20VC: Max Altman on The New Seed War: Can Anyone Compete with Sequoia and a16z | Leaving $2BN on the Table with Reddit | Lessons from Backing Rippling at $25M Post | Why Climate Tech is a Mirage and Disaster
20VC: Max Altman on The New Seed War: Can Anyone Compete with Sequoia and a16z | Leaving $2BN on the Table with Reddit | Lessons from Backing Rippling at $25M Post | Why Climate Tech is a Mirage and Disaster  
Podcast: The Twenty Minute VC (20VC): Venture Capital | Startup Funding | The Pitch
Published On: Fri Nov 21 2025
Description: Max Altman is Co‑Founder & Managing Partner at Saga Ventures, a US$125 M early‑stage fund.  Before Saga Max was an investor with Apollo Projects, Hydrazine Capital and Altman Capital (where he helped deploy over US$500 M) into breakout names such as Rippling and Reddit. AGENDA: 03:55 – Venture Capital Is FULL of Tourists With Single-Digit IQs 06:20 – Inside the Madness of Parker Conrad: Genius, Chaos, and WTF Emails 10:35 – The Rippling Deal That Changed Everything 12:40 – Living in Sam Altman's Shadow: The Confession 17:30 – $200M Fund Mistakes: Max's Brutal Lessons From Hydrazine 22:05 – The $2B Reddit Return… and the $2B Left on the Table 25:00 – Why Climate Tech Is a Total VC Mirage 28:40 – The New Seed War: Can Anyone Survive Sequoia & Andreessen? 46:55 – Max's Boldest Predictions