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In this episode of the Slow Hunch, I spoke with Jay Graber, CEO of Bluesky.
Originally conceived as an initiative within Twitter under Jack Dorsey, Bluesky was designed to transform Twitter from a closed platform to an open, protocol-based network. For those of you who caught the episode with Brad & Fred, this is a subject we got into in some detail: years ago, USV had an intuition that Twitter might be better designed as an open protocol, but at the time, the tools didn't exist to make it a practical reality. In 2019, Twitter launched Bluesky (and the underlying AT Protocol) as a research initiative, and that's when Jay joined to lead the effort. She subsequently lead the spin-out of Bluesky into an independent effort, developed the app and the protocol, and launched the network. Since launching publicly in early 2024, Bluesky has since grown to roughly 30 million users.
I've always liked the core design of ATproto and Bluesky, which lets each user configure core elements of their social experience, pulling from an open library of feeds, filters and client apps; all tied together with a single, user-owned identity (my identity on Bluesky is actually my DNS domain name, nickgrossman.xyz). In our conversation, Jay talks about why this architecture matters so much to her: primarily by giving users the ability to vote with their feet if the platform makes changes they don't like.
Jay is one of the clearest thinkers I know on the relationship between protocol design, system architecture and user experience, and it's been pretty incredible to watch her build Bluesky from a high level idea into a scaled consumer product over the last few years.
I hope you enjoy our conversation!
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.
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!
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.
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:
Amir is the creator of the
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
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:
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