The past few Fun House editions have been relatively dense and (especially the three-part series on contrarianism) directionally pessimistic on the state of the startup industrial complex and society in general. Today, I'm going to switch gears and keep things light, and somewhat comical. Let's talk about top-level domains (TLDs), and the hot takes I have on the archetypes of startups based on their choice of TLD. Because let's be honest - a company's TLD is like the digi...

You made it to Friday. Congratulations!!It's been a remarkable two weeks for those directly, or even tangentially, in the crypto industry. VCs, founders, memecoin traders, and airdrop farmers are all dancing around in a circle, singing kumbaya. I'd imagine that Deribit's early investors are pretty happy, too. Here's what happened:Coinbase bought crypto derivatives provider Deribit last week for $2.9B - the largest M&A deal in crypto's history. This gives Coinbase a foothold in non-US mark...

Third and final part on contrarianism - this is the home stretch. This time around, it's not about the kinds of startups founders are building/the types of businesses investors are seeding, or for that matter the conviction required to generate those ideas in the first place. Instead, it's about the offbeat, sometimes counterintuitive ways to actually scale a business. In the AI era, company building changes dramatically. Mostly due to improvements in software development infrastructure. W...

I debated using the entirety of today's edition to talk markets and the economy, given the significance of this week’s earnings announcements and the release of several key macro indicators. But boring. Since these numbers are top of mind for many, I'll do a very quick recap and save the rest of the article to expand on my piece from last week. Here's what investors are digesting: First, earnings results. Microsoft, Meta, Apple, Amazon, Airbnb, Spotify, General Electric, Verizon, Starbucks...

After a brief absence last week during which I disconnected from tech to spend time IRL with college friends in Mexico, I'm back today to talk about something that's been on my mind recently - contrarianism in the startup and VC world. Each edition of this newsletter is different but a prevailing theme is exploring the role of counterculture in challenging mainstream narratives. Today's piece is no different. These two "C" words both thrive on rejecting the status quo a...

Online interaction has taken over much of our social lives, but offline connection is making a quiet comeback. A new wave of IRL social clubs is emerging, tapping into a basic human need for real-world interaction. These spaces aren’t just cultural experiments - they’re becoming meaningful investment opportunities, reshaping how we think about community and connection. They're also a sign of where culture is heading next. But why now?

The internet was on fire last week. Signalgate, vibe coding, Studio Ghibli animations, so on and so forth. As dizzying as it was, it was just another episode of trend exhaustion - the internet's relentless churn of fads that leaves us nauseous. It's the equivalent of a sugar rush, exciting until the crash. Trend exhaustion is a function of content overload - the web is a 24/7 firehose of videos, memes, and hot takes, blasting us until our attention spans compress. We're dr...

Social media is at a crossroads. Over the last two decades, the category has reshaped how we connect, communicate and consume information. What began as an experiment in digital socialization has become a central pillar of modern life. But as platforms like Facebook, instagram and TikTok have grown into trillion-dollar empires, cracks in the system have become impossible to ignore. Centralized control, algorithmic addiction and the commodification of users have led to increasing frustrati...

TGIF. There’s been a lot of noise in the venture capital space in the last decade. Some good, some bad. Today, I’ll explore the evolution of the venture capital industry and discuss how capital and culture have become increasingly intertwined. Venture capital has long been a critical force in shaping technological and cultural evolution. The model emerged in the mid-20th century, and gained traction by financing high-risk, high-reward startups in “far out” industries like semiconductors, ...

Wherever you’re reading this from, I hope it’s somewhere inspiring. For decades, if you wanted to build the future, there was one place to be, the Bay Area. But change is happening. The best ideas - and the brightest minds - are no longer tethered to a few overpriced zip codes. New tech hubs are emerging, and the center of gravity for innovation is shifting. I’ve seen it firsthand. The decentralization of talent is real, and its changing the very fabric of how and...

Fresh off the chaos of ETHDenver, I'm back with a head full of ideas, a wallet full of POAPs, and a few takeaways worth sharing. This was my first time attending - I was excited to make the most of all it had to offer and catch up with some college friends and professors in the city where I attended college. What a great reason to cash in some United miles and head back out West. Let’s get into it! ETHDenver is one of the largest and most influential Ethereum and w...

Happy (as happy as one can be when crypto prices plummet) Friday. I just got back home following a week out West for ETHDenver. It was a heck of a week - amazing events, star-studded speaker panels, and a whole lot of forward thinking and innovation going on. The most interesting part about ETHDenver taking place in the midst of a broad crypto selloff is that, while asset prices are an important indicator, selloffs don’t scare away the real OGs who are building meaningful web3 a..