A Template for a High-Performance Startup Hiring Process
I’ve worked at startups from 4 people to 400+ people and invested and advised from incubation to Series D and beyond and it still surprises me how often “how do we hire?” comes up as a topic of discussion. I mean that both in the macro sense (“how do we know if we need to add a new person”) and the micro (“how do we effectively vet people to minimize false positives and false negatives?”). This guide covers that whole spectrum, though possible not at the most abstract. While I won’t be tackli...
A Template for a High-Performance Startup Hiring Process
I’ve worked at startups from 4 people to 400+ people and invested and advised from incubation to Series D and beyond and it still surprises me how often “how do we hire?” comes up as a topic of discussion. I mean that both in the macro sense (“how do we know if we need to add a new person”) and the micro (“how do we effectively vet people to minimize false positives and false negatives?”). This guide covers that whole spectrum, though possible not at the most abstract. While I won’t be tackli...
When Do Token and NFT Sales Indicate Product-Market Fit?
Lots of web3 projects — web3 games especially — have had splashy launches in the last year, selling millions of dollars of NFTs or pre-selling tokens that will be used as a currency within their game or app. They then trumpet that success to investors and use the momentum to catalyze massive growth fundraises that would normally be reserved for much more established companies. Their central claim is that consumer demand for tokens or NFTs is proof that people want what they’re building — that...
When Do Token and NFT Sales Indicate Product-Market Fit?
Lots of web3 projects — web3 games especially — have had splashy launches in the last year, selling millions of dollars of NFTs or pre-selling tokens that will be used as a currency within their game or app. They then trumpet that success to investors and use the momentum to catalyze massive growth fundraises that would normally be reserved for much more established companies. Their central claim is that consumer demand for tokens or NFTs is proof that people want what they’re building — that...
Why would anyone pay $200k for a jpg of a monkey?
As I’m writing this, the floor price for buying a Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT hovers around 73ETH, or about $185k. That’s pretty wild for a jpg of a cartoon ape that by many accounts isn’t exactly high art. Depending on who you ask, Bored Apes are either a glimpse of the future or a scam, or both. Why are people willing to pay nearly a quarter of a million dollars for a digital picture of a monkey?Detractors argue that NFTs in general have little value for a variety of reasons: you can copy imag...
Why would anyone pay $200k for a jpg of a monkey?
As I’m writing this, the floor price for buying a Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT hovers around 73ETH, or about $185k. That’s pretty wild for a jpg of a cartoon ape that by many accounts isn’t exactly high art. Depending on who you ask, Bored Apes are either a glimpse of the future or a scam, or both. Why are people willing to pay nearly a quarter of a million dollars for a digital picture of a monkey?Detractors argue that NFTs in general have little value for a variety of reasons: you can copy imag...
Five Goals for 2022
Since I’m already in the mode of reflecting on the past year, now’s as good a time as any to start planning for the upcoming one. While I’m going through a more detailed personal reflection and planning process offline (which includes specific goals and milestones so it’s not quite so hand-wavy), I thought the high-level conclusions were worth sharing in case they inspire you! I will choose creating over consuming. When given the choice to read a book or to write, I’ll choose writing more oft...
Five Goals for 2022
Since I’m already in the mode of reflecting on the past year, now’s as good a time as any to start planning for the upcoming one. While I’m going through a more detailed personal reflection and planning process offline (which includes specific goals and milestones so it’s not quite so hand-wavy), I thought the high-level conclusions were worth sharing in case they inspire you! I will choose creating over consuming. When given the choice to read a book or to write, I’ll choose writing more oft...
My biggest quality of life improvements from 2021
The new year is a great time to take stock of what worked and what didn’t from the last year of your life. 2021 was year two of COVID, so while we’re not back to how things were pre-COVID, expectations got more predictable and life settled into a new rhythm. Here are the changes I made in 2021 that led to the biggest improvements to my overall health, happiness, and personal fulfillment. Doing psychedelic therapy on a regular basis. This supported literally every other thing on this list. I f...
My biggest quality of life improvements from 2021
The new year is a great time to take stock of what worked and what didn’t from the last year of your life. 2021 was year two of COVID, so while we’re not back to how things were pre-COVID, expectations got more predictable and life settled into a new rhythm. Here are the changes I made in 2021 that led to the biggest improvements to my overall health, happiness, and personal fulfillment. Doing psychedelic therapy on a regular basis. This supported literally every other thing on this list. I f...
