I’ve been doing improv comedy for the last twelve years. Over that time I’ve realized there are at least two types of laughter you hear from the audience. One is a response to something clever or smart, like ‘ha ha I see what you did there, very nice.’ It’s a shallow sort of laugh and one that comes mainly from the mind.
Sobriety source #2: AI as the next platform shift. Every wave of new companies that transforms their respective industries is fueled by a major platform or technology shift. The advent of the web did this. The smartphone and mobile applications did this. And there is no doubt that AI is our next wave. But does every new wave always necessarily... See more
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... See more
Onion theory extrapolated out to milestone driven approach towards pre-seed investing
Application layer AI companies are not just UIs on top of a foundation model. Far from it. They have sophisticated cognitive architectures that typically include multiple foundation models with some sort of routing mechanism on top, vector and/or graph databases for RAG, guardrails to ensure compliance, and application logic that mimics the way a... See more
Last week, Brad Gerstner and Bill Gurley discussed how Tech has grown from 5% to 15% of global GDP over the last 15 years, largely owing to faster growth rates.
As software companies get fitter and stack new S-curves of growth, later stage companies become highly effective capital allocators - which is why we’ve seen Tech outstrip the rest of the... See more
Sunday words for each type & more 💫
Every Sunday, we love to gather inspiring words and share them through the lens of human design. As always, take what resonates and leave the rest.
If you’re new, you can look up your design at the link in our bio and download a free, personalized... See more