I Spy Something New…
A narrowly avoided VC thought-leader post™
I sat down to write this and thought it would be some big reflection on the state of venture capital over the past dozen years. But I quickly came to my senses. The world does not want, nor need another one of those posts. And certainly I don’t want to write one of those posts. I was overthinking it. I have some pretty simple and natural news: in the new year, I’m transitioning from my general partner role at GV into a venture partner role.
To translate VC-speak into English: going forward, I’m going to be less focused on new deals for the firm, while continuing to work on various things within GV and alongside the portfolio I’ve had the privilege of building up over the past decade.
A bit more color: a few months ago, my wife and I welcomed our second child into this world — she’s wonderful, thanks! — and we did so here in London, a place we lived almost a decade ago and always aspired to return. This desire was felt even more acutely during the pandemic as we sat around inside our home in the Bay Area, contemplating life and what we wanted to be doing, where. Once we found out we were expecting another child last year, it was the final push needed to get busy living.
And while we were in the midst of shaking things up, I crossed a decade at GV. There’s never really a natural time to take a step back, but this felt like as close as one could possibly get. I realize this sounds like I’m riding off into the sunset. I can assure you that I’m not because here in England during this time of year that would require leaving your home around 3pm and breaking through about a mile of cloud cover. Instead, in the pockets of time which hopefully open in my new role, I’m working on something new. Something I’ve long aspired to do. I’ll have more to share on that in the new year, but for now, you can sign up here to learn more when it’s time.
I realize I’ve used “aspire” twice now. But it’s true. I’ve long had three pretty straightforward goals. First, as mentioned, to move back to London. Second, as alluded to, to write more. And lastly, to spend less time doing email. That last one is a work in progress. But I’m cautiously optimistic. 3 birds. 1 stone. And all that.
Phew, avoided the state of VC thought-leader trap. Just barely.
