Menlo assumes about 60% dilution from its first check to exit, so 10% at seed becomes roughly 3.5-4%.

Fundraising & investors

Venky Ganesan, Partner at Menlo Ventures · The Twenty Minute VC · 5 Oct 2026 Menlo assumes about 60% dilution from its first check to exit, so 10% at seed becomes roughly 3.5-4%. Listen

Ganesan said the dilution comes from both financings and option pool expansions. When Harry pointed to fast-scaling companies like OpenRouter taking far less dilution, Ganesan said the main driver is time horizon: companies that compound value fast and exit quickly take less dilution. Long horizons both raise dilution and hurt IRR.

“we assume by the time we sell likes at the company, if we own 10%, we would have three and a half to 4%. We expect 60% dilution from the point of our first check”

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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.