{"href":"https://api.simplecast.com/oembed?url=https%3A%2F%2Ffounder-storiez.simplecast.com%2Fepisodes%2Fariel-sterman-LMmHNdy9","width":444,"version":"1.0","type":"rich","title":"Ariel Sterman (Bessemer Venture Partners): The Pass Note That Won the Deal, Making Partner, and Playing VC's Long Game","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_url":"https://image.simplecastcdn.com/images/5c472ad3-495c-4713-bf5c-a8d9091accb0/1858f186-6f24-4951-aa86-e0cada690ae9/2.jpg","thumbnail_height":300,"provider_url":"https://simplecast.com","provider_name":"Simplecast","html":"","height":200,"description":"Ariel Sterman is a Partner at Bessemer Venture Partners and, by his own admission, a deeply anxious person. Recorded on his birthday, this is the most personal conversation he's given: the rumination behind the polished profile, the surgeon father who taught him responsibility, and why being a mensch is an actual edge in venture.\n\nWe cover: the Quack story — the seed-stage pass note the founder reread monthly for two years before bringing Bessemer back into the round; Bessemer's apprenticeship model and the real path from analyst to partner; compressing 5-week diligence into 72 hours; the Tuesday-night Torah class he's taught for 7 years; \"the past was determined\" as a framework for board-room resilience; and his contrarian case for Israel in the AI era.\n\nKey moments: \n• anxiety confession (01:00) \n• being a mensch vs. winning (10:40) \n• the Quack pass note (28:20) \n• 3-day diligence (32:20) \n• \"If you're in the room, there's a reason\" (59:00)\n • The story that made him cry (1:03:20) \n• Israel & AI (1:07:50)\n\nSubscribe to Founder Stories. "}