David Mcclure

Founder of 500 Startups, 500 Startups

Search every verified David Mcclure interview, podcast appearance, and on-the-record quote — each transcript cross-checked by AI and human review to confirm speaker identity. Dave McClure, founder of 500 Startups and now Practical VC, has been discussing his past investment strategy and current views on venture capital in several recent appearances. Reflecting on his early angel investing and time at Founders Fund, McClure said he invested about $2.5 million across 40 investments, which returned an estimated $180–200 million and produced four to five unicorns including Twilio, Lyft, and Credit Karma. He attributed this success to a strategy of making many small bets, stating, "I need more shots on goal" and that most early-stage portfolios were "just really undersized." He also noted that the feedback loop for such investments is long, with winning companies often taking more than 10 years to exit. In more recent commentary, McClure has focused on the secondary market and the challenges facing traditional venture capital. He described the current environment by saying, "I think the equation has shifted from it's probably better to be an entrepreneur right now than an investor." McClure's firm Practical VC targets secondary transactions, which he said offer a "shorter time to liquidity" than typical VC funds that now take closer to 15 years. He identified a "secret stallions market" of companies with $50–100 million in revenue that are not widely known but are on a path to exit, calling it a "bigger than a trillion dollar market." McClure also predicted a "10x increase in alternative assets over the next decade," while cautioning that the lack of transparency and stale valuations in venture capital make it a "wild wild west" compared to public markets.