Thursdays at Abnormal Returns are all about startup and venture capital links. You can check out last week’s links including a look at which VCs have been most successful at identifying unicorns.
Quote of the Day
"Data is fundamental to many software companies’ product strategies, and there are ways it can contribute to defensibility — but don’t rely on it as a magic wand."
(Martin Casado and Peter Lauten)
WeWork
- WeWork is not shy about losing money. (axios.com)
- Has WeWork built up an economic moat? (fnlondon.com)
- WeWork wants to become its own landlord. (bloomberg.com)
Uber lore
- The story behind Mark Suster passing on Uber ($UBER) at the seed stage. (ft.com)
- A look at Uber's original pitchdeck. (forbes.com)
Companies
- Mailchimp has grown into a full-blown marketing platform. (techcrunch.com)
- NextDoor, the Facebook for neighborhoods, is now a double Unicorn. (venturebeat.com)
- Impossible Foods just went double-Unicorn. (ft.com)
- Luggage maker Away is expanding its product reach. (wsj.com)
- Softbank Vision is investing $750 million in UK alternative lender Greensill. (institutionalinvestor.com)
Venture capital
- There have been three major fundraising shifts in 2019. (tomtunguz.com)
- Funding for micro-VC funds has quadrupled over the past decade. (institutionalinvestor.com)
- Life360 chose to go public in Australia instead of taking additional US VC. (cnbc.com)
- Platforming is the new must-have for VCs. (forbes.com)
Diversity
- A talk with Julian Guthrie author of the new book "Alpha Girls: The Women Upstarts Who Took On Silicon Valley’s Male Culture and Made the Deals of a Lifetime." (theirrelevantinvestor.com)
- How a propensity to network affects male and female entrepreneurs. (papers.ssrn.com)
Startups
- How to measure SaaS sales efficiency. (tomtunguz.com)
- Connection is the next great business opportunity. (vox.com)
- A great way to learn about doing a startup is to work at one first. (venturebeat.com)
- Should you get an executive coach? (pointsandfigures.com)
- Co-working spaces are no longer just for tech bros. (latimes.com)
- 150 apps driving the gig economy. (visualcapitalist.com)
