20VC: Affirm Max Levchin on Why Grading Talent by Letter (A or B) is Total BS | How to Create a Culture of Post Mortems and Writing | Why You Should Only Study Failure Not Success & The Biggest Surprises Scaling to $18.7BN Market Cap
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The Twenty Minute VC (20VC): Venture Capital | Startup Funding | The Pitch
1h 2m
2 speakers
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I think Opinionated is exceptionally valuable. The hard red line for me is always, once I can't trust you. The story about knowing the letter grade of every person you hire in your company, whether it's 2000 people like a firm, but that's just silly.
This is 20VC with me, Harry Stebbings, and today we have an incredible guest. Simply put, Max Levchin is one of the great technologists of our time. As the founder and CEO of Affirm, today he's built an $18.7 billion monster in the buy now, pay later space. Prior to Affirm, he was one of the original co-founders of PayPal. Max is also the co-founder and chairman of Glow, a data-driven fertility company. He's also an extremely successful angel, with a portfolio including the note before we dive in today here are two fun facts about our newest brand sponsor kajabi first their customers just crossed a collective eight billion dollars in total revenue wow second kajabi's users keep a hundred percent of their earnings with the average kajabi creator bringing in over thirty thousand dollars per year in case you didn't know kajabi is the leading creator commerce platform
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Now that your team is up and running worldwide, make sure your finances work just as hard with Brex, the ultimate financial stack for startups. So when Brex was founded, it wasn't just about creating another financial product. It was about solving the really gritty challenges that founders face daily. Let's be honest, building something from the ground up is hard enough without dealing with clunky, outdated banks that pile on fees and leave your cash idle. Brex is different. It's the financial stack that scales with you no matter where you are in your journey, from corporate cards to maximizing your runway to earning yield on your cash. Brex was designed with founders in mind to make every dollar go further so you can focus on building. And here's what really stands out to me. Brex combines the best of checking, treasury, and FDIC insurance in one powerhouse account. You can send and receive money globally at lightning speed, earn yield from day one, and still access your funds whenever you need.
Plus, with 20x the standard protection through program banks, your cash is not just working harder, it's working safer too. It's no surprise that one in three venture-backed startups in the US, with companies like Anthropic, Coinbase, and Robinhood, I mean, my God, these companies are incredible. Trust Brex to help them grow. If you want to join the smartest startups on the
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