Jeff Morris Jr.
@jmj
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Managing Partner @chapterone, Former VP Product @Tinder, Bay Area native, happiest when building things. Seed: @mercury @supabase @OndoFinance & many more.
Joined January 2008
I’ve spent years writing about software. This is the essay I’d give to any founder or investor trying to understand the next cycle of building and selling software. Agents aren’t just copilots anymore. They’re becoming decision-makers, even in enterprise software procurement.
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The TikTok War: Why High School & College Kids Are Getting The Wrong Information about Hamas & Israel . I spent the weekend trying to reverse engineer the TikTok algorithm, as I am convinced this is the reason we're losing the information war with high school & college students.
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Courses that should be taught in high school:. 1. Building credit/savings .2. Career paths/expected salaries.3. Student debt.4. Excel.5. Mental health.6. Nutrition/exercise.7. CS/data science.8. CPR .9. Substance abuse (Juul addiction).10. Cyberbulling. What would you add?.
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$18.99 for a single organic strawberry from Kyoto at Erewhon. We are so back.
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WeWork cutting their IPO valuation in half to $20B is amazing. Imagine walking into your office and telling employees that your company is now worth 50% less than it was yesterday. Will be an incredible MBA case study one day.
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Company dashboards should feel like video games:. • Goals: employees should feel like they’re chasing goals whenever they open. • Achievements: unlock rewards if team hits specific goals (bonus $, experiences, cool shit). • Social: explore data together. Nobody has built this.
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The Wanna Kicks iOS app is a killer mobile AR experience that makes sense. Makes me want to buy shoes. Everyone I've shown has their mind blown. Feels like a new era of mobile shopping experiences is about to be born across many categories. Any other fun examples you've seen?
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The future of work is remote. Most companies aren’t ready for the change. Remote work requires new infrastructure and management styles that aren’t taught in school. Companies who figure it out have a massive talent arbitrage opportunity. Every investor should encourage this.
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In Tokyo, I have gone to:. * Savoy: 8 seat pizza shop that served best pizza I’ve ever had. * Aldebaran: 5 table burger spot that made best burger I’ve ever had. * Gen Yamamoto: 12 seat mixology bar that served best cocktails I’ve ever had. Sometimes quality isn’t meant to scale.
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I’ve met more people in my neighborhood from owning a dog than any application on my phone.
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Is there anything more condescending than calling someone “bud”?.
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As I looked at the tactics and data, I saw that much of TikTok is being controlled by anti-Israel bot farms, paid commenters/likers/sharers — much of which is paid for by Hamas supporting organizations.
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Most of the smartest thinkers I know are working in the cryptocurrency space. You can call this a bubble. Or you can educate yourself and try to understand why so many brilliant people are dedicating their lives to this emerging field.
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I’m still researching — and if anybody with a data background wants to join, please let me know. I have never been a "social media is bad" person, but high school/college students are literally our future & we're on the brink of a potential global war. So maybe this matters.
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I wish I knew when I started my career:. 1. Equity: ask for price/share & total number of outstanding shares . 2. Team: you will be more proud of the friendships you build than any product you ship. 3. Career: find the best company, not the best title. What do you wish you knew?.
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Underrated: You only have to be “right” about one thing in your career to be smart in Silicon Valley. * Pick the right startup to join.* Invest in the right company .* Become obsessed with the right sector before everyone. Many smart people have only been right about one thing.
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The most interesting intellectual conversations on the Internet are happening on:. 1. Telegram (invite-only groups).2. WhatsApp (invite-only groups).3. Slack (invite-only groups). Welcome to the "invite-only" social internet. We're just getting started.
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I then looked at the data and saw that Israel is losing the TikTok war by a longshot. As an example, the top hashtag is 3b views for Palestine versus 200m views for Israel. If you look at other hashtags, it is clear that Israel has a distribution issue.
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10 Product Predictions for 2019:. 1. Instagram will become a full fledged e-commerce destination by launching the IG marketplace for buying clothes, furniture, consumer electronics, and cars. Payments will eventually be powered by the Facebook stablecoin amongst other options.
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When interviewing at startups, you should ask hard questions:. * What’s your path to profitability?.* How much fundraising is required to get there?.* How much will employees get diluted?.* What’s your burn?.* How much runway is left?. You are interviewing the company too.
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I asked a founder yesterday how his startup is going. He looked me in the eyes & said “I don’t think we’re gonna make it.”. No fluff or ego protection. He was honest & we had a real conversation. Too many people hide their failures. It’s okay to say things aren’t working.
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I spent weeks researching & writing my 2020 technology predictions. 🎉 Time for some fun (thread). 1. Future of Face ID: Apple won the early days of face authentication, which they’ll aggressively expand as a replacement for email & passwords. Google, Amazon, Facebook will. .
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When business opens, many tech employees will ask to stay remote - due to new lifestyle preference & health concerns. Companies will be forced to accommodate for 1-2 years. As teams are forced to embrace remote work for multiple years, this will become a default option.
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Zoom became a social network this week. Our default social behavior for almost every use case is now “want to hop on a Zoom?”. Meanwhile, Facebook showed its old age & lack of meaningful social utility. In a moment of crisis, all we really need is low latency video connections.
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When looking for a startup to join, search for companies who are “succeeding despite themselves”:. 1. Product funnels aren’t optimized.2. Marketing channels still being tested.3. Operations are messy. If customers love the product despite this, they have early product market fit.
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🚩The bigger red flag was seeing 51% of Americans ages 18-24 believe Hamas (terrorists who raped & murdered innocent women & children) believe Hamas was justified. Wtf. My high school classmates who lived through 9/11 would have never believed this.
According to a Harvard poll, 51% of Americans ages 18-24 believe Hamas was justified. I’d like to see the breakdown of where they get their news and how much of it is from TikTok. Genuinely fearful for the state of America in about 20 years.
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Amazon is now straight copying Allbirds. We have reached "peak cloning" in Silicon Valley. There are no rules anymore - if you build a product that works, Amazon or Facebook will copy it. People used to care. Not anymore.
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An old friend who watched my career the past 10 years sent a note that said "I'm really proud of you.". She saw me join a startup that struggled in 2011. She saw me try to launch my own startup & fail in 2014. The road looks easy on Twitter, but it's not. Meant the world to me.
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Managers should be called coaches. Reframing the role will change the mindset of every employee who is given the special responsibility of developing their teammates careers. Being a “manager” is an outdated concept that was created many generations ago. Aspire to be a coach.
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I know people in San Francisco who book Waymo & ride around the city in them for hours as a “remote office” doing phone calls.
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I love distributed work. But some things might never be solved:. 1. Whiteboard sessions. The energy of “being in the room” isn’t the same on Zoom. 2. Emotions in meetings. When everyone’s on mute, moods are hard to track. 3. Serendipity. Hallway conversations that spark magic.
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The layoffs at Airbnb, Lyft, Uber, and other major tech companies will accelerate remote work. Talented employees in San Francisco are now free agents living in an overpriced city. These are the moments when people make major life decisions. Many people will move away.
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WeWork's downfall & Silicon Valley's reactionary focus on gross margins is amazing. In an industry that loves saying "MBA's are not necessary" - it's clear that so many people (operators, VC's, etc.) could have used basic finance classes. But keep bashing business education.
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Why do high school students in San Francisco hate Israel so much? . I'd assume very few of them have been to Israel, let alone have a fully formed view of a multi-generation conflict. They're 16 years old and live in California. Let's be serious for a minute.
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The Lyft IPO is an amazing underdog story that makes me proud to work in the tech industry. In 2012, I was working at a small startup. John Zimmer & Logan Green stopped by our office to tell us about their ridesharing service. They brought us donuts & coupons. $24B company.
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For Gen Z, TikTok Is the New Search Engine. TikTok is the #1 search engine for more than half of Gen Z. TikTok is the primary news source for many younger demos & while we have justifiable concerns about The New York Times & mainstream media, this has become a TikTok war.
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Because the TikTok narrative is now so anti-Israel, the engagement flywheel encourages creators to support that narrative because it’s getting the most attention and creating anti-Israel content helps them increase their following.
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What I discovered through data and user testing is extremely concerning & I believe requires more attention, as this is an actual national security issue.
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Whales exist in every industry, not just technology. * 1/2 of Coca Cola’s profit comes from 2% of customers . * Those customers drink 8+ cans of soda a day. We talk about digital addiction like it’s a new condition, but consumers have always been addicted to products.
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Many of the best product people I know are historians of our industry. They can tell you about features built by companies big & small many years ago. Their intuition is guided by years of studying failure and success. The sooner you become a historian, the better you’ll be.
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I know people are working on rockets and self driving cars. But Shazam still feels like a magic trick everytime I open the app. Most underrated app ever.
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When I engaged with one post on TikTok supporting opposing views, my entire feed became aggressively anti-Israel. It was as if I was placed in an AB test variant and was told to see this war with Israel being the evil side.
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While we are spreading our perspectives on Twitter, we need to figure out a way to balance out the narrative on TikTok otherwise I worry we will fall too far behind with high school and college kids — and this is where they get their news.
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🚩One red flag was seeing San Francisco high school students who were aggressively anti-Israel and asking myself where they were getting news. Their protests happened right after the fake @nytimes headline that accused Israel of the hospital bomb.
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Don't let the stock market fool you. This was a brutal & sad week in tech. Layoffs (number of employees and % of company):. Groupon: 2800 (40%).Opendoor: 600 (35%).The RealReal: 235 (15%).GoPro: 200 (20%).Carta: 161 (16%).Envoy: 58 (30%).VCSO: 45 (30%).
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Spotify is following Netflix playbook perfectly & has spent $600M in original podcast content & companies in last year. Phase 1: License content w/ low margins as you build scale. Phase 2: Produce original content with top creators & focus on margin expansion. Amazing execution.
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HQ Trivia shutting down — few lessons:. 1. Don’t take talent for granted - Scott will always be the 🐐 . 2. Appointment viewing hard in mobile. Asynchronous easier to grow. 3. New content formats get tired. Must keep innovating. Hollywood knows this. Hope someone makes this work.
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Life won't go back to normal anytime soon. Past few hours:. * California State University campuses will remain closed for the fall semester. 23 schools & 480k+ students. * L.A. County will likely keep stay-at-home orders in place through July. New reality happening today.
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2 years ago, every Thanksgiving dinner table was talking about Bitcoin & cryptocurrency. A few topics if you want to stir the pot tomorrow night:. 1. Cybertruck.2. WeWork.3. Softbank.4. AirPods Pro.5. Bloomberg.6. Facebook .7. Recessions.8. Juul .9. Uber .10. VCs . What else?.
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Founders: . I’ve spoken to many of you who want to keep grinding over the holidays. I love the hustle, but take some time off. Spend time with your family. Go to the gym. Do something crazy. This is your time to recharge.
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I spoke to a tech company with offices in New York & San Francisco who recently opened an office in Montana. A handful of senior executives voluntarily moved to Montana when they heard about the new location. They wanted a better quality of life. This will happen more often.
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Most "door-close" elevator buttons in the United States don't actually do anything. They are placebo buttons & were engineered to reduce rider stress. The world is often designed to make us feel like we are in control, when we're actually not.
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There are so many "startup photos" that inspire me. My two favorites:. 1. Jeff Bezos in a tiny office with spray painted Amazon logo. Humble beginnings. 2. Steve Jobs & the Macintosh team sitting on their office floor. Baby in the photo reminds me that startups are a family.
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Your startup probably won’t work. Pick a problem you’d be proud to tell friends about 10 years from now, even if it fails. The worst failure happens when founders spend years grinding on a problem they don’t care about & finally admit this to themselves when things fall apart.
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Topics that interest me right now:. 1. Future of consumer .2. Mental health.3. Apple Watch/biometrics.4. ISA's.5. The rise of operator/angels.6. Silicon Valley exodus - real or not?.7. Luxury software.8. Slow onboarding.9. Vocational schools.10. Monetization. What's on your list?.
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A Note to Angel Investors:. You'll find the *most interesting companies* on the edges of the internet & outside your social circles. * Get lost on Reddit.* Travel somewhere random.* Eat dinner with people you've never met. Otherwise you will see the same deals as everyone else.
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Zoom backgrounds will become an ad unit. If I could earn money during meetings, my background would look like Times Square. DM for rates. Reasonable CPM.
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How to “flex” when you’re a distributed employee:. 1. Buy a fancy microphone for Zoom calls - you’ll sound like an talk show host. 2. Add unique background behind video calls - standard wallpaper is so 2010’s. 3. Lighting is everything - pick good light to look like a TV star.
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Every investor is thesis driven until they hear Sequoia is leading the round.
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The "open floor" office will never be the same:. * Spoke to friend in NYC finance office & they're putting plexiglass around each desk. * Companies will lease more office space (not less) so employees can distance. * 70% of US offices are open floor. Cubicles will be trendy again.
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People who memorize their credit card number are 10x freak of nature humans.
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The more I dig into crypto, the more I realize:. * The smartest people in the space are names you've never heard of. * They are writing code + building products while others attend events. * Advice: find these people & learn from their ideas instead of going to every conference.
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iMessage is getting mentions & threaded messages. Taking rest of week off to celebrate. Bye.
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Product has been glorified. What they don't tell you:. 1. Your job is to say "no" to distracting ideas. People will often be frustrated with you. 2. When things break, you're accountable. Get ready to bite the bullet. 3. Designing new products is a small part of what you'll do.
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Doug McMillon (CEO of Walmart) just shook Trump’s hand as they announced a National Emergency. This press conference is a Southpark script.
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If you're starting a meditation company right now, you're probably too late. Calm was started in 2012. When @tewy explained the concept to me back then I thought he was crazy. Build companies that make people think you're crazy in 2020. We don't need more meditation apps.
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Most startup pitches underweight on distribution strategy. You can build the best product - but if you distribute through the same channels as everyone else, you aren’t being creative enough. Create a distribution strategy that surprises the people you pitch. You’ll stand out.
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In the future, we will view offices as the equivalent of flagship retail stores. A good place to visit when you want a more personal experience & helpful for new customers/employees. Some people like to shop in person & others like to shop from home. The same is true for work.
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As Bitcoin crosses $6000 & the community gets excited, we’re again reminded that crypto’s primary use case so far is speculation. Not trustless databases, or governance, or anything else you read in fancy white papers. Nothing wrong with speculation. But let’s just be honest.
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The hardest part of investing: being short term wrong & long term right.
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Unexpected things Instagram disrupted:. * Paparazzi careers. * DSLR cameras. * Lemonade stands (i.e. how kidfluencers earn money). * Tourism (and “overtourism” to popular locations). * Restaurant menus (food re-designed to be photographed). Blockbuster products change everything.
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The best consumer product people I know often come from random walks of life. They are not CS grads from top universities. They didn’t start their careers as Google PM’s. They have unique backgrounds (education, career path, hometown) that make them view the world differently.
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When I was young, my friends would act cool via vices. Now that I’m old, my friends act cool via wellness.
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“We have $919 revenue and are raising on a $20m post”. “$919k?”. “Nine hundred nineteen dollars”.
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The ultimate relationship test:.“Will you pick me up at LAX?”.
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Product idea:. “Grammerly for product design”. A Figma & Sketch plug-in that uses AI/ML to predict performance & offer suggestions for copy, images, button placement. We have amazing tools to help writers communicate better. We should have the same tools for product design.
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A startup should build their company "live on Twitch" for the entire world to see. Audiences would be amazed at how boring the "work" is at tech companies on a daily basis. But broadcasting live would make the startup feel different & there would be plenty of fun characters.
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One thing I’ve talked to a few folks about lately:. Leaving a company is less emotional in remote work. Much less awkward conversations with teammates and fewer going away parties. You sort of just close your laptop & move on.
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My friends grandma uses Uber to get around town. Last year, Uber updated their app & changed the UI. The update rocked her world & she couldn't figure it out. My friend built an app that lets her send a text message to request a ride. No UI. No fancy interface. It worked.
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“1st time founders are obsessed with product. 2nd time founders are obsessed with distribution.”. Is distribution more important than product?. Let’s debate 🍿.
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Moats are becoming harder to find. Look for this:. 1. Data.2. Network Effects.3. Lock In (switching costs).4. Economies of Scale (cost advantages).5. Deep Tech.6. Intangible Assets.7. Community.8. Brand (very hard to identify).9. Regulatory.10. Full Stack. Anything you would add?.
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The Silicon Valley accent is talking at 1.5x podcast speed. Time-compressed speech is trending.
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Almost every smart investor I know has a list of “company ideas” they would love to fund on their phone. I know the common belief is that founders should develop their own ideas, but many examples prove this wrong. If you’re serious about building a company & need ideas, DM me.
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Amazed nobody has successfully recreated AOL for modern world. * Live chat rooms for every niche interest in the world. * AIM for friends & family (with “online now” green light). * A place to go when you’re bored & want to talk to strangers . AOL was the entire social internet.
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Someone I've never met invited me to speak at conference. I said I'd be happy to consider. He followed up with the "cost to speak" at his event:. $12,999 for a 15 minute talk & $8,999 to be on a panel. Speakers pay conferences these days? Maybe we are in a bubble.
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American Airlines, Delta & Korean Airlines are turning idled passenger planes into freight planes this week. They’ll carry medical supplies, e-commerce packages & electronics. Ancient companies shifting their assets to offer value during a crisis. Your startup can do the same.
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People say that “alumni is the moat” for Y Combinator. The same alumni moat will happen for Lambda School. Imagine when 10,000+ Lambda School engineering alums become advocates for hiring Lambda grads within their organizations. Alumni is a powerful moat.
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Investments ppl said were too expensive:. - Uber @ $346M valuation by Menlo (2011). - Instagram @ $1B valuation by Facebook (2012). - Snap @ $70M valuation by Benchmark (2013). - Clubhouse @ $100M valuation by A16Z (2020). Let investors decide their risk & be happy for founders.
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In sports, many great athletes spend their careers on the wrong team & their talents go to waste. I’ve seen the same thing happen to many of my most talented friends in tech. They pick the wrong teams & their skills are never seen by the world. You have to pick the right team.
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If you’re a lawyer or CPA right now, pivoting your career to crypto feels like the biggest win in the world right now. Biggest supply demand imbalance in the industry. You become rare as a solidity developer overnight.
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Underrated for hiring talented people:. Build a company that sparks “dinner party interest” for employees when they talk about the startup. We all want our friends and family to be interested in what we do. The stronger the dinner table reaction, the easier recruiting will be.
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The most important career advice I have is to be patient. Be patient as you search for your next role. Would you be happy spending 4+ years solving this problem?. Be patient as you search for your next company idea. Would you be happy grinding this out for 10 years?. Patience.
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Jack Dorsey’s upcoming performance review with Elliot and Silver Lake is a high profile reminder that almost everyone in the world has a boss. CEOs have bosses. VCs have bosses. LPs have bosses. We all report to somebody.
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Who would have thought that this blue-haired teenager would one day become the CEO of two public companies?
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Funds raised by industry in 2017:. US VC firms: $33 billion.Global buyout industry: $450 billion.Hedge funds: $3+ trillion.US GDP: $17 trillion . Despite how loud we are on Twitter, venture capital is a tiny asset class.
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