Can You Still Win in Venture Without a $1BN Fund? Menlo’s Venky Ganesan on the New Rules of VC
Oct 5, 2026 · 1:11:15
Venky Ganesan, Partner at Menlo Ventures, says venture has fundamentally changed and Menlo is 'going for broke' to back the era's defining AI companies. He recounts a 90% loss on AvenX that taught him to take chips off the table, and calls seed an option bet where Menlo is 'somewhat indifferent' to price to win a seat. He warns measured metrics get gamed, cycles crack through debt defaults, and calls passing a $50,000 Facebook check via Sean Parker his costliest miss. Ownership still matters — Menlo owns under 2% of Anthropic yet put 20% of a fund in it — and he assumes 60% dilution, saying IRR must beat the Mag Seven by 1,000 basis points. He backs partial sells to stay long, prefers capital allocation to product vision at scale, and tells LPs to judge the windshield, not the rearview mirror.
