Investing, 2013.
USV, startups, theses, portfolio announcements
- Competitors at the time
At USV, we talk a lot about how the landscape is changing, as more entrepreneurs and investors get behind the idea of building networks around problems, communities & verticals. And that means that we are seeing more competitors in each space we look at, especially compared to what it looked like w...
- Exploding business models
It’s fascinating to watch the process of business models exploding. What apple did yesterday in announcing free OSX and free iWork apps is a great example of that. MS has traded on license fees for Windows and Office forever, and for a long time, Apple has followed suit, charging reasonably high (a...
- Personal Equity
There are at least two startups that I know of (Pave and Upstart) that facilitate VC-style equity investment in individuals. Upstart describes this as “the startup is you”. In both cases, the idea is as follows: raise money from backers in exchange for a percentage of your future earnings. The ide...
- WebFWD: Accelerating a Better Internet
I’ve always loved Mozilla‘s mission and tactics – using awesome consumer products as the lever to make the web a better place to be. That’s why I’m happy to join their WebFWD accelerator program as a scout. That just means that I’m one of many folks who are on the lookout for products and companies...
- Backing into your network
Today, we announced that USV is investing in Hailo. I am psyched about this for a number of reasons, but primarily because it’s infrastructure that connects people to their city in new ways. What’s most fascinating is that we almost certainly don’t yet know what those ways are. I want to point out ...