Thought Leadership Threads

When a #startup that I’m advising wants to raise money in the near future, I always ask them the question: “Are there any asterisks?” By this I mean, are there any counter-factual results that will have to be explained in diligence. This matters A LOT. A 🧵👇

Inflation seems to be headlining the news these days. It’s a powerful force and worthy of attention, but it’s often misunderstood and conveniently misused by investors, politicians and policy makers to justify positions. Let me simplify and reframe the narrative:

A common question Founders struggle with is “how to monetize”. Founders have strong thoughts on the product/service they want to build, but many are baffled when it comes to determining the best way of building a highly profitable business. A framework that might help:

Most #startups need years of growth before they turn profitable. Some consume LOTS of cash. As a result, I suggest every Investor and Founder obsess about COM3 --- Cash Out Minus 3 Months. This might be the most important metric to care about.

A few thoughts on COM3:

Yesterday I put out a post about Investor Rights and it’s definitely been the catalyst for some interesting conversations. I appreciate the thoughtful perspectives on the topic and in full disclosure, my firm has been on both sides of the issue so I “get it”.

Many people have asked why #Banks can’t just copy #Fintech functionality and then crush them with their scale and advantaged funding and regulatory apparatus. It’s because they’re in the “functional relief” business vs. the “magical transcendence” business. Unpacked:

So you want to be a top performing #VC investor. Here are six exercises you can practice as you evaluate #startups that will hone your skills, establish frameworks, and help identify great investments.

Read on if you’re interested:

It was amazing to see the reaction to the thread by @dunkhippo33 about “why ownership doesn’t matter for early stage investing”. There are great nuggets in her thread but I have a very different perspective and counter-argument.

The case for why ownership DOES matter:

It’s widely believed that “grit” is one of the most important characteristics of highly successful people. I have an emerging (and controversial view) that the YOLO investing behavior that we’re seeing is directly attributable to a societal reduction in grit. Unpacked: