This episode is a special feed drop from The Twenty Minute VC, featuring a conversation between Harry Stebbings and a16z General Partner Alex Rampell.

Alex shares how he thinks about investing at scale, including why ownership and incentives matter, how venture changes as funds get larger, and what it really takes to win the best deals. He walks through his core founder framework of backing people who can materialize talent, capital, and customers, and explains why the strongest companies often have “hostages,” not just customers.