Each weekend, I like to write a short post about a topic I’ve been learning in fund management. The topic for this weekend was originally slated to be “reserves.” However, now the world is very different and we are all readjusting to a terrible reality.... Read More

After lots of conversations this week with both founders and investors (from early to late), I wanted to quickly jot down my thoughts as they relate to what startups can expect in 2020 when raising funds. The first disclaimer here is, obviously, capital financing for... Read More

One big topic newer fund managers won’t likely appreciate in the early days is the effect dilution can have on an early-stage investment. I know this because I had no clue about it when I started. Even when other investors would ask me about it,... Read More

This weekend saw the news break of yet another big M&A “tech startup” deal, with rumors flying that Intuit is about to acquire Credit Karma. It’s late on Sunday night and I’m tired, so I’m going to cut right to the chase on this one... Read More

Without a doubt, the concept of “Portfolio Construction” was the most difficult VC fund management concept for me to get my arms around. To be clear before I write this, and before you read it, by no means do I mean to suggest that now... Read More

The politically-correct line to use when making a startup investment is that it’s based on “conviction.” As an investor, in order to make the investment, you have so much belief in the founding team, or the idea, or the category, or the traction, or some... Read More

This is squarely a very personal post, and I will try to keep it short and sweet. As a disclaimer, I do not intend this post to be read and/or interpreted as talking down to anyone or being disrespectful. Yet, I need to make this... Read More

Everyone in the tech ecosystem knows of Keith Rabois, or online just as @rabois on Twitter. Like many others, I’ve had the fortune to spend a lot of time learning from (and debating) Keith. You can search some of the old tech chats we did... Read More

Having spent time around and then in the world of VC in the Bay Area during the last decade, I’ve been reflecting on how different norms in the industry have changed. At the start of 2010, there was some unwritten VC industry conventions that have... Read More

Earlier today, the news leaked that Visa was to acquire fintech startup Plaid for $5.3B. Plaid is known within the startup and VC community as a strong company, but it is also a relatively quiet company in terms of its own PR and social media... Read More

For those following this blog and the seed market over the past decade, you may have noticed that every year, we see increases across the board — more investors, newer funds, and funds that get larger. Much has been written about the fact that traditional... Read More

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