But you still need a portfolio effect to be successful.

Transcript: http://spearhead.co/lottery

It takes years to know if you have good judgment.

Transcript: http://spearhead.co/judgment

Investing keeps founders sharp—and plugged into what the best startups are doing.

• Founders want to be backed by other founders

• Investing aligns interests

• Advisors have adverse selection

Transcript: http://spearhead.co/founders

You have to work from first principles and make up your own mind.

• Be non-consensus right

• Don’t learn how to invest from the commentariat  

• The larger your herd, the worse your returns

Transcript: http://spearhead.co/non-consensus

Create your own dealflow by helping companies get started.

• Be a shadow co-founder to create your own dealflow

• Get valuable pro-rata rights by investing pre-seed

Transcript: http://spearhead.co/pre-seed

Branch out from there after you’ve built your reputation.

• Branch out after you’ve exhausted your network

Transcript: http://spearhead.co/deals

If the market never shows up or shows up late, your brand is shot.

• Top VC firms rarely specialize

• Mistimed or unrealized markets cost investors a lot of money

Transcript: http://spearhead.co/vertical

I pitched growth hacking to Twitter; they passed on it—but they let me invest.

• Ryan Hoover and Patri Friedman have interesting brands

Transcript: http://blog.spearhead.co/started

You have to be willing to do something that hasn’t been done before.

• You can build a brand through your advisors and limited partners

• You can build software for startups

• You can buy common stock instead of preferred

Transcript: http://blog.spearhead.co/innovation

The airwaves are too crowded for undifferentiated content and distribution.

• You’re not going to build a brand simply because you want to

Transcript: http://blog.spearhead.co/ape