Social Capital in Silicon Valley
It’s January 2020. And if you’re a founder just starting out, trying to create something out of nothing, one of the best investments you can make is still a plane… Read more Social Capital in Silicon Valley →
Ten Predictions for the 2020s
Ten predictions for the next ten years. #1: Enterprise software in the 2020s will replay Softbank’s Capital-as-a-Moat disaster of the late 2010s. Here’s a thesis I’ve been chewing on for… Read more Ten Predictions for the 2020s →
The top five "I, too"s of 2019
Hello readers! As we approach the end of the year, we’ll have a few posts looking back on the year that was (and maybe one on the decade too; stay… Read more The top five "I, too"s of 2019 →
Stone Soup, Diversification, and the Alchemy of Venture
One theme we talk about a lot in this newsletter is that startups aren’t economically sensible. That doesn’t mean they’re not valuable, or worth pursuing! But building the future is… Read more Stone Soup, Diversification, and the Alchemy of Venture →
The Social Subsidy of Angel Investing
Michael Seibel of YC posted a short video the other day about a topic that’s near and dear to my heart: Why Fundraising is Different in Silicon Valley. This is an interesting and important question. If you’re a startup founder looking for your first investment, the difference between fundraising in the Bay Area versus fundraising somewhere else isn’t a difference of degree. It’s just qualitatively a completely different exercise. Advice to founders on how to fundraise in San Francisco is, to put it bluntly, not applicable in other parts of the… Read more The Social Subsidy of Angel Investing →
The Car Bundle
There’s a lot you can criticize about cars and individual car ownership. But one criticism you shouldn’t make blindly is “Think about how much of the car you don’t use.” It’s true that not every driver or every trip needs the horsepower of an ICE or a top speed of 65+ MPH. Not every trip needs four seats, or even two. Not every trip needs climate control or cargo space. But it doesn’t matter, because cars are a bundle. A car is like cable TV. There are some features of my… Read more The Car Bundle →
Internet Crowds and Personal Space
Generally speaking, I think there are currently two main anthropological clichés about internet culture: The first one is “The internet brings out the status-seeking narcissist in us.” The internet, social… Read more Internet Crowds and Personal Space →
An Interview with Jamie Catherwood
In this month’s interview special, I’m delighted to have Jamie Catherwood come on the newsletter and share some pearls of wisdom from financial history. Jamie has a remarkable interest and… Read more An Interview with Jamie Catherwood →
