How Pop Stars Turned NPR’s ‘Tiny Desk’ Into Authenticity Theater [Adlan Jackson/New York Times] — As Stefon might say, music’s hottest club is called Tiny Desk. And it has everything. Gwar, Taylor Swift, Juvenile. …

I judge the health of the creator economy by one single controversial factor: ease of access and probability of survival for its participants. That is, if you are someone who wishes to earn a minimum viable living being creative, what is the likelihood you’ll be able to do so? A…

Playing Different (Stupider) Games The Other End Of The Valuation Stick [Kyle Harrison, Contrary Capital] — Kyle puts out a new essay (almost) every Saturday and I really enjoy his consistent and clear eyed POV on venture capital. There’s a group of us who I describe as “in the industry…

“You both have context for this introduction, so I’ll let you two take it from here! I know you’ll really enjoy chatting.” That was the email one of Ethena’s founders sent to me and Melanie Naranjo on 8/21/21, a bit over two years ago. At the time Melania was in…

I love talking to folks with expertise in areas where I’m more basic. Years ago when Philz Coffee started expanding from a single shop into a multi-storefront, multi-city business I found myself in a chat with their CEO Jacob Jaber. Fortunately he was game to answer a bunch of my…

What’s the most important goal for the money a startup spends? If I asked this question to a bunch of different founders and investors I bet the answers would vary. Some would shout one word like “revenue,” “customers,” “team” or even “profitability.” Others might give me formulas like, “LTV:CAC ratio”…

Investing in someone is primarily a business relationship. It doesn’t mean you don’t develop a personal affinity — it’s best when you do! — but creating an enduring bond transcends the question of founder:VC dynamics and is often not even directly correlated with economic outcome. Our participation in Anchor (…

As an east coat Jew, there are always going to be a few issues for me which veer into neurosis. The existence of blueberry bagels. People who eat pizza with a knife and fork. Slow walkers. But outside of these there’s one yet unsolved question that I struggle with more…

How many cliched comparisons can I bundle into a single blog post? We’re about to find out… WSJ’s Berber Jin asked me for some comments around startups closing their doors, as part of a trend story trying to assess the health of the market. Failure is always part of our…