I was recently talking to a friend of mine who manages a popular Discord server for sneaker collectors that’s so engaging that there are thousands of members paying for access. As great as Discord is, it was never designed for sneakerheads so my friend regularly runs up against pain points…

Despite the Covid-19 pandemic (or perhaps because of the pandemic), the venture capital backed startup sector in the US has been on an absolute tear. Last year, over 1,100 US startups that were venture backed delivered a record $287 billion in exit value (i.e. the company’s valuation at the time…

Last week, I said goodbye to my colleagues at Facebook, the end of a nearly two year adventure after they brought me and my startup Packagd on board. During my time, I had the privilege of creating a new commerce incubation group responsible for building and launching features like Live…

Back in 2014, I gave a presentation at First Round Capital’s CTO Summit on engineering recruiting, which the talented First Round content team then turned into this article: The Simple Numbers That Could Change How You Hire. Seven years later, I still reference it during conversations with founders because that…

Last week, my alma mater, the University of Texas at Austin’s Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (UT ECE), shared with me an incredibly flattering, delightful, and truly unexpected recognition of being inducted into their Academy of Distinguished Alumni. …

“NFTs have literally taken over my entire mind and soul. I’m obsessed. It’s all I think about.” Paris Hilton, crypto expert For those of you who need a primer on Non-Fungible Tokens (or NFTs), click here for a good overview from the Verge. In Q1 2021, NonFungible.com reported that a…

I love listening to great startup pitches from founders. The very best of them don’t just talk about unmet needs and giant market opportunities. They also combine data, facts, and strategy with a memorable personal journey that’s shaped their worldview. It’s business storytelling at its highest form. One of the…

On January 26th, YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki shared her 2021 company priorities in a letter to the YouTube community. …

Picture this situation: you’re in a confined indoor space wearing masks with a group of strangers. Tensions are high because there’s danger in the room, maybe even deadly danger. Many of those strangers surrounding you are trustworthy and trying to protect everyone’s wellbeing. But other strangers are not and instead…