Four Blog Posts I Didn't Publish This Year

A number of blog posts didn't get past the cutting room floor this year - here's why.

I believe in having a drafts folder - not every passing thought should be published, but it’s a good place to park things that are work in process. I thought about doing a roundup post highlighting the most popular articles I wrote this year, but if you’re already a subscriber, you’ve already read them! So, I am taking a risk and sharing the things that sat in my drafts this year that I never published. I will likely never publish these, but I wanted to share some of the almost-published stuff I wrote. The four things I didn’t post are listed below, including some commentary on why they didn’t cross the threshold for publication.

Long Feedback Cycles are a Feature and a Bug in VC

I wrote a post about how long feedback cycles are a feature and a bug in the venture business. We have several areas where VCs have made significant bets, including $5B+ venture funds, heavy concentration in AI startups, and the extended timeframe to assess the ultimate value of the 2020 and 2021 unicorn classes. I didn’t publish this one because it felt like the TL;DR was “we will see when the data comes back in 7-10 years,” and that wouldn’t have been an interesting read.

Some Honest Thoughts on What Will Happen To Emerging Managers Who Fail to Raise the Next Fund

I didn’t publish this one because I thought it was a better, more helpful 1:1 conversation with people I knew. I didn’t want to add to the chorus of doom-and-gloom articles about what will happen to emerging managers. Writing a draft gave me a better framework for talking to friends who raised venture funds and are contemplating doing something different.

There is No Venture Market for Capital Efficient Startups

We live in a world of capital abundance, and I have many thoughts about what this means for companies focused on capital-efficient growth. There was a brief, post-2021 window when capital efficiency was the focus, but that quickly faded as AI investing gained momentum. While there might not be much broad VC interest in capital-efficient SaaS startups, there is plenty of interest in funding AI companies that need significant capital to build and scale their products.

Investor Email Updates are More Common but Less Useful These Days

I couldn’t find a way to write this post in a helpful way without sounding snarky. The startup ecosystem has now normalized sending investor updates as a best practice. However, I have found that the increased acceptance around sending investor updates has also led to lower-quality investor updates on average. I regularly get updates lacking the core information investors need to assess a company’s performance and financial health. When I talk to founders about why this info is missing, the most common answer is that they are trying to use one update to speak to existing and prospective investors. There’s something better to be said here, but I don’t have much to add other than if you are going to send an update, make it good and useful and send it to the people who care about your company.

I hope you and your loved ones have a great holiday season, see you next year!