Jay Matthews

Pathological Perfectionism has been very damaging, and as a result there has been a movement towards increasing acceptance of self and circumstance. Dr. Gena Gorlin argues that this is good, but it is only the first step. She presents a mindset and proposal for how we can pursue excellence in healthier ways—as builders.

The choice, then, is not whether to build models; it's whether to build explicit ones. In explicit models, assumptions are laid out in detail, so we can study exactly what they entail. On these assumptions, this sort of thing happens. When you alter the assumptions that is what happens. By writing explicit models, you let others replicate your... See more

And so how do we break these cycles of violence? I think the only way is to see ourselves as both/and, perpetrators and victims, and to look at that really closely and to say, the only way to break that cycle is to acknowledge the traumas and the wounds that inform and create the violence that we enact on others.

Risks to the trend

1. LPs too slow to react, VCs lack incentives to admit limitations in current processes


2. Poor quant performance 


3. Downturn in private markets 

This disconnect can only last so long. This means there is a massive arbitrage opportunity for a certain kind of person that loves engaging with ideas, enjoys connecting with others around those ideas, going down obscenely deep rabbit holes, teaching people, and helping others in specific domains.

In other words, stepping back and allowing trees to arrive naturally on their own time is, in many places, not an option.