a friend recently asked about crossover investing structures (i.e. public/private) and how funds have navigated these types of "platform" approaches

some takeaways after having exposure to this model for ~7 years + case studies from other firms option A (starting small):

1. public funds can invest "up to X%" of their AUM (assets under management) in privates, defined in the LPA (limited partnership agreement)
2. ability to deploy capital from existing AUM to build a track record
3. no need to raise outside capital

past: working for someone, selling bits (products), in a centralized location

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present: working for yourself, selling atoms (knowledge and skills), in a decentralized location(s)

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the greatest shift of empowerment and wealth (time and money) of our generation @julianweisser @jackconte @shl @ljin18 .@stevesi on the emergence of "continuous productivity" via this creator class 👆🏻, driven by changes in how we now "work"

what's amazing is that Steve wrote this post (and an incredible read for any founder in the enterprise space) over 6 years ago (!)

blog.learningbyshipping.com/2013/08/20/con…

taken 6 years to figure this out, but 3 parameters we’ve found to be true for 👍🏻 investments

(1) great management who can evolve,
(2) operating in a perceived-to-be toy market,
(3) who have (or can show how) to build something that problem solves in (2)

https://twitter.com/blakeir/status/1144998352045727744?s=21

a 💯 post, "startups and uncertainty" by @ganeumann

takeaways:

(1) large co.'s are uncertainty-averse, causing stasis
(2) startups open new markets ("toys") or innovate to create new products

Jerry details multiple examples how great founders evolve

reactionwheel.net/2019/11/startu…

a founder in a very competitive, VC-backed marekt stopped by today to give an update on her business. she’s been building the co. for a few years.

her update stressed a few themes that I keep thinking about about the oddities of venture capital, so sharing them in this thread. her competitors raised ~$100m+ from VCs but she struggled to raise ~$4m.

she struggled because:

1. the co. wasn’t a “perceived” leader by investors, so raising was hard.
2. investors believed the market was “winner take all” and only wanted to make positions in a “leader”.

thinking about podcast market size is exciting considering (1) terrestrial radio is a $20b ad budget market + (2) share shift data from @webby2001 begin to surface:

“AM/FM radio listened-to drops from 51% of all audio to just 26% for those who discovered podcasts.”

#RDE2018 kind of wild to frame this graph, via @nwquah’s newsletter: terrestrial radio has ~260m monthly listeners. BBC’s monthly listen count of their own podcasts is ~8% of total the radio audience but growing WAY faster.

1/ I’ve learned a lot about traits of a successful manager (i.e. CEO) after 42 months in this role. we’ve mapped 4 areas in a new framework. 2/ these 4 areas* include:

A. Foundation
B. Education
C. Work Experience
D. Personality

*not all of these are created equally

.@schlaf on why he decided to become a venture investor as a career

https://twitter.com/schlaf/status/843580038104662017

this interview w. Lee Ainslie (of Maverick Capital, a $7.7b hedge fund) is 10 years old but so many gems re. process mckinsey.com/business-funct…

growth, in 4 years via @RidePeloton:

$80m of bikes sold (at cost)
$470k MRR (streaming revs)
12k daily rides

startups.co/articles/strea… a 🚴🏻 platform on 🔥

2015: $50m in revs
2016: $170m in revs, 0.3% rider churn

axios.com/peloton-ceo-jo…