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Who we sat down with
Tyler Hogge helped take Divvy from zero to a $2.5B acquisition by Bill.com. As former Partner at Pelion Ventures, he argues that charging for software is dead, per-seat pricing is collapsing, and the next decade of venture-scale companies will be built on outcomes, not subscriptions.
In this episode of the GTMnow VC Podcast, Tyler sits down with Max to break down what comes after SaaS pricing, why founder intensity is the only trait that still matters in 2026, and how Pelion concentrates capital into its biggest winners (Cloudflare alone returned over $1B to the fund). He also shares why most startups won’t survive going head-to-head with OpenAI and Anthropic, the “bent the odds” contract he signed with Redo’s CEO, and the lesson from raising four kids that changed how he leads.
This is an honest, no-fluff conversation about where venture is going as AI commoditizes software.
Episode highlights
0:00 - Trailer
1:14 - Intro
18:48 - Tyler joins
23:09 - “Sell Jesus, sell anything”
27:42 - The $2.5B Divvy exit
34:39 - The “bent the odds” contract
38:11 - Startups vs. OpenAI and Anthropic
39:05 - “Software is worth zero”
40:55 - The death of per-seat pricing
43:02 - Lessons from raising 4 kids
46:44 - “LinkedIn is the trailer park”
Key takeaways
1. Software is worth zero now. Outcome-based pricing is next.
Tyler builds in 27 minutes what used to take his Divvy engineers months. The moat isn’t the code anymore, it’s the business model innovation around it.
2. Founder intensity is the only trait that still matters.
Without it, no shot. With it, even brutal markets produce $2.5B exits in four years (see: Divvy).
3. Concentrate, don’t diversify, in your winners.
Pelion led Redo’s seed, A, and B. Cloudflare alone returned over $1B to the fund. The default outcome is “not exceptional,” so when you find a winner, you back the truck up.
4. A VC’s only real assets are network and reputation.
They compound like a flywheel. Tyler’s pitch to founders, “Trusted Advisor and Helping Machine,” is so specific he signs a quota contract with portfolio CEOs to prove it.
5. Big markets support multiple winners. Don’t pattern-match yourself out of them.
Ramp is still at under 1% of TAM at $30B+. Investors who passed on Anthropic sub-$10B assumed OpenAI had already won. First principles beats pattern matching every time.
Follow Tyler Hogge
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thogge
X (Twitter): https://x.com/thogge
Pelion Venture Partners’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/pelion-venture-partners
Pelion Venture Partners’ website: https://pelionvp.com/
Follow Max Altschuler and Paul Irving
Max Altschuler on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maxaltschuler
Max Altschuler on X (Twitter): https://x.com/HackItMax
Paul Irving on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paulsirving
Paul Irving on X: https://x.com/PaulGTM
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