📶 taste is eating software

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Good morning 👋

I read this article yesterday.

It changed how I’m thinking about venture investing over the next decade.

So I wrote about my thoughts in today’s piece.

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Marc Andreessen once said software would eat the world—and for a while, it did. But that was 2011, now we’re in 2024, and technical moats aren’t enough.

Today, taste is what differentiates winners from losers.

Companies are being judged by how they feel, not just how they function. In a world where code is commoditized, taste has become the new battleground, driving product adoption and creating brand loyalty.

Why it matters: Good software has become table stakes.

It’s no longer the differentiator it once was; everyone’s product is good enough. What used to be a technical arms race is now about something harder to quantify: taste.

In this new world, code is cheap. The real value lies in wrapping utility in design that feels right, and in creating something more than just functional—a product with beauty and meaning.

Today’s products are more than just tools. They’re emotional touchpoints.

What happens next: Founders will evolve into tastemakers, and the best ones have already developed this skill.

VCs, on the other hand, will learn to become tastemakers themselves. How that plays out will be very unknown, but we’ve already seen plenty of examples of investors branding themselves to appeal to those with taste (redesigning website, building voice on Twitter, starting a newsletter / blog, launching a podcast).

But how do you train improving your taste?

Reps.

LOTS of reps.

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⛓️ Fixing the Economies of Being a Creator: Chris Dixon of a16z Crypto, says using blockchain will put the power back into the hands of the creators and users

🧐 One Thing You Wish People Better Understood About Venture Capital, Part II: Hunter Walk brings us part II of asking investors this question

❓ VC Pitch Questions and Answers: If you’re a startup founder interested in raising money, here are 4 lists of potential questions you might be asked and examples on how to answer

📕 The Emerging Startup Playbook: Growth Unhinged believes today’s startups need to move past the dated and expensive approach of old

🔆 The utopian case for AI: The bull case according to the CEO of Anthropic

We use Harmonic to get thousands of data points on companies like these.

Here’s how you can do the same.

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

Here are the results from our poll question in yesterday’s piece:

What is the realistic timeline for AI solving complex issues like solving world hunger, curing diseases, and doubling human lifespans?

🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 In the next 6-12 months (9)

🟨🟨🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️ Maybe in the next 2-5 years (5)

🟨🟨🟨🟨🟨⬜️ We're at least 5+ years away (8)

🟨🟨🟨🟨🟨⬜️ We're not even close (8)

30 Votes