I Don't Believe You
w.231 | PreSeed, SaaS benchmarks, Endowments & Privates, Nostalgia, Ponzi Schemes
Dear Friends,
Happy Memorial Day weekend to everyone in the US. Given sunlight extends past 9pm here in the upper Midwest (and we’ve touched 100 degrees in Austin), we can also celebrate the unofficial start of summer.
Today's Contents:
Good Reads: Sensible Investing
Song of the Week: I Don’t Believe You
Good Reads: Sensible Investing
State of Pre-Seed Q1 2024, from Carta. This feels intuitively right to me, and pre-seed founders should take note.
Beyond Benchmarks 2024 from Emergence Capital. Founders ask me for SaaS benchmarks all the time. It doesn’t matter what vertical you are in - education, future of work, whatever - if you are a software company, you will be evaluated using the same metrics across industries. Here are a few to pay attention to:
The University Endowment Train Smash, H/T Michael Billings. Michael highlights:
Erik Renander highlights LPs' potential issues with private market exposures in the near, medium, and long term. I would focus on the second half of the argument, i.e., it’s getting harder to find new bag holders, and valuations are high.
Music, Movies, Entertainment, and Society in General Peaked During the Exact Period When You, the Person Reading This, Were a Teenager. Found on X.com, but it was picked from the WaPo.
Song of the Week: I Don’t Believe You
Video on YouTube.
I love this song. Always have.
It’s a good song to share this week as I have recently been reminded that Ponzi schemes are reputation Ponzi schemes - that you believed the information you’ve been given or the person you’ve been introduced to because you trusted the source who introduced you to them.
“I Don’t Believe You” delves into themes of skepticism and the difficulty of trusting others, especially in matters of the heart. The lyrics convey a sense of weariness and disillusionment, suggesting that the speaker has possibly been hurt in the past and is now guarded.
“I Don’t Believe You” by The Magnetic Fields
You tell me I'm not not cute
Its truth or falsity is moot
Cause honesty's not your strong suit
And I don't believe you
I don't believe youSelfie of the Week
I was recently at a conference in Arizona and got to spend a bit of time admiring the cacti.
Thanks for reading, friends. Please always be in touch.
As always,
Katelyn