If it seems lately as though I’m in a bit
of a writing slow-down, it’s because I am.
There are two reasons.
First, we’re in the middle of a business
redirect at Answer Guy Central and the strategic
implications for what I write are shifting.
And second .. Fuck you, Anthony Bourdain … or
more specifically for today, Fuck you Anthony
Bourdain Redux.
Yeah, that paragraph and everything about
how this post is structured has been SEO‘d
up.
Deal with it; it’s part of the game.
Everything is part of the game.
That includes Suicide.
Fuck You, Tony Bourdain.
I watched the Bhutan episode of Anthony Bourdain’s
Part’s Unknown earlier this week (available
on Netflix as of this writing, or for purchase
via Google Play here).
I recommend it highly; Tony Bourdain truly
brought travelogue to a new level.
This, unsurprisingly, ticks me off more, elevating
that Fuck You Anthony Bourdain Redux thing
to new heights.
The sheer waste of this kind of talent galls
me in ways that I’m truly unfamiliar with.
Fuck You Anthony Bourdain Redux
And believe it or not, that’s the point
of this post.
Union Square Ventures’ Fred Wilson is a
brilliant Venture Capitalist, and his firm
is successful in ways that make questioning
his judgment hard to do.
You know, like questioning Tony Bourdain’s
methods up until a few weeks ago.
I’ve become more and more convinced that
most of these companies see “I need Amazon
to buy me” as their exit strategies
Through my recent activity in the delivery
and logistics spaces I visited USV’s offices
a little while back.
This got me investigating Fred and USV’s
portfolio, when I noticed they’d never invested
in either.
I was surprised.
So last week, I had a back-and-forth via email
with one of the smartest Venture Capitalists
around.
And Fred told me, straight-up, that he has
no interest in either.
OK, fine; I’ve become more and more convinced
that most of these companies see “I need
Amazon to buy me” as their exit strategies,
so maybe Fred sees the same flaws I do.
But then Fred told me he … doesn’t approve
of what these companies represent.
As in, “you want food?
Go out and get it”.
A personal feeling?
Recognition of the coming food delivery backlash?
Probably one of those.
We’ve crossed paths for years, but Fred
doesn’t know me well enough that I expect
honest private business revelations.
But everything about the way delivery and
logistics are evolving tells me I’m right—and
Fred Wilson is smart.
And now it turns out that Amazon is as smart
about this as I’ve been guessing.
Smarter, even: Amazon’s logistics network
is about to get huge on the backs of tons
of small companies.
And these partnerships will cost Amazon nearly
nothing.
Exit strategy for the big logistics and food
delivery guys defeated.
Amazon isn’t saying quite what I am, of
course, and I don’t believe the logistics
company—other than the one we’re advising—see
the trouble they’re in.
Likewise, and as I said above, Fred Wilson
doesn’t owe me frankness.
And yeah, I really do wrap all of this up
in a package containing fuck you Anthony Bourdain
redux.
It’s fun being The Answer Guy right?
