In particular, they had *reward power.* They were the people that could give you the reward of money to build your company.
Bc of their rarity, they also had some *legitimate power*, aka status.
3. The Last Decade
The VC asset class has grown 3x. The number of startups have grown +2x.
Comparatively fewer startups and more money. More competition was inevitable. VCs have spent much of the last 10 years trying to differentiate a commodity product.
4. Attempts to Differentiate
A16z changed the game with their large platform team(reward power). But other funds have followed suit.
Some have taken a sectoral focus (expert power), or built proprietary tools (info power). These are great, but can still be eroded.
5. VC Guide
How can VCs differentiate themselves? Where is there power available?
Look at @vc_guide. Though deeply flawed, the reviews are illustrative. The vast majority focus on character traits. On personality.
In other words, referent power.
6. VCs as Empathy Athletes
Instead of prioritizing mental acuity, VCs will need to be athletic in their compassion over the next decade. They will need to create and draw from "referent power."
This is incredibly hard. It may require different processes and hiring.
7. Non-Exhaustive Group of Empath VCs
- @brett1211. Saw it every day.
- @nbt. Widely loved. V clear why when you know him.
- Courtney @SusaVentures. Real.
- @schlaf. Clear focus on this w/ coaching.
All subjective. Lots of other 💯 ppl worth s/o. These came to mind first.
If you're interested in a deeper look with a side of early 20th century Russian history, check out the full piece below.
Why: I think I captured some of what makes this such a special firm. I also got to talk with a lot of those familiar with the origins which made for a rich story.
Toucan brings carbon-credits on-chain. This unlocks new uses like using carbon as a DeFi collateral. It's a major player in the Regenerative Finance (ReFi) space.
Farcaster is a "sufficiently decentralized" social media platform. Greater wallet adoption and higher-quality usage makes it a good time to start a web3 social network.
As outsiders in Silicon Valley, Coatue won competitive deals by conducting extensive research *before* meeting founders.
Arriving prepared changes everything, making for better conversations and connections.
@coatue If you want to jump straight into the piece (with lots more context), click the link below. And, of course, make sure to subscribe to The Generalist :)
For a quick-recap of the 10 lessons, keep scrolling: