tl;dr: a reminder to myself that, when all is said and done, we’re all betting on each other.
I was reading Chris Dixon’s blog post about A16Z’s new investment in Optimism, which is a Layer 2 solution for the congestion and thus fee problem that the Ethereum, Layer 1, is facing.
As I wrote in the “It was the bEsTH of Times” (a title that I thought was good at that time),
Now, everyone knows this is an issue, which is why Ethereum 2.0, Optimistic Ethereum, zkRollups like Loopring, and Plasma networks like Matic are all trying to solve the scalability issue for Ethereum.
So, while there are plenty of people who look at the technical merits of each solution versus the others, Chris reminded me of a key fact…it’s all about the people and the team.
“We’ve gotten to know the Optimism team over the last several years, and have been extremely impressed. “
https://a16z.com/2021/02/24/investing-in-optimism/
I’m not sharing any massive insights here, but I am reminding myself of this.
It’s top of mind because I’ve been hiring like crazy at Gtmhub as we grow following our $30 million raise. Each time I do, I am making a bet on a person.
It’s also top of mind because the most recent crypto bull market has attracted a lot more interest, attention, and investment into the Crypto Futura Fund . There are a lot of choices out there for people to invest their money into crypto, so a bet on CFF is really a bet on my partners on me.
I’ve also signed on as an advisor to Radix and Moss.earth, which play in the DeFi and carbon credit spaces respectively. Both of those are bets of my time and energy on people.
So, when all is said and done, to be successful, you have to be a good judge of talent and character, appreciating the people behind the business.
And it’s not always about people who have an undefeated track record. It’s people who have learned the most along the way.
Over winter break, my family and I took a road trip to New Orleans. On the way, we stopped at the University of Alabama.
Admiring the statues of Bear Bryant and Nick Saban, I was thinking about how, as a coach, you are the quintessential investor in people.
They learn from their losses, continually assess and reassess, and optimize for outcomes across a team, given an objective.
I think, for this next stage of my life, I have to avoid “shiny new object” excitement and remember…every bet is a bet on people.
