just flew into nyc from sf
hosting a exclusive dinner for startup founders who have taste
it's going to be an intimate gathering at none other than La Pecora Bianca
like i said, we've got taste
seeing a lot of people saying that Poop 2 Fart “isn’t a billion dollar company”
interesting
heard the same thing about uber
“it’s just taxis”
airbnb
“it’s just sleeping in someone’s house”
now Poop 2 Fart
“it’s literally converting poops to farts”
exactly
people always laugh at category-defining companies before they understand them
we’re not selling poop
we’re not selling farts
we’re building the infrastructure layer between the two
$47B TAM
zero serious competitors
stay skeptical
we’re hiring if you want to get on the rocketship
had dinner with some non-tech friends from college
huge mistake
one guy bought a house
one got engaged
another said he's finally working less and feeling happier
everyone seemed proud of this
I asked what any of them were optimizing for
they said “life”
couldn't get a straight answer beyond that
meanwhile I checked twitter and saw a 24-year-old announce a $38m Series A
immediately felt normal again
there's a reason I moved to SF
some cities celebrate balance
this one still respects the scoreboard
one of my employees told me he was taking friday off to go to his best friend's wedding
I asked if the friend was a customer
no
investor?
no
potential hire?
no
so I asked what the strategic value of attending was
he thought I was joking
I wasn't
apparently they've known each other since kindergarten
which honestly makes it worse
25 years of relationship building and zero commercial upside
approved the PTO because retention matters
but I did tell him to bring business cards
and to come back with at least 5 leads.