The Twenty Minute VC (20VC): Venture Capital | Startup Funding | The Pitch 20VC: Brex Acquired for $5.15BN | a16z Companies are 2/3 AI Revenues | Anthropic Inference Costs Skyrocket | OpenEvidence Raises at $12BN Valuation | The IPO Market: EquipmentShare, Wealthfront and Ethos Insurance
473 snips
Jan 29, 2026 
Rory O’Driscoll, venture investor offering market and M&A perspective. Jason Lemkin, SaaS investor known for deep startup and public markets analysis. They dissect Brex’s $5.15B sale and its ripple effects, debate Anthropic’s soaring inference costs and AI metering, unpack OpenEvidence’s $12B raise, and evaluate recent IPO performances and what they mean for scaling SaaS.
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Infinite Demand Forces Rationing And Pricing
- Unlimited demand for a costly digital good is a good problem to have, but it forces rationing and pricing choices.
- Successful firms will decide how much to charge and how to meter usage to preserve unit economics.
Charge For Real ROI Or Consider Exiting
- If your AI agent uniquely replaces expensive human labor, charge accordingly to cover inference costs.
- Otherwise consider exit options before deep token wars drain cash and market share.
Prepare Scenario Plans And Raise Appropriately
- Build scenario plans and raise enough capital to survive market regime shifts.
- Play today’s game while preparing explicit fallback options if funding or demand changes.