When you are driven, you can bend the world to your will. You can make things happen, whether they should happen or not. It took me many years to realize the difference. In 2012, after leaving OLX, I gave away all my possessions and set out as a nomad. My dream was to create an off-grid sanctuary, a place for friends, family, founders, and seekers to gather, to imagine, to live differently. At first, I chose Cabarete in the Dominican Republic. On paper, it was perfect. In reality, the universe was already whispering otherwise. Corruption was relentless. Bribes at every

Friends of FJ Labs, This quarter was underscored by tremendous momentum from a number of our breakout portfolio companies. We are incredibly excited by these developments and seeing our winners … Continue reading “”

We spend so much of life trying to be other people’s idea of who we should be. We bend ourselves into shapes that fit expectation, comparison, judgment. Yet the deeper truth is that freedom comes not from meeting those demands, but from finally stepping fully into the shape of ourselves. This is the praise we rarely give: not to success, not to appearances, but to the quiet, unrepeatable miracle of being who we already are. The Discovery of Difference A decade ago, I stumbled into an unexpected revelation: I have aphantasia. I cannot visualize with my mind’s eye. When guided

I was not contemplating writing a post on the meaning of life, but repeated recent interactions and the depressing take of a few dystopian post-scarcity novels compelled me to articulate my thoughts. Nihilism I have been receiving messages like the following: “I’ve been reading your blog for a while, and I love that you have original ideas instead of recycling mainstream, “normie” talk. I wanted to ask: what keeps you motivated to do everything that you do? Do you believe in a universal meaning or purpose to life? How do you overcome nihilism and stay optimistic about the future of

Friends of FJ Labs, Fabrice and team put out a ton of amazing content this quarter which we encourage you to check out if you haven’t already. It was also … Continue reading “”

In this episode of World of DaaS, Auren and I discuss: 1. Investing Philosophy and Strategy Fabrice Grinda, founder of FJ Labs, has invested in over 1,200 startups through a … Continue reading “”

The venture market is in flux. AI is booming while the rest of venture is in the dumps. Venture capital as an asset class is evolving and retrenching. Fewer deals … Continue reading “”

I had an engaging fireside chat with Dhruv Sharma, CEO of AngeList India, for Offline. Offline is a private members’ community for leading entrepreneurs in South Asia. It was a … Continue reading “”

Clutch has had an incredible ride. As the “Carvana of Canada” it was a highflier in 2021. It had a brush with death in 2023 and effected an incredible turnaround. … Continue reading “”

I didn’t expect to love this book. I picked up Dungeon Crawler Carl during a weekend wind-down thinking it’d be another throwaway LitRPG romp. What I got instead was a … Continue reading “”

As I was having conversations with marketplace founders about AI over the last few months, I felt that most founders were focusing on the wrong aspects of AI. 1. People’s … Continue reading “”

💰 Why IRR is being gamed & secondaries are the new exits📉 The LP crisis: what happens if liquidity do not return?🛑 Why AI investing is worse than 2021🌎 Should … Continue reading “”

I had not done an Ask Me Anything session in over a year which led to many questions on a wide variety of topics: macro, marketplaces, AI, fundraising, wealth management, … Continue reading “”

Friends of FJ Labs, We started off 2025 with a bang, with several exciting developments, markups, and exits in the portfolio. Ultimately, we believe the recent market turbulence has little … Continue reading “”

What drives the world’s top founders to succeed—against all odds? Petter Made asked me to draw from over 1,200 startup investments, and decades of entrepreneurial experience, to unpack the essential … Continue reading “”