1/ Releasing a redacted Lux quarterly letter to LPs.
Some strong views of
-a catalog of an excess of excesses
-what catalysts cause the current market frenzy to end
(preview: LP indigestion)
-what we are advising our Lux family companies
-much more…
2/-The importance of HEIGHTENED HUMILITY in times like these (where source of ‘success’ can be easily mistaken)
-Telepresence helps us connect with far-flung founders but true presence (in person) helps our team connect like never before
-Where a CONSENSUS of CONCERNS is CENTERED
3/ Time travel with us a year hence—
reflecting back on the year that was.
Which of the 2 paragraphs below do you expect to read in Q3 2022?
4/-Is now time for CAUTION or throwing CAUTION to the wind?
-Valuations have risen
diligence fallen &
EXCESS is in EXCESS
-Preparing for the turn—when it comes
is wiser than predicting—when it may
5/ An excess of excesses—or what things wicked may this way come…
As Fed + central banks dole out dramatic distortion of discount rates, duration and the “true” cost of capital into markets…
A scene from ‘Deadwood’ comes to mind…
6/ -In just the last 12 weeks, startups raised more than the entire 99-00 .com boom/bust
-Character is built thru hardship + steep slopes
Yet today’s hero’s journey has given way to flattened slopes
-Thus far all news has been good news—which to realists—portends bad news.
7/ Failures comes from a failure to imagine failure
Good times let guards down
making co’s vulnerable to the silent artillery of time
LP’s whiteboard of GPs coming to market
looks like A Beautiful Mind
indigenstion of LPs + pace of new commitments
cant match pace of new raises
8/…before continuing…
ht @TheRealCarlChi1 for the image of investor swim lanes then + now
9/ The “Hemingway Hinge”…
A few funds with AUM $50-100B taking page from Carlyle,Apollo, KKR + now TPG will…
turn once cultivated intimate partnerships
into calculated intentions to go public becoming institutional corporations, fully diversified supermarkets
10/
-We have benefited from unusual demand—just as we caution against its unlikely persistence in its current form.
-we said 90% of SPACs would be CRAPs
-Some deals will prove…less kosher than a kilebasa sausage smothered in swiss cheese
-The Appointment in Samarra…
11/ Indefinitely Modified Paths—the wisdom of William James & Jurassic Park.
“Life finds a way”… and so do incredible founders
in every cutting-edge industry we find + fund…
12/ Space race is real—over 12 nations have astral aspirations
took humanity til 1961 to launch 1st 👨🚀 in space
last mo there were 14 in space @ same time
Do wise things when others are doing provably foolish things
And do what may appear to be foolish that’ll prove to be wise
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If you were fly on wall in Qatar's strategy meetings you’d hear their not so secret strategy
i) keep up economic relations w/Iran (esp w shared gas reserves)
ii) support Islamist groups (esp Muslim Brotherhood) + use the masses as pawns for political leverage..
2/
iii) assert distinct identity in MidEast geopolitics as a ‘mediator’
iv) religious mafia style––foment fervent believers (funding Al Jazeera propoganda + mosques/ Imams to rule over other country populations) grow geopolitical power depsite tiny size (and no real military)
3/ The ties to Iran + Turkey in particular who leverage terrorism, religious extremism are the greatest threat to Mideast regional peace
especially with moderate + modernizing + peace + prosperity seeking UAE + Saudi (on cusp on Israel normalzied relations) and Sunni…
2/ this technical paper from Apple published year ago not widely discussed was the breadcrumb clue and the inspiration I have shared with many friends since....
3/ The paper introduces 2 methods called “windowing” + “row-column bundling” which allow devices to run models up to 2x DRAM size by storing model parameters in flash + loading them into DRAM as needed.
1/ 🛡️ The FUTURE of WARFARE isn’t a “revolution” but an evolution—a mix of drones, AI, and smart strategy. What’s the playbook for Taiwan, Ukraine, and beyond?
A quick high-level dive📡
2/ 🛰️ The Gulf War heralded stealth, precision, & GPS.
Today, uncrewed systems (drones) + AI define the battlefield. But there are limits. Attrition wars teach hard lessons.
3/ 🔥 UKRAINE's lessons for TAIWAN:
Drones disrupt but aren’t invincible.
Customized kamikaze drones carry ~5kg payloads, fly ~19km + force adversaries to spend $$$ on defense.
2/ More than 3.5 billion years ago, life on Earth emerged from chemical reactions.
Nature invented RNA, proteins, and DNA, the core molecules of life, and created the ribosome, a molecular factory that builds proteins from instructions in the genome.
3/ Proteins are wondrous dynamic molecules with incredible FUNCTIONS
-molecular engines powering motion
-photosynthetic machines capturing and converting to energy
-scaffolding building skeletons of cells
-complex sensors interacting with environment
-information processing systems running the programming operating system of life