📶 David Sacks: White House AI Czar

Say “hey” 👋 | Apply 👥 | Upgrade 📶 | Sponsor 📣

Good morning 👋

And welcome back to work.

I’ve spent too much time looking at screens this weekend, so my ability to say something witty is at an all-time low.

Let’s jump into what to make of David Sacks’ newest role.

David Sacks has been named the Trump administration’s AI and Crypto Czar - a bold move to deepen ties with tech heavyweights. The Craft Ventures portfolio also just got some serious policy leverage.

The fine print: Despite the flashy new title, Sacks isn’t leaving Craft Ventures. A key-person clause in his LP agreement keeps him tethered to the firm, meaning this new White House gig won’t be a full-time affair.

Still, the role gives Sacks significant sway over the federal playbook for crypto and AI regulation - areas ripe with consequences for the startup ecosystem.

In a Truth Social post, Trump framed Sacks as a champion of free speech and an antidote to “Big Tech bias and censorship,” while also hinting at plans for a crypto framework that’s likely friendlier than the Biden administration’s more cautious stance.

Crypto cred: Craft’s crypto bets include heavyweights like BitGo (digital asset management) and Kresus (self-custody wallets), aligning neatly with the Trump administration’s more laissez-faire stance on the industry.

Why it matters: The move signals a growing alliance between big name VCs and government players, but it raises eyebrows about potential conflicts of interest. Venture funds typically steer clear of overt politicking, but that massively changed this election cycle, and we’d expect it to continue more in the future.

What happens next: The biggest benefit from having private sector people working on projects within the public sector is that it becomes easier for businesses to do business.

Last week, Marc Andreessen talked about some of the ways that the government became an obstacle for businesses over the past four year.

And the list goes on.

These decisions were made primarily by lifelong politicians who do not have a grasp on how the world works.

The new administration has made it clear that decisions in the future will be made by leaders with private sector experience.

This alone should give you plenty of optimism for the future.

So you have a choice to make, and every choice has a lists of pros and cons.

Here’s the case

Cons: Pay the annual dues of $400 / year to join the #1 private investor

Pros: Speed up your onboarding curve, get an evergreen playbook that you can use over and over again on the job, meet other co-investors , meet new LPs through your new co-investor connections, expand your deal flow through new introductions from your new investor network

We’re biased, but we think the choice is pretty clear …

Apply to join.

🧠 Venture Buyouts: The genius behind Jeremy Giffon’s latest fund strategy

🍽 Eat what you kill: Ways to make $100 million dollars per year in SaaS

📶 A Full, AI-Assisted GTM Build: From strategy through content to tech, AI and activation

🎟 Our Source of Truth on Marketplaces: Forerunner shared how they evaluate marketplace businesses

📋 The Family Office List: Guillermo Flor provides a curated list of 1,000 active family offices investing in startups worldwide, complete with investment details, preferred stages, regions, and direct contact links

🔟 Top 10 Posts of 2024: Tomasz Tunguz of Venture Capitalists at Theory looks back at his top posts for this year to see how the industry has changed

🫣 Three Horrifying Consequences of AI That You Might Not Have Thought About: Zerohedge writes about 3 possible outcomes of AI that are of concern

Thanks for reading this far and giving us a little bit of your attention this week.

Feel free to unsubscribe whenever this stops becoming valuable to you.

- Clay