Semil
Investor via @Haystack_Fund focused on seed-stage investments // Venture Partner w/ @LightspeedVP
Thought Leader
| #20 | Startups |
Last synced from Twitter 4m ago
Theranos Founder Holmes, Ex-President Charged With Fraud
Theranos Inc. founder Elizabeth Holmes, who reigned briefly as the world’s youngest female self-made billionaire over her promise to revolutionize blood testing, was criminally charged with defrauding investors along with the company’s former...
Bourdain On Writing
I’ve been listening to lots of old Bourdain interviews and episodes. This re-run of a 2016 Fresh Air interview caught my ear, specifically the excerpt below. DAVIES: Now, the book and the article is this, like, grab-your-attention look at things you...
Semil
[quick post] Bourdain On Writing: haystack.vc/2018/06/15/bou… (short post, but really struck me how Bourdain talked about how he writes - lots of lessons packed in here...) pic.twitter.com/rV3LVbxq1j
5d
The Valuation Obsession – AVC
Semil
“the higher the valuation, the less money the employee will make on their equity. But, it seems, the talent market is looking to the investment community to signal to them what companies are worth working for.”
7d
Primary Venture Partners raises $100M to invest in NYC startups
Primary Venture Partners, a seed firm that invests exclusively in New York City startups, has raised a second fund of $100 million. That focus is unusual — even Lerer Hippeau, a firm that’s closely associated with New York, makes some investments...
President Trump meets Kim Jong Un: Live updates
President Trump and North Korea's Kim Jong Un meet in Singapore for a high-stakes summit. Follow it all live here.
‘Bad Blood’ Traces Theranos’ Fall from Silicon Valley Grace — KQED’s Forum
In October of 2015, John Carreyrou, Pulitzer Prize winning investigative reporter for the Wall Street Journal, wrote an article exposing the troubling and deceptive business practices of Theranos, the blood testing start-up many believed would upend...
Semil
I tuned out the Theranos fiasco. WSJ reporter who covered it & wrote book is on this podcast - pretty incredible story of investigative journalism.
9d
The Many Lives of Anthony Bourdain (INTERVIEW)
Celebrity chef, bestselling author, and globetrotting TV personality Anthony Bourdain shares the ups, downs and delectable moments of his journey to success.
Thank You, Anthony Bourdain
I woke up a few minutes before 5am PST on Friday. I always look at my phone right away. I know it’s “not good for me,” but whatever. And, within seconds, I saw the news about Anthony Bourdain. I wasn’t surprised. Maybe I’m desensitized to the...
1
Semil
[new post] Thank You, Anthony Bourdain: haystack.vc/2018/06/10/tha… (Years ago, I pursued a culinary career largely b/c of being hypnotized by Kitchen Confidential...)
10d
Quickly Unpacking Microsoft’s Acquisition Of GitHub
Satya strikes again. After being installed in 2014 as Microsoft’s new CEO, Nadella has turned around the Seattle ocean liner on a new course after the Ballmer regime. With Microsoft’s stock price (and technology brand) soaring of late, Nadella and...
Semil
[new post] Quickly Unpacking Microsoft's $7.5B Acquisition Of GitHub: haystack.vc/2018/06/05/qui… (really fascinating deal from many angles) pic.twitter.com/nLJA5FSkUy
15d
Microsoft Is Said to Have Agreed to Acquire Coding Site GitHub
Microsoft Corp. has agreed to acquire GitHub Inc., the code repository company popular with many software developers, and could announce the deal as soon as Monday, according to people familiar with the matter.
Valuation Inflation – AVC
Semil
Triggered by SV Angel post, @fredwilson slices @usv data across 3 fund vintages and -- shocker! -- seed round sizes & prices way up + end note will cause many to pause: avc.com/2018/06/valuat… pic.twitter.com/LfRVxaBmWk
17d
Seed Deal Flow Tsunami And The Quick Kill
If you read yesterday’s post, you can see just how insane the proliferation of seed financings have been. As a result, I personally cannot keep up with all the deal flow. This a common refrain among many seed investors in private. When I started...
Semil
[quick post] Seed Deal Flow Tsunami & The Quick Kill: haystack.vc/2018/06/02/see… (am hoping this helps folks better connect w/ me by sharing how I process information) pic.twitter.com/AjGMOaJoXi
18d
In The End She Was Vulnerable To Facts
I read Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup last week on my Q2 vacation. In my post talking about the various books I read, I wrote the following about it. “Every entrepreneur and VC should read this book. John Carreyrou has done...
Semil
Great short post by @bfeld on balancing aspiration vs reality for founders: feld.com/archives/2018/… (really well-written)
18d
The VC Twilight Zone
Talk to any Bay Area VC in the last 24 hours, and the talk of the town among investors is universal: “What do you think of the SV Angel news?” Depending on your point of view, it is the perfect trigger for a conversation about...
1
Semil
[new post] The VC Twilight Zone: haystack.vc/2018/06/02/the… (so many big shifts across the venture stack, it's hard to keep up & know what it means...) pic.twitter.com/mvOEWfn0Fc
18d
2 people with motorized scooters on Bay Bridge cause traffic jam
"They did some zig-zag motions, passed the gas station on Folsom, then flipped a U-turn and jammed it onto the onramp," he told SFGATE of two men on motorized scooters. "From there, they jumped onto the emergency pedestrian walk on the left side of...
GatsbyJS, the Open Source React-Based SSG, Creates Company to Evolve Cloud-Native Website Builds
SSGFS: static site generator fatigue syndrome. It’s a thing, people. With five hundred plus SSGs roaming the wild these days — everything from Ace, written in Ruby, to Zodiac, written in awk and sh — SSG-related announcements likely generate a...
The great meal-kit shakeout continues as Kroger plans to buy Home Chef for at least $200 million
Who’s next?
1
Semil
Kroger acquires meal-kit startup Home Chef for $200M w/ additional $500M in earn-outs after raising $57M: recode.net/2018/5/23/1738… (wonder if we'll see more M&A w/ weight placed on earnouts & potential impact on investors)
26d
Amy Schumer Takes Her Raunchy Humor to Spotify in Podcast Deal
Amy Schumer will host and produce a comedy podcast for Spotify Technology SA, helping the paid music service attract a wider audience and challenge Apple Inc.’s dominance of this growing audio entertainment field.