Michael Mignano@mignano
Fred Wilson is one of the greatest VCs of all time. He is also my new partner at @USV and I'm lucky to say that. We've known each other for years, but becoming partners felt like a reason to get to know him even better.
So a few weeks ago, we walked around Union Square and caught up about what @fredwilson has learned over nearly 40 years of VC, how AI may be making the profession obsolete, how to build an investment thesis, why he believes the Knicks will win the NBA title this year, and a few of his long held grudges.
Here's a video of that conversation, set at Union Square, Madman Espresso, the USV office, and Leon's on Broadway.
Chapters:
3:22 - That time Fred wrecked Mike on Twitter
6:01 - Pre-Internet VC in NYC
9:50 - Early Internet Investing and Raising for Flatiron Partners
11:59 - The Dot-com Crash Killed Fred’s First Firm
14:28 - Fred’s Grudge Against Coffee Shop
16:35 - How to Pick the Right Team at Right Time
18:28 - AVC blog, Gawker’s Nick Denton, TypePad.com
20:44 - Jim Kramer invented Tweeting
21:46 - Why Fred Bet on Twitter Early
23:39 - Building Agents on Claude Code and Tasklet
26:20 - Claude Mythos and Doomerism
27:27 - The Original USV Thesis
29:19 - Network Effects and Brad’s Thesis
31:29 - Coinbase: Thesis, Investment, Outcome
33:18 - Investing in Decentralized AI
34:59 - Open Source AI
36:55 - AI Kill Zone: Legal AI is Dead, Energy Investments
42:37 - USV Agents Will Replace Its Partners
47:00 - Are VC’s building themselves out of a job?
48:30 - Leon’s, NYC’s New Tech Watering Hole
50:52 - Generative Art
53:18 - SOLIENNE: AI Artist trained by Kristi Coronado
54:25 - What About AI Scares Fred
55:40 - Societal Backlash to AI
58:10 - Advice to Early Career VCs: There’s More Risk in Not Doing Deals
1:00:48 - Fred’s Biggest Regrets: Saying No Because of Price
1:04:17 - Fred’s Bold Prediction for the Knicks and the Mets