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Chris won the Twitter lottery.... and the Uber lottery.... and the Instagram lottery..... and a bunch of other lotteries. Had arguably the best run of seed inve

Chris won the Twitter lottery.... and the Uber lottery.... and the Instagram lottery..... and a bunch of other lotteries. Had arguably the best run of seed investing in history.

socrates1998 9y ago
Is there proof he got in early on all these and made money? I think it's been pretty established he got in super early on Twitter and made a ton of money, but I don't know about the Uber or Instagram. I sound like a hater, but just because you "invested in" those companies doesn't mean you made money or were a smart investor.
- mikeryan 9y ago
  https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/lowercase-capital https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/lowercase-capital
- tommynicholas 9y ago
  1. He only invests early, so yes. 2. His fund for those investments went 213x http://fortune.com/2015/01/08/exclusive-is-this-the-best-performing-vc-fund-ever/ http://fortune.com/2015/01/08/exclusive-is-this-the-best-per... Possibly the best VC fund of all time.
wand3r 9y ago
I think it's public he owns Uber and owned it early. I think it's early to say if that was a "win"; I reckon he got in at a good val but Uber ain't public and w/ a braindrain, 2 lawsuits, likely death of their AI program, ceding China to Didi and public backlash idk if it's got legs. Chris made a lot of money and he did a lot of interesting things. He's interesting and a lot was luck and a lot was skill. That said, Twitter (if he exited a bit post IPO was the companies big win. You only need one though. Edit: Forgot about Instagram. He crushed it. Point is more Uber might not be as big, but his track record is amazing compared to other shops
- tommynicholas 9y ago
  You can click on any of the several links in this thread to see that you forgot more than Instagram. I don't have any affection for Sacca, don't know him, don't care about him, etc. But he's factually been an incredible investor and it's just weird to see concerted effort to dispute that for no reason. He could be all sorts of negative things but he was a hell of a seed investor and that's in the books and he's got the receipts.
  - wand3r 9y ago
    I have seen almost every interview he's done. Admire a lot about him. Not discrediting him at all, just saying Uber might be too close to call. The one thing I would say is that he is pretty flashy and a bit of a braggard which many are; but going on SharkTank was a bit much. Guy has been super successful objectively my point was just that (to me, subjectively) it sort of feels like he's an entertainer more than an investor and values the fame and spotlight more than tech. Obviously his motivation doesn't matter vs. The track record but if I am critical of him it's just that it feels off vs. people like Steve Jurvetson or Horowitz who value innovation, technology and are happy to promote that above themselves
    - snarf 9y ago
      He is naturally a bit puffed up and that was a common critique of him from back in the Google days. I think this personality type is somewhat common among successful seed investors where being a "tech personality" helps with getting deal flow. Name brand institutional investors like Jurvetson and Horowitz don't need to rely on such tricks for deal flow.
      - wand3r 9y ago
        For what it's worth I think Steve Jurvetson is the smartest investor in the biz.
snarf 9y ago
Once you have a one big win under your belt, it becomes easier to hit other big wins because you have greater access to capital to diversify your bets as well as much better deal flow. He did have an incredible run, which I would attribute to equal parts hard work, skill, and luck.

Chris won the Twitter lottery.... and the Uber lottery.... and the Instagram lottery..... and a bunch of other lotteries. Had arguably the best run of seed investing in history.

socrates1998 9y ago

Is there proof he got in early on all these and made money? I think it's been pretty established he got in super early on Twitter and made a ton of money, but I don't know about the Uber or Instagram. I sound like a hater, but just because you "invested in" those companies doesn't mean you made money or were a smart investor.

mikeryan 9y ago
https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/lowercase-capital https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/lowercase-capital
tommynicholas 9y ago
1. He only invests early, so yes. 2. His fund for those investments went 213x http://fortune.com/2015/01/08/exclusive-is-this-the-best-performing-vc-fund-ever/ http://fortune.com/2015/01/08/exclusive-is-this-the-best-per... Possibly the best VC fund of all time.

wand3r 9y ago

I think it's public he owns Uber and owned it early. I think it's early to say if that was a "win"; I reckon he got in at a good val but Uber ain't public and w/ a braindrain, 2 lawsuits, likely death of their AI program, ceding China to Didi and public backlash idk if it's got legs. Chris made a lot of money and he did a lot of interesting things. He's interesting and a lot was luck and a lot was skill. That said, Twitter (if he exited a bit post IPO was the companies big win. You only need one though. Edit: Forgot about Instagram. He crushed it. Point is more Uber might not be as big, but his track record is amazing compared to other shops

tommynicholas 9y ago
You can click on any of the several links in this thread to see that you forgot more than Instagram. I don't have any affection for Sacca, don't know him, don't care about him, etc. But he's factually been an incredible investor and it's just weird to see concerted effort to dispute that for no reason. He could be all sorts of negative things but he was a hell of a seed investor and that's in the books and he's got the receipts.
- wand3r 9y ago
  I have seen almost every interview he's done. Admire a lot about him. Not discrediting him at all, just saying Uber might be too close to call. The one thing I would say is that he is pretty flashy and a bit of a braggard which many are; but going on SharkTank was a bit much. Guy has been super successful objectively my point was just that (to me, subjectively) it sort of feels like he's an entertainer more than an investor and values the fame and spotlight more than tech. Obviously his motivation doesn't matter vs. The track record but if I am critical of him it's just that it feels off vs. people like Steve Jurvetson or Horowitz who value innovation, technology and are happy to promote that above themselves
  - snarf 9y ago
    He is naturally a bit puffed up and that was a common critique of him from back in the Google days. I think this personality type is somewhat common among successful seed investors where being a "tech personality" helps with getting deal flow. Name brand institutional investors like Jurvetson and Horowitz don't need to rely on such tricks for deal flow.
    - wand3r 9y ago
      For what it's worth I think Steve Jurvetson is the smartest investor in the biz.

snarf 9y ago

Once you have a one big win under your belt, it becomes easier to hit other big wins because you have greater access to capital to diversify your bets as well as much better deal flow. He did have an incredible run, which I would attribute to equal parts hard work, skill, and luck.