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< Archive / 2018

March, 2018

Not taking VC for the wrong reasons

I come from open source communities and bootstrapped my first startup for the first few years. I've also been heavily involved in the ethics of data collection and the implications of high-growth models. Although I am one today (albeit at what I consider to be an ethican firm), I understand ...
March 22, 2018

A backdoor to democracy

In 2001, I built viral personality tests that for a while were the most  shared content online. In 2016, this same mechanism was used as a backdoor to democracy. I wrote a piece over on Medium about how Cambridge Analytica created psychographic profiles for 50 million users: Elections have become information warfare ...
March 17, 2018

A day in the life of an engineer turned investor

When I talk to former colleagues about my life at Matter, and in particular how much of my day I spend talking to people. As an engineer, maybe I had three meetings a week; these days it's often eight a day. And I love it: as a former founder, I'm excited to meet ...
March 14, 2018

The GNU Peaceful General Public License

I've been thinking a little bit about repurposing of software. One line I've always said I won't cross - inspired by one of the original investors in Elgg, who said the same thing - is that I won't build software that will be used directly or indirectly to kill people. That ...
March 8, 2018

How we run the Matter application process using Typeform, AirTable, Zapier and Slack

Applications for Matter Nine are open. It's my job - together with my New York City counterpart, Josh Lucido - to run the process, source candidates, and find the twelve teams that will walk through our San Francisco garage door on August 13. We get many hundreds of applications for every class, which almost all arrive via ...
March 7, 2018

Blogging and newsletters

I'm doing a lot more writing on my own blog this year. Writing has always helped me think through a problem space and socialize ideas; it's a good way to get feedback on something you're thinking about early. Unlike an article or a project, a blog is deliberately imperfect, and it ...
March 6, 2018