VC10X - Dancing Among The Giants with David Hornik, Founding Partner, Lobby Capital

David Hornik is the Founding Partner of Lobby Capital, an early-stage venture firm built on concentrated, conviction-driven investing. Before founding Lobby, he spent 20 years as a General Partner at August Capital, where he was the earliest investor in Splunk and backed companies like WePay, Bill.com, and Fastly.⭐ Sponsored by Podcast10x - Podcasting agency for VCs - https://podcast10x.comIn this episode we cover:→ Why three out of four VC firms couldn't raise a fund last year — and why Lobby Capital did→ 2000 vs. today: the one structural difference that makes this AI cycle harder to navigate→ Dancing among giants — what it takes for startups to survive next to Google, Meta, and Microsoft→ The two deals that got away: LinkedIn, Uber, and the lessons that came out of missing them→ Why Lobby Capital passed on Airbnb's Series A — and has never used a formal voting system since→ Splunk and big data — betting on a problem nobody else was talking about in 2004→ The exit landscape: mega IPOs, a record M&A market, and why liquidity may not reach everyoneLinks:Lobby Capital: https://lobby.vcConnect with David on X: davidhornikConnect with Prashant: https://linkedin.com/in/choubeysahabSubscribe to VC10X newsletter - https://vc10x.beehiiv.comSubscribe on YouTube - https://youtube.com/@VC10XSubscribe on Apple Podcasts - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/vc10x-investing-venture-capital-asset-management-private/id1632806986Subscribe on Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/7F7KEhXNhTx1bKTBFgzv3k?si=WgQ4ozMiQJ-6nowj6wBgqQVC10X website - https://vc10x.comTimestamps:(00:00) - Preview (00:48) - Guest Introduction: David Hornik, Founding Partner at Lobby Capital (02:32) - Fundraising for Lobby Fund Two in a Tough LP Market (03:57) - Key Learnings from Fundraising: Fund One vs. Fund Two (05:45) - Comparing the Current Market to the 2000 Dot-Com Bubble (09:15) - The Current Sentiment-Driven Correction in AI Markets (10:27) - On Irrational Valuations and the "SaaS-pocalypse" (13:05) - Strategies for Startups: Finding a Proprietary Position (15:17) - Why Lobby Capital Avoids Late-Stage Special Opportunity Funds (16:45) - Learning from Passing on LinkedIn and Uber (21:23) - The Importance of Being Valuation Sensitive (24:15) - Backing Unconventional Founders and the Airbnb Miss (27:41) - The Splunk Investment: Solving a Real, Unseen Problem (30:16) - Lobby Capital's Conviction-Driven Model Without Formal Voting (32:45) - Building Psychological Safety with Founders Remotely (35:30) - The Current Exit Landscape: A Tale of Two Cities (39:03) - The Playbook for Supporting an Overwhelmed Founder (42:02) - Contrarian Take: The Real Opportunity is in Empowering Humans (43:45) - Rapid Fire Round Begins (43:58) - Investment Focus: Great People Solving Problems with Software (44:28) - Typical Investment Stage: First Professional Money In (44:45) - Why Lobby Capital Always Leads Rounds (45:42) - Typical Initial Check Size (46:08) - How Founders Can Get in Touch (46:32) - Where to Follow David and a Tribute to Om Malik