A topic that’s been on my mind a lot in 2019 is “time diversity” in venture capital funds. There’s more about this topic all over the web, but the basic gist is — when building a VC portfolio, many investors prefer to have some “time... Read More

With a bit of reluctance, I share this forthcoming “Predictions For 2020” post with you. Initially, I wasn’t going to write one because I figured it is hard to know what will happen even with lots of thought applied, and that it may not be... Read More

It’s that time of year, time to look back and reflect on the most significant storylines in the tech, startup, and VC world. A comprehensive post on this topic could be 5,000+ words, but we do not do such things here. We kept detailed notes... Read More

People will often ask me, “So, what are the big tech trends right now?” In 2020, I gave 1.5 answers to that question. The obvious trend in startups (which has been going on for a year or two) is the idea of the “prosumer as... Read More

It’s that time of year, where I — as a committee of one judge, but now in consultation with my Haystack colleagues Ian and Aashay — select one startup in the tech ecosystem that “broke out” and has the makings of an even larger outcome... Read More

Usually these M&A posts involve a private startup being purchased, but this past week, we witnessed a different type of deal — Google acquired Fitbit, which had been a public company for nearly four years. Fitbit was started in a previous startup era, raised about... Read More

Hi everyone. I’m at an offsite down in southern California. Yesterday, I briefly tweeted something that was on my mind (during a break at the offsite) just to get it out of my head. I didn’t check Twitter for hours after that, and then got... Read More

At the end of 2016, folks in the startup tech ecosystem looked toward 2017’s impending “uncertainty.” Then at the end of 2017, the same worry about 2018; rinse and repeat last year, looking toward 2019. Yet, looking back, not much changed — there’s more money... Read More

Those of us in the early-stage tech ecosystem by now well know that saying “there are a LOT of seed and new startups” is a gross understatement. It feels like a tsunami of deal flow, and for me, I’ve outlined how I pay attention to... Read More

The third interview I’ve done on Harry Stebbings‘ “Twenty Minute VC” was just released. You can listen to it here. Frankly, I am surprised by the response to it. This particular podcast covered quite an arcane topic — how to learn how to manage investment... Read More

About a year ago, a friend told us about this new work app they were using. Didn’t think much about it. Then, the same thing happened a few days later. It’s just the Bay Area echo chamber at work. And then finally, a few weeks... Read More

If you’ve been following my tweets lately, you’ve read some of my quick musings on the state of the seed market this summer. In short, in my 6.5 years of investing in the seed stage, I have never seen activity levels like I’m seeing today.... Read More

I was catching up on MG’s newsletter/blog and came across this opening line, which got me thinking about a concept in investing, specifically in deal sourcing: To me, all information is about triangulation. Any single source, no matter how close to the situation — and often times... Read More

The topic of “investor updates” has been debated frequently. Most folks who are not close to early-stage startups and new company formation would be surprised to discover that a high number of companies, after receiving funding from individuals or institutions, do not send updates to... Read More

Earlier this year, I reflected on the difference between “fund investing” vs “fund management.” It’s a useful post for emerging managers, I’d recommend reading it. The gist of that post is – making investments is relatively easy, but learning to manage a VC fund is... Read More

Earlier this week, I tweeted a thought about the difference I see between blogging versus publishing: “Publishing is when you draft a bunch of versions, have scores of people look at it, maybe a PR eye on it, etc. (often on Medium). Blogging is when... Read More

There are countless posts on what one should consider when considering a career in VC. The reality today is that, as technology proliferates into all sectors and geographies, venture itself has grown in lockstep with the size of the opportunity. As the economy is now... Read More

I’m not a huge NBA fan, but I certainly appreciate the sport. From a business and growth perspective, there’s so much going on with the NBA that’s fascinating to me. And, this particular offseason with all the amazing free agents on the market makes for... Read More

Normally, I like to pounce on these big acquisitions quickly with some quick analysis, but big M&A in tech is happening too fast, and it’s graduation season for the toddlers, and family is in town, so for this installment of the blog, we will talk... Read More

Believe it or not, this will now be the second blog post on this site about a billion-dollar exit for a shaving-related startup. It was just about three years ago when the startup world learned that Unilever had decided to plunk down a cool $1B... Read More