Speculative frenzies are part of technology, and so they are not something to be afraid of. Those who remain level-headed through this moment have the chance to build extremely important companies. But we need to make sure not to believe in the delusion that has now spread from Silicon Valley to the rest of the country, and indeed the world. That d... See more

He thought about space the way he thought about mathematics or analytic philosophy or the Torah or Mozart’s twentieth piano concerto, which he sometimes played at night when my sister and I were going to bed. It was beautiful and complex and infinite, and how could you not want to explore that, know where it came from, know where we came from?

As a founder, the goal then becomes to metaphorically peel each layer of the onion — Each fundraising milestone turning into a set of risks being evaluated and sidelined. The earliest investors become the partners to help figure out what to focus on. Good pre-seed angels and investors are often described as “having taste” for good startups — In tru... See more

I won’t expand on the onion theory itself, but it roughly follows the following sequential steps:

Team Risk: Is the team capable of executing their vision? Will the team work together effectively?

Building Risk: Can they develop a viable product?

Market Risk: Is there a substantial market for the product? Will customers use and pay for it?

Go-To-Market... See more

Effective fundraisers have mastered the art of risk framing, demonstrating the ability to clearly articulate the risks associated with each milestone. And then, reassure the investors on how they will meet each one of them. In return, investors have developed standardized expectations for each round of fundraising.

In that context, the onion theory ... See more

Patient-Directed Care

Circling around all of this continues to be a more fundamental shift of how people are paying attention to biology and their own health.

While patient-directed care broadly is an increasingly consensus trend (borne out of the rise of the quantified self of yesterday and a large number of growing podcasters/authors today) the nua... See more

Scrolling through Twitter led to more scrolling and then a feeling of emptiness and guilt for wasting time when I finally managed to leave the app — scrolling through Sublime more often than not led me to putting away my phone, getting a breath of fresh air, and getting to work on that passion project I’d put aside years ago.

Many people pretend they do. Often they don’t because their ego and fear of failing get in the way. There is a close inverse correlation between ego and self-confidence. The latter is also an excellent indicator of resilience. Last week, a new study on the characteristics of unicorn founders found unlimited self-belief to be one of the three domina... See more

“The greatest trick the devil ever played was making you believe that the pessimists are the good guys.” – Packy McCormick