My Friends Should Write More, Speed Matters, & Not Disappearing
Hello friends. I’ll be back in NYC from mid-August-October. If you’re in the city, would love to see you. Life is uncertain, but at least it’s not boring. 😊
Internet Reads That Caught My Attention 🔗
I have a love hate relationship with writing. On one hand, I love how writing helps me crystalize my thinking, get feedback, be creative, lose myself in flow, connect ideas, etc. However, my OCD and achievement-oriented nature often turns writing into just another task that must be successfully completed, another thing I could fail at.
I resonated with this post, not because it said anything new, but because it brought me back to why I love writing. Also, the author reminded me that I have many thoughtful friends I wish wrote more:
“I have a selfish reason for my demand: I have a lot of friends who are thoughtful, but keep their thoughts to themselves. I imagine finding notebooks under their bed, tens of composition books packed with little print. I think about what sort of a treasure that would be.”
Speed matters: Why working quickly is more important than it seems
Working quickly has many benefits. Examples:
Working quickly helps you beat procrastination.
People will communicate with you more if you’re responsive.
More work comes your way because you build a reputation for getting things done quickly (this can be both good and bad).
Fast products beat slow products.
My personal preference has always been to work fast. It fits my personality. Plus, I’ve spent my entire career-to-date building or investing in startups. In the startup world, speed can be everything. However, there are also times when quality matters as much or more than speed.
While doing high quality work quickly is definitely achievable, sometimes working quickly leads to a tradeoff in quality. Knowing when to choose a slower speed for higher quality work requires judgement. Transparently, it’s something I struggle with but am actively working on.
The Rise and Future of the Columbus Startup Ecosystem
My good friend and co-founder of the Columbus Startup Community Nathan Zanzig just put out a masterpiece on the history of Columbus as an ecosystem. Even if you’re not in Columbus, this piece has several valuable takeaways for anyone building startup communities in their local geographies.
Deals, Funding Rounds, & Market Moves 💰
Nas Academy raises $11 million to help creators build their own MasterClass-like courses
Nas Academy sits squarely at the intersection of Edtech and the creator economy. While competitor Masterclass is in the content creation business, Nas wants to provide “picks & shovels” to creators. They’re positioning the platform as a “broad network of virtual universities.” Their funding round included top investors like Lightspeed, Emilie Choi, and Balaji Srinivasan.
Online course platforms have been especially popular amongst VCs of late. For example, Maven, the cohort-based online course platform, recently raised a $20 million Series A from a16z. While I’m bullish on the creator economy, I’m tired creator tools. Most investors are throwing money at these tools, without ensuring the tool actually solves creator’s problems. IMO, part of the problem is that most investors and founders aren’t actually talking to the creators these products claim to serve.
Acrylic raises debut $55M solo GP fund to paint the future of crypto
Crypto is hot and so are emerging fund managers. After spending ~6 years as a VC in the crypto space at firms like ConsenSys Ventures and Converge, Ash Egan is going solo with a big new fund. Egan’s fund will focus on being the earliest capital to crypto founders, backing them before they raise large rounds and even acting as an “outsourced team member.”
The rise of the solo capitalist continues. I’m bullish on this trend, on Ash’s thesis, and on crypto! 🐂
China cracks down on its own tech companies
This isn’t new news, but I don’t believe people are taking what’s happening with the CCP’s tech crackdowns seriously enough. The Party has made it clear that consolidating and maintaining power is their top priority. US investors should be careful with any bets they place on Chinese companies. You never know when the CCP will suddenly change the rules.
Books I'm Reading 📚
Hatching Twitter: A True Story of Money, Power, Friendship, and Betrayal
This books charts the tale of Twitter’s founding, scaling, and the many dramatic founder coups. Twitter was it’s own mini game of thrones. First, co-founder Noah Glass was pushed out and replaced by Jack Dorsey. Then, Jack was ousted as CEO and replaced by his co-founder Ev Williams. Finally, Jack got his revenge and ousted Ev, eventually returning as CEO and chairman.
One thing that jumped out to me was the differences in how Noah Glass responded to his ousting versus Jack Dorsey. When Noah was pushed out, he left with no equity, no recognition as a co-founder, no anything. Furthermore, he completely disappeared from the Silicon Valley startup scene. However, when Jack Dorsey was ousted, he did anything but disappear. He increased his press appearances, started Square (a company arguably more successful than Twitter), and eventually plotted his own coup to return as CEO. Noah disappeared. Jack refused to disappear.
I’ve talked in previous newsletters about how successful careers hinge on not disappearing. Throughout your career there will be moments where the easy path would be disappearing. You’ll have lost a battle, maybe an entire war, but no matter what, you can’t quit. You can’t disappear. Not disappearing, not giving up, is half the battle.
I recently started reading a new translation of Marcus Aurelius’ meditations. This quote really stood out:
"Will you be diverted by fame? Focus on the speed with which everything and everyone is forgotten, the infinite temporal gulf that stretches before and after a lifetime, the hollowness of applause, the haphazard fickleness of those who appear to speak well of you, and the narrowness of the place where fame is confined."
Intellectual Rabbit Holes 🐇
Content from me 👋
Nomadic Adventures ✈️🚗
From a recent group offsite near NYC. Procuring groceries for 50+ people then getting them into one car is more challenging than it sounds. 😬
Between this newsletter and Twitter/LinkedIn, I’m finally writing consistently again. Thank you for being a part of that personal journey. In the near future, I’m hoping to start sharing more long-form blog posts again. Fingers crossed. 🤞
Every day is both a blessing and an opportunity. Are you living like it?
Be well,
Andrew