Discussion

• @mrp Ron Pragides on x

  HUBRISTIC FUNDRAISING “Brex raised $300 million at a $12.3 billion valuation in October 2022—technically 2022, but really the tail end of the 2021 madness before rates spiked and everything crashed. At that valuation, with maybe $200-250M in revenue at the time, Brex was being [i…

• @alexfmac Alex Macdonald on x

  Thoughtful piece... but for most VCs the incentives encourage hubristic fundraising. This isn't really a founder problem... it's a VC problem. Also a few ‘modern day AI’ hubristic comps do not deserve to be in the list 👀

• @parkerconrad Parker Conrad on x

  @jasonlk I think this is very smart / very much on-point. It can be very dangerous not to play the game on the field though - if your competitors are doing this and you are not, it can be very hard to survive.

• @elwatto Miguel Carranza on x

  Fantastic and balanced piece. It's less about right vs wrong and more about understanding tradeoffs and the rules of the game. It's always a lot more nuance than the average, simplistic twitter/hn take. PS: If you ever get the chance, take Jason's check.

• @markmacleod_ Mark MacLeod on x

  Brilliant and balanced take on the Brex acquisition

• @trace_cohen Trace Cohen on x

  Great post that sums up the current tech/VC market and the games being played.

• @alexiskold Alex Iskold on x

  Epic post by @jasonlk Know the trade off If you roll the dice and stumble you won't capture all the upside But obviously still an epic outcome for founders, early employees and early investors With AI companies unlike with Brex unit economics will be another big variable.

• @jamesreggio James Reggio on x

  This is a really good piece - especially because it honors the folks who stuck around to make this turnaround happen.

• @jesskah Jess Lee on x

  We have entered the vibe raise era

• @rabois Keith Rabois on x

  This post is very good. (He will regret the comments re Ramp however; Ramp is massively undervalued actually.)

• @shaig Shai Goldman on x

  I've been in the startup game for a minute, there is a very wide delta between private market valuation & public valuations , especially at this moment. Worth a read if you are a founder who is raising.

• @fredsoda @fredsoda on x

  My only qualm with this article is the claim that, say, Loveable is “worth” more than Brex. Brex sold for $5.15B. Loveable is “worth” $6.6B. If early-stage valuations are hype; late-stage valuations are fake.