Erik Torenberg (@eriktorenberg) — what they write about and why it works

There should be something like a Wikipedia for careers: Lists of career paths, how & what skills you'll need to break-in & rise up, how much $ you’d earn over time, lifestyle/happiness pros&cons, recommended paths based on interests & skills & personality type, case studies etc

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Erik Torenberg@eriktorenberg

A Facebook employee who blocks FB for their kid. An Ivy League professor who has their kid homeschooled / not attend university. A VC who tells their friends to bootstrap and not take VC funding. What's the best term for this type of phenomenon?

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Erik Torenberg@eriktorenberg

Some of my favorite Naval Ravikant takeaways & quotes from his interviews 👇 "Anger is a hot coal that you hold in your hand while waiting to throw it at somebody else" "Desire is a contract you make with yourself to be unhappy until you get what you want"

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Erik Torenberg@eriktorenberg

Who are the ppl in your career who took a chance on you? Who either put their time, reputation, or even money on the line to open doors for you? I'm inspired by ppl who cosign others & help them break in, & want us to recognize those ppl, so we encourage more ppl to do the same

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Erik Torenberg@eriktorenberg

When you find a person with a high slope/growth rate—invest in them, hire them, find ways to work with them. They’re often insatiably curious, relentlessly resourceful, and either have something to prove or are compelled by a greater calling.

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Erik Torenberg@eriktorenberg

1/ Below is my perception/(limited) understanding of Peter Thiel's worldview: People don’t understand how important economic growth is. It’s the only thing sustaining the planet. Without it, we go into malthusian war. t.co

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Erik Torenberg@eriktorenberg

Invest in your friend’s companies. Even 1k if you can. They’ll appreciate it and you’ll minimize potential regret. Except your dumb friends. Be their advisor.

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Erik Torenberg@eriktorenberg

Personal trainer, but for intellectual growth: You identify what you want to learn and the trainer tells you what to read, who to follow, & assembles domain specific tutors & peers. We have intellectual equivalent of classes/bootcamps, but not trainers who take a holistic view.

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Erik Torenberg@eriktorenberg

Invest in friendships only if you plan to have them for the next 50 years. Use your job to build skill-sets you’re going to use for the next 50 years. Pick up hobbies only if you’ll pursue them for the next 50 years. Everything great compounds.

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Erik Torenberg@eriktorenberg

Frameworks for coming up with startup ideas 👇 "The best way to come up with startup ideas is to lead an interesting life & be curious. If you put yourself in a position to have problems—if you're at a company, if you start a family, etc—you'll be in a position to have ideas."

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Erik Torenberg@eriktorenberg

It's staggering how many talented ppl w/ $ are working jobs they dislike b/c they're scared of the perceived reputational consequences of not having another job lined up but then are too busy to find a new job so they stay at the job they dislike (eg consulting) What's a solve?

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Erik Torenberg@eriktorenberg

Rough summary/takeaways of "Sovereign Individual" (written in 90s): The thesis is that the internet is going to lead to unbundling & modularizing of government. We'll transition from being a "citizen" of gov'ts to a "customer", + the change will mirror other tech revolutions.

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Erik Torenberg@eriktorenberg

If you are trying to sell yourself, and you don’t have world class credentials, sell your rate of growth instead. “Don’t look at what college I went to or companies I’ve worked at, look at all I’ve done in this past year, and what that means for what I’ll do in the next year.”

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Erik Torenberg@eriktorenberg

in 2005, @paulg discovered an arbitrage opportunity by identifying that young technical founders were being overlooked in 2019, with the rise of no-code & the intense focus on technical founders, perhaps the pendulum has swung + a new arbitrage opp is biz&product minded founders

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Erik Torenberg@eriktorenberg

Here are favorite takeaways & quotes from Sam Altman interviews It takes 10yrs to create a great startup. If you don’t love & believe it, you’ll likely give up at some point along the way. There’s no way I know of to get through the pain without a belief that the mission matters

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Erik Torenberg@eriktorenberg

Deep Dive into Marketplaces: - Vertical marketplaces - B2B marketplaces - Unit economics - Case studies - Understanding liquidity - Mistakes founders make High-level overview 👇

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Erik Torenberg@eriktorenberg

People look at high valuations in early-stage venture and conclude there’s too much capital. Another explanation for high valuations is we’re suffering a scarcity of (great) founders. A thread on why we’re suffering from a founder scarcity and some ideas on how to solve it.👇

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Erik Torenberg@eriktorenberg

There will be many more multi-billion dollar businesses in the people search & matchmaking spaces. “People Search Engines”: - Career - Dating - Friendship - Interests / hobbies - Teacher / student - Care giving Right now, the data exists—it’s just stuck in people’s heads.

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Erik Torenberg@eriktorenberg

There’s an arbitrage opportunity in discovering people who are great at what they do but weak at selling themselves, describing their career ambitions, or even finding the right roles for them in the first place.

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Erik Torenberg@eriktorenberg

Sharing some big news today: - We’ve launched a $100M community-backed accelerator to fund people as early as pre-company - We provide $25K advances for people to quit their job and explore whether they want to start a company - Now Co-CEO at On Deck t.co

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Erik Torenberg@eriktorenberg

1/ In the literature of growth & marketing, there is this concept called “loops” I’m curious to explore “loops” in the context of how people make career decisions and think about how to build career capital over time.

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Erik Torenberg@eriktorenberg

"If you're so smart, why aren't you happy?" I like this Q because it also attacks the deeper idea some ppl have that cynicism/bitterness/pessimism is somehow a cooler aesthetic or a more enlightened way of being. h/t @naval

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Erik Torenberg@eriktorenberg

Venture capital to many is a luxury afforded my founders who have networks etc Ironically, many of the ppl who’ve previously raised hundreds of millions prefer to bootstrap for their next company Most people want VC, but the true luxury is being able to grow your biz without it

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Erik Torenberg@eriktorenberg

You get wealthy owning equity, not renting out your time The two main ways to get, say, ~4% or over equity in startups are to either invest in them or cofound one Of course, there are many examples of ppl who picked right co to join & got wealthy. Different risk/reward tho imo

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Erik Torenberg@eriktorenberg

Why do high school jocks tend to be less cool in their adult years? Innovator’s dilemma. Since they’re too busy serving existing customers, they can’t invest in R&D. What got them here (athleticism/looks -> popularity) often won’t get them there (expertise -> wealth, status).

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Erik Torenberg@eriktorenberg

Reality is up for grabs right now. We're seeing more and more groups bootstrapping their own reality. People call this "community building" but sometimes it's literally people defecting the shared sense of mainstream reality that has existed for centuries and creating new ones

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Erik Torenberg@eriktorenberg

Every scaling company should consider having a fund to invest in their employees who leave (after ~4 yrs) to start cos—& should let employees invest Doubly incentivizes top talent to join & stay: - Ensures that they'll be a funded entrepreneur - Lets them build VC track records

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Erik Torenberg@eriktorenberg

1/A decade ago, I took my first device-free, solitude experience. Ten years and 100s of “solos” later, I can say with confidence that if I could give any bit of advice to my younger me it would be to spend at least one day a week in device-free solitude.

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Erik Torenberg@eriktorenberg

1/ It’s interesting to look at career strategy applied through the lens of risk. Most people think about financial risk, but reputational risk is far more insidious inhibitor of people pursuing ideas that at first seem weird but then become widely held. Exhibit A: Crypto.

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Erik Torenberg@eriktorenberg

My favorite tips on how to raise a seed round 👇 Paraphrasing Paul Graham: Pretend you are a venture capitalist, that you have their incentives in mind, then convince yourself that you'd invest if you were them. Convince yourself you can convince your partners too.

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Erik Torenberg@eriktorenberg

Different skillsets for different stages of a company: 0->10 (Finding PM-fit): Hacker, Contrarian, Visionary, Seller 10->100 (Growth/Scaling): Scaler, Manager, Systems + Processes 100 (At Scale): “Don’t fuck it up”, PR, Culture Need the right skills for the right stage.

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Erik Torenberg@eriktorenberg

VCs often recommend that new grad aspiring founders join a startup first & see what it’s like to be at a winner I worry ppl then get too comfortable, and, having some success, become afraid to risk their reputation Starting + failing early builds anti-fragility that stays w you

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Erik Torenberg@eriktorenberg

What are startup tropes you disagree with? for me: - co-founders should know each other well prior - founders shouldn't set out to start a startup without a spark of insight - founder shouldn’t have any diversification (ie be a scout) or else they'll be less all-in on their co

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Erik Torenberg@eriktorenberg

If your ultimate goal is to be a founder, the bigger risk is not that you'll fail right away—it’s that if you don’t start enough companies over a long enough period of time, you won't get enough shots on goal to create a big company Exhibit A:

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Erik Torenberg@eriktorenberg

I want Wait But Why level explanations of how the world works but for everything. It could be a replica of Wikipedia product-wise, but with way better analysis.

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Erik Torenberg@eriktorenberg

What’s your favorite job interview question? E.g.: - If you were me, what kind of candidate / role would you be looking for? - If you joined and then in 3-6 months you were no longer here, why would that be? - What was your last boss/partner like? How would they describe you?

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Erik Torenberg@eriktorenberg

Thrilled to announce we've raised $20M from @rabois @foundersfund & 180 others to accelerate our journey towards being Stanford for the Internet. Here's a look into On Deck's origin and our next chapter: t.co

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Erik Torenberg@eriktorenberg

How did Twitter not build in Substack functionality? The fact that you can build a captive audience on Twitter but can't email them or even know who they are (both in an opt-in way) is a huge missed opportunity for everyone.

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Erik Torenberg@eriktorenberg

Aggregated threads on company building, including: - How to pick startup ideas - Picking co-founders - How to raise a seed round - Recruiting - Hiring execs - Management - Growth - Network effects - Building communities - Remote

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Erik Torenberg@eriktorenberg

Paradoxically, the best networking advice is to not spend much time networking, and instead be so good at something that everyone wants you in their network, on your terms. Some people have big networks w/o spending much time networking.

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Erik Torenberg@eriktorenberg

One Q I’ve been asking entrepreneurs is “what’s a company (or project) you wish you started”? It gives a sense for what they want to do e.g me: - Genius - Quora - Wikipedia - Minerva - YC - Kickstarter - Lambda - Barry’s - Delancey - Circles&Cyphers - Outschool - Augur - AA U?

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Erik Torenberg@eriktorenberg

The startup ecosystem has countless people exploring similar idea mazes, and yet they’re siloed, starting from scratch They should be building on top of each other, helping each other understand where the bodies are buried & where the opportunities are. How could we enable this?

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Erik Torenberg@eriktorenberg

The biggest decision of your life may be who you choose to marry/spend your life with. It seems like there should be an abundance of quality education&frameworks around that decision, no? Curious if there's something along these lines that's also applicable to a wider audience

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Erik Torenberg@eriktorenberg

11/ I think the biggest career mistake young people make is they’re afraid to look dumb, so they follow safe paths that cap their downside, not realizing that they also cap their upside. And said paths are often tournament-style competitions, + perhaps not as safe as they think

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Erik Torenberg@eriktorenberg

If you’re a young aspiring VC who doesn’t want to take the traditional route, consider building a deal flow machine that makes you money—a conference, a podcast, a newsletter. It gives you two things you need: deal flow and a way to support yourself.

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Erik Torenberg@eriktorenberg

YC has grown class size 25x+ in the last 10 yrs. Elite universities have mostly kept class sizes the same. Startup ecosystem embraces more founders b/c their status is determined by exits, elite universities keep classes small b/c their status is determined by acceptance rates.

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Erik Torenberg@eriktorenberg

Want book recommendations? Reply below w/ 1-3 of your favorite books that hint at what kinds of books you're looking to read—and I + other people on Twitter will recommend books for you This is an experiment—curious whether social recommendations can outperform algorithmic ones

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Erik Torenberg@eriktorenberg

For fun, my goal over the next 2 weeks is to record 30 podcast episodes w/ domain experts on topics having *nothing* to do w/ VC & startups— like economics philosophy, religion, geopolitics, history, science. I'm taking guest recommendations—What expert do you want to hear?

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Erik Torenberg@eriktorenberg

Request for Product: If Twitter & Quora had a baby. Something that combines the timely, Github-for-thinking, building-block nature of Twitter w/ the timeless, searchable, compounding-knowledge nature of Quora. A true social network around knowledge. Not news. Not photos.

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Erik Torenberg@eriktorenberg

When picking co-founders, it's important to know: "Are you the co-founder who has clarity around the vision or are you the co-founder that's gonna build it?" Failure mode: Both think they're in charge of vision, & then they constantly butt heads over what direction to go in.

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Erik Torenberg@eriktorenberg

Get a “life board” — meet with a crew of ~4 peers 3-4x a year to discuss big life, career, and finance decisions. Benefits: feedback, advice, accountability, raised ambitions, and long-term friendships & working relationships.

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Erik Torenberg@eriktorenberg

CEOs have to repeat mission, vision, values til they're sick to their stomach Musicians have to play most popular songs night after night Some fields have novelty (VC, podcaster) but they're supporting cast If you want to be a star, you gotta play the hits. Over and over again

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Erik Torenberg@eriktorenberg

There are billions of people who’s talents are underutilized. There are people with same IQ, same potential, getting paid 100x more because of where they live. Many unicorns will be built off this “secret”. Look at every job category in the US + ask “does it have to be here?”

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Erik Torenberg@eriktorenberg

Rebrand "family/friends" round as belief capital round and include: - former employers/colleagues/investors - present or future customers - cofounders/employees/advisors Basically, invite anyone who has data on you to put some skin in the game, even if a token amount ($1K-5K)

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Erik Torenberg@eriktorenberg

I wonder why more ppl don't have wikis & how-to-manual about themselves for both professional/personal contexts? e.g topics: - deep bio - mission/values/dreams - failure modes & pet peeves - what makes them happy - communication & conflict style - sense of humor h/t @rajavick

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Erik Torenberg@eriktorenberg

See your career as a product: - Get so good they can't ignore you (10x better product) before doubling down on marketing (networking)& PR (credentials) - When you're younger, take market risk (e.g crypto, VR) When you're older, take execution risk - Nail retention (reputation)

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Erik Torenberg@eriktorenberg

VC paradoxes: VCs don’t like lifestyle businesses with no data moats, except when it comes to VC VCs love markets, but run their biz like central planners VCs don’t like it when there’s some misalignment between partners & end customers, except when it comes to LPs & founders

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Erik Torenberg@eriktorenberg

.@packyM did this — he wrote detailed reports on companies that were so good founders were willing to pay him for it, inclusive of giving him allocation. So now he has an amazing deal flow machine that also makes him money, all built within the last two years.

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Erik Torenberg@eriktorenberg

Ultimately, if your goal is to be a founder, the bigger risk is not that you fail and can't try again b/c of a perceived blemish on your record— It’s that, if you don’t start enough companies, you won't get enough actual shots on goal to actually create an enormous company.

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Erik Torenberg@eriktorenberg

We’re considering launching an On Deck Fellowship-style program for writers—particularly those looking to grow or start a semi-regular newsletter. We’ll help with editing, accountability, and distribution. If you have feedback or interest, let us know.

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Erik Torenberg@eriktorenberg

Aggregated my thoughts on VC in one place: - Structural advantages in VC - Why we need *more* founders & *more* VCs - The case for diversified portfolios & no pro-rata - Venture socialism - How to break into VC - How VC evolved - The future of VC - The role of pre-seed Thread👇

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Erik Torenberg@eriktorenberg

Aspiring founders sometimes think they’ll learn more joining a startup first(mentorship, success models, expertise etc) Maybe! But they underestimate that, as a founder, you can also get great mentors, founder peers, expertise—& skin in the game is a hell of a learning motivator

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Erik Torenberg@eriktorenberg

It's interesting to think of exclusive night clubs as having “reverse network effects” - past a certain point, as more people come, the experience gets worse. What else has reverse network effects? - Elite communities - Conferences - Harvard - Indie artist's fans - Pooled ISAs

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Erik Torenberg@eriktorenberg

.@rabois waited ~15 yrs to find the right team to build Opendoor. Took time to find the right team. Imagine if more great operators would incubate companies? The bottleneck is readily available founding teams. On Deck wants to help--spinning off a search firm for cofounders.

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Erik Torenberg@eriktorenberg

What lessons have you learned re: how to ask great questions? Mine: - Invert (If I was them, what Q would I want to be asked?) - Introduce critique impersonally (“How might you respond to the critique that…) - Have em weave a narrative("How does this fit into your career arc?")

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Erik Torenberg@eriktorenberg

What's your mental model of Twitter? Mine: - External hard drive for thoughts - A place to get instant feedback, a/b test ideas, & learn from other ppl's hunches - Positive feedback loop to be interesting - Bat signal for those who resonate - People search engine - Global brain

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Erik Torenberg@eriktorenberg

1/ Building a Personal Moat in tech for ppl who don’t want to build companies. To reiterate: The cleanest & most direct way to build career capital in tech is to start a successful company. Step 1 - Start company Step 2 - Do whatever you want.

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Erik Torenberg@eriktorenberg

Mental models to describe comedy (add your models too) 1- Comedy is about misdirection 2- Laughing is an adaptive behavior to stay calm under stress & deal w/ pain 3- The logic of comedy can make you a better investor 4- Comedy is a way to introduce new ideas into society

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Erik Torenberg@eriktorenberg

Millions of people would like to attend elite universities— and would pay the steep price to do so. What do elite universities do in response? Create artificial scarcity and then brag about it.

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Erik Torenberg@eriktorenberg

Recruiting lessons learned: Make a list of people you want to work with some day, and then systematically hang around the hoop until the stars align. In fact, build a structure (e.g. a retreat) such that you can catch up w/ these people regularly & introduce them to each other.

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Erik Torenberg@eriktorenberg

Very high-level thoughts on growth: - PM-fit - Product Channel fit - Metrics that matter - Payback over LTV/CAC - What investors mean when they want to know LTV/CAC - Why to avoid paid acq initially if you can - SEO

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Erik Torenberg@eriktorenberg

Many interpersonal problems stem from stupid things people say when they're angry, emotional, hungry, etc. There should be some wearable that alerts you when you're not in a good state to have a conversation, and shows why so you can explain it to the other person.

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Erik Torenberg@eriktorenberg

I'd wager that one's success is inversely proportional to one's tendency to take things other people say or do personally. In other words, not being offended is a super power--and it can be cultivated. related:

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Erik Torenberg@eriktorenberg

What's holding Google, Apple, FB, & co back from starting university competitors--or at least MBA, design, or engineering schools? Seems like they could attract top talent, it'd be great branding, and they'd have the resources to operationalize.

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Erik Torenberg@eriktorenberg

Company retention offerings that aren’t common yet but might be in the future as recruiting war intensifies: - agree to invest in employee’s company if they stay X yrs - scout program so employees can build angel track record on side - equity pooling w other company employees

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Erik Torenberg@eriktorenberg

Request for product: I want to match make my friends. I want an app that creates a seamless experience for my friends to swipe right on each other & then I want credit for making the match. I know lots of people who also want to do this for their friends.

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Erik Torenberg@eriktorenberg

Lots of young ppl are focused on building their own brand which is great, but if they strategically dedicate themselves to building someone else’s brand for ~2 yrs (eg CoS), that could open doors when they go out on their own that wouldn’t exist otherwise—I think some forget that

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Erik Torenberg@eriktorenberg

A riff on positive sum: We’re not wired for abundance—We’re wired for scarcity When we lived in tribes, if someone took your food, or excluded you, you didn't have anywhere else to go It was a zero-sum world Which is why we instinctively feel someone else's gain as our loss

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Erik Torenberg@eriktorenberg

Thread on what to look for in co-founders and how to find them 👇 What to look for in a co-founder? #1 Someone who can help you solve core risks to the biz. Identify core DNA & backfill accordingly. #2 Someone who agrees w/ you on 1st principles of company building

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Erik Torenberg@eriktorenberg

A non obvious way to differentiate as a VC is writing great pass emails detailing what you liked, what you couldn’t get conviction on, and what you or another VC would need to see to invest in the future, while reminding them you’re usually wrong, so take your opinion fwiw.

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Erik Torenberg@eriktorenberg

Some of the big challenges in higher ed👇 - Price is too high & rising - Too much student debt - Too many students dropping out - Too many students underemployed - Credential inflation - Misaligned incentives on multiple levels - Oligopolistic market dynamics prevent competition

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Erik Torenberg@eriktorenberg

ODF is building the next Stanford MBA for founders. We’ll do over $1M in revenue this year, & we’re now re-imagining our curriculum & programming that will help us scale to $10M, and then eventually $100M. If you want to build this with us, reach out to @david__booth & myself.

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Erik Torenberg@eriktorenberg

Labels effectively "acquihire" artists for ~$1m. Surprisingly, if you offer them e.g $200K at $2m valuation, they'll reject b/c they value upfront $ more than equity. So that's why you can't disrupt labels, you need to disrupt how artists think about ownership. h/t @__aston__

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Erik Torenberg@eriktorenberg

MBAs are mostly about the network & credential, since content is commodity Imagine an "MBA" alternative only for people who get *accepted* to a few top schools—but choose not to enroll It'd be the same network & credential b/c same filter, same content—but 90%+ cheaper/no debt

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Erik Torenberg@eriktorenberg

Very high-level summarized thoughts on gaming industry: - How gaming industry has evolved - Network effects in gaming - Rise of livestreamers - Similarities btw eSports & ecommerce - What media can learn from PC gaming Thread👇

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Erik Torenberg@eriktorenberg

What are good frameworks for coming up w/ startup ideas? e.g. - Given skills, expertise, & relationships—where do you have an unfair advantage to build a biz? - Take a core human desire & use tech to remove friction. Consider angles new tech enables - t.co

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Erik Torenberg@eriktorenberg

What are the biggest reasons aspiring founders don’t start companies? B/c they don't have: 1. The right co-founder 2. The right idea 3. Founder community 4. $ to live w/o salary 5. Healthcare 6. Immigration On Deck has been tackling 1-3 We just announced “Runway” to help w/ $

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Erik Torenberg@eriktorenberg

Rolling funds means that big creators w/ loyal tech&biz audiences can become fund managers. @shl raised $5M in a couple weeks w/ a tweet & a zoom webinar. There are probably 100+ people who could raise funds this way, as long as they have an audience who trusts their judgement.

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Erik Torenberg@eriktorenberg

Substack reveals that the writing market is inefficient (some writers are now making 10x what they were at legacy institutions) VC will experience the same thing: value capture will more precisely reflect value creation, & the best investors will make 10x more than they are now.

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Erik Torenberg@eriktorenberg

Why don't more ppl deliberately get accepted into curation businesses (e.g Harvard/Goldman Sachs) w/ intent to leave 6-12mo in? Demonstrates high IQ+rebelliousness Possible that large % of brand benefits accrue from being *accepted* into those programs, not from finishing them

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Erik Torenberg@eriktorenberg

What's a company that, in your opinion, will become the next Craigslist in a sense that it will be unbundled & many billion dollar companies will emerge as a result? For example, some people say this about LinkedIn. I think Twitter is an interesting dark horse candidate here.

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Erik Torenberg@eriktorenberg

For ppl who are contemplating between starting or joining a company or being a VC: Join co if: you want emotional and/or financial stability. Start co if: you want to birth a massive impact & control your destiny. Be a VC: if you want to be more intellectual than hands on.

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Erik Torenberg@eriktorenberg

Some people are great systems thinkers but their models of the world are too neat and thus don’t allow for the messiness inherent to pursuing more emergent endeavors. These people are more often scalers than starters.

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Erik Torenberg@eriktorenberg

If your expertise is brand building & positioning, the biggest arbitrage opportunity for your skills may be winning hearts and minds in spaces that are good for the world but currently controversial. Examples: - Nuclear - ISAs - Homeschool - Charter cities What others?

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Erik Torenberg@eriktorenberg

Minimum Viable Company: The least amount you can do to gain sufficient traction across 3 pillars: Value prop—Solves job-to-be-done w/o excess friction Ecosystem—Can get product in customer’s hands w/o excess friction Business model—Path to positive unit economics over-time

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Erik Torenberg@eriktorenberg

1/ Especially when young, It’s less risky to be a founder than people think (assuming one has no debts or family to take care of— big assumptions). Relative to employees, founders get disproportionate amount of the following: a) Financial upside b) Network upside c) Credit

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Erik Torenberg@eriktorenberg

What’s the Sovereign Individual VC thesis? - Cryptocurrency (decoupling of money & state) - Defense companies (unbundling state monopoly on violence) - Charter cities (markets for governance) - Influencer economy (trust shifting from institutions to individuals) What else?

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Erik Torenberg@eriktorenberg

Strong fundraising signals: - former employers/colleagues want to back you - customers want to back you - employees believe so much they want to invest too Consider giving all of these groups the opportunity to invest, even 1-5K just for the symbolism.

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Erik Torenberg@eriktorenberg

20 yrs ago, a big risk when investing was technical: could the team execute on their roadmap, given resources? Since AWS, the bigger risk became market: it's easy to build, but will anyone want it? Reaching customers, understanding behavior, & rapid iteration became paramount.

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Erik Torenberg@eriktorenberg

Startup investing’s weird bc it takes 10+ yrs to be great—not bc of skills gained but bc of feedback loops You could invest for 3 yrs, be a beginner, go in a coma for 7 yrs, come back & be known as an "expert", despite same level of skill In which other field could this happen?

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Erik Torenberg@eriktorenberg

Who are the best community builders in their field who are also practitioners in their field? For example, who's the best community builder for designers who's also a designer? Same w/ product, sales, VCs—across any position/sector I want to work w/ these ppl over the next yr.

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Erik Torenberg@eriktorenberg

People often focus on building up their network, but they should also focus on reputation. Strong rep w/ small network? Can build network fast. Widely networked w/ poor rep? Funnel w/ leaky bucket. Your network won't work w/ you. Network is distribution. Reputation is product.

Opens with an observation

Erik Torenberg@eriktorenberg

On avg: Younger founders are better at building companies where the differentiators are product, new technologies, understanding emerging consumer behavior among their peers Older founders are better at building companies where the differentiators are expertise & relationships

Opens with an observation

Erik Torenberg@eriktorenberg

Professionally, where you live physically may no longer be more important than where you live digitally Your twitter threads, group chats, & online communities might influence your career more than your longitude & latitude Which means you can live & work anywhere. Game-changer

Opens with an observation

Erik Torenberg@eriktorenberg

It’s interesting how, like a company, a person rising fast can be both overrated & underrated: Overrated in that their current skills do not match the level of their current status, underrated in that their growth rate means they will surpass that level sooner than expected.

Opens with an observation

Erik Torenberg@eriktorenberg

On Deck's mission is to reduce bottlenecks for more people to start companies. We identified the biggest bottlenecks as: 1. Co-founder 2. Idea 3. Founder community 4. $ to live 5. Healthcare 6. Immigration We’ve been tackling #1-4— As of today, We can now do #5 Healthcare too

Opens with an observation

Erik Torenberg@eriktorenberg

Poker is a misleading analogy for VC, b/c it implies an equally distributed deck. A great firm gets pocket aces every time, a bad firm never sees an ace. What's hard isn't knowing how to play pocket aces, it’s building the machine that repeatably gets pocket aces to begin with.

Opens with an observation

Erik Torenberg@eriktorenberg

7/ I posit there are four different types of career loops (or assets): Specialized Knowledge / Skills (“Get So Good They Can’t Ignore You”) Financial Capital ($) Brand / Legibility (ability for your skills/assets to be widely recognizable) Unique Network Access/Strength

Opens with an observation

Erik Torenberg@eriktorenberg

Evolutions/Phases of career advice: Phase 1 - Follow your passion. Phase 2- Follow the intersection of your interests, skillsets, and what the world needs. Phase 3 - Pick Something Rare & Valuable, Use Deliberate Practice and Get So Good They Can’t Ignore You (Cal Newport).

Opens with an observation

Erik Torenberg@eriktorenberg

Unbundling academia: To turn professors into indie educators/thinkers— Academia needs a role model of someone who has gone outside the system D2C and has done more interesting research and/or teaching at a bigger scale b/c of it. In other words, academia needs a Ben Thompson.

Opens with an observation

Erik Torenberg@eriktorenberg

Pre-seed is about proving customer value, not revenue. Consider a restaurant: The KPI to track is not whether customers ate & paid, it’s whether they finished their plates, took some food home, and came back again. (more wisdom from @AliBHamed)

Opens with an observation

Erik Torenberg@eriktorenberg

A predictive model of human behavior: People nearly always act in the interest of increasing their social status. People's beliefs are less arrived at by reason and more by whatever will boost their reputation in the milieu they care about. Where is this wrong or unhelpful?

Opens with an observation

Erik Torenberg@eriktorenberg

Hearing more & more CEOs subtly discourage (but not restrict) employees from having political debates in the office, on productivity & team cohesion grounds. Politics is the mind-killer, the religion-replacement, the opiate of the masses—and polarizes more than any other topic.

Opens with an observation

Erik Torenberg@eriktorenberg

Substack enables writers like Bari Weiss & Andrew Sullivan to leave their jobs and potentially recreate their salary within weeks, and make much more $ over time like Matt Taibbi. There's an opportunity to do the same for professors. We just need to build the infrastructure.

Opens with an observation

Erik Torenberg@eriktorenberg

Consider calling your first ~3-7 employees "founding team": - You might attract better people who have more buy-in - Make sure that they know they're not a co-founder. It's a glorified first employee - Challenge is those ppl get undue moral authority in org if they don't scale

Opens with an observation

Erik Torenberg@eriktorenberg

If you’re a up-and-coming VC trying to build a name for yourself I think there’s a big opportunity in niche podcasting. Make the go-to-podcast for healthcare, VR, DTC—pick any topic. It’ll build your network in that space & you’ll be the first person people think of for deals.

Opens with direct address

Erik Torenberg@eriktorenberg

How "haters" evolve as you advance in your career (one example): "Who are you? You're irrelevant" "So you're good at content or community, but you haven't truly done X, which is the thing we respect around here. You're just on the periphery of it." "Okay, but you're arrogant"

Opens with an observation

Erik Torenberg@eriktorenberg

What to look for in a co-founder? #1 Someone who can help you solve core risks to the biz. Identify core DNA & backfill accordingly. #2 Someone who agrees w/ you on 1st principles (data vs design driven culture, closed vs open ecosystem, similar instincts on ppl). h/t @rabois

Opens with a question

Erik Torenberg@eriktorenberg

Most disruptive VC firm in last 20 yrs? YC. They showed that VC could: - Scale founder support through...other founders (network effects) - Have portfolio diversity & ownership & keep quality high, debunked “spray and pray” - Be a franchise in Warren Buffet sense - Pricing power

Opens with a number

Erik Torenberg@eriktorenberg

On Deck aims to take the bundle that is Stanford—network, credentials, education, etc—and apply it to the entire lifecycle of a person’s career. A place where people explore what they want to do, gain skills & expertise, and make the most meaningful relationships of their lives.

Opens with an observation

Erik Torenberg@eriktorenberg

2/ The main way our society works is through innovation. No innovation, no growth. Govt works sitting at table, everyone compromises, more for you, you, and you etc— This only works when the pie is growing. No economic growth —> gridlock, zero sum game, loser for every winner

Opens with an observation

Erik Torenberg@eriktorenberg

Re: 2020 resolutions: Want to go deep on a topic? Schedule an event teaching it or interview a domain expert. Want to learn a skill? Book a performance of it & invite your friends. Want to publish something? Pre-announce a publishing date. Deadlines serve as skin in the game.

Opens with a number

Erik Torenberg@eriktorenberg

“It's difficult to get him to understand, when his salary depends on his not understanding” "It doesn't matter whether there's evidence for truth if ppl don't have incentive for believing & spreading it" “Institutions will try to preserve problem to which they are the solution”

Opens with an observation

Erik Torenberg@eriktorenberg

IMO, a better way to redistribute $ is to broaden equity ownership to everyone (use Facebook? here's equity) rather than via gov't We underestimate the psychological effects of equity Align everyone on the way up (unity) instead of fighting for scraps on the way down (divide)

Opens with an observation

Erik Torenberg@eriktorenberg

Looking at a very different type of signaling. Consider Nike shoes: Message: I can spend $120 on a pair of shoes. Active life style. Distribution: Wear them in public. Amplification: Get shoes with unique design, or limited edition. What about signaling for digital products?

Opens with an observation

Erik Torenberg@eriktorenberg

There should be a Path-like product but for Twitter—a product that enables you to have a private Twitter for ~150 people. Right now we have group chats and we have Twitter, but little in-between that also maintains the asynchronous, cumulative building block aspects of Twitter.

Opens with an observation

Erik Torenberg@eriktorenberg

Will be interesting to see job-switches become more like fundraising processes— with employees gaining the same leverage founders did as the fundraising market became more efficient "I'm going to take the next 3 weeks to talk to 10 companies—I'll let the market dictate price"

Opens with an observation

Erik Torenberg@eriktorenberg

4/ Applying loops in the context of career: The Q to ask when evaluating career decisions: “What are the things that if you do, today, make it easier for you to have the career opportunities and resources you desire, tomorrow, in a way that compounds and is defensible?”

Opens with an observation

Erik Torenberg@eriktorenberg

If you’re in an MBA program or considering one and want to be founder, consider @beondeck instead. It’s a better network and 100x cheaper.

Opens with direct address

Erik Torenberg@eriktorenberg

Perhaps one reason why early-stage startup valuations continue to rise is we have a shortage of great founders w/ great ideas— & thus we should systematically reduce friction & remove barriers for ppl interested in starting companies Some say "too many founders"--I don't get it

Opens with an observation

Erik Torenberg@eriktorenberg

The first step to increasing the level of happiness in your life is realizing that you can. Happiness is a skill like nutrition and fitness—it’s a skill that you identify and develop until you get better and better at it and it slowly gives you results.

Opens with an observation

Erik Torenberg@eriktorenberg

When I was younger, I believed that the act of me watching a basketball game would make my team more likely to win. Now, with much more wisdom and experience, I know that what is true is in fact the exact opposite.

Opens with a story

Erik Torenberg@eriktorenberg

An underexplored way of forming habits is paying someone you like to to check in & bother you until you do them(exercise, sleep, eat well) There should be a service to cheaply enable this (especially for people struggling w/ mental health) You’ll ignore an app, but not a person

Opens with an observation

Erik Torenberg@eriktorenberg

At universities, we need to not only redefine credentialism, we need to redefine prestige. Who designs policies? Who’s research is most trusted? “Experts.” AKA Professors. Who, no matter how consistently wrong, still retain prestige...because they have prestige. It's circular.

Opens with an observation

Erik Torenberg@eriktorenberg

Do NBA players have any equity ownership in teams (or the NBA)? Could teams offer some (or let them buy in) as a perk to get the best players? I’m surprised players don’t have big ownership stakes (& have salaries capped)—they’re the ones who have leverage b/c they own demand!

Opens with a question

Erik Torenberg@eriktorenberg

Request for Startup: Personal Tokens (Self-IPOs). Income-sharing agreements have been justifiably controversial, but, assuming the downside is capped (no taking equity in people! no debt!), personal tokens could unlock so much human potential--and new types of investments.

Opens with an observation

Erik Torenberg@eriktorenberg

Some of my favorite takeaways & quotes from Mike Maples' interviews 👇 “The thing that I like to assume is every startup idea’s been tried… So, the question is not, Has my idea been tried before? The question is, Is it the right time for my idea to happen?"

Opens with an observation

Erik Torenberg@eriktorenberg

I keep wanting to see a company that offers this: "Look, we're not therapy -- & not trying to be therapy -- but if you want to vent, & you can't afford therapy, we know how to listen, + it's $20/hr" And the listeners are college students, gig-workers, customer service reps, etc

Opens with an observation

Erik Torenberg@eriktorenberg

Develop an owner/founder mentality Most people say, “I’m not the founder. I’m not being paid enough to care.” But you are. The knowledge and skills you gain by developing a founder mentality set you up to be a founder down the line, and it pays you in that sense.

Opens with an observation

Erik Torenberg@eriktorenberg

Never been easier to raise $1-3m micro fund. Just prove you have a differentiated and valuable source of deal flow and then pitch series A firms as LPs (after sending them great deals for a while and building the relationship).

Opens with a "stop doing this"

Erik Torenberg@eriktorenberg

Why is Silicon Valley uniquely positive sum? - You don’t know who’s going to be the next big thing, so you "help down" - Emphasis on equity alignment & angel investing culture - Belief that information advantages decay, & so better to share & get brand benefits rather than hoard

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Erik Torenberg@eriktorenberg

10/ We’ve absorbed it in our perceptions of ourselves too. We used to call it first world and third world. Now we call it developed and developing — the implication behind developed being that there is no more growth to go.

Opens with a number

Erik Torenberg@eriktorenberg

On Deck wants to be Stanford for the internet By Stanford we mean an ecosystem where ppl explore career paths, gain skills to flourish in them,& make the most meaningful relationships of their lives Built w/ internet assumptions, we can serve ppl of all ages, at scale, for life

Opens with an observation

Erik Torenberg@eriktorenberg

On Deck's goals are to help: - Founders start/scale successful companies - Employees improve at their jobs & up-level their careers - Top talent navigate career transitions into & within tech What products/communities/services should we launch in 2022 to accomplish these goals?

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Erik Torenberg@eriktorenberg

Thought experiment: If you were CEO of AngelList, what would your strategy be for maximizing equity value of the business over the next decade? For the sake of the thought experiment, you still own the venture business, the talent business, & Product Hunt under the same umbrella

Opens with a question

Erik Torenberg@eriktorenberg

VC is great at capitalizing on science (developed largely w/ federal funding for last 40 yrs) & then doing last 5 yrs of development to get it to a commercial product We’re not great at picking something without science funding or that'll take 10+ yrs to develop What can we do?

Opens with an observation

Erik Torenberg@eriktorenberg

We didn't have the network liquidity to launch a co-founder search firm a couple years ago, but we do now. Come build a co-founder search firm on top of the On Deck ecosystem—we'll aim to form the teams that build the next great companies together: t.co

Opens with an observation

Erik Torenberg@eriktorenberg

Bring back away/status messages. When I’m taking a walk & want to catch up with a friend, I want to see which of my friends are also up for a chat vs who's busy. Or more broadly It'd be cool to see who also is in the mood to play sports or get food etc.

Opens with an observation

Erik Torenberg@eriktorenberg

When co-founder dating, it's not a marriage until you raise capital. When you decide to team up and start working on something, that's still dating. You can leave whenever, no real damage done. But a seed round is the commitment. Real social cost if you back out after that.

Opens with an observation

Erik Torenberg@eriktorenberg

For founders fundraising: It’s helpful to consider the biggest reasons an investor might *not* invest, and pre-emptively address those reasons. If you’ve solved for them, point to evidence. If you haven’t, point to how you’ll address them, and the moat you’ve built to date.

Opens with an observation

Erik Torenberg@eriktorenberg

When it comes to outlier career success, most mistakes are of omission: not taking enough shots on goal—so take more asymmetric bets. When it comes to interpersonal relationships, most mistakes are of commission: saying something you can't take back—so say less, esp. when angry.

Opens with an observation

Erik Torenberg@eriktorenberg

Company formation tropes are too romantic. e.g: - had an idea they were passionate about or were perfect customer for - knew co-founder since college - wanted to be founder, didn't "stumble" - founder was all-in. No plan B. The implications of these hold aspiring founders back.

Opens with an observation

Erik Torenberg@eriktorenberg

Thrilled to have Sar join to lead On Deck fintech. He’s the perfect archetype for a program director. In fact, we are looking to hire someone like him for every vertical and position— a knowledgeable & give-first community builder passionate about moving the category forward.

Opens with an observation

Erik Torenberg@eriktorenberg

People early in their career often aim to get a few brand names on their resume, but you only need one to prove a level of aptitude/rigor It's also helpful to prove you can commit to one thing for a long period of time. If it’s not a job, ensure it’s a project, a hobby—something

Opens with an observation

Erik Torenberg@eriktorenberg

We’re obsessed w/ optionality: “I don't know what I'm gonna do w/ my life so I’m gonna get a degree” “I don’t know what to do w/ this degree so I'm gonna get a grad degree” “I don't know what to do w/ grad degree so I’m gonna get consulting job to figure out what job I want.”

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Erik Torenberg@eriktorenberg

11/ Different reasons for slow down: Libertarian answer — regulated too much… cost too much to invent new things.. Regulatory problem Liberal answer — invest in education and training scientists and engineers Conservative answer — military arms race that drove innovation

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Erik Torenberg@eriktorenberg

Excited to announce that On Deck (@beondeck) has launched an 8 week fellowship for great people looking to do their next thing - to find co-founders, first hires, & community. (No equity give). Learn more and apply here: t.co

Opens with an announcement

Erik Torenberg@eriktorenberg

The biggest investment/hiring misses are when you have followed or even supported someone for years but lost conviction along the way and then you ended up being wrong and they ended up being immensely successful and you’re like WTF

Opens with an observation

Erik Torenberg@eriktorenberg

If you wanna be in the same “room” as experts but aren’t expert yourself, one back-way in is to be the person that brings the experts together—that creates the “room” That bides you time so you can build expertise to keep your seat at the table, or be re-invited when they switch

Opens with direct address

Erik Torenberg@eriktorenberg

ODF has had 2,000 fellows so far—We're now building services/marketplaces on top of ODF to help founders: - Hiring/cofounder matching - Angel/VC intros - Customer intros - Deck help - Idea maze - GLG We are hiring owners for all the above. Email erik@beondeck.com if that's you.

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Erik Torenberg@eriktorenberg

The All In podcast (@theallinpod) succeeds at being both hilarious & educational. That combination is the new bar. Also, more podcasts should copy the "best friends have frank conversation while also roasting each other" format.

Opens with an observation

Erik Torenberg@eriktorenberg

Companies don’t know how to measure outputs, so they measure inputs instead. Work in a way that your outputs are visible and measurable. If you don’t have accountability, do something different. i.e be in a position where ppl can tell what role you had in a company’s success

Opens with an observation

Erik Torenberg@eriktorenberg

15/ Getting a job in venture capital is partly less about “who you know” and more about “who you’ve helped.” Start creating a personal portfolio of projects that allow you to help others, especially around getting into deals, and you may break into VC. Add any other thoughts.

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Erik Torenberg@eriktorenberg

If you’re going to succeed as a startup, you need to be able to find and hire undiscovered talent. You cannot recruit people who are proven. Why? There will always be large incumbents outbidding you when trying to hire known talented individuals t.co

Opens with direct address

Erik Torenberg@eriktorenberg

The venture firm that most captured where tech startup ethos was going in 2014-2017 was a16z imo. In 2020 and beyond, esp if Warren wins, I think that leader may be Founders Fund (w a16z leading here too) The difference between peace time and war time ethos

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Erik Torenberg@eriktorenberg

Are you considering a job/career transition in early 2022? I’m going to do 20 free 1:1 strategy sessions with people in Dec about their next move—Apply here to be one of them: t.co For people thinking of founding/joining/investing, or leveling up within those.

Opens with a number

Erik Torenberg@eriktorenberg

I'm hiring a "researcher in residence" to work with me closely across projects—deep diving on sectors, trends, & more. To apply & learn more, shoot an email to erik@beondeck.com with your best research or writing. Academics/analysts/writers are good archetypes, tho open-minded.

Opens with an announcement

Erik Torenberg@eriktorenberg

I've been interested in the idea of Founder Schools -- institutions that help founders pick startup ideas, find co-founders, & take the leap. These have been looked down upon, but IMO that's b/c of their execution, not b/c the concept isn't valuable. t.co

Opens with an observation

Erik Torenberg@eriktorenberg

Quoting Vinod Khosla: “The team you build is the company you build” Quoting Patrick Collison: “The reason why the first 10 employees are the most important is every one of those 10 employees is going to replicate him or herself 10 times.

Opens with an observation

Erik Torenberg@eriktorenberg

We also should decrease cultural friction to starting companies: - celebrate starting cos as a thing for ambitious ppl to do globally - see startup failures on resumes as badges of honor instead of blemishes - create communities to find co-founders & founder support(@beondeck)

Opens with an observation

Erik Torenberg@eriktorenberg

On Deck for founders. On Deck founders have raised $80M+ in 8 months from world-class investors. Why pay $200K+ for an MBA at Stanford when you can get a better startup network, education, and credential (for raising money & recruiting) at a fraction of the cost with @beondeck?

Opens with an observation

Erik Torenberg@eriktorenberg

E12 w/ @beffjezos @bayeslord @labenz is up. We discuss: - Unpacking Effective Accelerationism - Effective Accelerationism vs Effective Altruism - AI safety vs AI accelerationism In case you’d like a break from doomscrolling, here’s the anti-doomer take on accelerating AI

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Erik Torenberg@eriktorenberg

What VC tropes do you disagree with? Mine: - Too much $ chasing too few opps - You make your $ on follow-ons - Concentrated portfolios are better for returns (&founders) than broad (e.g YC) - What separates good v great VCs is judgment - VC/founder relationship is a marriage

Opens with an observation

Every post of theirs in the library

Erik Torenberg

What they write about

How they open

Every post of theirs in the library