VC Theses #85 | Web3 Dev Environments, Reckoning of Pandemic Darlings, & more

July 18–24th | Insights from Ripple Ventures, Bessemer, Slow Ventures, Susa and more

Welcome to our new subscribers! SandHill.io aggregates and shares the latest investment themes, market insights, and best practices for operating and investing from 650+ VCs, analysts, and operators.

This newsletter curates a selection of posts featured on the website each week.

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Investment Themes, Theses, & Outlooks

• Opportunities in Web3 Development Environments (Ripple Ventures Team)

• NFTs x DeFi: The Next Big Crypto Evolution (Abhishek Maran, VC @ Folklore Ventures)

• 3 Things: Roving Vending Machines, Customer Marketing SaaS, App Roll-ups (Elaine Zelby, Partner @ SignalFire)

Industry Developments & Analyses

• The reckoning of “pandemic tech darlings”: Lessons on growth function shocks (Janelle Teng, VC @ Bessemer)

• Digital Health is Dead. Long Live Digital Health. (Yoni Rechtman, Principal @ Slow Ventures)

• Understanding In-Game Monetization and the Metaverse (Steve Van Sloun, Associate @ Loup Ventures)

• DeFi Market Map (Pratyush Buddiga, Chief of Staff @ Susa Ventures)

Guides, Case Studies, and Best Practices for Operating

• When startups shouldn’t focus (Hadley Harris & Anthony Ha, Eniac Ventures)

• 10 Best Questions To Ask Venture Capitalists Amid An Uncertain Market (Casey Renner, Partner @ OpenView)

• How startups can survive and thrive in a downturn (Nihal Mehta & Anthony Ha, Eniac Ventures)

• 100 Unicorns: 12 different GTM Motions (Ali Abouelatta, First1000)

• Advice from Seasoned CFOs on Navigating a Downturn (Jillian Williams & Amanda Robson, Cowboy Ventures)

• Chapter One: Feedback Conversations (Morgan Cheatham, VP @ Bessemer)

Additional Reads

• Valuing a Venture Capital Portfolio (Fred Wilson, GP @ USV)

• On Imposter Syndrome — Letting Fear Drive You, Not Define You (Rick Zullo, GP @ Equal)

• How potential employees can due diligence a startup (David Teten, Partner @ Versatile VC)

• Narrative Capital (Sajith Pai, Director @ Blume)

• The Outcome Distortion Complex (Kyle Harrison, GP @ Contrary)

• Little Ways The World Works (Morgan Housel, Partner @ Collaborative Fund)

• How Important is Your Software to Your Customer? It's Time to Find Out. (Tomasz Tunguz, MD @ Redpoint)

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