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How Did Canva Grow Sales a Thousand Times? · The Peel with Turner Novak

The Peel with Turner Novak

Aydin Senkut: Growing Felicis from $4M to $4B

Aydin Senkut started Felicis 20 years ago with $4 million of his own money. After hearing "we don't back people like you" from every LP, he's now an early backer of iconic companies like Shopify, Canva, Adyen, Notion, and Supabase and investing out of a $900 million fund 10. We talk about why success is the downfall of a good investor, the 7 cold emails…

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Notes

  1. Why Can One Big Win Make a Venture Investor Worse? at 0:26

    Aydin Senkut says a first big venture win can make an investor worse. Full answer

  2. What Does Felicis Look for Before Backing a Founder? at 8:31

    Aydin Senkut says Felicis looks for a market every person or every business can use, and for urgency, before it judges the founder. Full answer

  3. How Did Aydin Senkut Get Into Shopify? at 13:48

    Aydin Senkut got into Shopify after six months of work, emails included, and the six months did not start the day he showed up. Full answer

  4. What Is the Felicis Founder Pledge? at 17:02

    Aydin Senkut says the Felicis founder pledge is a promise that the firm will never vote its shares against the founder. Full answer

  5. Why Did Aydin Senkut Start Felicis With Only His Own Money? at 18:27

    Aydin Senkut started the first Felicis fund with his own $4 million because nobody wanted to give him money. He does not blame them. Full answer

  6. Why Were Felicis's Early Board Meetings So Brutal? at 32:58

    Aydin Senkut's early Felicis board meetings were brutal because he asked the board to battle-test the fund with everything they knew about performing among… Full answer

  7. Why Should Founders Track Cash Runway? at 36:38

    Aydin Senkut says founders should track cash runway, because a clock is ticking and a good-or-bad label only gets people stuck. Full answer

  8. Why Does Felicis Add Money After a Bad Quarter? at 40:38

    Aydin Senkut says Felicis will sometimes put more money into a company after a bad quarter. Founders occasionally want to do something that sounds reckless. Full answer

  9. Does a Bigger Felicis Fund Lose Its Early Edge? at 42:34

    Aydin Senkut says Felicis's latest fund is a little over $900 million, up from a $4 million start, and that the larger fund did not erase the early edge. Full answer

  10. Why Did People Say Google Search Would Never Make Money? at 55:53

    Aydin Senkut says traditional people spent 10 years insisting that Google search would never monetize and would never become a real business that could make… Full answer

  11. Why Did Larry Page Duct-tape Google's Servers? at 59:26

    Aydin Senkut says Larry Page refused to buy servers for Google. Full answer

  12. Why Do Silicon Valley Investors Miss non-Bay Area Companies? at 1:05:56

    Aydin Senkut thinks Silicon Valley investors miss companies outside the Bay Area because backing the Silicon Valley version is much easier. Full answer

  13. How Did Canva Grow Sales a Thousand Times? at 1:18:41

    Aydin Senkut says Canva sales rose a thousand times in eight years after the founders executed a simple product for people who want to create without feeling… Full answer

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