VC: How a 2-Person Fund Runs Like a Startup (Memos, KPIs, R&D) | Vanessa Larco, Premise (ex-NEA)

"Investing in companies that OpenAI won't kill." That's Vanessa Larco's thesis, and in this VC bonus episode of GTMnow she breaks down exactly how she decides what survives. Vanessa, founder and GP at Premise (formerly a longtime partner at NEA, where she backed Robinhood from seed to IPO), joins Max to get into the nitty gritty of how AI is rewriting venture, distribution, and the entire go-to-market playbook.She makes the case for why "it's just a wrapper" got a lot of VCs in trouble, why she only backs technical founding teams, and why the old GTM playbook is breaking fastest exactly where you'd least expect it. She also opens up about leaving a big platform to build a two-person fund from a blank canvas, and why she treats the fund itself like a startup.What you'll learn:- The "OpenAI won't kill it" framework for spotting durable AI companies (and why not everything OpenAI ships actually wins)- Why the "it's just a wrapper" dismissal cost VCs real deals, and the kayak/AWS parallels that explain why- Why Premise only backs technical founding teams, and the shipping speed that becomes the real early moat- How the old go-to-market playbook is breaking, especially in DevTools, and what replaces it- Why someone on the founding team has to "nerd out" on distribution, and why no-playbook moments are where you growth hack- How to run a conviction-based investment committee, and why big funds drift toward consensus whether they like it or not- Why running a fund is just running a startup: fundraising, product, and customer success by another name- The unanswered question Vanessa keeps circling: how to give experienced GTM talent space to rewrite the playbookChapters:00:00 Intro & OpenAI Moats01:12 GTMnow Intro01:51 Technical vs. Non-Technical AI Founders04:37 The Bottleneck of Hiring AI Talent05:15 Do Old Moats Still Exist?06:36 Cloud Era Lessons vs. Today's AI Layer09:18 The Shift to the Distribution Era11:38 Interview: Vanessa Larco (Premise VC)12:40 Companies OpenAI Won't Kill13:37 Consumer Habits vs. Enterprise AI15:05 Moving Beyond the "Wrapper" Stigma17:39 Thesis Building vs. Founder Curiosities20:11 Sourcing & The "Surreal" Community22:26 Learnings From NEA & Lightspeed24:06 Rethinking the Investment Memo26:43 Consensus vs. Conviction Investing31:26 Running a VC Fund Like a Startup35:04 Building Internal Automation Tools37:35 Distribution Moats & DevTools39:38 Sourcing New GTM Playbooks41:12 Parallel to the AWS Boom43:55 Human Psychology vs. AI Tools47:06 SF's Best Cookie Spots48:32 OutroConnect with Vanessa Larco:About the guest: Vanessa Larco is the founder and GP at Premise. Previously a partner at NEA, she backed consumer and fintech companies including Robinhood from seed through IPO. She started her career in product and engineering, was a computer science undergrad, and founded and sold her own startup before moving into venture.Connect with Max: https://x.com/hackitmaxhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/maxaltschuler/Connect with Vanessa:https://www.linkedin.com/in/vanessalarco/https://x.com/veelarcoAbout GTMnow: GTMnow is the media arm of GTMfund, sharing the strategies, tactics, and stories from the operators and investors building the next generation of go-to-market. This is the VC bonus series, where we host VCs and get into the VC ecosystem.Visit us on: https://gtmnow.comFollow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/gtmnowFollow us on X (Twitter): https://x.com/GTMnow_Follow us on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@GTM_nowFollow us on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@gtmnow_Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gtmnow_/The GTMnow Podcast The GTMnow Podcast is a weekly podcast featuring interviews with the top 1% GTM executives, VCs, and founders. Conversations reveal the unshared details behind how they have grown companies, and the go-to-market strategies responsible for shaping that growth.Visit gtmnow.com for more episodes and other interesting content.