Uploaded July 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Clay Bavor is the Co-Founder of Sierra, one of the world's fastest-growing enterprise AI companies. Sierra is valued at approximately $15.8 billion, has raised more than $1.5BN from leading investors including Sequoia, Benchmark, Greenoaks, GV and Tiger Global, and today serves more than 40% of the Fortune 50. The company recently surpassed $150 ARR, making it one of the fastest-growing enterprise software businesses in history.
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Timestamps:
0:00 Intro
1:37 Why Clay finally said yes to building Sierra with Bret
5:53 Why Sierra chose not to train their own foundation models
7:15 The case for unbounded demand for frontier intelligence
10:41 Why token costs are rising, not falling
14:35 Open models: the US vs China gap
18:36 Inside Pinecone, Sierra's internal AI agent
26:00 Staying close to customers as an enterprise AI company
33:22 Forward deployed teams: kickoff to live in 6 weeks
43:02 Sierra's core values: craftsmanship, intensity, family
55:41 Advice for young people entering the AI job market
1:02:35 Quickfire: Sundar, books, and parenting lessons
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Subscribe on Spotify:
open.spotify.com/show/3j2KMcZTtgTNBKwtZBMHvl?si=85bc9196860e4466
Subscribe on Apple Podcasts:
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-twenty-minute-vc-20vc-venture-capital-startup/id958230465
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twitter.com/HarryStebbings
Follow Clay Bavor on X:
twitter.com/claybavor
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#20vc #harrystebbings #founder #ai
Clay Bavor is the Co-Founder of Sierra, one of the world's fastest-growing enterprise AI companies. Sierra is valued at approximately $15.8 billion, has raised more than $1.5BN from leading investors including Sequoia, Benchmark, Greenoaks, GV and Tiger Global, and today serves more than 40% of the Fortune 50. The company recently surpassed $150 ARR, making it one of the fastest-growing enterprise software businesses in history.
-----------------------------------------------
Timestamps:
0:00 Intro
1:37 Why Clay finally said yes to building Sierra with Bret
5:53 Why Sierra chose not to train their own foundation models
7:15 The case for unbounded demand for frontier intelligence
10:41 Why token costs are rising, not falling
14:35 Open models: the US vs China gap
18:36 Inside Pinecone, Sierra's internal AI agent
26:00 Staying close to customers as an enterprise AI company
33:22 Forward deployed teams: kickoff to live in 6 weeks
43:02 Sierra's core values: craftsmanship, intensity, family
55:41 Advice for young people entering the AI job market
1:02:35 Quickfire: Sundar, books, and parenting lessons
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Subscribe on Spotify:
open.spotify.com/show/3j2KMcZTtgTNBKwtZBMHvl?si=85bc9196860e4466
Subscribe on Apple Podcasts:
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-twenty-minute-vc-20vc-venture-capital-startup/id958230465
Follow Harry Stebbings on X:
twitter.com/HarryStebbings
Follow Clay Bavor on X:
twitter.com/claybavor
Follow 20VC on Instagram:
instagram.com/20vchq
Follow 20VC on TikTok:
tiktok.com/@20vc_tok
Visit our Website:
20vc.com
Subscribe to our Newsletter:
thetwentyminutevc.com/contact
-----------------------------------------------
#20vc #harrystebbings #founder #ai
