Why CEOs need to think more like athletes, with investor Byron Deeter
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In this episode of Masters of Scale, host Jeff Berman sits down with Byron Deeter, a veteran investor at Bessemer Venture Partners and former founder of Trigo Technologies, to explore the evolving role of CEOs in the age of AI. Deeter shares his journey from founding a pioneering cloud software company in the late 1990s—when the cloud model was met with skepticism—to becoming one of the most influential investors in tech, backing companies like Anthropic, Canva, and Waymo. He emphasizes that CEOs should think more like athletes: prioritizing peak performance through discipline in sleep, nutrition, mental health, and recovery. Drawing from his own experience of nearly burning out, Deeter reveals how Bessemer has launched an executive wellness program inspired by elite sports, helping CEOs sustain long-term success. He also discusses the importance of founder longevity, the power of 'double opt-in' outreach, and the value of learning from missed opportunities through his public 'anti-portfolio'. Deeter’s philosophy centers on backing exceptional teams with bold visions, staying out of the way when things are working, and focusing on multi-horizon thinking to build companies that could shape the next century.
CEOs should adopt athlete-like discipline in sleep, nutrition, and mental health to sustain peak performance.
Investors should focus on backing teams that are already great and help them stay excellent—don’t try to fix underperformers.
The most painful investment regrets are crimes of omission—missing bold, visionary companies due to fear of risk.
Build relationships with founders early and deeply, using high-frequency, low-friction communication (e.g., texts, WhatsApp) to deliver value quickly.
Founders should design their roles around their highest-value contributions and bring in executives early, not as a last resort.
…and 3 more takeaways available in PodZeus
Welcome to the Masters of Scale Summit
Promotion for the upcoming Masters of Scale Summit in October 2026, highlighting networking, innovation, and transformative experiences for founders and leaders.
The Founder's Journey: From Trigo to Venture
“It's somewhat counterintuitive, but you actually want to seek out the hardest, smartest customers and have them beat the crap at you because others will follow.”
The CEO Role: Designing for Impact
“I'd much rather do that up front or really have some people identified than get into something. And then a year later, the founder is just like, I'm out.”
Investing with a Coach’s Mindset
“Don't find things that are doing okay and going to fix them so that you go from good to great. Go find the teams in the business that's already great and make them excellent.”
The Anti-Portfolio and Learning from Missed Opportunities
“The things that I regret the most are the ones that I pulled back on because I could see the big vision and just saw all the probabilities of the what can go wrong and just couldn't quite get there.”
“Statistically, it's often the same as driving drunk or running a company drunk when you're sleep deprived and underperforming.”
“Don't find things that are doing okay and going to fix them so that you go from good to great. Go find the teams in the business that's already great and make them excellent.”
“The things that I regret the most are the ones that I pulled back on because I could see the big vision and just saw all the probabilities of the what can go wrong and just couldn't quite get there.”
Host
Guest
Bessemer Venture Partners
organization
Byron Deeter
person
Jeff Berman
person
Trigo Technologies
organization
Masters of Scale
media
Anthropic
organization
Canva
organization
IBM
organization
Waymo
organization
Tesla
organization
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