There’s a lot of talk about cooling VC investment, and I understand where it comes from. But from where we sit, I’d argue it’s still a very good time to fundraise... maybe one of the better ones in years. The capital is there. What’s changed is who it flows to, and how founders need to tell their story. That’s what we’ll dig into on October 23: I’m joining the panel “Fundraising in a New Era: Navigating Shifting Venture Landscapes” at the @NTUsg Tech Summit & Alumni Conference at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, together with @davidyin44 of Informed Ventures, David Hefter of @BlackRock, @LindaKreitzman of @SkyDeck_Cal and moderator Anson Liang of the NTU Alumni Association.

Every year people ask if crypto conferences still matter. After a week at @TOKEN2049 Singapore, my answer is that the signal has never been better: fewer tourists, more builders, and hallway conversations about products and revenue instead of token prices. The industry grew up. A highlight of the week was our Rooftop UTXO Pitch Night, hosted by @DraperDragon and the @Cardano_CF at LAVO. I had the pleasure of a fireside chat with my dear friend Hareesh Nair, CIO of TPC, on family offices and family businesses in Asia. One thing from that conversation worth repeating: family offices are true permanent capital. Pensions revolve over time, but families often don’t need the capital back... they want to build relationships across generations. TPC has been navigating cycles since the late 1800s. In venture, we think in 10-year funds and call it long term. That’s a useful dose of humility :) And then the main event: nine startups (out of 49 applications) pitched live, covering everything from Bitcoin yield and payments to AI agents, digital identity, and tokenized assets, competing for up to $500K in funding. The quality was the real story... several of these teams already have products in market and revenue, not just decks. Congratulations to every team that got on that stage. Thank you @F_Gregaard, @samizb, @maxime_bucaille, @aalicbarker, and both the Cardano and Draper teams for a great event. @DraperVC @draper_u

Data used to be something companies managed. Now it's something countries claim. Every government is asking who actually controls their digital infrastructure, data, and compute... and I'd argue sovereignty is becoming as important to capital flows as interest rates. On October 13 I'm joining the Tech, AI & VC Summit panel on data and tech sovereignty at @SuperReturn Middle East in Dubai. We'll get into how countries are approaching sovereignty in practice, how the Middle East is positioning itself between global technology blocs, and what the sovereignty push means for how capital gets deployed. On day one of the conference, I'll also be leading a closed-door LP/GP session on defense strategy and security. I'm in Dubai for the full conference, October 13-15 at The Ritz-Carlton DIFC. If you're an LP, family office, or founder in the region and want to meet, my inbox is open.