Post #1: The Macro Economic Picture Never Mattered... Until Now
Why I'm Launching a Newsletter
Welcome to my new newsletter, Big Picture VC.
I've spent my entire career working in the tech startup ecosystem, first as an early startup employee and co-founder and now as a venture capitalist. This has spanned the better part of 25 years at this point, across multiple boom and bust cycles including Dot com / Internet 1.0, Mobile/Social Web 2.0, Great Recession, COVID & Everything Bubble.
For nearly all of that time, conventional wisdom has been that the macroeconomy and the big picture of the investment cycle didn't really matter much for startup founders. Focus on your own specific market and the execution within your startup's own four walls, as that's what ultimately makes the difference between success and failure. That was the typical advice, and in fact something I've told countless founders during my time as a VC investor.
Who is this for?
So why does the world need yet another occasional newsletter penned by a venture capitalist? I asked myself that for months as this idea germinated in the back of my head, until my own conviction and the encouragement of a number of folks prompted me to get started.
For the first time in decades, what's happening in the macro economy and investment cycle is impacting tech startups in material ways. Startups benefited as the availability of risk capital broadly caused a massive influx of cash to the startup ecosystem, as traditional VCs supersized and new players like Softbank and Tiger Global dramatically expanded. But startups were also unexpectedly caught up by macro shifts which led to the collapse of banks like SVB and First Republic. The blocking & tackling of company building (product, sales, talent, etc) still matters far more for the long run growth of your startup than macro economic developments. But for the first time ever, tech entrepreneurs are actually being impacted by geopolitical tensions, banking crises, inflation & central bank actions, and more.
What will I cover in Big Picture VC?
I'll share my occasional thoughts on what's happening in the macro economy and broader investment world as they relate to tech startups. I'm not an economist by training and I didn't even stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night. But hopefully I can draw on my experience in startups and VC, as well as dusting off some of my undergraduate learning in finance & economics as well as engineering. And I've had the opportunity to learn from some of the leading lights in tech and VC along the way.
Thanks for your interest, feedback and questions are always welcome, and I hope we both enjoy the journey.