In this episode of the Slow Hunch, I spoke with Aaron Wright, the co-founder and CEO of Tribute Labs.

Aaron has been exploring how to harness the collective knowledge, energy, and capital of online communities for 20 years, from his early work at Wikipedia to his current focus on decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) and AI agents.

Aaron believes major technological shifts lead to equally significant changes in organizational structures. He sees DAOs as the next evolution after the joint stock company that transformed capitalism centuries ago. According to him, thin layers of technology will enable coordination and collaboration at unprecedented scales - from hundreds to potentially millions of people.

In our conversation, we explored how blockchains are enabling new forms of collaboration and how embedding AI on top of these coordination layers might fundamentally change how we organize ourselves and our capital.

I've been following Aaron's work for years, and we've had the pleasure of investing in Tribute Labs at USV. Hope you enjoy!

Chapters:

• 00:00:00 Cold open
• 00:02:07 Aaron’s slow hunch
• 00:10:58 The evolution of DAOs
• 00:15:31 Aaron’s early experiences at wikipedia and ethereum
• 00:37:21 His work with OpenLaw
• 00:42:46 The rise of investment DAOs
• 00:53:03 AI and the adjacent possible
• 01:08:30 The future of AI and ownership

In this episode of the Slow Hunch, I spoke with Jay Graber, CEO of Bluesky.

Originally conceived as an initiative within Twitter under Jack Dorsey, Bluesky was designed to transform Twitter from a closed platform to an open protocol-based network. Jay initially joined as an external researcher before being selected to lead the project, ultimately negotiating for Bluesky's independence before Elon Musk’s acquisition.

Jay believes thoughtful systems design can reshape our online experiences. With Bluesky, she wants to prioritise user choice, portability, and the ability to vote with their feet if the platform makes changes they don't like.

This was a conversation about social media’s “adjacent possible” - a potential shift from closed, monolithic platforms toward open, extensible systems that encourage experimentation and innovation at all levels.

Hope you enjoy!

Chapters:

• 00:00 Cold open
• 04:00 Jay’s background: from systems theory to digital rights activism
• 08:35 Trade-offs in systems design
• 16:19 The AT Protocol (atproto)
• 17:19 Bluesky’s origin story
• 25:26 How Bluesky differs from earlier decentralized social attempts
• 28:01 Giving users the ability to pick feeds and moderation
• 30:16 Early days of Bluesky
• 32:50 Public launch
• 37:24 Social media’s adjacent possible
• 46:13 Closing thoughts

In this special episode of the Slow Hunch, I sat down with Fred Wilson and Brad Burnham, founding partners of USV.

Since founding USV in 2003, Fred and Brad have backed companies like Twitter, Etsy, Cloudflare, and Coinbase while developing an investment thesis focused on enabling new forms of value creation through open access to networks, capital, and knowledge.

Fred and Brad bring decades of investment experience, having seen multiple tech cycles from the early internet to mobile, cloud, crypto, and now AI. What makes their partnership unique is how they've maintained their intellectual curiosity and drive to understand emerging technologies and business models, after 20+ years of working together.

I've been lucky enough to have a front-row seat to their approach, and it was really special to have this conversation over multiple mugs of tea in my living room in New York City.

In many ways, USV has been their collective slow hunch - an exploration of how emerging tech intersects with the world and how to be part of it.

Hope you enjoy this conversation!

Chapters:

• 00:00:00 Cold open
• 00:10:40 How USV was formed
• 00:17:16 Fred and Brad on their investment philosophy
• 00:24:01 Overcoming early challenges
• 00:27:43 The emergence of web2
• 00:30:59 The initial promise of social media
• 00:34:04 Investing in Twitter
• 00:39:11 The early days of Bitcoin
• 00:45:55 The risk of market consolidation in AI
• 00:49:39 Fred and Brad reflect on their mistakes
• 00:57:18 The Impact of AI
• 01:07:23 The future of technology
• 01:09:50 What keeps them going after 30+ years