Rather than being a problem, public criticism of the military serves a vital function. It forces politicians and leaders to rigorously test their hypotheses and ethics, preventing a descent into an unchecked, aggressive "Team America world police" mentality.
The government's procurement process often defaults to bidding out projects to established players like Lockheed Martin, even if a startup presents a breakthrough. Success requires navigating this bureaucratic reality, not just superior engineering.
To identify non-consensus ideas, analyze the founder's motivation. A founder with a deep, personal reason for starting their company is more likely on a unique path. Conversely, founders who "whiteboarded" their way to an idea are often chasing mimetic, competitive trends.
AI lowers the barrier to entry, flooding the market with "whiteboard founded" companies tackling low-hanging fruit. This creates a highly competitive, consensus-driven environment that is the opposite of a "good quest." The real challenge is finding meaningful problems.
Successful concentration isn't just about doubling down on winners. It's equally about avoiding the dispersion of capital and attention. This means resisting the industry bias to automatically do a pro-rata investment in a company just because another VC offered a higher valuation.
The firm’s core belief is being a fund *for* founders, trusting them to run their companies without heavy operational input. This hands-off approach gives partners the bandwidth and "permission" to go deep on their own projects, leading to spinouts like Anduril and Varda.
Ideas can be mapped on a 2x2 of "feels good/bad" vs. "is good/bad." While most focus on "feels good, is good," the "feels bad, is good" quadrant contains necessary but uncomfortable duties like national defense. These areas are often less crowded and hold significant value.
During tech gold rushes like AI, the most skilled engineers ("level 100 players") are drawn to lucrative but less impactful ventures. This creates a significant opportunity cost, as their talents are diverted from society's most pressing challenges, like semiconductor fabrication.