Philosophy Mondays: Human-AI Collaboration
Today's Philosophy Monday is an important interlude. I want to reveal that I have not been writing the posts in this series entirely by myself. Instead I have been working with Claude, not just for the graphic illustrations, but also for the text. My method has been to write a rough draft and then ask Claude for improvement suggestions. I will expand this collaboration to other intelligences going forward, including open source models such as Llama and DeepSeek. I will also explore other moda...
Intent-based Collaboration Environments
AI Native IDEs for Code, Engineering, Science
Web3/Crypto: Why Bother?
One thing that keeps surprising me is how quite a few people see absolutely nothing redeeming in web3 (née crypto). Maybe this is their genuine belief. Maybe it is a reaction to the extreme boosterism of some proponents who present web3 as bringing about a libertarian nirvana. From early on I have tried to provide a more rounded perspective, pointing to both the good and the bad that can come from it as in my talks at the Blockstack Summits. Today, however, I want to attempt to provide a coge...
Philosophy Mondays: Human-AI Collaboration
Today's Philosophy Monday is an important interlude. I want to reveal that I have not been writing the posts in this series entirely by myself. Instead I have been working with Claude, not just for the graphic illustrations, but also for the text. My method has been to write a rough draft and then ask Claude for improvement suggestions. I will expand this collaboration to other intelligences going forward, including open source models such as Llama and DeepSeek. I will also explore other moda...
Intent-based Collaboration Environments
AI Native IDEs for Code, Engineering, Science
Web3/Crypto: Why Bother?
One thing that keeps surprising me is how quite a few people see absolutely nothing redeeming in web3 (née crypto). Maybe this is their genuine belief. Maybe it is a reaction to the extreme boosterism of some proponents who present web3 as bringing about a libertarian nirvana. From early on I have tried to provide a more rounded perspective, pointing to both the good and the bad that can come from it as in my talks at the Blockstack Summits. Today, however, I want to attempt to provide a coge...
>300 subscribers
>300 subscribers
Share Dialog
Share Dialog
We tend to be minority investors, which means that at least at the outset we (potentially together with other investors) own less than 50 percent of a business. That means we do not have control in the traditional sense. On the vast majority of issues, the board simply cannot just tell the founders what to do. But it does not mean that we lack influence. We tend to spend a lot of time communicating with founders by email, IM, phone and in person. We combine examples from other businesses, analysis of trends and a sense of outside perspective to try to gently move positions and guide decisions towards outcomes. Coming more from an operating and early stage startup background that has been a real learning experience for me. I believe that many managers and especially founders should also frequently look at what they really need in a particular area of the business is control or influence. Too much control becomes a bottleneck. We certainly could not handle two dozen plus portfolio companies if they were all control investments.
We tend to be minority investors, which means that at least at the outset we (potentially together with other investors) own less than 50 percent of a business. That means we do not have control in the traditional sense. On the vast majority of issues, the board simply cannot just tell the founders what to do. But it does not mean that we lack influence. We tend to spend a lot of time communicating with founders by email, IM, phone and in person. We combine examples from other businesses, analysis of trends and a sense of outside perspective to try to gently move positions and guide decisions towards outcomes. Coming more from an operating and early stage startup background that has been a real learning experience for me. I believe that many managers and especially founders should also frequently look at what they really need in a particular area of the business is control or influence. Too much control becomes a bottleneck. We certainly could not handle two dozen plus portfolio companies if they were all control investments.
No comments yet