Writing a check doesn’t qualify you to give advice. When @fredwilson was 29 he tried to show up to a board meeting and start giving advice. One of the founders stopped him, “come do every job in the company for a week, then we’ll listen.” So he flew to Buffalo and did it. With @uninsightful staying at USV as an Investment Partner, I asked the two of them to sit down and compare notes on a business they entered almost four decades apart. Nikhil is the first analyst in our program’s 20-year history that we've offered the opportunity to stay and move up in the firm. They covered earning a founder’s trust, building conviction before your partners agree, and staying open to ideas that challenge your strongest held beliefs. They also got into where USV has been right, where we’ve been (very) wrong, and how the venture business is changing. 0:00 Preview 1:46 Why Difficult Founders Make the Most Money 5:20 Before You Give a Founder Advice, Earn the Right 11:28 @fomo: We Passed. Then Spent Six Months Trying to Get In. 20:20 Biology Is Becoming Programmable and Opening Up to Outsiders 22:49 When Knowing Less Helps You See More 26:34 How Do You Compete With a $100 Billion VC Firm? 34:45 Why Fred Would Take His Company Public 38:01 What USV Gets Wrong About Founders 40:47 The Moat AI Hasn’t Broken: Network Effects 44:33 Who Wins When AI Becomes Multiplayer?