The Twenty Minute VC (20VC): Venture Capital | Startup Funding | The Pitch 20VC: Inside Accel's $4BN Growth Investing Machine | Cursor is Dead is Total BS: Here is Why | What Missing Rippling and ElevenLabs Taught Us | Are $2BN-$10BN IPOs Dead | Why Now is a Great Time to be Thoma Bravo with Miles Clements
377 snips
Mar 9, 2026 
Miles Clements, Partner at Accel who leads its growth practice and backs companies like Atlassian and Linear. He debates the “Cursor is dead” narrative, explains why bespoke models can make sense, and describes how Accel sizes investments across stages. Short takes cover missed opportunities like ElevenLabs, when to cash out, and why founder-led, multi-stage strategies matter.
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Underwrite Platform Potential Over Short Term Forecasts
- Invest for platform potential, not short-term metrics; financials often reflect product-market fit rather than the core thesis.
- Miles recounts investing in Cursor at ~$9.5m price with revenue underwritten conservatively but later exceeding expectations massively.
Losing ServiceTitan Taught Accel About Rigid Price Rules
- Miles admits Accel lost ServiceTitan by rigidly sticking to valuation rules and later regretted it after it became a $9bn company.
- He describes the mistake as over-focusing on price thresholds instead of market depth and founder vision.
Missing Rippling Stung Because Of Founder And Mechanics
- Accel passed on Rippling partly due to Parker Conrad's past reputation and strict ownership rules, a decision Miles still regrets.
- Miles praises Parker's ability to build marginal revenue lines like laptop leasing that compound ARR growth.