California can’t build anything. Prop 45 can change that… but Eric Schmidt’s family is fighting to keep the status quo. Prop 45 would reform CEQA for housing, energy, water, transportation and other essential projects by imposing deadlines, limiting the truly insane amounts of environmental review, and making it harder to use lawsuits to stall projects for years. CEQA sounds like an environmental protection law, so you might instinctively support it. In practice, it is one of California’s most powerful tools for delaying and killing projects, mostly for reasons that have nothing to do with the environment. Wendy Schmidt, Eric Schmidt’s wife, is helping bankroll the campaign to defeat Prop 45, alongside construction unions (!). So why would construction unions fight a measure that makes it easier to construct things? Because their ability to stop construction is valuable to them. CEQA gives unions ENORMOUS leverage over developers. The threat of years of delays and litigation can be used to push developers into project labor agreements and other labor concessions before opposition disappears, and makes everything more expensive to build. So: a law ostensibly about the environment creates enormous power for groups whose leverage comes from their ability to stop things from getting built. It’s sort of funny- the opponents to it are literally complaining that Prop 45 will make it easier to build. Exactly! California has spent decades empowering anyone who wants to say no. Prop 45 makes it easier to finally say yes. Vote YES on Prop 45! And if you are close to Wendy please shake a fist at her for me.

After almost eight years running @vouch_group as its CEO I’m pleased to announce that I have transitioned to become the company’s Executive Chairman and that we’ve named my co-founder @The_HedgeFund as our new CEO. We made this announcement at Camp Vouch, our annual all-company retreat. Having the whole team there to celebrate with us made it a special moment for me and for the evolution of our business. Through our time as business partners, Travis has consistently impressed me and our board with his vision, energy and commitment to our clients, partners and colleagues. We’ve built Vouch to become a leading provider of insurance for start-ups, scale-ups and other ambitious companies and I’ve never felt more confident in Vouch’s position and trajectory, so this feels like an optimal time to make this move. A big congratulations to Travis – I’m excited for all that’s to come!

This is important and everyone should read it. Everyone who works behind a computer should be worried about their job- unless they are a VC. AI may have taste and judgment now but can it sit on a board and ask ‘so what’s the AI strategy?’ every meeting? Didn’t think so.

We know we’re all heading toward Wall-E when Super Bowl ads are either AI or food delivery

🟢@vouch_group is on a mission to #insure ambition! As the leading #insurance provider for startups in the US, they offer scalable coverage that removes roadblocks and strengthens credibility. Read more from CEO & co-founder @HodgesSam: ideas.everywhere.vc/p/vouch-…

Had fun doing this interview with @EverywhereVC on the work @vouch_group is doing to serve ambitious founders everywhere

"Garfield" creator Jim Davis stuns at the #MetGala

if I had shared the script for this season of America before it came out, you wouldn't have believed me

There are 20 houses on my block in Mar Vista. The neighborhood was developed in 1947. Of those 20 houses, 8 have NEVER been sold. Since 1947! Handed down from generation to generation. Those 8 houses currently have an average taxable value of $172k. So they each pay ~$2k per year in property tax. If Prop 13 didn't exist... and homes were re-assessed every few years like ~everywhere else in the country... those 8 houses... on this one block... combined... would pay an additional ~$184k per year in property tax. That could pay for an additional teacher at the local school. Or our own police officer, just for this block! So it's tough to read about the fallout from LA's $1B budget shortfall. “We’re not looking at dozens or even hundreds of layoffs, but thousands.” It's a real 'this one simple trick' situation.

I’m thrilled to announce that @vouch_group has signed a definitive agreement to acquire @StartSure (including bringing over their team and book of business), and also our Series D financing, led by Allegis Capital. prnewswire.com/news-releases…

Thrilled to announce cap table coverage, powered by @vouch_group !

Companies that use AngelList Equity can be eligible for more coverage than usual thanks to AngelList Equity's AI and @vouch_group. Just another proof point for why no one in the insurance world understands startups quite like the Vouch team

Here’s a way to think about the market size of AI. US labor costs are $11T. If a company pays 2% of headcount expenses to get a 10-50% productivity gain with AI, that’s $200B+. The US enterprise software market today is around $150-200B. So AI doubles that just in the base case.

A whole category of pessimism about new startups can be summarized as "I don't understand the J curve"

It’s his time

Not a VC…but I feel seen

Couldn't recommend this more highly -- was an important part of @vouch_group 's early journey! @anuhariharan and team are fantastic

The feature iOS most needs is sms spam filtering. It’s becoming unusable :( It would also be nice if our “leaders” didn’t exempt themselves from the laws that apply to everyone else!

A decision on SB-1047 is due soon. Governor @GavinNewsom has said he's concerned about its "chilling effect, particularly in the open source community". He's right, and I hope he will veto this. If you agree, please like/retweet this to show your support for VETOing SB-1047!

You can have a great startup idea, but a great startup idea is like having a great plan for a fistfight. The moment the idea actually touches customers is like the moment you get punched in the face. What matters is what you do at that moment, not the plan.