John Kells

@lukechch Even when you’re smashing it, the cadence of punches won’t end, they’ll just land on different parts of the body…keep thriving mate!

Thriving while getting punched in the face day after day for years is a rare skill.

@samelliottsam @davidu Accurate

@davidu It would probably be hard for any American to understand. Completely different attitude to work.

What's happening in France is so embarrassing for them. People start work later, live longer, and are fully capable of working longer (and often want to). Moving the retirement age from 62 to 64 is not enough, but enough to spark outrage. Am I missing anything?

@johnhenderson @airtreevc Always, mate! You got me there. Lol!

@JohnKells11 @airtreevc Do I still get to coinvest with GD1 if I move back to AirTree on April 2?

@StephNass If this can be done in the US: Use the equity in the house to borrow the deposit and the rest of the mortgage to buy a new house. Rent the house out to service the mortgage. Take capital gains for no money down (2x return in 10 yrs). Invest the savings in index funds and crypto.

Hey Money Twitter! You have $5k/mo of available income at 30 yo. Married, house paid off, all expenses covered, $60k of fuck you money stashed away BUT zero other assets. How do you invest your $5k/mo? (asking for a friend, obv 😭)

@MZHmmer @dickiebush Crazy good, right?!

Looking for travel spots for 2023. What is the best place you traveled this year? Bonus points for including a picture.

@jebraat @dickiebush Boom, you take it!

@dickiebush Milford Sounds, New Zealand

@soumikaswad @jasonlk Are you considering an alternative?

@jasonlk Click up. Project management App

What apps have you cancelled this year (i.e., that you didn't find enough value to keep paying for)?

@carolinecasson_ I think you’re searching in the wrong place. Everyone has a different concept of what work/life balance is - it’s up to you to determine what’s important. Even that’s likely to change over time.

VCs and founders with kids - is a 9 hour workday possible? How do you prioritize so that you still spend quality time with your kids? 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦

@MarioIsmailanji @Product_J @AsiaEconInfo @micahjay1 You make a good point, but it’s the perspective of the VC to determine whether the valn is fair (and can be exited in an orderly fashion at that price). Unfortunately that scenario can’t be tested like listed markets.

@Product_J @AsiaEconInfo @JohnKells11 @micahjay1 That same idea means that nothing is stopping a startup’s valuation to drop 80% and then go back up with the market. If you couldn’t offload that investment to someone for that valuation, then it does not deserve that valuation. Measurement issues =/= stable valuations

Hedge fund friend at dinner last night said "my book is down 80% and all my VCs marks haven't moved ... sounds fishy."

@gibsonchiang @rrhoover That’s the one - focuses more at the growth stage given the size of their funds.

@JohnKells11 @rrhoover @gibsonchiang Insight you are refer to Insight partners right? Been impressed by Insight partner doing in the Tech/SaaS investing...very sharp VC firm with great insight and output..

Are you an LP in any venture funds? Which ones? (I’m curious how willing people are to share here)

@mobileperret @galeforceVC Don’t think that’s correct. 2.5x prefs mean $250k. Depends also on a whole bunch of other stuff (shareholdings, entry valuation, etc). If they raise, prefs stay prefs (but typically rank below the new prefs that sit on the cap stack).

just talked with a founder - liked a lot about the business & deal except that the lead investor gave them a 2.5x liq pref at seed stage 👎

@jasonlk @HarryStebbings Could taking a longer term haircut on VC valuations have an impact of LP staff bonuses? Second guess, LPs could also look at their more stable VC valuations to reduce the volatility of their overall assets (such as pension schemes with listed equities, commodities, etc)?

@HarryStebbings I thought that as well. But more top-tier LPs I’ve talked to have different views on early stage and smaller funds vs multistage vehicles.

A massive problem right now is venture managers are not marking down their books to reflect the true value of their portfolios. As a result, their heavy weighting remains in LP budgets and prevents new allocations for LPs. Managers, build trust, adjust your book value.

@rrhoover Apart from making smart investment decisions, an important part of being a successful VC is having the ability to sell well - to founders, LPs, service providers, other VCs, etc. if you can’t then it makes your job a whole lot harder.

@JohnKells11 Nice! What was your biggest learning?

@rrhoover For emerging VCs, consistent and reasonably regular communications (not only focusing on the good stuff) with LPs is critical. If you want them to support you over numerous funds then you can’t cut corners on this.

@Samirkaji What on earth were we doing before that?

2021 Everyone became a VC 2022 All VC's became macro-economists

@AshleyHenkel @proetrie Brings back some serious memories (most forgotten) from my 20s working for a hedge fund in London. Now a VC in NZ - completely different life now….

@proetrie London also next level (banking). Still recovering from my 20s: Tue for Boujis, choice of Mahiki, Movida, or Amika until Fri which was Cuckoo followed by L’Equipe Anglaise & breakfast, with a relaxed meal (Nobu, BBB…) on Saturday. All while working 10+ hr days. Happily retired.

@galeforceVC Been both an LP (8 years Pension Scheme) and a now a GP (5 years+ VC). LP lesson - work hard to communicate and build close, transparent, trusting relationships with your GPs GP lesson - work hard to communicate and build close, transparent, trusting relationships with your LPs

What is your biggest lesson learned as an angel, GP, or LP??