First, you may be wondering about the future of this steamboat, so Iāll tell you right away:
This newsletter and podcast arenāt going anywhere! š¢ āļø
In fact, because they are fueled by the interesting things I find and my experiences, I suspect they will get better because working with Jim and the amazing team at OSV will help me find more cool stuff to write about and more interesting people to talk to!
And in the other direction, the newsletter and podcast are my engine of discovery and node in the network that will help me do my new job better.
One thing that may change is that the publishing cadence will likely be more variable. I never intended to have a firm 3x/week schedule. In fact, I explicitly wrote from day one on the āAbout Pageā that I wanted to ānot have a rigid schedule or formatā.
But after hundreds of editions of mostly writing 3x per week, I started to mention 3x/week as a descriptive thing rather than a prescriptive thing. That may change a bit, weāll see ĀÆ\_(ć)_/ĀÆ
The good news is that nobody has ever accused me of writing too little, and one of the most common bit of feedback I get from unsubs is that they donāt have time to read everything.
So perhaps having fewer editions will actually be an improvement for you!
š¤ Why the big life change? Why OSV?š”
The real #1 reason is that I consider Jim to be a true friend.
Over the past few years, as I got to know him, I couldnāt help but resonate strongly with his approach to life. His joie de vivre, his curiosity about ALL THE THINGS, his builder/founder impulse, his goal to nudge the future in a better direction for his grandkids (and my kids!) while having fun and collaborating with interesting and tuned-in people.
I donāt mean to sound like Iām attempting flattery ā the way you can know I really mean all this is that Iām a fiercely independent person who wasnāt looking for a job (I self-identify as that wolf in Fantastic Mr. Fox), and yet I joined the OSV mothership because all the things mentioned above are true and because the organizationās North Star is very aligned with mine. āļø
I want to optimize my life to do interesting and impactful things with people I admire and respect while also having the freedom to try to become the best version of myself. This seemed like a great way to do that!
In other words, I will keep doing a lot of the things Iāve been doing, but with more leverage and impact, and with the help of really great people from whom I can learn.
What is OSV? š
To me, OSV is clearly an extension of Jimās mind. Most of his interests and values are reflected in it.
OSV gives fellowships to artists, scientists, engineers, builders, educators, entrepreneurs, innovators, etc, around the world.
OSV also invests in all kinds of startups doing useful win-win things across a wide variety of fields, with a common (but not exclusive) theme of AI. I love that at OSV itās called āAdventuresā rather than āVenture Capitalā ā because itās not an adventure until something goes wrong, and if things never go wrong, youāre probably not pushing into new territory!
And last but not least, thereās the media vertical ā Infinite Media! ā which includes one of my long-time favorite podcasts, Infinite Loops, but is growing up to become a home and friend to all kinds of talented creatives around the world and across mediums.
Books, films, newsletters, podcasts, Youtube channels⦠The old gatekeepers are on the way out and humanityās creativity is being unleashed, and we want to be a part of that!
My goal at OSV is to help creators win and help audiences discover more things they love.
Your favorite thing is out there, you just havenāt found it yet.
If you want more details on the thinking behind the creation of OSV, thereās no better place to go than to the source:
Update: I recorded a podcast conversation with Jim about his origin story, career, books, and OSV:
š¬ How can you follow along? š©
Iāll be sharing many of our OSV projects on Libertyās Highlights. Iām a big believer in learning in public.
But you should also consider subscribing to the Infinite Loops podcast (because itās great) and the Infinite Loops substack where all kinds of interesting stuff will be published.
If you want to keep track of OSV announcements, project launches, investments, fellowships, and job opportunities, you can sign up for the OSV mailing list at the bottom of this page.
Congratulations! That seems like a perfect fit.
Congratulations! When I heard what Jim was starting up I knew it would only be a matter of time....