A friend who works at Google said he wanted to raise a topic at the next team all-hands.
His manager took him aside and said they don't use the phrase "all-hands meeting" on his teams at Google because it's insensitive language.
Because not everyone has hands.
There's a VC in Silicon Valley with a decent following and I have a strong suspicion this person works for a foreign intelligence service. Their life history doesn't check out. Source of funds sketchy.
Being an "investor" is an easy cover story to cultivate human assets in S.V.
Marc Andreessen on entrepreneurial judgment:
"...the ability to tell the difference between a situation that’s not working but persistence and iteration will ultimately prove it out, vs a situation that’s not working and radical change is necessary."
RIP Tony Hsieh of Zappos.
For those of us who published business books in the 2010-2013 time period, the success of Tony's book "Delivering Happiness" was the case study in how to build a movement around a book.
Flight attendant: "We have a medical situation with a passenger. If anyone on this flight has valium or other anti-anxiety medication on board, please ring your call button."
Half the passengers stand up and start pulling out pills.
📣 I’m thrilled to announce our new $250M fund - Village Global III - dedicated to backing the world’s most tenacious founders at Day 0.
Equally exciting is that
@reidhoffman
has taken an expanded role of Chairman.
"I like a crisp document and a messy meeting."
@JeffBezos
on
@lexfridman
"The document should be written with such clarity that it's like angels signing from up high."
Lots of goodness here. How it feels when everyone's reading your memo, how the process of writing it might
"I'm an introvert" say VCs who take 20+ meetings a week and have chosen to work in an intensely social line of work.
Why the self-delusion?
In certain circles, "introvert" is higher status than "extrovert." Introverts are intellectuals. Extroverts are smarmy networkers.
Startup CEOs are almost always in wartime. (To invoke
@bhorowitz
's framing.)
VCs themselves are almost always operating in peace time. Management fee stability --> long time horizons
Leads to cultural disconnect: peacetime VC working w/ someone who's in the middle of a war zone
The firm many say is
#1
in venture capital, Benchmark, has long been run almost entirely by GPs who've never founded companies.
There are dozens of other top-tier examples
Evidently, a VC can be helpful without reflecting on their *personal* experience founding a unicorn
Reed Hastings once said that if you're not genuinely pained by the risk involved in a strategic choice, it's not much of a strategy.
Game-changing strategies have potentially painful downside risk. That's what enables the upside opportunity.
The most frequent reason a VC passes on a startup pitch is because they don’t think the founders are killer. The team just doesn’t seem A+.
They rarely will ever say that explicitly. Lots of other head fake reasons offered instead…
@rrhoover
@alexandernorman
Frankly I think VCs usually aren’t saying this literally. No product is ultimately defensible (why FB bought Insta). This just means VCs aren’t greedy, & it’s most likely they don’t believe the product is differentiated (hard to scale) or founders aren’t good (can’t say that).
How I know I haven't "made it" yet:
I spent 25 mins on the phone being condescended to by a not-very-smart egomaniac, and instead of telling 'em to STFU, I politely thanked the person for their insight, feedback, and said I look forward to staying in touch
Recently dined w/ some U.S. foreign policy wonks. I was amazed at their zero-sum, anti-China sentiment.
A rich China is better for Americans than a poor China. Innovative global public goods (cancer cures, iPhones, etc.) emerge from a billion educated/rich people. cc:
@ATabarrok
When someone sends me an article I've already read, I've stopped saying "Yeah, I saw that." Instead, I just thank them for sending and riff on it as appropriate.
Someone is less likely to send me articles in the future if they fear I've already read it
Public health officials are destroying their credibility by selectively endorsing non-compliance with their own shelter-in-place orders.
It means people will stop obeying current orders. And compliance will drop during the second wave. Trust in government fractures even further
Huge thank you to
@reidhoffman
and his team who devoted a massive amount of energy over the past four years pushing for political change in America.
There may be no single tech leader in Silicon Valley who did as much as Reid. 🙏
There needs to be a private “like” feature on Twitter that displays just to the author of the tweet.
I often want to give a 👍 to an edgy or contrarian tweet but am too scared to “like” it publicly.
Having a last name that begins with an early letter of the alphabet is an underrated source of advantage/privilege.
In childhood, you’re seated in the front row in school.
In adulthood, you’re often listed first on “team pages” on websites and appear up front in attendee lists.
Part of what makes the YC/Neo spat surprising is you usually don't see an incumbent (YC in this case) respond to claims of a startup (Neo) so publicly and vociferously.
Because by doing so, the incumbent massively raises the profile of startup few may have previously heard of.
The most highlighted sentence from the Kindle version of The Start-Up of You to this day:
"The fastest way to change yourself is to hang out with people who are already the way you want to be."
This week:
Felicis (formerly known as a seed fund) leads a Series C at $1B+ in Verkada.
USV (formerly known as an early stage fund) leads a Series E in JustWorks.
Early stage firms doing late stage investing; late stage firms doing seed stage investing. Silicon Valley 2020.
Eric Schmidt on how he practices "leadership therapy":
"When a manager comes into my office and wants to talk about a problem or feels like complaining, I pull out a sheet of paper and a pen. While he talks, I listen and take notes about what he’s saying."
Just received an email from my high school that started with
Dear Alumnx:
Had never seen that before. Just did some Googling and apparently this is a thing at schools now.
The word "alumni" is not gender inclusive enough, so we've invented a new Latin word
21st century etiquette: If you’re taking notes on your phone or computer during a meeting, announce to the other person that you’re doing so — and clarify that you’re not checking email, etc. Sets the other person at ease.
.
@tylercowen
once taught me to get wrinkles out of dress shirts when on the road by letting the hot water run in the shower, closing the door, and steaming up the entire bathroom. I am forever grateful for this travel hack.
(Also buy his new book “Talent”!)
Tweets that congratulate someone for an accomplishment are oftentimes more about wanting to publicly signal affiliation/alliance with that person (esp if that person is higher status than you) than it is a genuine feeling of happiness or pride.
And no, I’m not jaded at all. 😊
Today is one of those holidays (Mother's Day) where an interesting phenomenon plays out on social media:
People post thank you messages and photos "to" their mom that they know their actual mom will never read b/c she's not on IG, Twitter, Fb, etc
The real audience is other ppl
Of the top 100 investors in venture, how many of them are active on social media / personal brand building?
Example who is active: Bill Gurley
Example who is *not* active: Lee Fixel
What's the ratio? Probably 80% of the current Midas List is basically inactive on social media
I recently advised a founder who's working on their pitch to VCs to literally say the phrase: "I'm out to build a multi-billion dollar business..."
It makes explicit that the founder is aiming to achieve the flavor of success that is aligned with a VC's business model.
One interesting micro rhetorical technique of
@balajis
that shows up in this tour-de-force interview. He'll say:
"Ok, what's my point? My point is..."
Asking questions to yourself aloud -- *as if* the listener or reader asked it themselves -- is a nifty way of grounding a point
Web sites that make you login with username and password in order to unsubscribe from their emails, after you click the "Unsubscribe" link in the footer of the email they sent you.
I feel non-tranquil emotions towards those sites.
Robert Penn Warren, in an exquisite passage near the end of A Place to Come To: “As long as you have a parent alive, you are a child; and mystically, the child is protected, the parent is the umbrella against the rain of fate. But when the umbrella is folded and laid away, all is
I asked a top performer recently: "What is one of your superpowers?"
She said: "I have an incredibly high tolerance for boredom."
Many important, long term projects involve stretches of boredom and drudgery. It's a superpower to be able to stay focused to get to the other side
When someone has an experience -- takes a vacation, first day on a project, attends a conference -- and you ask them "How was it?" it induces/forces a good vs. bad judgment that may be premature. The question "What was it like?" allows raw description and judgment equally.
Really senior people — e.g. CEOs of BigCos — have unique job descriptions: be excellent *routers* + delegators.
So they focus on speedy comms. Responsive on email/text
Mid level folks have actual execution duties. Thus they're *rationally* worse at the trait of "responsiveness"
fwiw, the busiest and most successful people I know always text back within seconds…
If you’re looking for a superpower, you can’t go wrong with responsiveness.
“I don’t believe there are any good rules for being able to tell the difference between the two. Which is one of the main reasons starting a company is so hard.”
In a pitch meeting (online or offline), don't jump right into the slide deck.
Ask the VC at the outset: "Do you want me to go through the deck or just have a conversation?"
Ideally: Send deck in advance, VC has read it, and the live chat is a conversation. Maximizes engagement
I'd estimate a ~100% probability that there are spies from China, Russia, Israel, and other countries with large intelligence services in the U.S. who are working as employees inside Apple, Google, Facebook, Intel, Cisco, etc.
Continue to see founders use "ARR" or "MRR" as synonyms for "revenue" when in fact those terms refer to revenue that's contracted and recurring. Maybe the most commonly misused acronym right now in tech...
I facilitated a discussion yesterday with some
@villageglobal
founders on the topic of advice. As
@vkhosla
has said, one of the most important decisions you make as an entrepreneur is whose advice you listen to. And how you parse the advice. Here were my notes for the discussion:
Reminder of what we do
@villageglobal
: Lead pre-seed rounds or co-lead / participate at seed
Typical initial check: $250k - $1.5M
Invest across all categories and geos (ex China)
No such thing as too early. We back exceptional founders at Day 0 and supercharge their networks
“MindGeek’s sites — Pornhub, RedTube, YouPorn, and Brazzers — received 4.5 trillion visits each month in 2020, almost double that of Google and Facebook combined.”
Many modern startup "truths" are actually bull-market truths only.
E.g. "Angels are more helpful than funds"
In bear markets, angels are more likely to flee. Institutional investors w/ deep pockets have an obligation (to their LPs) to stay involved and work through messiness.
What non-obvious thing would you do if you had more money than you knew what to do with?
Me: I'd pay top dollar to fly the most interesting people in the world, to my home at my convenience, for lengthy conversations. (Possible, unless the ppl are billionaires themselves.)
Village Global now has $225 million under management. Excited for the next chapter of backing amazing entrepreneurs.
And also super excited to be growing at Village HQ, including hiring another GP to join our senior team!
Some personal news:
- We're now investing out of a $125 million Fund II
- We're hiring a GP to join the team
- Admissions to our accelerator are now rolling, so apply early :)
A huge thank you to all the Villagers who've helped build this community!
Young women today are outearning young men.
Successful women seek to marry men who r as successful
Thus: "A small # of highly successful men are desired by the majority of women... A society teeming with lonely women and sexually frustrated men is one hurtling toward disaster"
The highest status/most powerful people in my network do *not* practice the hallowed double opt-in intro technique. I.e. They rarely ask for my permission before intro'ing me to someone. They do blind intros, and I'm okay with it.
cc
@Jason
Why I exercise regularly, in order of importance:
1) fatigue muscles so that I fall asleep easier at night
2) endorphin rush / feel-good effect in the moment
3) long term cardiovascular and cognitive health benefits
4) improve physique / physical attractiveness
Best practice on email intros is to write a "forwardable email" that your friend forwards to the target connection.
BUT don't literally write their email to the target on their behalf. Write an email in *your* voice in your own words, that friend then *forwards* and adds to.
Two types of VCs: Those who start their own firms and raise money, and those who join existing firms with established LP bases. Very different experiences. E.g. I've met GPs who joined legacy platforms who've spent literally 0 time thinking about LP relations or fundraising.
As long as the exec team and CEO live and work in the same physical location, a company is not fully remote (obviously) and the culture will still be heavily HQ-centric.
So, how many CEOs are relocating their families to Aspen and running Zoom meetings from there?
Everybody knows the names of their grandparents.
Nobody knows the names of their great grandparents.
A perfect encapsulation of how long it will take for someone alive today to be forgotten by literally everyone on earth -- legacies swept away into the ether.
Happy Sunday!
Newest addition to the backyard: a Finnish barrel sauna. So excited to be able to sweat more regularly.
Now to figure out the best DIY cold plunge...
#saunatarian
Interesting theory for why Los Angeles is the best food city in America (among other things): distinct ethnic enclaves, rather than a melting pot, means ethnic restaurants are serving their own dense demand. Thai restaurants serving mostly Thai people. Etc.
Theory: Venture firms build out platform teams who do post-investment support (recruiting, customers, etc.) in order to help them *win the deal at the time of investment.*
Not b/c they believe those services will meaningfully improve the actual trajectory of the companies
Overheard: When an angel investor goes pro and becomes a full time VC, their Day Zero / preseed deal flow *drops* (or at least materially changes). Founders are more careful about how they talk about nascent ideas with VCs. Easier to talk to a "friend"/angel in the early days.
Completely random:
Among the hardest-working players I've ever been associated, Yao Ming stands at the very top of the list. Beyond that, though, here's what truly separated him from everyone else: His ability to enjoy other people's successes.
-Jeff Van Gundy
The best request for an introduction came in an email from a friend a few years back. He ended with: “If you have the slightest hesitation, please do nothing… please know I have zero expectations.”
I liked it because it felt very low-pressure.
One of the most important traits you look for when hiring: How quickly does this person learn? “Learners shall inherit the earth.”
What are good questions to ask or exercises to do in an interview process to understand whether someone is a true learning machine?
A challenge for founders is that there's a strong bias for VCs to *say* "It's never too early to pitch us" because they want option value and like to track companies over time. A more precise question: "How many pre-product, pre-revenue startups have you backed in the last year?"
A founder today asked me "how early do you invest?" Early stage VC funds can invest:
Pre-Hockey Stick ("not early")
Pre-Revenue ("early")
Pre-Product ("really early")
Pre-Powerpoint ("crazy early")
We are crazy early investors
@DecibelVC
- there is no such thing as "too early"
Or, to quote
@sullydish
: "Kids ages 1 - 4 are four times as likely to die of the flu as of Covid; twelve times as likely to be murdered; and eighteen times more likely to die by drowning."
Parents of unvax'd children should 14 times as worried at sending their kid to swim camp
To children under 14, COVID is less dangerous than drowning, car accidents, the flu, homicide, suffocation, almost anything. Yet we’re taking more precautions against COVID for children than any of these things, putting them in masks 8 hours a day. A generational crime.
Interesting view into how important tech companies are to United’s business and their flight routes from SFO. Apple buys 50 business class seats daily on SF-Shanghai.
So much here from
@united
:
1) Amazing this was printed and published. Surely a mistake.
2) Apple has 50 Biz seats a day between SFO and PVG, wow.
3) These large accounts certainly have route influence at SFO.
Pic via
@LAflyr