From the Investors
Jerry Neumann of Neu Venture Capital writes a thought-provoking essay on power law distributions in Venture Capital and elsewhere in “Power Laws in Venture”
Benedict Evans of Andreessen Horowitz suggests that curation and discovery are defining probs of how we use the internet today in “Search, Discovery and Marketing”
Fred Wilson of Union Square Ventures tells startups they can become profitable early on and wants to see more founders pursue the path of sustainable profitability in “Profits vs. Growth”
Brad Feld of Foundry Group agrees with Matt Blumberg of Return Path’s post (see Operator’s section) and adds a caveat that deeply held beliefs can ‘only be slightly modified, rather than torn up and replaced’ in “How We Think About Values Versus Deeply Held Beliefs”
Mark Suster of Upfront Ventures features Jason Spievak of Invoca’s story of being Invoca’s founder and CEO, but opting to hire a new CEO to take it to IPO in “Should the Founder be the CEO of a Startup Until the End?”
Ben Einstein of Bolt details why ‘speed is great for software companies but will cripple hardware companies if not managed with caution’ in “Speed Can Kill: The Importance of Process for Hardware”
David Wu of Maveron explains why he believes we are on a path to wearable technology that will be an ‘invisible super power’ in “The Emerging Era of Tech-Enabled Superhuman Senses”
From the Operators
Matt Blumberg of Return Path offers his definition of culture and values with examples and his thoughts on both in “The Difference Between Culture and Values”
Ben Thompson of Stratechery provides an in-depth explanation of why he sees the embrace of curation ‘as a mark of maturation of the technology industry’ in “Curation and Algorithms”
Spencer Fry of Uncover expands on the excuses founders use when avoiding customer conversations in “Why Entrepreneurs are Scared of Talking to Users”
Aline Lerner of Interviewing.io profiles a cool experiment she did to stop using resumes in her hiring process in “What Happens When You Stop Relying on Resumes”
Jitha Thathachari of Rouse Digital outlines why building a large audience is far more important than a business model upfront, and lists 25 business models you can latch on once you have the audience in “No, you don’t need a business model”
Eleanor Rae Carman of FounderDating lists the biggest mistakes of some notable founders, in hopes of helping founders avoid similar situations in “Successful Entrepreneurs Reveal Their Biggest Mistakes”