Gurley coined the phrase that protecting against downside requires enjoying every bit of upside in venture cycles.
“that's where we came up with this phrase that the best way to protect yourself against the downside is to enjoy every last bit of the upside.”
Gurley explains Benchmark isn't judged on IRR and would pass on 20% IRR deals due to board seat limits.
“You know, we're luckily in a business where we're not judged on IRR per se.”
Gurley says Benchmark turns down twenty percent IRR opportunities because LPs invest for beta and home runs, not steady returns.
“Like if there's an opportunity where we can make a 20% IRR someone might go, oh you should do every one of those, but we're limited by the number of board seats we can take and our LPs are investing in us to get beta and so they want the home runs”