The Dangerous Rise of Populism
My book World After Capital argues that we are living in a dangerous time of transition: industrial capitalism is breaking down and we don’t yet have a viable alternative. Incumbent politicians are still clinging to fixing the existing system while [...] Read more
Announcing Blockstack Labs (a Name Change)
When we invested in Onename in 2014 it was with the conviction that decentralized applications will require human readable identity systems for some applications. Take the DAO for example. As of writing this post it has raised nearly $110 million [...] Read more
Basic Income: The Biggest Question (Voting for Freedom)
When I talk or write about basic income, people have many questions on issues such as affordability and impact on the work market. But one question is bigger than all of those: Because basic income is a new concept for [...] Read more
Crucial Founder Skill: Clear Communication
One of the questions that I get asked a fair bit is what characteristics help a founder to be successful. I have often answered “being stubborn but not too stubborn.” I then elaborate stubborn as sticking to a vision even [...] Read more
You Are Not Alone (USV CEO Summit)
Today is our annual get together for USV portfolio company CEOs. A few years back, when we first started building out the USV network, we switched to an un-conference format. Gary Chou who first started to bring portfolio companies in [...] Read more
Loyalty and the Need for Group Platforms in Insurance, Services and More
One of the big problems most modern insurance companies face is fraud. Why is it that some customers feel they can overstate a claim or make a false claim altogether? At least partially it is because they feel they are [...] Read more
Video Hackday, Take 2
Saturday was the second Video Hackday, once again organized by Susan and Oliver from Ziggeo. What I like a lot about the format is that it is a single day without an overnight. While that may seem like very little [...] Read more
Looking for an Analyst at USV
At USV we have talked about and invested in the power of networks. We have also been applying this network thesis to our portfolio companies, building out the USV network. One area where I am particularly happy with how we [...] Read more
Right Goals, Wrong Tools: EU Antitrust Case Against Google
The European Union launched an Antitrust Complaint against Google over Android. It is a shame that we keep coming back to using antitrust legislation to try to deal with issues of concentration and market power in information industries. We need [...] Read more