Ganesan would rather own 2% of a trillion-dollar company than 20% of a $100M company, but says early ownership still matters before an outlier is obvious.

Fundraising & investors

Venky Ganesan, Partner at Menlo Ventures · The Twenty Minute VC · 5 Oct 2026 Ganesan would rather own 2% of a trillion-dollar company than 20% of a $100M company, but says early ownership still matters before an outlier is obvious. Listen

Menlo owns less than 2% of Anthropic. Ganesan said that before a company is clearly an outlier you are in the 'ownership game', and afterwards it becomes a position-sizing and access game with 'no alpha'. His example was Higgsfield, where his partner Amy got 15% for a $5M check and Menlo then also sized up.

“I'd rather take 2% of a trillion-dollar company than 20% of a hundred-million-dollar company”

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From 20VC: Is Seed Investing Dead Without a $1BN Fund? | Does Ownership and Price Matter When Companies Can Be $1TRN Exits | Are AI Revenue Numbers Real and What to Watch Out For with Venky Ganesan, Menlo Ventures.