The Rich Barton Playbook for winning markets through Data Content Loops| kwokchain
Notes on the recent trend of “Hire and License Out” deals in AI Over the last year, a new breed of deal structure has emerged in AI: an alternative to acquisitions and hiring that shares traits of both yet isn’t quite either. Companies like Inflection, Character AI, Adept, Covariant and most recently Windsurf have used … Continue reading The HALO Effect →| kwokchain
I’ve joined Sutter Hill Ventures to find and build companies with our next generation of EIRs and CEOs. Over the past several years of writing and working with founders I have been driven by the question of how our industry can best compound at creating companies that matter. What became clear is that the earliest … Continue reading Joining Sutter Hill Ventures→ The post Joining Sutter Hill Ventures appeared first on kwokchain.| kwokchain
If you follow my blog, then you likely follow Eugene Wei on twitter. Eugene and I have started a new video series, Closing the Loop. You can find it here on Youtube. Some of the topics include: Graph Design and the Limits of Social Graphs Unconstraining Emergent Creativity Decentralization, Creators, and Platforms The Power of … Continue reading New video series, Closing the Loop→ The post New video series, Closing the Loop appeared first on kwokchain.| kwokchain
In Formula 1 racing, you can win a world championship as a driver with one team but then not even make the top 10 without that team’s car and infrastructure. Venture can often feel like this, too. Many top performing VCs would struggle if they weren’t on their firm’s platform. And similarly, a far greater … Continue reading The Mike Speiser Incubation Playbook→ The post The Mike Speiser Incubation Playbook appeared first on kwokchain.| kwokchain
Every marketplace is unique. But every successful marketplace is unique in the same ways. Historically it’s very hard to find a successful marketplace that wasn’t built on an underutilized fixed asset. Airbnb is a canonical example of this. Someone has a guest bedroom. It’s always there, a fixed asset. But it’s unused and they make … Continue reading Underutilized Fixed Assets→ The post Underutilized Fixed Assets appeared first on kwokchain.| kwokchain
Recently sent some notes on aspects of Superhuman’s acquisition loops and business model that interested me to some friends. Since I often ask people to write and send me more memos, thought I’d clean up and share this example. This essay is heavily focused on growth loops, and assumes familiarity with them. If you are … Continue reading Notes on Superhuman’s Acquisition Loops→ The post Notes on Superhuman’s Acquisition Loops appeared first on kwokchain.| kwokchain
The Rich Barton Playbook for winning markets through Data Content Loops Preface: This is part of a longer private memo analyzing Zillow and its recent shift towards Opendoor’s model. May publish rest of memo at some later point. But wanted to share first part, on Rich Barton and Zillow’s initial rise. Have had many recent … Continue reading Making Uncommon Knowledge Common →| kwokchain
The arc of collaboration is long and it bends in the direction of functional workflows. Why Slack is an Else Statement, there is no distinction between productivity and collaboration, and why the Slack of Gaming may be Discord but the Discord for Enterprise is not Slack. Disclaimer: I currently use every product mentioned in this … Continue reading The Arc of Collaboration →| kwokchain
The shifting sands of tech IPOs If the IPO process is like a debutante ball, the top investment banks are akin to a finishing school. They help gussy up companies, teach them proper manners like how to do GAAP accounting, and bring them around to call on prospective investors and eventually debut to society. This … Continue reading Narrative Distillation →| kwokchain
How Figma and Canva are taking on Adobe—and winning In 2010, Photoshop was ubiquitous. Whether you were editing a photo, making a poster, or designing a website, it happened in Photoshop. Today, Adobe looks incredibly strong. They’ve had spectacular stock performance, thanks to clear-eyed management who’ve made bold bets that have paid off. Their transition … Continue reading How to Eat an Elephant, One Atomic Concept at a Time →| kwokchain
Companies are a sequencing of loops. While it’s possible to stumble into an initial core loop that works, the companies that are successful in the long term are the ones that can repeatedly find the next loop. However, this evolution is poorly understood relative to its existential impact on a company’s trajectory. Figma is a … Continue reading Why Figma Wins →| kwokchain