Nick Chirls

It got eroded away, got arbitraged away. I think for the most part, stage, sector, geo-focuses, these things get arbitraged away. They are not sustainable positions in venture, in my view. The only sustainable position is actually standing for something meaningful.

Standing for something meaningful, by the way, means that as many people are not going to like that thing as they are going to like that thing. That's actually what standing for something means. And, you know, there's a few founders fund, maybe Sequoia stands for excellence.

Standing for something meaningful, by the way, means that as many people are not going to like that thing as they are going to like that thing. That's actually what standing for something means. And, you know, there's a few founders fund, maybe Sequoia stands for excellence.

Standing for something meaningful, by the way, means that as many people are not going to like that thing as they are going to like that thing. That's actually what standing for something means. And, you know, there's a few founders fund, maybe Sequoia stands for excellence.

I don't know if that's differentiating enough, but like, I think that's the only way to actually take some margin and actually have a competitive advantage at large scale, small scale. We can talk about this endlessly, but like for the right small scale firms, those firms will continue to produce very, very, very good returns for a very long time. I don't know.

I don't know if that's differentiating enough, but like, I think that's the only way to actually take some margin and actually have a competitive advantage at large scale, small scale. We can talk about this endlessly, but like for the right small scale firms, those firms will continue to produce very, very, very good returns for a very long time. I don't know.

I don't know if that's differentiating enough, but like, I think that's the only way to actually take some margin and actually have a competitive advantage at large scale, small scale. We can talk about this endlessly, but like for the right small scale firms, those firms will continue to produce very, very, very good returns for a very long time. I don't know.

I think that's true for the average seed fund or pre-seed fund, for sure. We're not, I don't think, doing this to be average. If I've learned one thing over the last 12 years or 13 years investing is that the only way that I personally have ever made money, and I think this is probably true for most of early stage investing, is to invest in something that no one cares about yet. That's it.

I think that's true for the average seed fund or pre-seed fund, for sure. We're not, I don't think, doing this to be average. If I've learned one thing over the last 12 years or 13 years investing is that the only way that I personally have ever made money, and I think this is probably true for most of early stage investing, is to invest in something that no one cares about yet. That's it.

I think that's true for the average seed fund or pre-seed fund, for sure. We're not, I don't think, doing this to be average. If I've learned one thing over the last 12 years or 13 years investing is that the only way that I personally have ever made money, and I think this is probably true for most of early stage investing, is to invest in something that no one cares about yet. That's it.

And the things that no one cares about yet are not 25 post, they're five or 10. That does not go away. I'll give you some examples. Like the way this works, right, is that I think the way that this basically works is like there's a new category that's defined by a company. Some VCs were in that company. The big firms then say, holy shit, we missed that company.

And the things that no one cares about yet are not 25 post, they're five or 10. That does not go away. I'll give you some examples. Like the way this works, right, is that I think the way that this basically works is like there's a new category that's defined by a company. Some VCs were in that company. The big firms then say, holy shit, we missed that company.

And the things that no one cares about yet are not 25 post, they're five or 10. That does not go away. I'll give you some examples. Like the way this works, right, is that I think the way that this basically works is like there's a new category that's defined by a company. Some VCs were in that company. The big firms then say, holy shit, we missed that company.

We need to go fund lots of similar companies like that. They put out a siren call and then all the little firms run around town to try to go find that company for them. They're all playing catch up. They're all playing this weird game of momentum and copycat. It's not going to make you money. So like it's happening in AI right now. Open AI is huge. Everyone's trying to play catch up.

We need to go fund lots of similar companies like that. They put out a siren call and then all the little firms run around town to try to go find that company for them. They're all playing catch up. They're all playing this weird game of momentum and copycat. It's not going to make you money. So like it's happening in AI right now. Open AI is huge. Everyone's trying to play catch up.

We need to go fund lots of similar companies like that. They put out a siren call and then all the little firms run around town to try to go find that company for them. They're all playing catch up. They're all playing this weird game of momentum and copycat. It's not going to make you money. So like it's happening in AI right now. Open AI is huge. Everyone's trying to play catch up.

Yes, every single AI company is going to be 25 or 30 posts. You should have been making these investments years ago when no one cared. That's the whole job. That is the whole job of a small firm is to actually take risk on markets and companies that no one cares about yet, that they may care about in three, five, seven years, or they may not. That's the whole job. And that's not going away.

Yes, every single AI company is going to be 25 or 30 posts. You should have been making these investments years ago when no one cared. That's the whole job. That is the whole job of a small firm is to actually take risk on markets and companies that no one cares about yet, that they may care about in three, five, seven years, or they may not. That's the whole job. And that's not going away.

Yes, every single AI company is going to be 25 or 30 posts. You should have been making these investments years ago when no one cared. That's the whole job. That is the whole job of a small firm is to actually take risk on markets and companies that no one cares about yet, that they may care about in three, five, seven years, or they may not. That's the whole job. And that's not going away.

And you will continue to be able to make lots of money and work with amazing founders just doing that.