Post #1. If you’re reading this, LFG!!!!
What is this Substack?
This intends to be a collection of evolving, blunt and unfiltered observations on things in the VC business by documenting the evolution of our fund.
I run a small deep tech VC fund, Earthling VC. We invest on a non-consensus, high conviction thesis about how emerging digital technologies (e.g. AI and AR/VR) will reshape how we do anything and everything for good. We are currently deploying (and still raising) Fund I. Before embarking on firm building, I was already angel investing on our now-fund thesis next to my day job as a senior ML engineer at Meta Reality Labs.
Not only are we building a specialist fund with a wacky thesis, but I also started the fund in the worst macro climate for fund managers in recent memory. As a result, I’m stress testing the limits of the venture ecosystem building up the fund. While often frustrating, I think it’s a fun problem solving exercise that studies people as much as economics.
I also get to hang out with and learn from badass fund GPs, founders and LPs along the way. I have fascinating “real-talk” conversations with these folks in private, but rarely see any of the insights discussed openly. In fact, in contrast, I think a lot of “open” VC discourse sucks.
The objective of this Substack is to share realist, blunt observations and musings that are helpful to other emerging GPs, founders and/or LPs, drawing on experiences from building Earthling as a reference point.
This Substack is explicitly not advice or a how-to guide for firm building. I have no idea what I’m doing— I’m figuring it out like everyone else. Taking my writing as comedy or entertainment, I believe, is more appropriate.
Ok so why?
I encourage almost all of my founders to build in public— it tends to bring about positive developments. I‘m now just applying my advice to my own business.
In 2023, Earthling is an interesting case study: Our thesis is weird, the market for LPs sucks, I (i.e. the GP) am not rich nor an ex-celebrity founder with big reach etc. I started the fund because there is unequivocal belief the paradigm shift in computing brought on by AI and AR/VR is a generational market opportunity, there is currently more founder potential than VC capital in these markets at early-stage, and only very few people that are not already allocating LP dollars may be better positioned to deploy into these markets than me. We also had some serious names in the space back us as LPs early on, so I felt it was an opportunity I had to go after. That being said, we have no choice but to scrap this together the hard way, cockroach-style. I think it makes for interesting stories.
The most practical advice I’ve gotten in my early days of firm building is from 1:1 conversations with industry folks. I never tried raising a fund during “better” days, so maybe the market downturn also flipped a lot of conventional wisdom about things like fundraising on its head, but I feel a lot of open “advice” for VCs is pretty terrible. There are a few emerging managers that are awesome and authentic, no doubt— however, I think what we’re doing with Earthling is very edge case-y and still requires me to try stuff and fail on my own a lot of times. I’m hoping documenting some of my Ls can be helpful food thought for someone else trying what we’re trying, be it now or later.
As I continue my degeneration from engineer to VC, I’m learning the importance of writing and communication in this profession (“thought leadership” anyone?). But— anyone that has ever emailed with me knows I’m a terrible writer. This is a good exercise for me to improve my skills.
What to expect
I get overwhelmed with any task that requires me to write more than 500 coherent words. I’m planning to write on a weekly to bi-weekly cadence. I will cover a single topic for each post. Expect the posts to be blunt, on the nose and maybe a bit rant-y— maybe some people don’t like it.
What not to expect
Advice or how-to guides. I have no clue what I’m doing, and this series is a self-reflection on how we’re trying to grow Earthling, not an instruction on how other emerging managers should grow their business.
Please do not take my opinions as an absolute truth. They are my opinions and might age poorly.
Opinions specifically on VR or AI. Follow on me Twitter if that’s of interest. The topic of this Substack is VC things.
Rigid structure. The main goal of my writing is for it to be useful or entertaining for someone else. If I feel changing structure, cadence etc is a better way to maximize that, then I will adjust accordingly. If I find this exercise to be not useful or entertaining to anyone, and it’s not fun for me, I will stop.
High-quality writing.
Scientific writing. This Substack is explicitly anecdotal.
See you for post #2 :)