New Year’s Links
Backchanneling is Becoming a Crutch [Cristina Cordova/Linear] – I love a good backchannel reference but it takes skill and knowing what you’re trying to accomplish in order to get the most from this activity. Here Cristina points out how you can make mistakes using this tactic – especially in exec hiring. “If you want executives who can actually move a company, you have to do the harder work yourself: understand the role, accept the tradeoffs, and talk to the person before letting someone else’s context make the call.”
How the Hell Are You Supposed to Have a Career in Tech in 2026? [Anil Dash] – I do sometimes wonder if I was 20 years younger how I’d be approaching my career right now Would AI be exciting or freak me out as an existential risk? Would the culture of tech be as attractive as it once was now that it’s powerful, not the underdog? Would I find my tribe?
Strange Math [Ashritha Karuturi/Ambrook] – Ambrook makes financial software for farmers and is a company we’ve backed since their first fundraise. The team is so smart, so intentional, so iterative in their willingness to learn and adapt. Here they write about tactics for building a culture of radical honesty.
How Kraft Heinz Lost Its Lock on Mac and Cheese—and American Shoppers [Jesse Newman/WSJ] – They’ve given up mindshare and shelf space to new competitors.
The 9s of AI Reliability [Kushal Chakrabarti/Obviously Wrong] – Opendoor’s former Chief Research Officer, and a AI/ML advisor to startups, takes on the question of ‘how reliable does AI need to be to be of value’ and notes the answer is quite different depending on the use case and situation.
Two Things to Sign Up for in January 2026
- Founders Card: If you travel a lot for business, it’s worth it alone for the discounts on hotels, airfare, etc. Generally a perks-based membership club. I’m usually dubious of these but have done this for several years and always renew.
- Blackbird.xyz: Local app [SF, LA, NYC, Denver] – get $20 for free on first ‘check in’ – coffee, bars, restaurants. I’m a former 4SQ/Swarm users and trying to figure out if this is interesting or not. But in the meantime, you’ll at least get some venture capital subsidy <img src="https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/17.0.2/72×72/1f609.png" alt="
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