PodcastThis Week in StartupsOctober 22, 2026
We asked 3 VCs: would you invest in Elizabeth Holmes’ next startup? | E2353
VCs say seed investing requires tolerating ~1-2.5% fraud and treat pro rata rights as non-negotiable amid a live lawsuit over them.
- Seed fraud is normal: Sam Lessin says his fund runs roughly a 1-2.5% 'oops, it was fraud' rate across ~350 investments, comparing it to credit-card loss rates that funds should just budget for.
- Diligence scales with check size: Panelists agree a $25K-$50K seed check can't bear the diligence cost of a $100M round — Lessin says Theranos's error was treating $100M checks like Series C with Series A scrutiny.
The full card is a free trial away.
The full summary and the deep dive on this episode, plus a brief every morning on the shows and companies you follow.
Read free — start your trial14-day free trial
Themes, sentiment and reasons are AI-written paraphrases, checked so they never quote an episode. They may contain errors. Not investment advice. Episodes remain the property of their creators.
