saar gur (@saarsaar) / X

saar gur

4,810 posts

saar gur

@saarsaar

VC at CRV | 5x Midas List | 4 IPOs | LOVE supporting incredible founders! A few include Doordash, Ring, Mercury, Patreon, Aerodome (now Flock Safety), etc.

bay area

Joined May 2007

saar gur
@saarsaar
Mar 17, 2022
Before I was a VC, one of my first angel investments went up 150x quickly. On paper it was my most valuable asset BY FAR. I never had a chance to sell. Sequoia & other great VCs were investors. Then it went to ZERO. For a newbie, it was an incredible lesson in startup investing.
saar gur
@saarsaar
Oct 20, 2019
It seems everyone on twitter now thinks if you don’t have 70%+ gross margins your business model is broken. fyi: many of the largest companies in the world are high revenue, low gm businesses. Eg., Walmart has a $340bn mkt cap and 25% gross margins. Costco $130bn with 13%.
saar gur
@saarsaar
Jul 28, 2021
Facebook earnings today confirmed what so many consumer startups who depend on paid CAC have been feeling (and tortured with these past few months): The company pointed to a 47% increase in average price per ad but only a 6% increase in the number of ads it delivered.
saar gur
@saarsaar
Jan 10, 2019
great quote from the @sama interview of @vkhosla: " "A company becomes the people it hires, not the plan it makes." - hadn't heard that and it is SO TRUE.
saar gur
@saarsaar
May 6, 2020
If you’re hiring:Please don’t reach the conclusion that when a company lets 25%+ of their company go (Covid), the cuts are low performers. Many CEOs think the best folks will be retained no matter what. Not the case. Plenty of A+ folks getting cut due to drastic business changes
saar gur
@saarsaar
May 6, 2022
Founders: If you are fundraising in the next few months, it will be wise to ask the potential investor:"how many boards are you on?" Folks sitting on 15+ boards will likely be a bit hard to reach the next few months. Just sayin.
saar gur
@saarsaar
Jul 12, 2020
my product/UI mind is super frustrated that the icon on my phone for my google calendar app is frozen in time on “31” and can’t show the actual day of the month. Have to click to find the date. Had to vent. Who feels me?
saar gur
@saarsaar
Jan 27, 2022
Guessing that right around now is the time in the cycle that younger VCs will learn that there can be a huge gap btw unrealized values/mark-ups and actual returns/DPI. Mark-downs, lack of secondary buyers, no exit in sight are realities of the business. Winter is here/coming. 😊
saar gur
@saarsaar
Apr 26, 2020
we built the hoover dam, the golden gate bridge, the bay bridge, etc as a way to hire thousands in the great depression. what infrastructure can we build now that can have big impact? (eg, global warming solutions vs bridges/dams?) I might have suggested solar farms 10 years ago
saar gur
@saarsaar
Apr 7, 2019
So few companies hit $1bn+ in annual revenue. I wish there was a name for this kind of billion-dollar unicorn....as those are the companies that I aspire to work on.
saar gur
@saarsaar
Apr 26, 2020
when the elevator was invented real estate prices inverted and higher floors were more valuable for the first time in history. before that most buildings were < 5 floors. while Covid is not an invention, it may invert some asset prices in a similar way (eg.,suburbs vs apt towers)
saar gur
@saarsaar
Dec 8, 2020
Doing diligence on another startup led to our investment in Doordash. This was the original email (and call) that started it all. A reminder for me on how important it is to do reference calls and listen carefully.
saar gur
@saarsaar
May 20, 2020
“so much luck and timing in startups” - if you weren’t a believer before, you might change your mind after seeing how unfair Covid has been in decimating some great startups and accelerating others
saar gur
@saarsaar
Dec 9, 2020
Congratulations DoorDash by @CRV
Congratulations DoorDash
From link.medium.com