Wow mindblown by @Apple. my AirPods just survived a full 2hr hot heavy duty extra rinse wash cycle in the washing machine, still works perfectly fine 🤯

Consumer investors are a dying breed.

VC funding in consumer companies plunged from ~30% of global venture dollars in 2014 to just ~6% in 2024.

Yet fundamental human needs haven’t changed.

Massive opportunities exist, and AI has reignited excitement to build hyper-personalized experiences.

Scandinavian founders have created some of the world's most defining companies (Linux, Databricks, Spotify, Minecraft, Oura, Cursor, list goes on) thanks to hotbeds of talent at universities like Aalto University and KTH Royal Institute of Technology. Fun to host this group at Menlo Ventures!

People think @alexhonnold.bsky.social has a broken fear response to achieve the impossible, but it’s thousands of hours of prep.

The only way to tell the difference between well-founded fear and irrational nervousness is experience and exposure

@amytongwu.bsky.social at @MenloVentures CEO summit

I got engaged and the @rhobusiness team same day sent flowers. That level of care is how they put themselves on the map so quickly as an up-and-coming startup banking platform
@TarlonKhoubyari @JasonGrohowski @justinwolz @PartenDrewL

Life update 🚨

8 months after I went viral for supporting my YC boyfriend, he proposed this past weekend by bringing together a hundred of our friends and family to surprise me with a standup comedy show (that I had to perform in).

The new consumer go-to-market playbook is being written in real time. At our GTM panel, leaders from Midjourney, Bumble Inc., and Status broke down what’s actually working to build, grow, and retain millions of users.

The IRS expects over $500B in missing funds - more than 10% of tax receipts - as ppl skip filing after IRS began layoffs cutting 20k staffers, 25% of the total workforce.

AI is no longer just assisting developers. It's quietly rebuilding the entire software stack. Top takeaways from a packed fireside chat with Adam Wolff of Claude Code and Merrill Lutsky CEO of Graphite.

The best founders are not interested in your happy hours.

An investor's real value add comes from being a partner in recruiting, sales & strategy.

I also firmly believe there's value in building community w/ like-minded founders.

Fun to be ft. for the creative ways I like to bring ppl together

This is what AI customer service should feel like - instantaneous, personalized, and specific.

It knew my details, preemptively answered follow-up questions, showed me how to self-serve.

Did Bilt build this or is it off the shelf? Well done.

I’m going to be out of a job in a year.

I hosted the first hackathon for VCs at Menlo Ventures where VCs code and founders judge. With AI coding tools, we were able to build systems that automate away most of my job in 3 hours.

What I learned at CES today:
- 5 families control 70% of Korea’s GDP
- Their skincare technology is unmatched, bringing medical-grade therapies into the home for cosmetic purposes
- San Francisco is the #1 most livable city for seniors