The NFX Podcast

null This is The Founders' List - audio versions of essays from technology’s most important leaders, selected by the founder community. Amazon's Jeff Bezos announced in February that he was stepping down as CEO of the e-commerce giant later this year. Bezos said he would transition to the executive chair of the company's board of directors and will focus on "new products and early initiatives. This is the letter he sent to all employees at Amazon. “Being the CEO of Amazon is a deep responsibility, and it’s consuming,” Bezos wrote in a letter to employees announcing his role change. “When you have a responsibility like that, it’s hard to put attention on anything else.”

null This is The Founders' List - audio versions of essays from technology’s most important leaders, selected by the founder community. Inside the war rooms of companies locked in the battle for market leadership is an atmosphere of voracious competition. The stakes are high because whoever emerges on top can shape the future of an entire industry. It takes this competitive spirit to drive true innovation at scale, and the reality is that it’s often very cutthroat. Pete Flint (General Partner at NFX) shares 7 key strategies he has identified to help Founders manage a hypercompetitive market and get ahead, including:- Becoming an expert on pricing- Finding and dominating the most profitable market segments- Everything that can be copied, will be copied- Taking the high road with competitors- Using capital as a competitive weapon- Focusing on being uniquely better, not just on being different- Managing your psychology is key Hypercompetitive markets are tricky to navigate, but understanding the dynamics and having the right approach can make a big difference in outcome. Read the full NFX Essay here - https://www.nfx.com/post/hypercompetitive-markets/

null BJ Fogg is an American behavior scientist who is currently an Adjunct Professor at Stanford University and a New York Times best-selling author. He is the founder and director of the Behavior Design Lab. BJ Fogg and James Currier talk to uncover how startup Founders can create better systems, both within themselves and within their companies and communities, so they can level up what we’re doing and put more good into the world. They cover topics like behavior design in tech and tech companies, mindset for Founders, examples of companies doing these things well, and tiny habits for Founders to focus on. Pick up BJ Fogg's popular book here - https://www.amazon.com/Tiny-Habits-Changes-Change-Everything/dp/0358003326 Follow BJ on Twitter - https://twitter.com/bjfogg

null This is The Founders' List - audio versions of essays from technology’s most important leaders, selected by the founder community. In the Summer of 2013, DoorDash had a dream of building a real-time local delivery network for local commerce. This episode is the reading of an internal memo by Sequoia Capital Partner Alfred Lin in 2014 focused on the market and business of DoorDash before their Series A partnership. DoorDash launched in Palo Alto, California in 2013. As of January 2020, it had the largest food delivery market share in the United States. DoorDash held its initial public offering on December 9, 2020.

In this podcast, Carole Robin, an experienced leadership coach and co-founder of Leaders in Tech, discusses topics including seeking help as a founder, the impact of a course on leadership and personal transformation, challenges faced by startup founders, the importance of authenticity and establishing norms within a team, and the value of truth and feedback in leadership.

null Today we’re releasing the B-Side of our conversation with Vitalik Buterin, highlighting what may look strangely different in the coming decades. Here’s what great Founders know that others do not: What seems weird today may actually be signal of an outsized opportunity ahead. Last week, Vitalik and I took a synchronous-but-separate walk together for 3 hours. I was in San Francisco at 4 pm and Vitalik was in Singapore at 8 am the next day, living in the future in more ways than one. Read the full NFX Essay here - https://www.nfx.com/post/vitalik-buterin-the-b-sides/ Read the full NFX essay - https://www.nfx.com/post/vitalik-buterin-the-b-sides/

null Today we’re releasing the “A-Side” of a conversation with Vitalik Buterin, known as the creator of Ethereum and is a force behind much of the crypto movement. Vitalik shares his unique points of view on politics, crypto, Americanism, GameStop, and Wall Street Bets, Tesla, China, privacy, The Revolt of the Public, the decentralization of finance and so much more. But Vitalik is much more than just crypto. He is a close friend with a rare ability to see the present and future in a way few others do. With technology now at the forefront of society, the world is transforming faster than ever — and it’s incumbent on all of us to understand where we are, and where we’re going. Coming soon: The “B-Side” of our talk — the outtakes. The weird stuff. The good stuff you don’t get to hear when someone is on stage, on script, or in the media. Read the full NFX essay - https://www.nfx.com/post/vitalik-buterin-the-a-sides/

null This is The Founders' List - audio versions of essays from technology’s most important leaders, selected by the founder community. Ashley Mayer is the Senior Director of Communications at the beauty company, Glossier. She is also an active startup investor (angel and scout). Ashley previously ran all things Marketing at Social Capital from 2015-2018, where she worked with founders spanning healthcare, aerospace, climate, fintech, enterprise and education.  In this audio essay, Ashley demystifies what goes into building communications strategies from the bottom-up, and why tactics are your friends. "Don’t trust that others will take the time to understand the gravity of your news. Figure out how to signal its importance and timeliness, and let that effort take you in new and exciting directions." Follow her on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ashleymayerFollow her on Medium: https://medium.com/@ashleymayer

null "Doubt what you know, be curious about what you don't, and update your views based on new data." NFX partner Pete Flint recently got together with organizational psychologist and bestselling author Adam Grant to discuss his new book, Think Again, about the counterintuitive and competitive advantages of rethinking. Adam and Pete share the frameworks for:- Rethinking vs. Contrarian Thinking- Techniques from the World’s Best Superforecasters- Jeff Bezos’s 2×2 Decision Framework- The Top Killers of Co-founder Relationships- Why Confident Humility Is A Founder Superpower- & more Read the NFX Essay - https://www.nfx.com/post/anti-patterns-of-10x-thinking/

null Today we're announcing NFX Bio, a new fund initiative led by some of biotech's most successful Founder/CEOs. Our mission is to back seed-stage companies building bio-platforms that solve the biggest challenges facing humanity. NFX Bio is led by Omri Amirav Drory, Ph.D., Founder/CEO of Genome Compiler (acquired by Twist Bioscience). Joining him on the Investment Committee is Emily LeProust, Ph.D., Co-Founder & CEO of Twist Bioscience (TWST - NASDAQ), as well as NFX GP's James Currier and Gigi Levy-Weiss. By combining software/data tech with biology, and by architecting businesses with a platform approach, a whole new future of possibilities is unlocked. Information technology has dominated human progress for forty years. And the next phase is going to be led by Scientist-Founders who build info-tech powered bio companies. The rise of the Scientist-Founder is now. In this closed-door conversation, Omri, Emily, and James break down what they’re looking for, and what Scientists need to master in order to be CEOs. Read the full NFX Essay here - https://www.nfx.com/post/launching-nfx-bio/