See what
others do not.

The Founder Library

• Featured
• #Q&A
• Bio
• Founder's List
• Life
• Podcast
• #Network Effects
• #Fundraising
• #Growth
• #Marketplaces
• #How We Invest

• 6 Product Frameworks From the Inventor of the iPod, iPhone & Nest

  #Growth ,

• Startups Are The Ultimate “Mental Game” – Part II

  #Growth ,

• Startups Are The Ultimate “Mental Game” — Part I

  #Growth ,

• The Founders’ List: An Inside Look at How YouTube Scaled (Rituals for Hypergrowth)

  Founder's List ,

• ‘Super Founders’ with Ali Tamaseb & James Currier

  Podcast ,

• 3 Reasons Why NFX Invested In Komodor

  #How We Invest ,

• Major Opportunities for Young Founders with Jon Levin, Dean of Stanford GSB

  Podcast ,

• “Traction Tactics” Behind Square, PayPal, Waze, Twilio & More

  #Growth ,

• The Insider Story of Waze

  #Growth ,

• Growth Frameworks For Your Marketplace

  #Marketplaces ,

• Startup Speed As A Public Good

  #Growth ,

• The Rise of “Reality Entrepreneurs”

  #Growth ,

• The Passion Economy and Its Hidden Currency

  #Growth ,

• The 6 Patterns Of Uncommonly Successful Teams

  #How We Invest ,

• The New World Of “Going Public” — Pros & Cons of IPO v. SPAC v. Direct Listing

  #Growth , Podcast ,

• From Outsider to $5B SPAC in 6 Years

  #Growth , Podcast ,

• The 9 Habits of Ultra-Fast Iterations

  #Growth , Podcast ,

• The 7 Powers Known to Tesla, Pixar, Netflix, Apple & Twilio

  #Growth , #Network Effects ,

• The Founders’ List: Mind the Moat: a 7 Powers Review (written by Hamilton Helmer) from Flo Crivello (Founder & CEO Teamflow)

  Founder's List ,

• The Goldilocks Zone of Startups: Why “Just Right” Is Not In The Middle

  #Growth ,

• The Founders’ List: Nir Eyal on “Hooks: An Intro on How to Manufacture Desire”

  Founder's List ,

• Hippo: From Idea to IPO with CEO Assaf Wand & Pete Flint

  Podcast ,

• The New American Dream

  #Growth , Podcast ,

• The Founders’ List: 1997 & 2020 Letter to Amazon Shareholders

  Founder's List ,

• The CEO That Jeff Bezos Called “His Teacher”

  #Growth , Podcast ,

• 3 Reasons Why NFX Invested In Candex

  #How We Invest ,

• 3 Reasons Why NFX Invested In C2i Genomics

  #How We Invest ,

• The CEOs We Need Now

  #Network Effects , Podcast ,

• The Founders’ List: Gigi Levy-Weiss on “How VCs Think: The Psychology That Drives Investing Decisions”

• The Pyramid of Co-Founder Success

  #Growth ,

• Q&A with Sean Ellis (GrowthHackers)

  #Q&A ,

• The Founders’ List: Valve’s New Employee Handbook

  Founder's List ,

• The 4 Types Of Defensibility

  #Network Effects ,

• The Infinite Conflict of Hiring

  #Growth ,

• Q&A with Gagan Biyani (Sprig, Udemy)

  #Q&A ,

• Good vs. Great Leaders

  Life ,

• The Insider Story of Twilio

  #Growth ,

• The Founders’ List: Nokia’s CEO ‘Burning Platform’ Memo

  Founder's List ,

• Gaming Superpowers for Non-Game Founders with Gabi Shalel (Plarium) & Gigi Levy-Weiss

  Podcast ,

• The Paradox of Genius: Why Long-Term Thinking Wins

  #Growth ,

• The Founders’ List: The Ethereum Whitepaper

  Founder's List ,

• Enterprise Gateway Marketplaces Will Turn Large Organizations Inside-Out

  #Marketplaces ,

• The Founders’ List: Pete Flint on "How to Manage Hypercompetitive Markets"

  Founder's List ,

• BJ Fogg on Tiny Habits for Startup Founders with James Currier

  Podcast ,

• Reinventing Existing vs. Creating New Markets

  #Growth ,

• The Founders’ List: The DoorDash Investment Memo from 2014

  Founder's List ,

• Stanford’s “Touchy Feely” Course (For Startup Founders), with Carole Robin & James Currier

  Podcast ,

• From Idea To $200M Acquisition In Just 2 Years: 4 Lessons from Bridgecrew

  #How We Invest ,

• Vitalik Buterin on Space, Longevity, Mars & More (The “B-Side”)

  Podcast ,

• Vitalik Buterin on The Revolt of the Public (The “A-Side”)

  Podcast ,

• Why People Share: The Psychology Behind “Going Viral”

  #Growth ,

• Three Reasons Why NFX Invested in Latitude (Maker of AI Dungeon)

  #How We Invest ,

• Anti-Patterns of 10x Thinking

  Podcast ,

• Launching NFX Bio and The Rise of the Scientist Founder

  Bio ,

• The Founders’ List: James Currier (General Partner at NFX) on “The Psychology of Startup Growth”

  Founder's List ,

• The Hidden World of Pricing: Uber, Trulia, Etsy, Superhuman & More

  #Growth , Podcast ,

• The Founders’ List: The Bitcoin White Paper by Satoshi Nakamoto

  Founder's List ,

• The Non-Obvious Guide to Fundraising

  #Fundraising ,

• The Founders’ List: ‘The HP Way’ Speech by Dave Packard to Management (1960)

  Founder's List ,

• Jeff Lawson on Ask Your Developer, with Pete Flint

  #Growth , Podcast ,

• Your Startup Life, Post-Pandemic

  Podcast ,

• The Founders’ List: Email Exchange on Instagram Acquisition by Facebook (Kevin Systrom & Mark Zuckerberg)

  Founder's List ,

• Survey Results: 14 VC & Founder Predictions for 2021

  #Growth ,

• Top 11 Questions We Asked Tech Leaders in 2020

  #Growth , Podcast ,

• Erik Torenberg & James Currier on being Citizens of the Internet

  Podcast ,

• Fiverr’s Road to 797% Growth: The Decision Frameworks Behind Their Success

  #Growth ,

• Where To Build Your Startup

  #Growth ,

• High Leverage Time Management

  #Growth ,

• The Winning Psychology of Top Founders in Fundraising Meetings

  #Fundraising ,

• The 10x Advantage of Starting a Company Right Now

  #Growth ,

• Announcing The Founders’ List

  #Growth ,

• Media Marketplaces and the Future of Digital Media

  #Marketplaces ,

• How VCs Judge Your Startup (on Zoom): 15+ Tactics Behind Successful Fundraises

  #Fundraising ,

• Why Your Work Matters: Darwin, Machines, & the Future We’re Building

  #Growth ,

• The NFX Frameworks Collection for Founders

  #Growth ,

• How CEOs Think: 5 Mental Models to Shift from Founder to CEO

  #Growth ,

• The Product Thinking That Built Slack & Twitter, with April Underwood

  #Growth ,

• Frameworks for Using Diversity to Win

  #Growth ,

• 34 Questions to Recruit World-Class Talent in the Remote Era

  #Growth ,

• How Contrarians Think: The Early Days of Square, Yelp & PayPal with Keith Rabois

  #Growth ,

• 24 Ways B2B Marketplaces Win

  #Marketplaces ,

• Calling Bio Startups Who Want To Raise Capital (Final Deadline July 17)

  #How We Invest , Bio ,

• The Product Frameworks Behind Superhuman

  #Growth ,

• 3 Reasons Why NFX Is Investing in Jupiter

  #How We Invest ,

• 3 Reasons Why NFX Is Investing In La Haus

  #How We Invest ,

• How Second Time Founders Can Win and Avoid Common Mistakes

  #Growth ,

• The Second Time Founders Manual

  #Growth ,

• Results from the VC & Founder COVID-19 Sentiment Survey, Part II

  #Growth ,

• The New Generation of Labor Marketplaces and the Future of Work

  #Marketplaces ,

• The Insider Story of Houseparty

  #How We Invest ,

• The Next Social Era is Here: Why Now Is the Time for Social Products Again

  #Growth ,

• Whiteboard Breakdown: A Founder’s Guide to Taking Advice

  #Growth ,

• It’s Time to Start Playing Offense

  #Growth ,

• Why Startups that Survive are “Learning Organizations”

  #Growth ,

• Whiteboard Breakdown: What Makes A Strong Startup CEO

  #Growth ,

• Whiteboard Breakdown: What Are Network Effects?

  #Network Effects ,

• The New Rules of Growth vs. Profitability

  #Growth ,

• Four Reasons Why NFX Invested in Nuvocargo

  #How We Invest ,

• The Great Reset: How Reid Hoffman & James Currier See the Path Ahead for Founders

  #Growth ,

• NFX FAST Seed Funding: 9 Days to Decision

  #Fundraising ,

• Shayma Sharif Promoted to Principal at NFX

  #How We Invest ,

• How PayPal & Trulia Navigated Downturns: David Sacks, Craft Ventures + Co-Founder of PayPal

  #Growth ,

• The Psychology of Founders Who Win in Downturns

  #Growth ,

• Results from the VC & Founder COVID-19 Sentiment Survey, Part I

  #Growth ,

• 28 Moves to Survive (& Thrive) in a Downturn

  #Growth ,

• Leading Startups Through Uncertainty: Stacy Brown-Philpot, CEO of TaskRabbit

  #Marketplaces ,

• A Founder’s Guide To Taking Advice

  #Growth ,

• What Makes Data Valuable: The Truth About Data Network Effects

  #Network Effects ,

• How I Raised VC From Top-Tier Funds

  #Fundraising ,

• Mammoth Expands Bio-Platform Network Effects to Gene-Editing

  #How We Invest , Bio ,

• Why Founders Should Take More Risk

  #Growth ,

• Your Life is Driven by Network Effects

  #Network Effects ,

• The 4 Signs of Founder-Market Fit

  #How We Invest ,

• The 14th Network Effect: Expertise

  #Network Effects ,

• How Billion Dollar Marketplaces Are Built with Marco Zappacosta, Co-Founder & CEO of Thumbtack

  #Marketplaces ,

• 3 Reasons Why NFX Is Investing In Modus

  #How We Invest ,

• The Founders’ List: 10 Pieces of Manufacturing Advice from Tesla CEO, Elon Musk

  Founder's List ,

• 16 Non-Obvious Fundraising Lessons On Pitching

  #Fundraising ,

• “Don’t Just Be the Best, Be the Only” with Kevin Kelly & James Currier

  Podcast ,

• What VCs Don’t See: Why We’re Bullish on Gaming Startups

  #How We Invest ,

• 4 Signs You’re Building A World-Class Team

  #Growth ,

• NFX Podcast: Why Top Founders Understand Network Effects with Scott Cook, Founder of Intuit

  #Network Effects ,

• The Founders’ List: “How To Make The Most Out Of Your Time And Your Life” by Nir Eyal (Author + Former Stanford Professor)

  Founder's List ,

• The One Reason We Invested in Incredible Health

  #How We Invest ,

• The Irrational Truths of User Behavior, with Dan Ariely

  #Growth ,

• 10 Places to Find Product-Market Fit

  #Growth ,

• The Founders’ List: Steve Job’s Famous ‘Thoughts on Flash’ (Famous Memos)

  Founder's List ,

• 3 Reasons Why NFX Invested In Let’s Do This, Now Joined by Serena Williams & Usain Bolt

  #How We Invest ,

• The Unusual Signs of a Billion Dollar Company, with Elad Gil

  #Growth ,

• How to Manage Hypercompetitive Markets

  #Growth ,

• The Hidden Patterns of Startup Failure

  #Growth ,

• How VCs Decide to Take a First Meeting – 12 Reasons

  #Fundraising ,

• The Founders’ List: Steve Yegge’s Famous Rant on ‘Google vs Amazon’ (Famous Memos)

  Founder's List ,

• 3 Reasons Why NFX Is Investing In Constru

  #How We Invest ,

• The New Growth Mindset with Sean Ellis & James Currier

  #Growth , Podcast ,

• The Hidden Patterns of Great Startup Ideas

  #Fundraising ,

• Status Games: Engineering Scarcity in a World of Abundance

  #Growth , Podcast ,

• What Makes a Strong Startup CEO

  #Growth ,

• The Founders’ List: “Why Figma Wins” by Kevin Kwok (Former Investor at Greylock)

  Founder's List ,

• The Fundraising Checklist: 13 Proof Points for Series A

  #Fundraising ,

• The Future of Digital Advertising with Mikael Cho & Luke Chesser, Co-Founders of Unsplash (NFX Podcast)

  Podcast ,

• What It Takes to Build an Iconic Marketplace: The Poshmark Story

  #Marketplaces ,

• Our Top 10 Essays of All Time

• Join the World Class Team at NFX: Investment, Engineering/Product, Marketing

• The Founders’ List: Bill Gates’s internal Microsoft Memo “The Internet Tidal Wave” (Famous Memos)

  Founder's List ,

• How VCs Think: The Psychology That Drives Investing Decisions

• The Psychology of Focus: How Great Teams Find Traction Amid Distraction

  #Growth ,

• The Founder Mindset: Announcing NFX Fund II, $275 Million

  #How We Invest ,

• The Founders’ List: “The 3 Types of Platform Companies” by Elad Gil (Color Genomics & Twitter)

  Founder's List ,

• Inside Top SMB Startups

  #Marketplaces ,

• The Competition For Your Attention with Sarah Frier (Bloomberg) & James Currier (NFX Podcast)

  Podcast ,

• The Next Frontier for 2-Sided Marketplaces: How Fintech Will Unlock Enormous Value

  #Marketplaces ,

• 10X Your Career: First Principles For Outsized Success

  Life ,

• NFX Podcast: Lyft vs. Uber and the Battle for Ridesharing Dominance

  #Network Effects ,

• 3 Reasons Why NFX Invested in Codi

  #How We Invest ,

• NFX Founder Room Ep. 1: Growing a Marketplace into a Market Network

  #Marketplaces ,

• The Founders’ List: “Don’t Believe Your Own B.S.” by Pete Flint (General Partner at NFX)

  Founder's List ,

• The Psychology of Startup Growth

  #Growth ,

• The Tribal Network Effect (nfx #15)

  #Network Effects ,

• NFX Podcast: Why Growth Hacking Is Broken

  #Growth ,

• The Golden Age of Simulation with Chris Anderson & James Currier

  Podcast ,

• How VCs Negotiate: 8 Skills Top Founders Master for Startup Fundraising

  #Fundraising ,

• The Founders’ List: “Social Capital in Silicon Valley” by Alex Danco (Shopify & Social Capital)

  Founder's List ,

• The Next Industrial Revolution: Computational Biology & Bioplatforms

  #How We Invest , Bio ,

• Announcing Scouts & Angels – The Investing Network (Signal 4.0)

  #Fundraising ,

• The NFX Company Culture Scorecard and Playbook

  #Growth ,

• The Founders’ List: Slack’s Internal Memo ‘We Don’t Sell Saddles Here’ (Famous Memos)

  Founder's List ,

• The NFX Archives: Foundations for Mastering Network Effects

  #Network Effects ,

• Viral Effects Are Not Network Effects

  #Network Effects ,

• 9 Habits of World Class Startups

  #How We Invest ,

• The Founders’ List: “The Guide to Unbundling Reddit” by Greg Isenberg (Late Checkout, Indicator Fund, TikTok Advisor, Previously WeWork/Islands/5by)

  Founder's List ,

• 3 Reasons Why NFX Is Investing In Firefly

  #How We Invest ,

• The New Mindset for Product-Market Fit

  #Growth ,

• Building Strong Companies: The “No Politics Rule”

  #How We Invest ,

• The Founders’ List: “Status as a Service (StaaS)” by Eugene Wei (Former Product Leader at Amazon, Hulu, Flipboard, Oculus)

  Founder's List ,

• Is Blockchain Really Over?

  #How We Invest ,

• Announcing our new General Partner, Morgan Beller

  #How We Invest ,

• 3 Reasons Why NFX Is Investing In Setter

  #How We Invest ,

• Good vs. Great Companies: The Unseen Truths of Breakout Success

  #Growth ,

• 3 Reasons Why NFX Is Investing In Court Buddy

  #How We Invest ,

• The Founders’ List: James Currier (Managing Partner at NFX) on “The Psychology of Founders Who Win in Downturns”

  Founder's List ,

• See Your Score: The NFX Marketplace Scorecard

  #Marketplaces ,

• The Founders’ List: Nir Eyal (Author, Professor, & Investor) on “Hooks: An Intro on How to Manufacture Desire”

• PropTech: A Massive Opportunity We’re Seeing

  #How We Invest ,

• Reid Hoffman’s Playbook for Growth and Network Effects

  #Growth ,

• Reinforcement: The Hidden Key to Building Iconic Tech Companies

  #Network Effects ,

• The Future of Fundraising? What We Need to Fix About Token Investing

  #Fundraising ,

• Announcing “The Brief” — The Best Way to Get the VC Meeting

  #How We Invest ,

• 3 Reasons Why NFX Invested in Radius

  #How We Invest ,

• How VCs See Your KPIs

  #Fundraising ,

• Don’t Believe Your Own B.S.

  #How We Invest ,

• 19 Tactics to Solve the Chicken-or-Egg Problem and Grow Your Marketplace

  #Marketplaces ,

• Announcing VC Match: The Obvious Fundraising Tool No One Built – Until Now

  #How We Invest ,

• Why Startup Timing is Everything

  #How We Invest , Featured ,

• The Ladder of Proof: Uncovering How VC’s See Your Startup

  #Fundraising ,

• NFX Invests in Ribbon to Transform The Home Buying Experience

  #How We Invest ,

• The Network Effects Bible

  #Network Effects ,

• We’re hiring – Engineer-in-Residence

• Network Effects in Biotechnology: Introducing Mammoth Biosciences

  Bio ,

• Network Effects Predict the Future of Facebook

  #Network Effects ,

• How It’s Built: NEA + NFX on the $15.5 Million Series A in Lyric

  #How We Invest ,

• Entropy: The Unseen Threat to Startups

  #How We Invest ,

• Does Real Identity Matter for Networks?

  #Marketplaces ,

• The Physics of Startups: Using Slingshots to Defy Gravity

  #How We Invest ,

• Behind the Houzz Acquisition of IvyMark: 6 Lessons for Founders

  #How We Invest ,

• The NFX of Trulia: Building a $3.5 Billion Marketplace

  #Network Effects ,

• The Network Effects Manual: 13 Different Network Effects (and counting)

  #Network Effects ,

• We’re Hiring – Head of Network at NFX

• The Intentional Network Effects of Uber

  #Network Effects ,

• NFX Launches $150 Million Fund to Transform How True Innovators Are Funded

  #How We Invest ,

• 70 Percent of Value in Tech is Driven by Network Effects

  #Network Effects ,

• An Epiphany about Network Effects

  #Network Effects ,

• The Next 10 Years Will Be About “Market Networks”

  #Network Effects ,

• Defensibility Adds the Most Value for Founders

  #Network Effects ,

• Where to Invest in Network Effects

  #Network Effects ,

• Signal – The Fundraising CRM for Startup Founders

  #Fundraising ,

• Your Company Name Matters…a Lot

  #How We Invest ,

• Pete Flint, Trulia Founder & CEO, Joins NFX Guild

  #How We Invest ,

• Network Effects Are Not Dead, They Are Alive and Thriving

  #Network Effects ,