Rehab
w.186 | Mental Illness, Trend Lines, Softbank, LPs & GPs, National Debt Ceiling, ETCH
Dear Friends,
My mantra this week has been “don’t over think it. Simple as it sounds, I’d say has yielded strong early results.
For those of us playing the active investing game professionally, we are getting paid to critically think and act accordingly. But over-thinking is a real risk, too.
So, this week, we are keeping it simple.
Today's Contents:
Good Reads: Sensible Investing
Song of the Week: Rehab
Good Reads: Sensible Investing
Softbank Reports $6Bn Loss Driven by The Vision Fund. Son skipped the earnings call after results for the first time on record, leaving his chief financial officer to field questions.
Yikes. Son skipping the call is such a cowardly move. I’ve been referencing the losses to founders who still have comparables in their slide decks to companies valued and supported by Vision Fund money. This era is over. Did it ever make sense? Will it ever make sense again? I’m not going to bet on it.
The Tweet Thread Most of the Venture Industry Is Discussing This Week.
IMO: It just is what it is. We will see how it unfolds. It’s not a game that I played. It’s not a game that I’m playing. The LP game is its own beast, and everyone is always allowed to be an independent thinker.
The New Gatekeepers: Ben Evans Releases Annual Presentation. This is always worth spending time on. Highly recommend. The chart below is the best summary.
Per last week on Adani. Here is a video with a balanced perspective from Aswath Damodaran, who is always worth listening to. H/T Aashay Mody.
Rather than call it a "big con", I am inclined to believe that this is a company that is exploiting the seams and weaknesses in the India story, from the obsessive focus on control in many of its family groups to the inertia and indifferences at institutions to misplaced priorities at regulators to the dominance of bullish momentum-based trading in markets. I close with a valuation of Adani Enterprises, the Group's holding company, and find it over valued, even after the mark down in prices last week.
Over the last couple of months, EdTech Thoughts, a weekly newsletter written by Matt Tower, has become a must-read for me. This morning, I became a founding member of a new publication that Matt has launched for quarterly updates on several publicly traded EdTech companies. He also is launching a jobs board.
When it comes to EdTech investments, sometimes we agree. Sometimes we don’t agree. Many times we don’t invest in the same deals. But the conversation is always smart, thoughtful, and comprehensive. Matt talks to everyone, and I’m excited to see him take this step. There is a clear game in the market.
I’m a subscriber, a supporter, and a friend.
Here to sign up.
Song of the Week: Rehab
Here on YouTube.
Back to Black is, obviously, the best Amy song, but that’s not what it’s about this week.
It’s the first anniversary of my neighbor (and coincidently EdTech Founder) in New York City, Joe, suffering from a manic episode that resulted in a significant involuntary rehab. I’m sharing this because Joe wrote about it this week on his blog, and it was a pretty public incident (he had his company send out push notifications to hundreds of thousands of college students).
I’m amplifying his message to destigmatize mental illness and seek help.
I had met Joe in our building only a few months before. It was clear immediately that he was brilliant, driven, and technical. It was also obvious that he was personally struggling and making bad decisions.
Regardless, I joined the informal advisory group of Coursicle, and I talked to him on my couch and over text message. I believe one of the most critical societal roles of angel investors and venture capitalists is to help those who see the potential of the way the world could be different and better through the good and the bad times. The line between genius and mental illness can be surprisingly thin.
When talking to Joe before he received formal help, I shared the sentiment below that I offer to anyone on this email or in this orbit.
If you ever have terribly negative thoughts, urges, and feelings. My door is right here.
It doesn’t matter if it’s 2 am or it’s 4 am. Yes, I’ll be dazed, confused, and incoherent.
But, I’d rather have a late-night cup of tea than wake up to see you being rolled out in a body bag.
Joe got help. He and his company are doing super now. I’m grateful to have a trusted neighbor as a part-time resident. I’m proud of him for sharing his story.
If only we could say the same about Amy.
“Rehab” by Amy Winehouse
They tried to make me go to Rehab
But I said no, no, no
Yes I've been black, but when I come back
You'll know, know, know
I ain't got the time
And if my daddy thinks I'm fine
They tried to make me go to Rehab
But I won't go, go, go
Selfie of the Week
This is an old picture from when I got new headshots made, but this is all I got. Thank you, Alex. If you are looking for refreshed headshots in NYC, I recommend him :)
Thanks for reading, friends. Please always be in touch.
As always,
Katelyn