepreneurs to stand out and succeed online. Whether you're just starting out or managing a growing brand, Squarespace makes it easy to create a beautiful website, engage with your audience, and sell anything from products to content all in one place, all on your terms. What's blown me away is the Squarespace Blueprint AI and SEO tools. It's like crafting your site with a guided system, ensuring it not only reflects your unique style, but also ranks well on search engines. Plus, their flexible payment options cater to every customer's needs, making transactions smooth and hassle-free. And the Squarespace AI? It's a content wizard helping you whip up text that truly resonates with your brand voice. So if you're ready to get started, head to squarespace.com for a free trial. And when you're ready to launch, go to squarespace.com/20vc to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain. And finally, before we dive into the show, I want to recommend a book, The Road to Re-Invention, a New York Times bestseller on mastering change. No time to read? Listen to 20VC now, then download the Blinkist app to fit key reads into your schedule. With Blinkist, you can grasp the core ideas of over 7,500 non-fiction books and podcasts in just 15 minutes, covering psychology, marketing, business and more. It's no surprise eight Blinkist users see themselves as self-optimizers and 65% say it's essential for business and career growth. Speaking of business, Blinkist is a trusted L&D partner for industry leaders like Amazon, Hyundai and KPMG UK, empowering over 32 million users since 2012 As a 20VC listener, you can enjoy an exclusive 25% discount on Blinkist. That's B-L-I-N-K-I-S-T.
Just visit blinkist.com/20vc to claim your discount and transform the way you learn. You have now arrived at your destination. Mamoon, I am so excited for this. I can't believe it. You just reminded me of Sastr nine years ago. It was our first show. Thank you so much for joining me today.

**Mamoon Hamid** (4:24)
Thank you so much, Harry, for having me. It's so great to be here.