I’m a General Partner at Contrary and invest across all stages and sectors.

You can find me on Twitter, LinkedIn, and email. See my notes on startups & venture.

Check out Contrary Research, the only equity research focused on private technology companies, and Startup Search, our startup job-seeking site.

There are several business I would like to incubate. If you’re looking to start a venture-scale company and are in search of cofounders or ideas, please reach out.

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Writing

Below are posts I’ve written for my blog or major online publications. If you’re hit with a paywall, contact me and I can send a copy.

What VCs Are Building in 2023 my TechCrunch article about how venture firms are evolving

The Veblen Economy how the global economy is “Veblenizing” as it industrializes

Nth Layer Investing a framework for investing with a focus on leading indicators, not lagging ones

First Principles Interviewing how to hire for insight rather than experience by asking the right questions

Opportunities (and challenges) in church tech part two of the church tech TC series

Jesus, SaaS, and Digital Tithing a TechCrunch article about the church tech market

Voodoo Games: Three Narrative Violations my TechCrunch piece about how Voodoo upends recent startup trends

Venture Investing in Eldertech my TechCrunch piece about trends and opportunities in eldertech

Creating Product Stickiness how businesses can become more defensible… out of thin air

Reinventing the Wheel why anti-tech pessimists think the way they do, and how to reverse-engineer that

2019 University Report a ranking and analysis of the top entrepreneurial ecosystems in the US

Analyzing Venture Opportunities Part 2: Thinking About People a list of things to consider when evaluating or pitching a team

Why Ownership Graphs Matter hidden complexity in politics and an interesting idea

Social Spaces on the Internet a handful of trends that will help shape social spaces online

The Paradox of Compound Interest saving and spending when opportunity cost compounds too

Getting Good at Startups general principles on becoming a good founder or investor as a student

3 Questions on Tech Companies a few brief thoughts on moats, successful teams, and evaluating people

Request for Startups a list of companies I’d start in another life

Competition Matters Less in Software what makes tech companies unique?

Senior: My Time at Umbrella some learnings from working at Umbrella

When Insiders Were Outsiders stories of people who hustled and struggled their way to where they are now

Notes on The Elephant in the Brain some context and notes on one of my favorite reads

Concise Ideas are One-Dimensional should we think about nuanced ideas where concision rules?

Worldview as Competitive Advantage do the typical value-add dimensions really matter for most investors?

Degrees of Freedom don’t make your startup’s gameplan needlessly complex

Buying IBM examples of upside/downside asymmetry

Go-To Essays and Books what I like to re-read and recommend

Getting Positive Feedback tips for founders who get really positive feedback in early validation efforts

Psychology in Product and Sales a list of concepts in social psychology with examples

Decision Making and Mental Models a toolkit for thinking more clearly and making better decisions

What Do You Optimize For? balancing serendipity and focus for optimal results

Simpson’s Paradox and Thinking Rationally in Venture Capital how empiricism and pattern recognition can go wrong