YouSaid · the spoken record

Bijan Sabet

lines on the record: 117
first: 2017-04-10
most recent: 2017-04-10
sittings or episodes: 1
sources: podcast

Every line below is reproduced as it was said and linked to the record it came from. Nothing here is summarised or generated. Directory · Search · Corrections

“I think part of it is role models. You know, you see companies like Slack and others like really walking the walk. And I think that's part of it because then employees are drawn to those companies that are more doing the right thing and their role models and then other entrepreneurs like, oh, I look up to Stuart. I know what he's doing over there. I'm going to emulate that here. And I think there's a lot of the impact of role modeling is a big deal.”
2017-04-10 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Bijan Sabet, general partner, Spark Capital · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“I think you've just got to be really mindful of this stuff. I mean, I've heard now plenty of examples where people like get Slack and like when they hire somebody particularly, they say, hey, we're hiring diversified candidates only for these roles. And yeah, I think you have to be that intentional about things.”
2017-04-10 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Bijan Sabet, general partner, Spark Capital · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“And Rachel was four years at Twitter and then Facebook and then Spark. And I'm ecstatic that they're at Spark. Should we have had two women partners? Earlier than a couple years ago. Yes, definitely yes. And what took us so long, you know, that obviously in retrospect was we should have done a lot earlier.”
2017-04-10 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Bijan Sabet, general partner, Spark Capital · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Yeah, like, what's your name? And then, you know, now we've got a firm with people like Santo and Nabilla weird names and weird colors and all that stuff. And so I think we've kind of made progress there. But clearly, I mean, the gender issue is obvious and has to be dealt with. I mean, our two most recent partners at Spark are Megan Quinn and Rachel Horowitz.”
2017-04-10 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Bijan Sabet, general partner, Spark Capital · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“I got some color and weird name, and people like, Where did you get your MBA? Did you get a Harvard or St. By the way? I have no MBA. And so, you know,”
2017-04-10 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Bijan Sabet, general partner, Spark Capital · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Yeah, I mean, look, when we started this place or even when I was in startups and I talked to other VCs, I mean, you know, kind of rolling back the tape a little bit, it was all Lily White dudes, right? And I remember when I got into this business. Yeah, you got some color.”
2017-04-10 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Bijan Sabet, general partner, Spark Capital · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“It's like, oh, I've seen all this stuff before. I've got these two tablets. I've got the answer. And that's the part that is in progress.”
2017-04-10 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Bijan Sabet, general partner, Spark Capital · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Talking from the top of the mountain, that makes my skin kind of crawl a little bit. So I think the mistakes that I mostly feel a little cringeworthy is when I kind of feel like I figured it all out because that's the VC trap.”
2017-04-10 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Bijan Sabet, general partner, Spark Capital · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“For sure. Well, look, I mean, the thing about VCs that, you know, people should be mindful of, especially VCs, is that we're mostly wrong. You know, I mean, the business that we're in is we're investing in crazy ideas. Some are legitimately crazy. And statistically or whatever, I think good VCs are probably 80% wrong, bad VCs are like 100% wrong. So I think when VCs tend to get too serious about like kind of”
2017-04-10 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Bijan Sabet, general partner, Spark Capital · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Really? I think the objectional people use it better than none. Yes, I do. I think they're excellent at it. I think he's a Twitter genius. I don't know how else to put it. Everyone always makes fun of him. I'm like, that was smart.”
2017-04-10 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Bijan Sabet, general partner, Spark Capital · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Over indexes on Twitter, even though it's Yeah, I mean, I look, I think for every situation like that, obviously that's not the person I voted for. I have a lot of concerns we talked about endlessly. But ultimately, more voices are good, more advocacy is good. More people getting involved. I went to the women's march in DC. I mean, I think that was pretty much organized on Twitter. Facebook and Twitter. going to see things that we're going to find objectionable”
2017-04-10 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Bijan Sabet, general partner, Spark Capital · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“I think he's the first Twitter president. Yes, I do. I think he marketed him beautifully and got him to his users. It gave him a voice. I think it was genius because the media pays attention because the media is over indexes on Twitter, even though it's a much smaller company than, say, Facebook or anything else. The media is obsessed with Twitter. So I think it's a perfect storm for him. Yeah, I do.”
2017-04-10 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Bijan Sabet, general partner, Spark Capital · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Talk about dying because they're so There's a bunch of areas, but one in particular we're thinking about is the impact that social has on things like education and healthcare. We've made a lot of investments in social when it comes to media or social when it comes to workplace with Slack and Trello. Sure. I think you'll see exciting things in kind of consumer advocacy around health and education, I think it would be the lack of knowledge.”
2017-04-10 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Bijan Sabet, general partner, Spark Capital · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Yeah, yeah. Well, there's some stuff we don't do biotech and science and stuff. But, I mean, we're looking for people that are looking to do substantial things that create new markets. I think the thing that we love the most is, you know, if you ask me what the market size is for 140 character messaging service, I couldn't give you an answer for that. Or what's the market? You give it to Twitter at this point. But go ahead. But I couldn't tell you what the market size is for virtual reality. We don't really pay attention to market size. We care about amazing. What idea?”
2017-04-10 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Bijan Sabet, general partner, Spark Capital · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“You know, out of respect for everyone that put a tremendous amount of blood, sweat, and tears. I'd rather be a little shy in this one, but it was a complicated situation. Yeah.”
2017-04-10 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Bijan Sabet, general partner, Spark Capital · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Know there's some controversy. No, no, no. Oh, the users are getting their money back. They're getting their money back. So in Excel.”
2017-04-10 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Bijan Sabet, general partner, Spark Capital · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Well, like, you know, current products today are really aimed at people that want to be like pilots. They're more around piloting and flying than photography. And I feel like or felt at the time and still believe that we're drawn to creative products and creative tools. And the evolution of the camera is going to be this kind of thing. I mean, it's going to be, I mean, photos and videos that you take from a flying camera are epic by nature. And I think people are drawn to them. I know I am.”
2017-04-10 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Bijan Sabet, general partner, Spark Capital · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“I think there will. And I don't even think it's a drone. I think it's like the evolution of the camera. I think it's a flying camera.”
2017-04-10 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Bijan Sabet, general partner, Spark Capital · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Hardware is hard. You know, these are complicated systems. It's not just building a website. You've got to deal with manufacturing and supply chain and all these things. I mean, we're in a number of exciting hardware companies. Some I've mentioned, others we haven't talked about. These are substantial projects and the lily one, it's a heartbreak. I think that product is. Is exactly what this market needs.”
2017-04-10 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Bijan Sabet, general partner, Spark Capital · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Why? Although I was flying a drone this morning out by the Bay Bridge with some people right outside your office. All right, okay.”
2017-04-10 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Bijan Sabet, general partner, Spark Capital · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Iteration of interest. But I think it's a product that the end user inside the workplace is delighted. I think that's the piece that we see it as users where happen to be investors, but it's people use Slack every single day.”
2017-04-10 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Bijan Sabet, general partner, Spark Capital · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Well, I think the thing about Slack in particular, and we have three offices, so we see it firsthand, it really feels like we're connected in a way that is fun. We have channels on Slack that's absolutely ridiculous and hilarious. Yeah, Fox.”
2017-04-10 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Bijan Sabet, general partner, Spark Capital · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“And I think we're now seeing more of that. We're end users within the workplace are making their own decisions. And so we're investors in Slack. And Slack is the same thing. People decide to use Slack on their own. And then it grows from there. Trello had the same behavior. Trello is this beautiful Tumblr-like experience for group collaboration. And that's what we're drawn to is people building these products for consumers that happen to be at work.”
2017-04-10 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Bijan Sabet, general partner, Spark Capital · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Right, right. Consumer enterprise, I'm not sure. Consumer enterprise. I am really excited about what's happening in the workplace, not because I came out of the enterprise world or anything. I mean, as I mentioned, Spark started with this consumer mindset. But I think the iPhone in some ways instructed us there as well because you had a situation where consumers or workers were making their own decisions. I mean, for a while, like in 07, people were kind of carrying two phones. Like they had a, their company was giving them a Blackberry and they walk in with an iPhone because that was what they preferred to use”
2017-04-10 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Bijan Sabet, general partner, Spark Capital · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Which is interesting. Yeah. I mean, look, I've seen our companies where people have gone after our companies, and some feces have gone after, you know, we're investors in postmates. And, you know, I love what Bastian's doing over there. And VCs have gone after him publicly. And I don't understand this thing. But the thing we're drawn to are entrepreneurs that are doing their best to do great work. And it's not just about making money. And I think that, you know, if you have a situation where the CEO is doing, you know, Terrible things you got to deal with it”
2017-04-10 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Bijan Sabet, general partner, Spark Capital · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Because you want to sort of defend them. I mean, it's interesting. I think I gave Bill Gurley a hard time today. I was like, he's silent. And he usually lectures everybody about how they should behave, and then suddenly falls silent when he's got problems in his own house. Which is interesting.”
2017-04-10 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Bijan Sabet, general partner, Spark Capital · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“And so I think it's really acknowledging there's an issue and then dealing with it. And if you're at a company where the CEO is behaving badly, you have to acknowledge, is that a CEO problem or is that something else? And so I think step one is identify the problem.”
2017-04-10 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Bijan Sabet, general partner, Spark Capital · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Response was they didn't call the HR hotline, right? Like that's criminal to me, right? And so, you know, because that's the thing.”
2017-04-10 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Bijan Sabet, general partner, Spark Capital · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Well, I think step one, you have to acknowledge whether the problem. And I think if you've got to acknowledge there's a problem, and then have a real plan to fix it. I mean, look at this whole Fox News craziness with these cover-up of this stuff. The thing I read the other day was”
2017-04-10 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Bijan Sabet, general partner, Spark Capital · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“I would not be a happy camper right now. Look, I mean, there's plenty of ways to make money in this world. And, you know, we've companies that are Are doing great work? Are they all perfect? No, but like what I'm hearing, if even part of it was true, I'd be really deeply disturbed.”
2017-04-10 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Bijan Sabet, general partner, Spark Capital · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“You're seeing it for all of that it's worth. I mean, it's not pretty. So I'm not an investor. I don't know what's going on in the boardroom. I know talented people are in that board. I imagine they're taking this.”
2017-04-10 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Bijan Sabet, general partner, Spark Capital · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“I don't know. Are you in it? I'm not okay. You're the only few. Well, look, I mean, it's crazy what's happening over there, I guess. You know, this whole broke culture, you know, is being”
2017-04-10 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Bijan Sabet, general partner, Spark Capital · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“They're fairly ubiquitous, and now people can think about self driving cars. Lead investor in Oculus, like to think about virtual reality. I mean, these are big, big ideas, and it gets me terribly excited.”
2017-04-10 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Bijan Sabet, general partner, Spark Capital · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“It was just a lot of money. It felt like a really compelling offer. Yeah, yeah. But I guess the thing that I wanted to mention is like when we started Spark, there was no iPhone. There was no App Store. And people were building apps and there's nothing wrong with apps apps have changed the world. But to think that we've now come to a place where not only we have an iPhone and an App Store, but...”
2017-04-10 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Bijan Sabet, general partner, Spark Capital · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“I understand your point. I'm very optimistic. We really believe in this whole David versus Goliath thing. I think if we just let big companies dictate the pace of innovation, we're going to be bored out of our minds. But I see if anything like the audacity of entrepreneurs are thinking bigger than ever. I mean, we were the first investors in cruise, which sell their company to General Motors that we believe is the leader in autonomous vehicle technology. I mean, when we start talking about cruise, you said.”
2017-04-10 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Bijan Sabet, general partner, Spark Capital · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“As a venture capitalist or as some of you cares about these things, look, I think as a VC, we're constantly drawn to people that are creatively trying to invent new things and new ideas. And I hope we continue to do that for a long time. But I think we are at a really important stage with where this administration is taking us where climate change, we're actually debating whether climate change is a thing. The EPA is being dismantled. I think we're at DEF CON 4.”
2017-04-10 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Bijan Sabet, general partner, Spark Capital · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Yes, it already is. It already is. That was a crazy remark that Renuchin said, you know, so I think step one is you have to take these challenges seriously. And then step two is get great people working on it.”
2017-04-10 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Bijan Sabet, general partner, Spark Capital · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“And is the government capable of dealing with some of these big issues that are coming up? I'm thinking around healthcare, cars, digital privacy, all kinds of things. Are the government people in place to be able to navigate? Because that's the next couple of years. This is the kind of stuff that has to be decided.”
2017-04-10 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Bijan Sabet, general partner, Spark Capital · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Our side didn't win. Like, we don't have a moderate run in the country. So I think people will get energized for the midterms. I think what happened, for example, on the healthcare thing that failed was that there was a grassroots effort that got involved at town hall meetings and things like this kind of thing is whether it's in social media or at town hall. I think it's all part of the getting people involved.”
2017-04-10 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Bijan Sabet, general partner, Spark Capital · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“I'm not very optimistic about this administration. What I am optimistic about is that I think that people realize the stakes are higher than they imagined. This wasn't campaign rhetoric”
2017-04-10 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Bijan Sabet, general partner, Spark Capital · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Yeah, it was more of like let's get our workers in here like a civil civil Do you have any hope for this administration? Do you think it, because there's so many issues self driving cars, changing workplace that government has to weigh in on health care?”
2017-04-10 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Bijan Sabet, general partner, Spark Capital · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Immigration was one that certainly remains one I care about, but it was for me it was not about this whole immigration for getting our workers in here like a civil rights issue to some extent banning people on religion felt like that was just a wrong or the courts agreed and everything else So I think civil rights broadly speaking is something I'm quite passionate about”
2017-04-10 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Bijan Sabet, general partner, Spark Capital · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“You know, I think it's all the things we talked about getting the tech community engaged with everyday issues, getting involved in civil rights issues, helping raise money, helping good people run for office. I think that'll be. And what is your...”
2017-04-10 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Bijan Sabet, general partner, Spark Capital · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Well, I that's the part where I think it does because I think there is a groundswell of shared concern. I don't think there's this radical left-wing fringe that cares about these issues. I think most of us care about these issues. And so I think speaking up, if it gets another person talking and another person talking and organizing, I think it's a good thing.”
2017-04-10 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Bijan Sabet, general partner, Spark Capital · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Yeah, you can't please it. And then really give a shit. What about your founders? Do you feel like you get hurt by being so vocal? Because you are one of the more vocal people. Do you think has it been?”
2017-04-10 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Bijan Sabet, general partner, Spark Capital · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Well, look, I think it's not one silver bullet. I think we need great people to run for office. I'm wondering if you're going to run or not, if so, let me know because we'd love to be supportive. I think it's multifaceted. I think as an industry, we need to engage. I think we need to get energize people running for office that really give, can I get curse on this show? I don't know. Yeah, you can, please. That really give a shit. And I think we have to not be afraid. I think there is this level of fear about speaking up and getting involved. What about your fear?”
2017-04-10 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Bijan Sabet, general partner, Spark Capital · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“So, how does that happen? Because there seems to be a lot of organizing, but not a lot of doing. There's a lot of people, I've had so many lunches with people. I want to do this. Different people are starting packs. It's typically, you know, one person was like, oh, we should have a Koch brother kind of approach. I'm like, but there isn't someone like that in tech. There's like 90 different voices screaming at the same time. How do you organize?”
2017-04-10 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Bijan Sabet, general partner, Spark Capital · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Really pay attention to what Trump voters were thinking about. And we kind of were doing our own thing to some extent. So you have, I think, this complicated issue where on one hand we kind of were doing our own thing. We didn't expect this to happen. And then now that it's happened, how do we engage? I don't think Trump ran on that. That wasn't a swing state hot issue or a litmus test. So I think there's plenty of issues that we can kind of connect on, whether it's minimum wage, the environment, consumer protection, civil rights. I don't think these are partisan things.”
2017-04-10 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Bijan Sabet, general partner, Spark Capital · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Well, I think there's a few things. The tech community, I think we had it really good with Obama. And I think there was this shock that I mentioned that we really didn't think this was going to happen. The unimaginable happened. But I think it was a wake-up call as well. I think the tech community kind of”
2017-04-10 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Bijan Sabet, general partner, Spark Capital · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Bret feld are really involved raising a bunch of money and speaking up. Get involved. It seems like there's so many different doing something. Mark Pinkis is up to something. Everybody's up to a different thing.”
2017-04-10 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Bijan Sabet, general partner, Spark Capital · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT