Podcast Digest: VC & Tech #2
How VCs are navigating AI investment shifts and the secrets behind high-growth subscription models.
Welcome to Learning VC💡! I’m Luis Llorens and I write monthly about VC, investments, fundraising and my personal experiences as an investor. Join our community of 4,000+ investors and tech enthusiasts:
Discover the latest insights from top VCs and industry experts on AI Investment Strategies and Subscription Growth, featuring case studies from Netflix, Spotify, Substack, and OnlyFans.
🏷️ A Masterclass with the Michael Jordan of B2C Subscription - Run the numbers
📑 TLDR:
Guest: Reid Tandy, former Hulu, Crunchyroll, HBO Max, and Substack growth PM.
Main Topics: B2C subscription growth, pricing strategies, retention vs. acquisition, and discounting tactics.
Key Insights: Price increases impact acquisition more than retention; discounts can harm brand perception; the best-paid subscriptions solve professional problems (ROI-driven).
Case Studies: Netflix, Spotify, Substack, Crunchyroll, OnlyFans.
Tactical Takeaways: How to structure pricing, avoid over-discounting, and identify power users willing to pay more.
Trends: B2C companies transitioning to B2B for revenue expansion.
👀 Main Takeaway:
Price increases are a critical lever for B2C growth but must be strategically timed. Retention isn't significantly impacted by small hikes, but acquisition slows down. The best subscriptions monetize professional growth or community engagement, while businesses must balance acquisition, retention, and pricing psychology.
🔥 Actionable Insights:
Price Increases: Communicate price hikes transparently and avoid over-explaining; consider grandfathering existing subscribers temporarily.
Discounting Strategy: Avoid frequent, predictable discounts that devalue the brand. Use discounts sparingly and tie them to meaningful events.
Annual vs. Monthly Plans: Not always beneficial—most subscribers on annual plans would have stayed anyway. Be cautious with heavy annual discounts.
Hierarchy of Paid Subscriptions: Finance, business, and ROI-driven content monetize best; niche communities also perform well.
Monetization Beyond Subs: Consider one-time payments (e.g., events, tips) to boost ARPU, as seen with OnlyFans and Twitch.
Retention & Cohort Strategies: The most significant churn happens in the first month; improving early engagement has the highest impact.
Paired Metrics: Track acquisition + engagement together to avoid over-optimizing one at the expense of the other.
📈 Key Facts and Figures:
Netflix: ~275M paid subscribers, dominant in B2C subscriptions.
Hulu: Grew marketing budget from $0 to $100M+ in two years.
Spotify: Held at $10/month for years before raising prices.
OnlyFans: $1.3B revenue, 450M profit, <40 employees.
YouTube: $30B+ in ad revenue, massive untapped subscription potential.
📘 Resources or Frameworks Mentioned:
Netflix’s Price Increase Disaster (Quickster): Learn about Netflix’s worst pricing misstep 🔗 NewYorkTimes
Retention & Churn Strategies: Blog by Reid Tandy 🔗 Reidtandy.com
OnlyFans Financials: A deep dive into their monetization model 🔗 Here
🤔 Top Questions Asked:
How do price increases impact acquisition vs. retention in B2C?
When should a business implement pricing changes?
Do discounts cheapen a brand, and how often should they be used?
How can subscription businesses identify and upsell power users?
What’s the ideal mix of free vs. paid content in a subscription model?
Why do some top B2C companies (Netflix, Spotify) avoid annual plans?
💬 Notable Quotes or Insights:
“One of the most powerful forces in the world is inertia. That’s why subscriptions are so great.”
“If your retention is 20-30% above peers, you're probably only marketing to your absolute core audience. Expand strategically.”
“A bad price increase can wipe out billions in market cap overnight—Netflix learned this the hard way.”
📍 Contact Info:
Blog:
/LinkedIn: Reid / CJ Gustafson
🎙️ Podcast Link:
We’d love to hear from you! Share your feedback or suggestions—we’re all ears.
🏷️ AI Investment Strategies: Generalist vs. Specialist - EUVC Podcast
📑 TLDR:
Oliver Holler (Speedinvest, €500M fund) and Ekaterina Almask (OpenOcean, €150M fund) discuss their contrasting approaches to AI investment—generalist vs. specialist.
Speedinvest avoids foundational models due to capital intensity but invests in adjacent infrastructure and vertical AI applications.
OpenOcean targets enterprise AI gaps, focusing on tools for data management, compliance, and AI safety.
AI investment has evolved in waves, with the third wave (agents) posing disruptive potential for automation.
AI startups face accuracy challenges, making enterprise adoption difficult, while large incumbents like Salesforce aim to dominate AI infrastructure.
The European VC ecosystem lacks growth-stage funding for deep tech, forcing many startups to seek U.S. investment.
Future AI opportunities lie in vertical AI (e.g., biotech, energy, material sciences), AI safety, and enterprise tooling.
👀 Main Takeaway:
The AI investment landscape is shifting towards domain-specific applications and enterprise solutions, as foundational models are dominated by big tech. VC firms must rethink their evaluation frameworks to accommodate deep tech investments.
🔥 Actionable Insights:
Invest Early in AI Waves: Foundational models are already dominated by big tech; future waves (AI agents, enterprise tooling) offer new entry points.
Enterprise AI Gaps: Huge opportunities exist in data management, AI compliance, and accuracy improvement.
Deep Tech Requires Different VC Models: Traditional KPI-based VC investing struggles with deep tech, necessitating more belief-driven funding strategies.
Europe Needs More Growth-Stage Funding: Many promising AI startups seek U.S. funding due to lack of Series B+ investors in Europe.
AI Safety Will Be Critical: As AI scales, expect increasing regulatory and ethical scrutiny, creating opportunities for startups tackling AI transparency and trust.
📈 Key Facts and Figures:
Speedinvest: €500M generalist fund, invests across multiple verticals.
OpenOcean: €150M deep tech-focused fund, specializing in AI since 2006.
HeyGen (AI video generation startup): Grew to $35M revenue in one year.
Google’s AlphaFold: Demonstrates AI’s ability to revolutionize drug discovery.
Inkit: AI-driven content company that scaled rapidly by leveraging AI-generated formats.
📘 Resources or Frameworks Mentioned:
AlphaFold (DeepMind's protein-folding AI)
HeyGen (AI video generation startup)
Kittel (AI-powered design tool)
🤔 Top Questions Asked:
How do generalist and specialist VCs differ in their approach to AI investments
What are the main challenges AI startups face in enterprise adoption?
Why do many European AI startups seek U.S. funding?
Where are the biggest AI investment opportunities today?
How do investors evaluate deep tech startups with no revenue or clear market fit?
💬 Notable Quotes or Insights:
“AI is the next infrastructure layer—there’s no way to not invest in it.” – Oliver Holler
“The AI market is still being created, and investing in it requires belief, not pattern recognition.” – Ekaterina Almasque
“VCs often invest in yesterday’s term sheets—AI is about spotting the next wave early.” – Podcast host
📍 Contact Info:
Website: Speedinvest.com, Openocean.vc
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🎙️ Podcast Link:
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This is like a masterclass in subscription economics and AI investing, two of the most lucrative and rapidly evolving spaces right now. The idea that price increases hit acquisition harder than retention is gold. Makes sense because new customers are way more price-sensitive than loyal ones. Great piece, Luis.
Would love to see VCo2 featured here 👀