Andrew Chen: “In my day-to-day role working at a16z, this is one of the key things I try to assess: What is the founder’s mastery of their corner of the idea maze? I ask them a few simple questions: “why choose X feature instead of Y? Why start at X instead of Y?” and “why do you think X didn’t work as a product? how do you think X product is doing in the market?” When you meet a founder who has deep observations about every turn and corner of the Idea Maze, these prompt an absolutely terrific conversation. It’s often the strongest sign that someone is an expert in their space, and they will teach you more in an hour than you might learn in months. On the other hand, it only takes a short amount of time to realize when someone is early in their thinking.”
WSJ: “Like the digital-native companies that disrupted their elders at the dawn of the internet era, these AI natives don’t need to reimagine their products, infrastructure or workflow, much less retrain or cut employees as a result of the new tech. They are testing boundaries in sectors from finance to software development and advertising and marketing. And in some cases they are overturning ideas about what’s possible, especially when it comes to growth…AI native companies have a wide range of characteristics, but they all tend to see AI as more than a tool to increase productivity or drive a particular return on investment. It is a way for them to replace structured processes, which have been at the heart of the corporation throughout the industrial era, with fast, powerful, artificial intelligence and reasoning.”
The Generalist’s Productivity Stack. Among them: “At the start of each day, sit down and choose the three most important things you need to accomplish. (It can be less than three, but it shouldn’t be more. Force yourself to prioritize.)”
FT: “Wider access to information, global improvements in education and better nutrition have all boosted brain capital. But trends in brain health, rising demands on our attention and forces undermining our critical thinking are concerning. The human mind is a resource that needs strengthening to support long-term wellbeing, growth and innovation, particularly as technology plays a greater role in our lives and economies. As the world focuses on piling trillions into artificial intelligence, it’s wise not to lose sight of the returns that come from investing in real intelligence.”
Bloomberg: “[Donald] Chew has written a new book, The Making of Modern Corporate Finance to make the case that the American equity market is not the output of a better designed system but the input. And the input to the input are ideas: ethics to make shareholders true owners, structures to eliminate agency costs, tactics to guide value-creating investments. His book seeks to define the intellectual basis of modern corporate finance and tell a story of how certain ideas made the US the most successful nation at generating wealth, if not economic growth.”
