I've been spending a lot of time on "proprietary intermediary" lately - building out my database of intermediaries to ping once a month. Themes I've heard from investors in the last few months: 1. A surprisingly high % of traditional search deals have come from intermediaries,

The Future of Software: Insights into AI-First Design Patterns from WWDC 2024x thewildechronicle.substack.com/p/the-future-o…

My email deliverability has been steady, but my open rates are way down. Anecdotally, emails that I send to friends from my high-volume domain go to spam. Does anyone know people who consult on email deliverability? I could use a checkup. Links welcome as well.

Stanford just released the 2024 search fund study. My highlights: 1. The number of funds launched in ‘23 is up: 94 vs 62. I still feel this is small relative to supply of quality businesses for sale 2. 57% of searchers didn’t acquire or lost money in the business they

Email deliverability has gone from a thorn in my side to a full on dumpster fire. I dislike putting so much of my time into something that does not feel "core" to the search, but having email ramp down makes me realize how effective it is in generating leads / conversations.

Today was almost entirely spent on email deliverability. In the past, searchers were able to focus on email automation and copy. After some changes by Microsoft and Google earlier in the year, understanding domain-level health and deliverability has become table stakes.

I think of trends like waves - agree with Nat that by the time the wave is crashing on the shore, it may be too late. I like his point about emulating the mindset vs replicating the action.

Most people are deeply afraid of who they really are. The things they really want, The level of ambition they truly have. But if you can tap into that - you are a freight train that is very, very hard to stop.

A shoutout to everyone who's getting started with searching this fall.

Love that it took six phone calls and five emails (all cold) to get Fred on the line. Persistence matters with the best companies.

You don't have to be special to be successful. Ordinary people can do extraordinary things by choosing to be what most people are unwilling to be: consistent, hardworking, patient, and determined. Simple, but not easy.

Happy beginning of Q4 to those who celebrate

Retweeting this without reading the thread. #1 is so good and quickly brings to mind some great people.

Writing a detailed research query for o3 and then stepping away feels like I'm cooking and waiting for the pot to boil. (Best practice: don't keep looking.)

I thought my ~1 hour a day was excessive but apparently this is a “meets some expectations” if Sam was my manager.

The shift from paying for people’s time to paying for their output continues.

Interesting how you don't need to be technical at all to be >99th percentile good at interacting with LLMs. What's required is something closer to curiosity, openness, & being able to interact with living things in a curious + responsive way.