Are a customer's interests and the company's interests ever genuinely in conflict?

Imran Khan · Aug 26, 2024

An investor's loyalty and fiduciary responsibility is to their LPs, not to founders; investors who publicly claim to side with founders over their LPs are either clueless or dishonest with themselves

The money comes from pension funds for firefighters and teachers who are counting on you; the legal fiduciary duty runs to them, and you can help founders without pretending otherwise

Scope: you still want founders to do well and should help them

19:09 20VC: Why the IPO Market is not Closed | Why Revenue Multiples are BS and Founders Need to Change | Advice From Jack Ma, Jamie Dimon and Evan Spiegel | Lessons from Taking Snap & Alibaba Public with Imran Khan

Harry Stebbings · Dec 12, 2025

In venture, the firm's interest and the founder's interest genuinely diverge — selling a position can be rational for LPs while damaging the founder and the company's story

Benchmark selling its Uber position was the right call for the firm and its LPs but not for the founder

Scope: specific to investing, where the founder is the customer

40:46 20Growth: How Wiz Built a $30BN Brand in Enterprise | What Worked vs What Was a Mega Failure: Lessons Learned | Why Marketers Make the Worst CMOs & What To Look for in Growth with Raaz Herzberg

Raaz Herzberg · Dec 12, 2025

For a product company, what's best for the customer is never genuinely at odds with what's best for the company — when it looks that way, you're wrong

The purpose of the company and product is serving customers, and it's a long-term partnership business, so short-term winnings taken against the customer lose over time

40:36 No real conflict exists in a long term product business

Harry Stebbings · Dec 12, 2025

Customer-first absolutism is a luxury of well-capitalized companies; under-funded startups sometimes have to optimize short-term revenue against the customer to survive

For a scrappy startup the COGS gap can be what keeps the lights on, unlike a company with Wiz's investors and valuations

43:26 Customer first absolutism is a luxury of the well capitalized