Matt Logan

𝐂𝐎𝐏𝐏𝐄𝐑 𝐎𝐍𝐄 𝟎𝟒.𝟐𝟕.𝟐𝟔

There’s a quiet exodus happening of some of the smartest non-partners from VC funds. Anecdotally, I’ve counted 20+ friends who’ve been in venture for years leave in the past 6 months, and mostly for operating roles. The feedback is consistent: 1. Building an enduring VC career requires a track record, which requires deal volume. At many funds, the best non-partners are doing ~1 deal/year max. In early stage, where feedback loops take years, that’s just not enough reps. 2. Companies are better funded than ever. Seed rounds for consensus teams are $10M+. Operators can often get paid the same, if not more, with a clearer path to liquidity than the ambiguity of carry ever showing up down line. 3. Tons of category-defining tech companies are forming in this cycle, and it is easy to spot which are being king-made. As technologists, some feel it’s hard to sit on the sidelines while the next wave gets built. ___ As someone who genuinely loves his job and wants to build a long-term career in venture, this isn’t a knock on the industry. But the risk/reward calculus does seem to be shifting.

The term “Neo Prime” really took off with Anduril Industries few years ago. The pitch was simple. Not a “legacy prime.” Cheaper. Faster. More attritable. Autonomous. Software first. The how was usually hand wavy. Vertical integration plus vibes. And a slide pointing at SpaceX as proof it could be done. Fast forward a few years and the real question shows up. How do Neo Primes actually make things. Vertical integration works if you ship one to five products. It breaks when you need real diversity of designs, volumes, and variants. That’s where the next term shows up. Neo Tier 1. A Tier 1 supplier that is faster, cheaper, robotically enabled, autonomy native, and software defined. Neo supplier for Neo OEM. That’s the next deep tech wave. The primes won’t disappear. But the leverage moves downstream.

I will be pushing for a moratorium on the construction of data centers that are powering the unregulated sprint to develop & deploy AI. The moratorium will give democracy a chance to catch up, and ensure that the benefits of technology work for all of us, not just the 1%.