Aaron Vernon’s Post

Good morning, especially to #founders. Missed the buzz about Brian Chesky's "Founder Mode" speech? And #PaulGraham's essay distilling it? The Cliff Notes thoughts, extracts, and links follow. 🗨️Conventional wisdom about how to run larger companies is mistaken... people advised him [Brian] to run the company in a certain way for it to scale..."hire good people and give them room to do their jobs." He followed this advice and the results were disastrous.💣💬 Enter #FounderMode. The thesis is that "Founder Mode is not Manager Mode". More from Paul: 🗨️Hire good people and give them room to do their jobs. Sounds great when it's described that way, doesn't it?... One theme I [PG] noticed both in Brian's talk and when talking to founders afterward was the idea of being gaslit. Founders feel like they're being gaslit from both sides — by people telling them they have to run their companies like managers, and by the people working for them when they do. VCs who haven't been founders themselves don't know how founders should run companies (❗), and C-level execs, as a class, include some of the most skillful liars in the world.💬 Sages and snarksters more experienced than I in dissecting management theory, founding startups, and writing viral essays have all boarded the Founder Mode buzz train. Catch some of the chatter in the comments. In the five years that I've been close to the #insurtech founder world, I've watched this play out: 😤the frustrations created when founders and investors don't have a Venn diagram on mission or financial expectation; ❎the bad advice given and taken & ✅the good guidance given and taken; 📈the focus on scaling, on return, on exit leading to 😕diversion from mission and purpose 🙄the stereotype around founders having "bright shiny object syndrome" 💟the community that founders are now creating around best practices, as collectively we enter the next phase of startups. Bobbie Shrivastav, MBA, PMP, PMI-ACP, CSM Colby Tunick, PMP Zechari T. Michelle Bothe Judson Norton Sri Ramaswamy Jerry W Willis Chrysa Jones Cassandra "Cassie" Hand-Gallegos, AIC Amrit Santhirasenan Pat West Valkyrie Holmes Jamie Luce https://lnkd.in/eVYAFZkc

"WE OWE IT ALL TO THE HIPPIES" This article published (in TIME on March 1, 1995) almost thirty years back is a must read for all angel investors and VCs. Its fascinating to see how the ethos of the hippie movement laid the groundwork for the internet, and for almost all the technological advancements that we see today. This understanding can inspire investors to anticipate interplay between culture / emerging thoughts and technology. #venturecapital #startups #angelinvestors

The Ukrainian startup Haiqu backed by SID Venture Partners, co-founded by Sigma Software Group's leaders, has been highlighted in an article on Sifted for its innovative work in the quantum computing field. 🌍 Haiqu is making significant strides in error mitigation, a key to unlocking more efficient quantum computing. Their work enhances the performance of quantum computers by reducing the resources needed to run complex algorithms. Their global presence, with teams in the UK, Switzerland, Ukraine, the US, and Canada, showcases the international interest in their solutions. 🌐 To learn more about Haiqu and other promising quantum startups in Europe, check out the full article on Sifted: https://lnkd.in/dTi6dT_6 #Haiqu #QuantumComputing #EuropeanStartups #Innovation #SIDVenturePartners #Sifted

Backstage improves developer experience and productivity for companies of all shapes and sizes, from big enterprises to fast-growing startups. For startup Quantum Metric, Backstage helps the company keep up with their “rapidly growing product and customer base” and makes it possible for their engineering org to maintain “efficiency and scalability while staying lean” — and they have the metrics to back it up.🚀 Read all about it in a blog post by senior director of engineering Eric Irwin, who writes about why Quantum Metric selected Backstage as their IDP, the custom plugins they’ve built for it, and how they measure its impact on their org — including how the value of Backstage to Quantum’s engineering teams is amplified by the “flywheel effect” of having a centralized internal development platform. 📖 You can read Eric’s post — “IDPs For The Rest of Us: Maximizing Impact When You Aren’t a Tech Giant” — on Medium: https://lnkd.in/ekkXd-7J 📺 Or watch his BackstageCon talk here: https://hubs.li/Q02_b4Xy0

Talk of the Week — "Tutorial: #BGP Techniques for #NetworkOperators" Ft. Philip Smith - Network Startup Resource Center/RouteViews Check out one of our most viewed talks from our last meeting, N92! This tutorial dives into advanced BGP features and techniques, offering valuable insights to help network operators optimize their operations within the #Internet.

Is quantum computing the next big investment opportunity? According to Jacob Robbins from PitchBook, deal count in the quantum computing vertical hit an all-time high in 2023, with startups securing a whopping $1 billion across 92 deals. 📈 While quantum computing may still be years away from mainstream consumer usage, investors are increasingly bullish on its potential. In fact, deal count in nearly all other tech verticals dropped, highlighting the growing interest in quantum technologies. One recent standout is Quantinuum, formed from the merger of Cambridge Quantum and Honeywell's quantum computing division. With backing from JP Morgan and other investors, Quantinuum has raised $325 million, propelling the company to a pre-money valuation of $5.3 billion. Check out PitchBook's list of the 10 startups that have raised the most capital since 2019 here: https://lnkd.in/ggF_DN-7 #QuantumComputing #TechInvestment #InnovationOpportunity

Is quantum computing the next big investment opportunity? According to Jacob Robbins from PitchBook, deal count in the quantum computing vertical hit an all-time high in 2023, with startups securing a whopping $1 billion across 92 deals. 📈 While quantum computing may still be years away from mainstream consumer usage, investors are increasingly bullish on its potential. In fact, deal count in nearly all other tech verticals dropped, highlighting the growing interest in quantum technologies. One recent standout is Quantinuum, formed from the merger of Cambridge Quantum and Honeywell's quantum computing division. With backing from JP Morgan and other investors, Quantinuum has raised $325 million, propelling the company to a pre-money valuation of $5.3 billion. Check out PitchBook's list of the 10 startups that have raised the most capital since 2019 here: https://lnkd.in/g-ihT56x #QuantumComputing #TechInvestment #InnovationOpportunity

Big thanks to Dell Technologies Capital team for the feature in the recent CTech by Calcalist interview and their continuous support. 🙌 Diving into investments from exploring #quantumcomputing with Quantum Source to shaping the future with VAST Data, DTC is not just in the game; they’re redefining it. https://lnkd.in/dfy-D7xJ #DellTechCapital #Innovation #QuantumComputing Omri Green Yair Snir

🤔 Did you miss us at DigitalOcean Deploy? Don't fret, you can learn all about exciting product announcements: GPU Droplets, HIPAA Covered Products, Global Load Balancers, Gen-AI Service, new RBAC features, and more by watching the replay here 👇 https://lnkd.in/e_Dcswec #DODeploy

So much is going on in technology.