Field Notes
AI Is Wiring Systemic Risk Across Asset Classes
This is what systemic risk looks like before it becomes a crisis. Not a single catastrophic event. A local shock that propagates
Monday Meditations
Portfolio Envy is a Confidence Tax
Portfolio envy doesn't just sting. It pulls GPs toward consensus and away from conviction. Someone else's markups say nothing about your portfolio or your ability as a picker.
VC
Venture is Optimizing for the Wrong Thing
Venture capital’s incentive structure has quietly shifted from building durable businesses to generating markups fast enough to raise the next fund.
Startups
The Operator Who Builds
The best non-technical operators were always high agency. What's changing is the ones who stand out now have something on top of it — curiosity and enough technical comfort to find and build their own leverage.
Monday Meditations
Every Good Story Has a Villain
Every good story has a villain. Most startups do too. Sometimes it’s a competitor. Sometimes it’s an old dismissal. Sometimes it’s a past version of yourself. That quiet “I’ll show you” energy, when disciplined, can power the early work.
Monday Meditations
The Aura We Exude
What do you want it to feel like to be around you? On the energy we project, the aura we exude, and how the world we experience is shaped by what we bring to it.
Monday Meditations
Believe
Loss of belief rarely announces itself. It erodes slowly, over time. At the earliest stages, a CEO’s belief in themselves shapes everything — and sometimes the most powerful intervention is simply telling someone, clearly and sincerely, I believe in you.
Monday Meditations
Reading the Tea Leaves
enture asks you to believe in the growth and durability of a business long before the evidence is obvious. At the early stages, that belief is a discipline. The feedback loops are slow. The outcomes are far away. The work happens in the waiting.
Monday Meditations
Gratitude
Gratitude is more than a Thanksgiving ritual. In the chaos of venture and the ups and downs of life, it acts as a daily anchor that keeps the highs in perspective and softens the lows. This week is the reminder. Every other week is the real practice.
Monday Meditations
Being Vulnerable
A reflection on why real vulnerability, paired with grounded confidence, creates clarity, alignment, and stronger partnerships in startups and venture.
Field Notes
Faster, Better, Not Average
How AI is reshaping VC: speed without strategy isn’t leverage. The firms that win will think deeper, move faster, and stay intentional.
Field Notes
A Framework for Secondary Sales
A practical framework for early-stage VCs to manage secondary sales: communicate early, sell 20–30% when a company becomes a fund returner, and do it off strong primary rounds.
Startups
Chewing on Failure
A founder’s guide to startup failure—two sets of questions: a post mortem for analyzing the business, the other for self-reflection and personal growth. Designed to help founders learn, evolve, and build better next time.
Startups
Fundraising: Preemption vs Process
Startup fundraising often comes down to a choice: accept a fast, preemptive VC offer or run a full process to maximize valuation and control. Each path has trade-offs—this post breaks down when to say yes, when to hold out, and how to use both to your advantage.
Field Notes
Globalization, Tariffs, AI... Good Luck to Us All
Globalization is fraying, tariffs are rising, and AI is the next global arms race. From trade wars to supply chains to geopolitical power plays, here are a few thoughts on the messy future we're all trying to navigate.
Field Notes
Lessons I Learned in 2024 About VC
Lessons learned in 2024 about VC related to company building, fundraising, hiring, decision-making, and more.
random
New Year- More Writing, Clearer Thinking
Committing to writing every week in 2025 to gain clarity of thought, memorializing lessons learned, and exploring new concepts with rigor.
Hiring
Your Associate Job Description Sucks
Job descriptions across VC could use some help. While there are commonalities across firms regarding what an Associate does, it shouldn't manifest in a seemingly uninspired posting from
Firm Building
How Does an Associate Fit Into Your Team?
Through 2022 and 2023, I surveyed and spoke with over 50 GPs to be better informed on hiring and developing Associates ahead of expanding the team at Dynamo. I also
Field Notes
Governance at Pre-Seed
Even pre-seed companies without formal should create space for "mock Board meetings" to 1) foster healthy dialogue/debate, 2) drive strategic alignment, and 3) instill strong basic governance.
Field Notes
When Things Don't Work
VCs may not compound returns in the event of a portfolio company failure but can certainly compound reputation.
Field Notes
Generational Firms
The social pressures of VC are interesting and definitely makes generational firms the default. I believe it takes greater emotional and intellectual awareness to go against the grain and realize that one does NOT want to build a generational firm.
Firm Building
Process & Protocols
Process and protocols are about how you do work in a way that produces consistent results. It's a key activity might seem boring but is important to the growth of a firm.
Thinking out loud. ← Back to home