The Twenty Minute VC (20VC): Venture Capital | Startup Funding | The Pitch · Harry Stebbings

20VC: Anthropic Raises $30BN at $380BN Valuation | Thrive Raises New $10BN Fund | OpenAI Buys OpenClaw | Stripe Raises at $140BN: Is Adyen Wildly Undervalued? | Monday, Figma, Shopify: Which are Buys vs Sells?

February 19, 2026·1 hr 34 min·5 clips

Anthropic has achieved 10x revenue growth year-on-year for three years—something never seen before at this scale.

Harry Stebbings runs his weekly news-and-analysis show with Jason Lemkin and Rory O'Driscoll, opening with the observation that the first segment could easily be renamed 'This Week in Anthropic' given the volume of news. Anthropic's fundraise is the main event: a round originally announced at $10 billion that scaled to $30 billion at a $380 billion post-money valuation, with investors on the periphery that the hosts did not even expect to see. The valuation debate is substantive: on a forward revenue multiple it may be cheaper than the previous round, given that Anthropic has never been seen to grow 10x in GAP revenue and runway year-on-year for three consecutive years; on the other hand, nobody should extrapolate these numbers indefinitely. Rory's observation that Wall Street fell in love with AI and had to fall out of love with SaaS to do it captures the sentiment shift that explains why the Anthropic round found takers at any valuation. Thrive Capital's $10 billion fund (one billion early, nine billion growth) is presented as the ultimate expression of the new venture thesis: back the growth super-cycle because that is where the carry is, regardless of what early-stage fundamentals say. Stebbings and his co-hosts express genuine unease about what the gravitational pull of megafund AI rounds does to early-stage venture: nobody wants to spend years picking accounting software that might break out for AI when they can try to get into Anthropic. The OpenAI acquisition of Cursor creator Peter Steinberger is discussed as a strategic signal: OpenAI wants the developer workflow, not just the model layer. The Stripe vs. Adyen discussion covers the structural advantages of Stripe's approach, including its developer distribution and newer infrastructure, against Adyen's enterprise relationships and European market strength. Applovin down 70% and Shopify getting no analyst love is used as a reminder that public markets do not always follow the same logic as private rounds. The hosts are candid about the irrational exuberance risks while not quite wanting to be the people who said no to the next generational company. The format is fast-moving and assumes familiarity with venture vocabulary; it rewards regular listeners with continuity across the weekly news cycle. Ideal for VC practitioners and sophisticated founders tracking capital markets; less suited for general listeners without a working knowledge of the venture ecosystem.

As heard by us

A brisk pass through AI capital, public-market pressure, and the week's biggest tech valuation headlines.

This episode moves quickly through the week’s tech and market headlines, with Rory O'Driscoll and Jason Lampkin weighing how capital is being deployed and where public markets are drawing attention.

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Why you'd press play

You want a sharp read on Anthropic, Stripe, and the week’s AI capital stampede.

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