Silicon Valley aired 10 years ago this month. Here’s how I would write the 2024 reboot: Gilfoyle makes over $6M/yr writing a newsletter about why tech newsletters are insufferable. He doesn't understand why it's so popular, and he spends his money investing in the least-popular YC hardware companies.

The sequel to the Social Network - where the Winklevii lose all their money in bitcoin, and the whole metaverse thing doesn't pan out for Zuck, so they're all classmates at Harvard Business School, grinding hard to become Sr. Product Directors at Apple - is going to be so good. Day 1 at Apple, 2025:

(A man wearing a hoodie, smelling of BBQ stands up)

"Hey everyone! I'm Mark. HBS, class of '25. Before that, I actually ran a trillion dollar company. Super excited to be here at Apple, overseeing the launch of the 4th Gen Apple Pencil."

*polite claps*

Adam Neumann is the cofounder of a company called Flowcarbon that just raised $70M.

This is the opening slide in their deck that describes what they do.

You guys, they are selling something called the Goddess Nature Token.

$70M.

This is not a shitpost. If you want to have a laugh or buy some Goddess Nature Token, feel free to read the entire deck:

assets.website-files.com/625db0bad5cfd6…

Also, I'm raising a $70M fund to short this company.

DMs open

Charles Koch is one of the more under-studied CEOs by the tech world.

An investment of $10,000 into Koch in 1960 would have a book value of over $50m today, outperforming the S&P 500 by about 30x.

He's also one of the only CEOs who has written multiple books worth reading. His latest book Good Profit summarizes his previous books, and has some really interesting takeaways:

amzn.to/3qiSAZP

Here's the quick story of how we went from $0 -> $2m ARR in <2 years.

We did this with founder-led sales, and this also helped us become profitable.

We then used a lot of these same techniques to build out our sales team.

Let's go. First, this advice was really specific to a B2B company selling SaaS.

If you're doing something else, your mileage may vary.

Add your email here if you want to get the long-form advice + playbook:

chris050992.typeform.com/to/EILkZZ0V

Customer development, research, and user interviews are critical to every business, and I've been trying to improve my own process.

Here's a little brainstorm on customer development.

If this helps one person, mission accomplished. 😎 The Mom test is a great framework:

▫️Talk about their life instead of your idea

▫️Ask about specifics in the past instead of generics or opinions about the future

▫️Talk less and listen more

amazon.com/Mom-Test-custo…

Thinking about creating a "startup studio" model for side-hustles and part-time businesses.

I start the company, partner with someone looking to run a side-hustle and give them a large % of the entity I just created w/ a vesting schedule.

Anything like this exist? I sense that many future operators need a "nudge" to get something off the ground and/or don't want to buy an existing business.

We all have friends who talk about ideas for years and never actually do them.

Also, *starting* something is distinct from *running* it

Raising money for your startup as a founder is a lopsided game.

VCs, angels, and repeat founders all know the dance, but the rules can be really unclear as a first time founder.

Here's a little brainstorm on seed rounds.

If this helps one person, mission accomplished. 😎 Background: I'm primarily a founder + operator, but I also do a lot of angel investing and am an LP in several VC funds.

I'll try to skew my advice toward being founder-friendly.

This is also what's worked for me - your experience may differ.

Professional update!

(See? Professional, not personal - don't cancel me tech twitter)

After spending the last 5+ years scaling Interviewed, exiting to @indeed, and building out two incredible businesses within Indeed, I'm departing in August to start a new company. The reason is simple: Indeed is an insanely ambitious company, and we need more people creating wonderful companies like Indeed. 

It's rare to find a company with a strong mission + kind people + billions in revenue + insane growth, and has been an honor to work at one.