Sam Lessin
GP Slow Ventures. Intern The Information
Subscriber since 2013
About
Sam is currently an intern at The Information and a General Partner at Slow Ventures. He has co-founded two companies, Fin and drop.io (acquired by Facebook in 2010). Between 2010 and 2014 he was a VP of product management at Facebook, where he managed the People, Places, and Things product group and the Identity product group. Sam started his career at Bain and Company, and attended Harvard ('05). In his spare time Sam enjoys skiing and kite-surfing. He is married to Jessica Lessin, founder of The Information.
Open to
Looking to invest in startups / private companies
I have been an early investor in many notable companies and projects including (solana, venmo, birchbox, makerbot, teamshares, tonkean, blockdaemon, airtable, etc.) At slow we look to back ideally things that are a bit crazy but important.
Looking to hire team members
TI is very much looking for engineers, product, design folks. Slow doesn't really have many opportunities but always open to hearing from folks.
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StartupsGoogleAmazonAppleNetflixVenture CapitalVcSemiconductorsCryptocurrencyCloudAsiaAndreessen HorowitzAirbnbEntertainmentElon MuskFacebookMark ZuckerbergSequoia CapitalSingapore Economic Development BoardEnterpriseSilicon Valley Bank (SVB)PolicyUber/LyftAmazon Web ServicesAIAutonomous VehiclesCryptoVenture-CapitalOpenAIBainE CommerceModest ProposalsFTXSvbMeta PlatformsMedia/TelecomSBFVenture CapitalStartupsSaasIdentityBitcoinLawCryptocurrencyHuman CapitalMarketsCrazy PeopleSkills
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Weekend
Favorite Vacation Spot
British ColumbiaHawaiiCape CodJackson Hole
Favorite Sports to Play
TennisSkiingSurfingFoilingKitesurfing
Favorite Sports to Watch
Mma
Favorite Books
The HobbitThe Biggest BluffSnowcrashDuneThe Hero With A Thousand FacesBusiness AdventuresThe Three Body Problem
Favorite TV Shows / Movies
Game Of ThronesCasino RoyaleCurb Your EnthusiasmIt's Always Sunny In PhiladelphiaFor All MankindLetterkennySuccessionCaddyshackBlazing SaddlesZoolander
Forum Posts
The Factions of Post-Internet Digital-Techno-Optimism all attract slightly different folks, but all have the same fundamental pitfalls…
Posted bySam Lessin
The beauty of working on the internet from about 2005 - 20015 is that it allowed folks in that era a deeply appealing mix of several things.. folks working in tech were able to fulfill simultaneously ideas around: - “doing good” - “doing important and meaningful work” - “be intellectually engaged” - “being powerful and important” - generating wealth… This mix of op...Slow Ventures
Over Specialization At Big-Tech Companies Is The Biggest Killer of Entrepreneurial Potential
Posted bySam Lessin
I have been thinking a lot recently about why big tech companies don’t mint more great startups. Sure, it obviously happens and there are a few notable ‘mafias’ in history…. But when you dig deeper, the ‘Mafias’ are really surprisingly small / at most a dozen or so real serial entrepreneurs in each tribe… not a ton of people. Given the now massive massive size of some of...Slow Ventures
Non-Obvious Equities To Buy If You Believe in AI
Posted bySam Lessin
*Disclaimer: what is it that people put on things on twitter? I am not a financial expert, don’t listen to me, I am just some random dude on the internet. This isn’t financial advice. Really if you take any of my advice on anything you are crazy.* If you believe in an AI future there are a bunch of obvious equities to buy (who will, IMHO, get almost all the upside on AI ...Slow Ventures
The AI ‘Child Pornography’ Issue…
Posted bySam Lessin
It is inevitable that at some point AI generated child pornography is going to start showing up. It is disgusting and terrible, but it is just inevitable that with 7 billion people on earth and open tools, someone will eventually start generating it once it is possible. ~The question is, what on earth are we as a society going to do about it?~ … especially because when you...Slow Ventures
Crypto is the Only Meaningful Platform Shift Opportunity on the Horizon… not AI, not AR/VR, not Autonomous/EV…
Posted bySam Lessin
Silicon Valley culture loves the narrative of ‘platform shifts’ which drive disruption / slaying incumbents and creating massive platform opportunities for new entrants. Here is the problem, most of the new tech opportunities that people are excited about / ~betting on aren’t actually platform shifts~, they are just big tech ‘moments’ which fold quite easily / nicely into t...Slow Ventures