I recently had the privilege of sitting down with my partners Fred Wilson and Brad Burnham for an episode of The Slow Hunch podcast, and I'm excited to share our conversation.

This one was special for me. Having worked alongside Fred and Brad for over a dozen years at USV, I've experienced firsthand what makes them such remarkable investors and partners. Our conversation takes us back to the beginning of USV and traces the winding path that led to the firm we know today.

What strikes me most about Fred and Brad is their endless curiosity. As Rebecca perfectly put it: "There are many reasons why @fredwilson & @BradUSV are all time greats but one of the biggest is they are forever curiosity driven. Investing starts with what you can learn, not what you know. Over and over." And it doesn't ever get old.

In the episode, we explore:

• The early days of their partnership and how their complementary perspectives shaped USV

• How they developed an investment thesis that evolved with technology but remained grounded in core principles

• The moments of doubt, the unexpected turns, and the slow hunches that unfolded along the way

• Their approach to learning new technologies and markets, always running "quickly toward the new idea, the weirder the better"

This conversation captures some of the spirit and the wisdom they've shared with all of us at USV over the years, and I hope you enjoy! 

As always, you can listen to this episode on Spotify, Apple, or wherever you consume podcasts. You can also watch the full video on YouTube.

Chapters: 

• 00:00:00 Cold open

• 00:10:40 How USV was formed

• 00:17:16 Fred and Brad on their investment philosophy

• 00:24:01 Overcoming early challenges

• 00:27:43 The emergence of web2

• 00:30:59 The initial promise of social media

• 00:34:04 Investing in Twitter

• 00:39:11 The early days of Bitcoin

• 00:45:55 The risk of market consolidation in AI 

• 00:49:39 Fred and Brad reflect on their mistakes

• 00:57:18 The Impact of AI

• 01:07:23 The future of technology

• 01:09:50 What keeps them going after 30+ years

For those of you who subscribe to the Slow Hunch pod via RSS or streaming platforms, you'll know I've released a few episodes over the last few weeks, but I have neglected to mention them here. My sincere apologies! Please enjoy the last 3 episodes, which were so fun to record.

Episode 5: Zoe Weinberg from ex/ante

Zoe is the founder of ex/ante, a new seed fund where we already have several co-investments at USV. Zoe's slow hunch, shaped by her experiences in conflict zones and policy work at the National Security Commission on AI, is that there will be growing demand for technology that enhances human agency and control over personal data, computing, and digital experiences. Her thesis centers on investing in technologies that directly or indirectly promote individual autonomy while supporting democratic values, positioning these as a counterbalance to both digital authoritarianism and surveillance capitalism. There could not be a more important time than now, as advances in AI and cryptography are so rapidly changing the landscape of how software is getting built and data is getting managed/transformed. Full episode here:

Episode 6: Amir Haleem from Nova Labs / Helium

Amir is the creator of the Helium Network, and relatedly, the co-founder and CEO of Nova Labs. Helium is a crowd-sourced, crypto-powered wireless network -- anyone around the world can install a Helium hotspot, plug it in to their internet connection, and earn tokens for providing connectivity to the network. It's an amazing example of what's possible if you look at an old problem in a new way, using new tools & approaches. When USV invested in Helium in 2019, Amir and team were just drawing up plans for this new network. Since then, millions of people around the globe have contributed to the network, and Nova Labs has expanded from providing tools to network builders to launching a consumer wireless brand. Amir pulls no punches talking about the experience of building a startup on double hard mode (building in a complex legacy industry like telecom and with a powerful yet tricky new tool of crypto communities). Full episode below:

Episode 7: Jake Heller from Casetext

Last but not least: Jake is the co-founder and CEO of Casetext. USV invested in Casetext back in 2014, along the thesis that software could radically redefine how legal back-end infrastructure would be built. and ultimately how legal services are provided. Jake has been a computer hacker / programmer his whole life, and a lawyer by training for most of his professional life. He's been pursuing this slow hunch of how software can really change how we manage and process information and apply it to societally fundamental sectors like law. Jake's story is fascinating, as is the story of Castext, which after a decade of hard work and mixed results because an early OpenAI partner before the launch of ChatGPT -- Jake embraced the moment and leaned the company hard into AI, becoming one of the first companies in the legal tech space to do so, and ultimately resulting in transformative business growth and a successful acquisition of the company. Full episode here:

As always, episodes of the Slow Hunch Podcast can be found on Spotify, Apple, YouTube, and on RSS.

On this episode of the Slow Hunch Pod I'm so excited to welcome my old friend Dani Grant who is the CEO of USV's portfolio company Jam. Dani and I got to know each other dating back to when she was an analyst at USV from 2018 to 202. During that time we had a blast working together on lots of things, including making investments, writing blog posts together and building apps together.

One of the things that always stood out to me about Dani is the infectious energy that she brings to the process of building things, especially building things as a team. And that's what her company Jam is all about: Jam build tools that help product and engineering teams fix bugs and collaborate on improving products in ways that are not just efficient but joyful and fun.

In our conversation we'll talk about Dani's journey leading up to building Jam, all the way back to her childhood in mountain view where she got the bug for building, and including some of her tips for cultivating curiosity, building a personal professional network, and helping teams achieve their highest potential.

As always, you can listen to this episode on Spotify, Apple or wherever else you consume podcasts and can watch the full video on YouTube: