Nabeel Hyatt

If I had any superpower joining venture, it was that I had no long-term desire to be in venture. I was very happy to be in venture if it worked out, and I'm still very happy to go start a company. I would be very happy as a founder as well. It's just not what I chose to do. And I really love this job deeply, but if it had not worked out, it was okay.

And so I came in with a nothing to lose mentality, which allows you to sit on the front end of creative risk and being willing to take that extra risk, which of course, that's what this business is about. Versus this kind of protectionist, like, I just want to make sure I have my job. I just may want to get to the next fund, which is where I think you make most of your mistakes.

And so I came in with a nothing to lose mentality, which allows you to sit on the front end of creative risk and being willing to take that extra risk, which of course, that's what this business is about. Versus this kind of protectionist, like, I just want to make sure I have my job. I just may want to get to the next fund, which is where I think you make most of your mistakes.

And so I came in with a nothing to lose mentality, which allows you to sit on the front end of creative risk and being willing to take that extra risk, which of course, that's what this business is about. Versus this kind of protectionist, like, I just want to make sure I have my job. I just may want to get to the next fund, which is where I think you make most of your mistakes.

You know, there's this thing where musicians struggle with their second album when it works, and that is completely untrue about athletes when they get to their second year of being a pro. If you're a tennis player and you go to your second year, you get better. You get smarter, you get better. Musicians, it actually gets harder. Why is that? Why do you have the sophomore album problem?

You know, there's this thing where musicians struggle with their second album when it works, and that is completely untrue about athletes when they get to their second year of being a pro. If you're a tennis player and you go to your second year, you get better. You get smarter, you get better. Musicians, it actually gets harder. Why is that? Why do you have the sophomore album problem?

You know, there's this thing where musicians struggle with their second album when it works, and that is completely untrue about athletes when they get to their second year of being a pro. If you're a tennis player and you go to your second year, you get better. You get smarter, you get better. Musicians, it actually gets harder. Why is that? Why do you have the sophomore album problem?

And it's because one is a core creative exercise where you're not trying to A your tests. Like you don't know what the next answer is. With athletes, you know it's a fixed game. Venture is not a fixed game. It is more a creative exercise than it is a maths exercise. And that is because the markets are changing constantly. The venture market is changing constantly.

And it's because one is a core creative exercise where you're not trying to A your tests. Like you don't know what the next answer is. With athletes, you know it's a fixed game. Venture is not a fixed game. It is more a creative exercise than it is a maths exercise. And that is because the markets are changing constantly. The venture market is changing constantly.

And it's because one is a core creative exercise where you're not trying to A your tests. Like you don't know what the next answer is. With athletes, you know it's a fixed game. Venture is not a fixed game. It is more a creative exercise than it is a maths exercise. And that is because the markets are changing constantly. The venture market is changing constantly.

The founders are changing constantly. The products are changing constantly. And so it's just not like putting a ball in a hoop. I don't know how to talk to somebody about navigating that, but I try to get them to a world where they understand how to navigate uncertainty with confidence and without terror.

The founders are changing constantly. The products are changing constantly. And so it's just not like putting a ball in a hoop. I don't know how to talk to somebody about navigating that, but I try to get them to a world where they understand how to navigate uncertainty with confidence and without terror.

The founders are changing constantly. The products are changing constantly. And so it's just not like putting a ball in a hoop. I don't know how to talk to somebody about navigating that, but I try to get them to a world where they understand how to navigate uncertainty with confidence and without terror.

I think many of the decisions that are made wrong in how people build venture firms and how people hire people and how people invest is about not being fundamentally attuned to that fact and because it's so unnatural for humans to work in a kind of incredibly intrinsic way. Do you feel like you did a good job today? I came in six months after this job and I'm like – look, I was –

I think many of the decisions that are made wrong in how people build venture firms and how people hire people and how people invest is about not being fundamentally attuned to that fact and because it's so unnatural for humans to work in a kind of incredibly intrinsic way. Do you feel like you did a good job today? I came in six months after this job and I'm like – look, I was –

I think many of the decisions that are made wrong in how people build venture firms and how people hire people and how people invest is about not being fundamentally attuned to that fact and because it's so unnatural for humans to work in a kind of incredibly intrinsic way. Do you feel like you did a good job today? I came in six months after this job and I'm like – look, I was –

I sold a company to Zynga beforehand. I was in this early like growth hackers of Silicon Valley kind of groups. I was AB testing everything with some of the very first people who were helping Mixpanel and Amplitude build out their data dashboards. I was an all in data guy. And so you can imagine I'm three, six months in and I'm like, am I doing a good job?

I sold a company to Zynga beforehand. I was in this early like growth hackers of Silicon Valley kind of groups. I was AB testing everything with some of the very first people who were helping Mixpanel and Amplitude build out their data dashboards. I was an all in data guy. And so you can imagine I'm three, six months in and I'm like, am I doing a good job?

I sold a company to Zynga beforehand. I was in this early like growth hackers of Silicon Valley kind of groups. I was AB testing everything with some of the very first people who were helping Mixpanel and Amplitude build out their data dashboards. I was an all in data guy. And so you can imagine I'm three, six months in and I'm like, am I doing a good job?

And like, I'm trying to measure literally everything to figure out whether I'm doing a good job. And I give so much credit to Bijan, who was the person who really recruited me into Spark, who just kind of would always reflect back to me. He was just like, did you enjoy the work you did today? Do you think you put all in? Do you think you want to come back and do it tomorrow? That's it, man.