Episode 2: Pipe’s Unlock

Assumptions About the Future

Forward-looking human progress is often under-estimated. We tend to assume the rate of progress will be the same as the past decade. However, looking at progress linearly is doing our future an injustice. Many scientists smarter than you and I believe in something that is called the Law of Accelerating Returns – a law that contends human progress will push well past what one may sensibly project through linear extrapolation.

So, why do I bring this up today?

Sure, Moore’s Law is a logical explanation for this, but I believe there is a company that is single-handedly this generation’s accelerant to innovation.

Introducing Pipe

Let me introduce you to Harry Hurst, Josh Mangel, and Zain Allarakhia – serial entrepreneurs and Y Combinator alum. People like them are far and few, but when they come along, they leave a profound impact.

They are the Co-Founders of Pipe, a company transforming recurring revenue into up-front capital. The company’s value proposition comes from the ease and simplicity of access to capital for a startup. Traditional financing methods come with significant challenges (i.e. dilution in the case of equity or slow approval processes in the case of debt) and are often seen as a roadblock to founders. Given startups are the lifeblood to innovation, it is a disservice for us to be a bottleneck to founders. Because of Pipe, the startups of this generation will make progress at an unforeseen rate.

It's. Insane.

Let’s take a minute to understand how profound their value proposition is. The main reason startups raise capital is to research, hire, and scale.

Logically, if a company has to raise an additional round of funding or wait for their monthly revenue, it inevitably slows down progress towards their goal. Now, if the company uses Pipe’s platform, everything is fast-tracked. Growth. Hiring. Research. By removing the most common roadblock to a founder’s ability to grow, Pipe is fast-tracking innovation.

Surprisingly, that’s even before the second and third-order effects.

General partners at investment firms have access to Pipe’s platform. In the status quo, investment firms have to wait for capital calls in order to have access to the capital committed by limited partners. By opening access to Pipe’s platform, Andreessen Horowitz can have access to $9 billion of capital, today. Simply put, that means more founders can be funded at a faster rate than ever before.

Brace yourself. We’re about to see innovation at 2x speed.

This post and the information presented are intended for informational purposes only and are not a reflection of my employer. The views expressed herein are the author’s alone and do not constitute an offer to sell, or a recommendation to purchase, or a solicitation of an offer to buy, any security, nor a recommendation for any investment product or service. While certain information contained herein has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, neither the author nor any of his employers or their affiliates have independently verified this information, and its accuracy and completeness cannot be guaranteed. Accordingly, no representation or warranty, express or implied, is made as to, and no reliance should be placed on, the fairness, accuracy, timeliness or completeness of this information. The author and all employers and their affiliated persons assume no liability for this information and no obligation to update the information or analysis contained herein in the future.

Episode 2: Pipe’s Unlock

Assumptions About the Future

Forward-looking human progress is often under-estimated. We tend to assume the rate of progress will be the same as the past decade. However, looking at progress linearly is doing our future an injustice. Many scientists smarter than you and I believe in something that is called the Law of Accelerating Returns – a law that contends human progress will push well past what one may sensibly project through linear extrapolation.

So, why do I bring this up today?

Sure, Moore’s Law is a logical explanation for this, but I believe there is a company that is single-handedly this generation’s accelerant to innovation.

Introducing Pipe

Let me introduce you to Harry Hurst, Josh Mangel, and Zain Allarakhia – serial entrepreneurs and Y Combinator alum. People like them are far and few, but when they come along, they leave a profound impact.

They are the Co-Founders of Pipe, a company transforming recurring revenue into up-front capital. The company’s value proposition comes from the ease and simplicity of access to capital for a startup. Traditional financing methods come with significant challenges (i.e. dilution in the case of equity or slow approval processes in the case of debt) and are often seen as a roadblock to founders. Given startups are the lifeblood to innovation, it is a disservice for us to be a bottleneck to founders. Because of Pipe, the startups of this generation will make progress at an unforeseen rate.

It's. Insane.

Let’s take a minute to understand how profound their value proposition is. The main reason startups raise capital is to research, hire, and scale.

Logically, if a company has to raise an additional round of funding or wait for their monthly revenue, it inevitably slows down progress towards their goal. Now, if the company uses Pipe’s platform, everything is fast-tracked. Growth. Hiring. Research. By removing the most common roadblock to a founder’s ability to grow, Pipe is fast-tracking innovation.

Surprisingly, that’s even before the second and third-order effects.

General partners at investment firms have access to Pipe’s platform. In the status quo, investment firms have to wait for capital calls in order to have access to the capital committed by limited partners. By opening access to Pipe’s platform, Andreessen Horowitz can have access to $9 billion of capital, today. Simply put, that means more founders can be funded at a faster rate than ever before.

Brace yourself. We’re about to see innovation at 2x speed.

This post and the information presented are intended for informational purposes only and are not a reflection of my employer. The views expressed herein are the author’s alone and do not constitute an offer to sell, or a recommendation to purchase, or a solicitation of an offer to buy, any security, nor a recommendation for any investment product or service. While certain information contained herein has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, neither the author nor any of his employers or their affiliates have independently verified this information, and its accuracy and completeness cannot be guaranteed. Accordingly, no representation or warranty, express or implied, is made as to, and no reliance should be placed on, the fairness, accuracy, timeliness or completeness of this information. The author and all employers and their affiliated persons assume no liability for this information and no obligation to update the information or analysis contained herein in the future.