Great read – especially the “monopoly of the self” framing. It immediately reminded me of Naval’s idea to “escape competition through authenticity”: compounding your own “specific knowledge” at the weird intersection of skills only you have, then layering on leverage and accountability.
I like how you model that in practice: a stack that combines long-form writing, biomedical training, product and growth pattern recognition, and the ability to build deep trust with founders. The a16z platform (and your time at McKinsey) becomes leverage; essays like this, in your own name, are the accountability layer.
What really resonated is the idea that a “monopoly of one” isn’t fixed; you’re constantly borrowing skills from colleagues (Josh Lu, Andrew Chen, etc.) and expanding the skill tree. That makes the whole framework feel less like “play to your strengths” as a cliché, and more like an active process of evolving your edge over time.
Great read – especially the “monopoly of the self” framing. It immediately reminded me of Naval’s idea to “escape competition through authenticity”: compounding your own “specific knowledge” at the weird intersection of skills only you have, then layering on leverage and accountability.
I like how you model that in practice: a stack that combines long-form writing, biomedical training, product and growth pattern recognition, and the ability to build deep trust with founders. The a16z platform (and your time at McKinsey) becomes leverage; essays like this, in your own name, are the accountability layer.
What really resonated is the idea that a “monopoly of one” isn’t fixed; you’re constantly borrowing skills from colleagues (Josh Lu, Andrew Chen, etc.) and expanding the skill tree. That makes the whole framework feel less like “play to your strengths” as a cliché, and more like an active process of evolving your edge over time.
Congrats on the big move. Great write up!
As a McKinsey analyst myself, very curious about how you exited into game industry while you did a lot of decks on “pharma/biotech”!!
🫶🫡 was an honor working with you, Robin. I’m sure I’ll soon be responsible for helping staff your burgeoning team. It’s only a matter of time.
Whoa! That's huge news... will definitely be following along.
this is amazing. always respected you as one of the smartest/well written vcs/ppl i’d met so far, no doubt you’ll do absolutely amazing
Great insights!
Congrats Robin 🔥