a lot of people have recently asked me "why aren't you a venture capitalist yet," so I wanted to explain a bit of my journey...[a thread]
1/ I write about venture capital because it fascinates me in its incredible ability to serve founders, generate wealth and fuel companies - and also because it is a subject I had a hard time finding jargon-free information on.
2/ and although I love venture capital, I've turned down opportunities in the space so I can be close to my family or because they didn't align with my investment thesis.
3/ while I'm not a VC now, I will be eventually.
there are two aspects to my idea of "eventually":
- building knowledge, credibility & empathy as an operator
- developing a strong investment thesis
4/ at my previous role in growth equity, i saw how the founders i cold called perked up at the mention that both of our GPs were former operators, and I learned an incredible amount from them about building a software business.
there's no substitute for being in the trenches.
5/ at WorkOS, i love getting to help growing b2b SaaS startups onboard their first big enterprise clients, talk to them about their pain points daily - and I adore the team I get to build with.
dev success engineering is a unique blend of sales, engineering & customer success.
6/ as for building a thesis, i've been incredibly honed in on supporting b2b SaaS companies because of my computer science background & previous experience in that space.
recently, i've gotten to talk to a broader array of founders, my thesis has expanded...
7/ i'll write a longer piece about this soon, but i'm in the early stages of exploring my thesis of the "three of swords" - the dilemma creators face between art, entertainment, and business - and the platforms & software that support these creators in building global businesses
8/ in addition to building a solid foundation of experience and insights, it's important that I stay true to what really matters to me.
as an investor, I hope to help other people stay true to what is right to themselves & their businesses.
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we often discuss the technical skills that you need to get a job – but ignore the soft skills that often play a much more impactful role than we care to admit.
this influenced me to write about quality conversations: how to have intro calls that don't suck...[a thread]
1/ conversing is a skill that permeates every other aspect of our lives, and an intro convo is your first introduction to someone else.
a wise man told me that conversations have two parties. It’s worth repeating that 5 to 10 times over – conversations have two parties.
2/ everyone you talk to has people they care about outside of work, a certain way they brush their teeth, a favorite book, a song they can’t resist dancing to, and some hard experiences they’ve lived through...but we often ignore our shared humanity in greeting
one of the most important lessons I’ve learned this year:
to help the most people, spend a lot of time on a really strong resource you can repeatedly send out to people...[a thread]
new grads reach out to me often about advice, and it takes a long time to type individual paragraphs for them. My main deciding factor in making a resource is “is this something ive been asked about 5 times or more?.” paigefinndoherty.com/2020/03/30/on-…
one of the questions I continuously get is “how do I do cold outreach?” By spending hours putting together a shareable guide with examples, slides, and a video recording - I can provide way more value than typing a net new paragraph every time.
got beef? an exploration of feud marketing in hip-hop and tech twitter...[a thread 🧵]
1/ first, what is beef?
beefs, as defined by @EliSweet in his 2005 master's thesis Bullet on the Charts: Beef, the Media Industry and Rap Music in America, are conflicts expressed through texts, and the surrounding discourse about these conflicts between consumers and the media
2/ a history of beef
in this 2002 piece, Lola Ogunnaike and John Leland explored how feuds between top rappers and executives "whipped up fans". Clever insults and inflammatory remarks were all disseminated and promoted through the record companies. nytimes.com/2002/11/03/us/…
term sheets! are! confusing! if you’re a new founder (or just starting out in VC), here are some common terms and what they really mean... [a thread]
1/ liquidation preferences:
how shareholders will be cashed out in the event of liquidation(IPO/M&A)
2/ participation: it serves as a valuation bridge. investors can offer a higher valuation, but if they include "participating," they'll get a bigger chunk of the pie later. more info: learnvc.com/2008/07/liquid…