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...
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Share Dialog
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In his latest essay Why There Aren’t More Googles, Paul Graham writes that one reason is that VCs are waiting too long for startups to have “traction." He suggests that VCs should invest earlier and less money. Paul writes:
Whoever the next Google is, they’re probably being told right now by VCs to come back when they have more "traction.”
and
Instead of making one $2 million investment, make five $400k investments. Would that mean sitting on too many boards? Don’t sit on their boards. Would that mean too much due diligence? Do less. If you’re investing at a tenth the valuation, you only have to be a tenth as sure.
At USV we believe that investing earlier and smaller amounts can be a great fit for some of the very capital efficient businesses that are emerging. We have made several relatively small investments, including Tumblr and Disqus (this blog is hosted on Tumblr and uses Disqus for comments).
But I believe Paul is wrong in equating this with investing in startups that don’t yet have traction. When we invested in Tumblr and Disqus, both of them already had significant traction in terms of actual usage. What Paul ignores is that there is a non-linear reduction in risk that takes place with adoption of a service. I have written about this before in the context of whether it’s better to have a great team or to have traction.
In his latest essay Why There Aren’t More Googles, Paul Graham writes that one reason is that VCs are waiting too long for startups to have “traction." He suggests that VCs should invest earlier and less money. Paul writes:
Whoever the next Google is, they’re probably being told right now by VCs to come back when they have more "traction.”
and
Instead of making one $2 million investment, make five $400k investments. Would that mean sitting on too many boards? Don’t sit on their boards. Would that mean too much due diligence? Do less. If you’re investing at a tenth the valuation, you only have to be a tenth as sure.
At USV we believe that investing earlier and smaller amounts can be a great fit for some of the very capital efficient businesses that are emerging. We have made several relatively small investments, including Tumblr and Disqus (this blog is hosted on Tumblr and uses Disqus for comments).
But I believe Paul is wrong in equating this with investing in startups that don’t yet have traction. When we invested in Tumblr and Disqus, both of them already had significant traction in terms of actual usage. What Paul ignores is that there is a non-linear reduction in risk that takes place with adoption of a service. I have written about this before in the context of whether it’s better to have a great team or to have traction.
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