chintu parikh

reflecting: it’s so much easier to discuss non-traditional (aka “crazy”) VC investment strategies with 15 yrs of data / 2,000+ co’s in the rear view mirror. back in 2008-10, i spoke with hundreds of (smart & experienced) VCs & LPs who said i was insane… and when I said the firm name was going to be called “500 Startups” (thx for that domain @hnshah 🙏🏼❤️) they literally laughed in my fucking face. fundraising was hell for many years because nobody thought it made any goddamn sense (and tbh, i was scared shitless it might not work). even after we were on our 3rd fund and >1,000 investments, ppl still thought we were crazy and it wouldn’t work. but i was very lucky a few folks gave us a shot in the early days (@foundersfund @Redpoint @accel @bluerunventures @JoshKopelman @pmarca @mkapor @fredwilson @marcusogawa among many others)… the checks were small but they were enough to get started, and we never looked back. today i have a lot of sympathy for rookie VCs and founders aspiring to try out their “crazy investing ideas” — especially in such a tough market, altho 2009-10 was pretty similar in a lot of ways. it’s a GIANT pain in the ass starting a company or a VC fund, and it takes a lot of support and believers, AND a lot of hard work & persistence. and even then, many many times we will fail. and try again. and fail again. and try again. and fail again. but i want to let people know — keep working on your crazy ideas! because one time, a few times, sometimes… you will SUCCEED. and that makes all that failure and doubt and persistence worthwhile. youtu.be/mtftHaK9tYY

The average startup launches a bunch of features for a bunch of use cases to appeal to many possible users. The Sharp Startup focuses on a few killer features for the most valuable use case of the most desperate customer segment. Which do you think wins? Go Sharp.

Absolutely delightful @ml4all speakers dinner and welcome reception. The reception speakers were so inspiring. The comedians were hilarious. And now we're listening to a wonderful music band. The conference is to an amazing start!

📢 We're thrilled to announce that AI4ALL Open Learning is launching today in beta! This free, online AI education program for high schoolers gives you the tools to solve problems you care about using AI. Check out the program here: olp.ai-4-all.org

3 years ago MIT grad student Katie Bouman led the creation of a new algorithm to produce the first-ever image of a black hole. Today, that image was released. More info: bit.ly/BHoleGuardian 2016 story: bit.ly/BlackHoleCSAIL #EHTblackhole #EventHorizonTelescope

The best relationships are peer relationships. When given power over others, our ego justifies it by assuming we are smarter. Better to have people work with us than for us. Better motivated on the wrong thing than unmotivated on the right thing. Debate rather than dictate.

Nice surprise from ⁦@WomenWhoCode⁩

In Oslo today, the host asked if I would like to play an exhibition match with Magnus Carlsen here in Norway. I told him no, I’ve grown old, not senile!

My answer to @BenedictEvans about why Tesla is special. Since @elonmusk gave me the first ride in the first Tesla all so many years ago I think it's useful to go all the way back to the beginning. How did Elon sell me, and others, on Tesla?