As I was saying about venture's Nifty Fifty moment...

It’s insane that this still needs explaining. Venture capital is not efficient. There is virtually no correlation between funding and outcome even up to Series A. Heat is mostly just bidding away returns.

Fundraising is simple today: You either need to be AI with crazy growth. Or you need to be profitable. If you are a mid SaaS business doing triple, triple, double, double, you have raised your last VC dollars.

RLUSD is now available in Africa! We’ve been waiting for this moment for a while, so I am really pleased to announce that our USD-backed stablecoin is now available to customers of @chippercashapp, @VALRdotcom, and @YellowCard_App. 🚀🚀🚀 ripple.com/ripple-press/ripp…

beatBread is devastated to share the news of the passing of our co-founder and CEO, Peter Sinclair.

Today marks 7 years since @DrJid and I started @chippercashapp in his shoebox apartment in San Francisco (he made me sleep in the kitchen for 9 months btw!). There's a lot to reflect on in 7 years, but a few key themes stand out. This was my message to all our employees globally: chippercash.com/blog/chipper…

Over the last 2 weeks, I’ve largely worked out of the ICU. My dad has been there for the last 12 days and on a ventilator for the last 9…it’s been a tough time for me and my family. In preparation for our AGM today, last night I spent time with our founders, LPs and employees, many of which have known me for >10 years. They’ve seen my entire venture career and the better part of my adult life - they’ve seen me raise kids, start Equal and deal with all the chaos of the last decade. I’ve gone to their weddings, been on vacations with them and been there with them through their own tragedies. The good, the bad and the ugly. Yes, these are “work” relationships, but they’re also some of the closest people in my life outside of my family. When you work as hard as I do, the lines blur due to the sheer amount of time you spend with each other. These are REAL relationships. I cherish them and spending time with those people was about the best I’ve felt since this whole nightmare started. Folks say if you “love what you do, you will never work a day in your life” More importantly, love who you work with and everyday will feel like a blessing

This is the single greatest flaw of VC Huge topic at a VC dinner I was at last night and while I don’t universally agree, sometimes doing the right thing (what helps you “win”) is NOT the popular thing We see board members who are happy to watch a company implode, rather than push back on a founder because they worry about a bad reference We see emerging managers willing take recaps on their best companies to not upset the big firms cramming them down (again, worried about the bad reference) We see folks who operate like politicians, endlessly focusing on networking > working to achieve social acceptance, ignoring their responsibilities This is driven by the fact that LPs tend to take the signal of being liked > actual returns (claiming that returns are a lagging indicator), but the best firms focus on making $ > being liked. They don’t care about reference checks (they have prior results to stand on) and it’s a HUGE advantage because they can make the choice to “win” over being liked. Truth is, the market only likes winners It’s amazing how many more people want to be your friend when you have good performance. You don’t get deals because people want to come to your birthday party, they come to you because they think you can help them win. We see the same things in founders - those that care more about social acceptance / follower count > winning, dramatically under perform. This isn’t a license to be an asshole (perhaps I am), but the reality is that venture would have dramatically better performance if we all (like other asset classes) focused a bit more on winning > being liked

I told Columbia I wouldn't be returning to teach next year. I love the place too much to participate in it collaborating in its own destruction It's low-paid, and kind of thankless work, but every once in a while I see a student using what I taught them and succeeding, and that makes it all worth it. Plus, I actually liked the teaching and the interacting with students. It kept me on my toes I taught every entrepreneurship student there for the last 13 years, 1000 of them, advised several clubs, mentored many students & helped win an NSF grant I expect I will find another place to teach, if anyone will have me. And maybe someday Columbia will come to their senses and I'll beg for my old job back