Founder, Investor, Designer
- CEO Italic
- Founder (FountainS15)YC
- Owner Tonari AnimationNot PotCourtlyCMIICHubble
- 2015 Thiel Fellowship
User Manual
“Investing”
- I invest my own $ for fun and to support fellow founders.
- I invest at a max valuation of $15M, no exceptions. Category-agnostic.
- I am silent unless called on and I expect no updates. My primary value add is in introductions to a deep network of later-stage investors, execs, and founders.
- ~120 startups & funds as angel/LP. Any success is solely due to founders/GPs.
“Operating”
- I value culture, mission, and money in that order.
- Small team of like-minded, kind, driven individuals.
- Enjoyment declines at ~10 and significantly after ~30 (usually but not always).
- Fewer people → more fun, ownership, & stronger outcome.
- Value unity and velocity more than diversity of opinion.
- Management style: Editor
- Ultra-tactical, experienced ICs. No rank and file. As little management as possible.
- I have a unique taste and revise my team’s work. Free discourse encouraged.
- Keep org structure as flat as possible. I am the lead IC.
- Default async with intense in-person sprints.
- Attended >10k meetings. Majority have no discernible objective or outcome.
- Caveat physical product development and ideation needs to happen IRL.
Contact
- Strongly dislike calls and meetings. Please don’t consider it rude if I suggest async.
- I read all andTwitterDMs.LinkedIn
- I am likely on PT or MT. Available most weekends.
- I use to aggregate & triage DMs andTextsfor all emails.Missive
- No general networking. Read: nohello.net.
- Preferred messenger is .Telegram
- Email is my todo list. Please follow up if I do not respond at first.
Personal
- I value family, career longevity, and privacy.
- Grew up in Chicago suburbs. Lived in Boston → SF → Shenzhen/HK → LA.
- Now spend most of the year in Park City with my wife Kati.
- We enjoy skiing, tennis, biking, and fishing.
Notes
The Modern Workforce
An Honest Year as a Dropout
Why Software Companies Hide Pricing
Fountain Goodbye
Work