E2: Kleiner Perkins Makes the Case for Craftsman VC, with Mamoon Hamid and Ilya Fushman

What this episode covers

This week on Turpentine VC, Mamoon Hamid and Ilya Fushman of Kleiner Perkins join Erik to discuss how they’ve seized the torch and helped drive the next chapter of the firm’s iconic history. If you’re looking to make fund administration easy and intuitive, check out: http://carta.com/turpentine We're hiring across the board at Turpentine and for Erik's personal team on other projects he's incubating. He's hiring a Chief of Staff, EA, Head of Special Projects, Investment Associate, and more. For a list of JDs, check out: eriktorenberg.com. --- SPONSORS: 🧲 Learn why Craft, Bedrock, NEA and 100s more trust Harmonic’s data to source deals. Harmonic is the most complete startup database, finding new companies as soon as they incorporate and tracking them through IPO. Head to https://bit.ly/harmonicturpentine and make sure to mention Turpentine VC during your demo. Carta is the world’s largest venture fund administrator. Carta’s software-based approach takes fund administration out of the spreadsheet and into 2023 and beyond with powerful solutions and intuitive interfaces, all on one platform. Their suite of products and expert services help funds at any stage with up-to-date insights and automated workflows to get them to that next level. Learn more at: http://carta.com/turpentine Synaptic unifies over one hundred real-time company performance metrics across alternative datasets like user traffic, employee data, app downloads, product reviews, and more. It’s your all-in-one source for alternative data that helps you make better investment decisions. To learn how Synaptic can improve your sourcing, tracking, and due diligence, visit http://synaptic.com/turpentine Pesto Tech is a hiring marketplace that makes finding great remote developers fast and easy. They use large language models to evaluate developers along dozens of parameters, including code quality, performance, and security. If you need to start hiring developers fast, all you have to do is answer 5 simple questions on their website: http://pesto.tech -- Join our free newsletter to get Erik's top 3 insights from each episode every week: https://turpentinevc.substack.com/ --- RELATED SHOWS: If you like Turpentine VC, check out our show The Limited Partner with David Weisburd, where David talks to the investors behind the investors: https://link.chtbl.com/thelimitedpartner --- X / TWITTER: @mamoonha (Mamoon) @ilyaf (Ilya) @eriktorenberg (Erik) @TurpentineVC --- TIMESTAMPS: (00:00) Episode Preview (01:35) How do venture firms and partner transitions work? (03:18) The craftsman approach to venture (04:55) The majors and minors of KP partners (06:04) How KP makes decisions (09:20) The different approaches of venture firms (13:50) What approach to firm-building KP believes in (18:05) Sponsor: Carta (18:37) How Mamoon and Ilya strategize on fund size (23:30) When does someone become a partner at KP?  (27:10) The NBA draft analogy for how KP identifies and finds talent (30:55) Generalist versus specialist firms (34:12) Sponsors: Synaptic | Pesto Tech (35:38) What's KP's strategy when it comes to investing in new waves? (39:07) How Kleiner evaluates talent differently than other firms (43:18) What makes great partnerships? (45:33) The biggest decisions Mamoon and Ilya have made at KP (49:25) How does governance work at firms when they transition? (53:00) On products and providing unique value to founders (56:10) What's the key in making firm transitions successful? (58:40) Who drinks more coffee? --- This show is produced by Turpentine: a network of podcasts, newsletters, and more, covering technology, business, and culture — all from the perspective of industry insiders and experts. We’re launching new shows every week, and we’re looking for industry-leading sponsors — if you think that might be you and your company, email us at [email protected].