Paul Allen’s Post

𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐞𝐫 𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐔𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝐍𝐞𝐰 𝐘𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐰 𝐔𝐛𝐞𝐫'𝐬 𝐍𝐞𝐰 𝐘𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐚 𝐛𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 $3 billion, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐮𝐫 𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐝𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 $1 million 𝐀𝐑𝐑. What started as a learn-to-code project for Josh Mohrer has evolved into a thriving business. As the founder and sole employee of Wave: AI Note Taker for iOS, he's responsible for both the business operations and engineering, having coded 100% of the app himself. Wave AI Note Taker on iOS is a smart audio recorder that creates summaries from audio recordings, be it a meeting, phone call, doctors appointment, brain-dump, or even a rabbi's sermon. During his 5-year tenure leading Uber's New York business, Josh grew it from inception to a multi-billion dollar operation. After subsequent roles as an operator and VC, he decided to learn coding and create software about a year ago. In a sea of AI apps, Wave is one of those, “Why didn’t I think of this?” ideas that just makes sense when you use it. Its simplicity and value are obvious. Basically, any time you'd like a notetaker present, Wave seems to do the trick. The app's success is reflected in the numbers: - $1MM in annual recurring revenue - Over 4,000 active subscribers - Nearly 1,000 reviews with a 4.9 rating Users praise Wave for its simplicity and effectiveness, saying it does a specific, useful function really well. Josh says he's enjoyed learning to code, running the different parts of the business, and working at his preferred pace. His journey is inspiring, and shows the potential for experienced pros to pivot into new forms of entrepreneurship successfully. You can connect with Josh Mohrer here or visit wave.co (Get Josh's full story by subscribing to Tribe here, or visiting my profile) Elena Itskovich, PhD Yoel Israel Janel Moses Jordan Star Jason Foodman #innovation #startups

Performance reviews are problematic, yet most companies are unable or unwilling to change, and new vendors that don't offer radically better solutions. There's lots of evidence traditional performance reviews are broken: - 95% of managers think performance reviews are a waste of time. - Studies show traditional reviews make performance worse 1/3 of the time. - Most HR execs. think they're a waste of time. Potential solutions include: - right-sizing reporting so managers have bandwidth to set meaningful goals - allowing as-needed coaching to replace traditional reviews - a culture of radical candor - no more ratings and forms How is your organization fixing performance reviews? #hr

Huge thanks to Tribe member company Wizco for making their powerful interview training tech available to hundreds of job seekers via Tribe’s jobs group. I’m typically not a big fan of these sort of things, but this tech is shockingly effective in preparing job candidates for specific roles at particular companies. Powerful example of how #ai can be applied to tackle a specific problem/opportunity. #hr

Over the past 15 years there's been an alarming trend in VC's and accelerator leaders having little or no operating experience. Why? Probably ZIRP and negligence on the part of LP's. Think about the top performing VC firms and accelerators. Who's running them? It's operators with at least a few startups under their belt. Operators that have done hard things, not just observed them. If you were having brain surgery next week, do you want a surgeon with 25 years experience, or someone that's watched a bunch of Youtube videos? If you're considering taking investment or joining an accelerator, it's worth an honest appraisal of who you'll be working with.

𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞, 𝐈 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐞𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐞 𝐒𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐨𝐧 𝐕𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐲 𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐝, 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 Norman Winarsky – 𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐥 𝐢𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫, 𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐮𝐫, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 Stanford University Graduate School of Business 𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐫. Norman's journey is nothing short of remarkable... Born in New Jersey to Ukrainian and German Jewish immigrants from Odessa, Kiev, and Prague, Norman faced adversity early on. At 16 years old, he lost his father to a heart attack, and shortly after, his father’s business collapsed, leaving them destitute. He applied to college as a junior in high school, and was given a scholarship at Case Western. The next year he transferred to the University of Chicago, where he received a full scholarship. Norman's determination paid off when he was awarded a National Science Foundation Fellowship to attend grad school. He chose to go to Princeton University, but all graduate school deferments for military service were eliminated at that time -- and his lottery number was 74, so he was likely to go to Vietnam. However, the University of Chicago accepted him in graduate school and simultaneously made him a faculty member, enabling his military service to be deferred. Norman's academic achievements are equally impressive. He earned a Ph.D. in Mathematics from the University of Chicago in 1974, where he was a National Science Foundation Fellow. He joined RCA Labs in '75, and his work on electron trajectories in picture tubes earned him the prestigious Sarnoff Award in 1984. In 1987 RCA Labs became part of Stanford Research Institute (SRI), where he became a VP of Math and Computer Science. In 2001, Norman moved to California to join SRI in Menlo Park, where he was responsible for licensing, spin-offs, and establishing SRI's venture process. He co-founded Siri, which was later acquired by Apple in 2010, and over his career was involved in creating 70+ ventures. His contributions to HDTV have been recognized with an Emmy Award. Norman continues to share his knowledge as a Lecturer at Stanford and a strategic advisor to several startups. He's the author of the book "If You Really Want to Change the World: A Guide to Creating, Building, and Sustaining Breakthrough Ventures, published by Harvard Press." Three exciting new ventures that Norman is currently involved with include: 1. A startup that's reinventing agriculture using autonomous robotics and AI transformer models, solar power systems, and advanced farming capabilities to increase yields by 30% and reduce pesticides by 90%. 2. Kagi.ai – improved paid search engine with no ads. 3. NextSense, Inc – an in-ear EEG device that reads brain waves and uses generative AI to detect depression, seizures, monitor drug impact, and sleep changes. More investor profiles in coming weeks. Get the full story by subscribing to Tribe

I’ve cut my use of Google in more than half since I started using Perplexity. What makes conversational #AI so compelling, in addition to its ability to quickly synthesize vast amounts of info, is the same thing that once made Google so amazing: simplicity and lack of ads. Not having to wade through paid ads and websites with inferior content that have been SEO optimized to rank high, is priceless. It’s hard to conceive that Google missed this huge opportunity.

Very few startup workers have the ability, stomach or risk tolerance to build something from nothing. What’s happened over the past 20 years in venture is gradual grade inflation in which low interest rates drove extreme amounts of cash into startups and venture funds, which in turn overhired lots of non entrepreneurial workers. We’re now seeing the early innings of a massive extermination event of venture capital firms and startups. The survivors of this mass extermination will be the old crowd of founders, workers and investors that still remember the fundamental concept of entrepreneurship: the importance of creating something valuable out of nothing. 🌱

As my son says, his “fit is dripping.” Given the corruption on both sides of the aisle in #WashingtonDC, I hope his colleagues take this as the middle finger he intends. FYI, yes the tie is wrapped around his bare neck.

“No business plan survives first contact with customers.” ~ Steve Blank “Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face.” ~ Mike Tyson