Investing in: Robotics
A work-in-progress investment thesis focused on robotics and autonomous systems
Hard Problems I want to back in 2024
A non-exhaustive list of the investment areas that I’ll be exploring this year
Investing in: Authentic(AI)tion
A work-in-progress investment thesis focused on safety and control systems over applications of AI
Investing in: Climate Reversal
A work-in-progress investment thesis focused on climate reversal and repair
Hard Ideas I Want to Back in 2023
A non-exhaustive list of the What If questions I’m most intrigued by and hopefully the areas that I’ll be investing in this year.
How to write Company Values
Most leaders struggle to define strong Company Values because they start with the wrong premise. Company Values should not be the things that you value as a company. Values, when done right, should be behavioral guideposts - pillars of culture that extend the will of the founders on a day-to-day level.
How to do layoffs right
Large team cuts are among the hardest things in a founder’s journey. Though never easy, making tough calls in particularly hard times is what defines true leadership. This is a framework for how to approach and plan for a large staff layoff if you ever find yourself in that position. Hopefully it never comes to that but if it does you’ll be ready.
First On: Technical Sales with Fred Pullin
If sales is an art, technical sales is alchemy. Technical buyers don’t buy software, they adopt first and then convert to a customer. Executing this conversion is an incredibly difficult task but assembling a team to do it reliably can seem impossible. But Fred Pullin has done just that. As Director of Sales for Garden, Fred has built a sales motion that identifies and empowers developers with equal parts process, tactics and a little magic.
Hard Problems I Want to Back in 2022
I am a proud anti-thesis investor and try not to form strong views of what the future will look like. Instead, I spend my time exploring problems that intrigue me and hope to find inspiration in the future that founders want to build. For 2022 I hope to dig into and ultimately invest in companies solving these problems…
Is signaling risk dead?
As the venture market has become more competitive the most common tactic taken is to invest earlier. One defensive argument that early stage investors will make to founders is “signaling risk”. Does that still hold up in today’s maybe frothy and certainly more mature venture market?
First On: Building a consumer company
Consumer startups have a few unique needs that are often under-supported from early stage investors. Marketing and branding, for example, isn’t a nice to have it’s a necessity. Savs Tan recognized this gap through her many years as an investor and it took it upon herself to build a better way. She co-founded the Life+ Collective, a non-profit movement to fill London’s void of consumer-focused support through capital and community.
First On: Product with Benji Portwin
The Product function is universally appreciated and almost as universally misunderstood. Product leadership is a defining feature of the most significant tech companies of the past few decades, but remains a dark art with startupland. Benji Portwin, Head of Product at accuRx, demystifies the Product function and shares what he thinks makes the great leaders truly great.
First On: Marketing with Andy Young
A world class product won’t get you anywhere if no one knows about it. Marketing is core to all great technology companies but far too often founders view the function as little more than pushing ads. Andy Young shares his insights from Facebook, Stripe and dozens of other startups on how to build a real Growth engine.
First On: People with Danielle Silvestro
A People leader has one of the most challenging roles in any startup but if done right that single person is a force multiplier. Designing and cultivating an effective culture is what enables groups of talent to accomplish something bigger than themselves and that is something Danielle knows a great deal about.
First On: Engineering with Pablo Castellanos García
Engineering talent is the lifeblood of any tech startup, which makes the technical lead perhaps the single highest impact hire a founder can make. Pablo shares his career journey and the lessons he has gathered from leading one of the most exciting deep tech companies in London.
First On: Operations with Erez Mathan
What is Operations in a startup? What is it responsible for, what does it require and why is it so unloved? Erez Mathan, former COO of GoCardless, shares his lessons and learnings of building the function from “get shit done” to a well-oiled machine.
First On: Sales with Christine Bailey
How do you form, train and grow a high performing sales team in a slow, relationship-driven industry like manufacturing? Consultative Sales! Christine Bailey Head of Sales at CloudNC, shares her tactical insights and career guidance from her 15+ years as a sales leader.
First On: Talent with Maddy Cross
Exceptional growth demands exceptional talent but few understand what that truly means. Maddy shares the do’s and don’ts of early stage Talent, dives into unicorn hiring trends and explains the (sometimes) opaque world of executive search.
Introducing First On
Interviews dedicated to the operators and functional experts that too often go unsung