Sarah Drinkwater
@sarahdrinkwater
Knowledge beachcomber interested in the ownership economy, flourishing communities, ecosystem building, magic, and knowledge as an end to itself.
Sarah Drinkwater
How We Just Raised $6M At An $80M Valuation From 100+ Investors Using A Link (Without Pitching)
medium.com
VCs don’t practice what they preach with respect to their own businesses.
Erik Torenberg • Productizing Venture
Companion presentation deck to Ribbonfarm's six part newsletter series on emergent management practice, lorecraft.
Venkatesh Rao • On Lore
Collective genius and Self-fashioning
ON EMOTION, FAITH AND DIRECTION - It is the haunted intersection of technology and the liberal arts. And it’s finally a hill I am willing to die on… I think there’s a hidden power in reaching something you’re willing to fail with. I’ve never seen that written about. But I’ve reached it, and that feels like a new type of signal to me.
ON NY SCENIUS -
NYC has produced really great technology wins, yes. But it has failed to create a win that truly structures the surrounding NYC technology scene.
By this I mean a consumer facing win, where technology is at the center, instead of the related industry pulls around it. NYC tech is often defined by our relationship to other industries, as we have such a diverse business ecosystem that holds the promise of our melting pot. Finance, retail, real estate, music, consulting, the list goes on.
But the harsh reality is this — Tumblr didn’t do what it needed to do, FourSquare didn’t do what it needed to do, Giphy didn’t do what it needed to do, WeWork is a failure, BlueApron is a failure…
And now the scene has grown as a function of Google owning half of Chelsea and several Facebook buildings. But WHO ARE WEEEEEEEEEEEE
The first consumer technology win, born and raised in NYC will get to actually determine that. The same way Google and Facebook have in the broader valley. I’ve believed this since 2016 when I started working at Rough Draft Ventures, and continually forced the issue in 2017 when I moved to NYC after school despite being told it would ruin my career to not go to SF.
Recently Verci launched a campaign about powerful innovations in cultural hubs, and the vision of their Soho co-working space for NYC Tech. While I like Verci, I do think it misses some pretty core things. They point to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center and Google at Stanford…
I would argue that Kennedy is a sort of anti-environment. Similar to Los Almos… it’s the isolation of incredible people towards a superhuman mission. Google at Stanford is an interesting reference as well. While I wouldn’t call Stanford an anti-environment, universities do hold a clear inner-outer dynamic through campus culture that I think is really unique. And calls to mind Campus Complex.
What is clear is the shared vision for NYC Tech to be something more. Something new. Something equally ambitious. And there are projects ranging from Verci to Terminal to WeBuildOurIdeas, that are all stoking the communal fire. I think these will actually all come together in unique ways to both collaborate and challenge each other in 2024.
The startup ecosystem is experiencing a series of changes that can't be ignored:- cambrian explosion of funding availability- more value is being created on private markets- going from zero to one is no longer a dark art - ie more talented operators, more infrastructure to build quickly and cheaplyChange is coming to the VC ecosystem. Who will win:... See more
The Three-Body Problem: Finding the New Stable Points in Venture Capital
None of this is to say we shouldn’t regard chronic illnesses or pandemics as the scourges that they are, nor that we shouldn’t fight them with everything we’ve got. On the contrary, remembering that “death is the default” should mobilize us to fight them with everything we’ve got—recognizing that the one thing we’ve got, in the fight against... See more
Gena Gorlin • Death is the default
Valuing AI companies using traditional VC methods and metrics isn't just wrong—it's dangerous.
SoftBank values OpenAI at $300B
Microsoft values it at $157B
Elon wants to buy it for $97B
Who is right, who is... See more
long good thread on “value” in AI companies
I think the McLuhan-esque take is to say that Fandoms are themselves voluntary culture-war militias recruited from the general population.
An argument could be made that groups like Antifa, BLM, Proud Boys, Patriot Front, etc... are in essence fandom para-military orgs with $$$.