Uploaded May 2026 | Updated September 2026, 1 day ago
Every VC right now says the same thing: "2x growth isn't good enough. We only invest in 10x companies." And Oren Zeev thinks it's one of the most dangerous ideas in venture.
Oren — who manages $3 billion solo and has backed Navan, Tipalti, Audible, and more — breaks down why the obsession with hypergrowth isn't just wrong, it's actively harmful. A company growing 2x sustainably at scale — from $20M to $40M to $80M to $160M — is 64x bigger in six years. The math doesn't change.
What does change is the pressure. When VCs demand unsustainable growth rates, founders find ways to manufacture it. In insurance? Easy: just misprice your policies and watch the numbers go up. The growth looks great until it doesn't — and then the whole thing collapses.
Oren's take: the "10x or nothing" narrative exists because it sounds impressive, not because it reflects reality. And it's created a generation of companies chasing metrics they can't sustain.
This is the kind of honest, contrarian thinking that makes Oren one of the most respected voices in venture.
Watch the full conversation with Oren Zeev on Invested: bit.ly/4dlPbEp
#venturecapital #startups #investing #VC #startupgrowth #OrenZeev #Invested
Every VC right now says the same thing: "2x growth isn't good enough. We only invest in 10x companies." And Oren Zeev thinks it's one of the most dangerous ideas in venture.
Oren — who manages $3 billion solo and has backed Navan, Tipalti, Audible, and more — breaks down why the obsession with hypergrowth isn't just wrong, it's actively harmful. A company growing 2x sustainably at scale — from $20M to $40M to $80M to $160M — is 64x bigger in six years. The math doesn't change.
What does change is the pressure. When VCs demand unsustainable growth rates, founders find ways to manufacture it. In insurance? Easy: just misprice your policies and watch the numbers go up. The growth looks great until it doesn't — and then the whole thing collapses.
Oren's take: the "10x or nothing" narrative exists because it sounds impressive, not because it reflects reality. And it's created a generation of companies chasing metrics they can't sustain.
This is the kind of honest, contrarian thinking that makes Oren one of the most respected voices in venture.
Watch the full conversation with Oren Zeev on Invested: bit.ly/4dlPbEp
#venturecapital #startups #investing #VC #startupgrowth #OrenZeev #Invested
