Tremendous

An angel investor's take on life and business

  • In Search of the Perfect Jersey Slice

    We gazed on the glass case, transfixed by pepperoni and heaps of ricotta. Would this be the perfect counter slice?

    Fancy pizzerias are great. Wood fired ovens, shaved truffle, love all that.

    But sometimes, you need a Jersey classic. You need a counter slice.

    I’ve been going past Quality Pizza in Hoboken, NJ for a while now. Every time, I was tempted by the ample slices piled high with cheese, meats, and vibrant veg.

    Last Friday, I finally had a chance to visit…

    My friend Tim* and I had a problem: of all these delectable slices, which should we try?

    I settled on a white grandma pie and a ricotta and spinach slice. Tim went deep: pepperoni grandma pie, Italian sausage pie, and a plain slice just for kicks.

    We found a table in the back, far from the cold blasts of air coming through the door on this January night. Soon, the moment arrived.

    In life, there may be no more exciting moment than when someone tells you, “Your pizza is ready!”

    We cradled our slices gently, like a lover, and brought them home to our table. Oops, forgot the red pepper flakes…better grab those.

    Okay, we’re ready. Let’s dig in! I started with the grandma pie — I’ve always had a soft spot for these.

    My first bite cut through gooey mozzarella into a layer of garlic and an airy crust. There’s something about a white pie that goes so well with garlic.

    Sometimes, the crust on a grandma slice can be a little too dense. But this one was puffy, crunchy, perfect.

    On to my ricotta and spinach…

    The spinach was beautifully cooked, softened but still moist. Big dollops of unctuous ricotta almost made me groan. Ahhh…

    Oh good, Tim’s still here. Got a little absorbed in that slice…

    Tim made short work of his pepperoni. On to salsicc…

    A three slice man! I knew there was something I liked about this fella.

    Stuffed and grinning, we headed out…wait…what does that sign say?

    A free slice for a Google review**? Don’t mind if I do!

    I wrote a pithy 5 star critique and beamed as they served up a beautiful plain slice. Dinner for tomorrow!

    What a clever way to make sure happy customers let others know!

    Quality Pizza is on Washington Street in the heart of Hoboken. It’s open 7 days a week from noon.

    Stop in for a classic Jersey slice!

    What’s your favorite slice spot? Leave a comment and let us know!

    There will be no blog on Monday for the holiday. I’ll see you on Tuesday.

    Have a great weekend, everyone!

    If you enjoyed this post, subscribe for more like this!

    More on food:

    Welcome to the First Robot Restaurant

    Cyberpunk Francis Is Here!

    AI Discovers Fingerprints Aren’t Unique

    Save Money on Stuff I Use:

    Fundrise

    This platform lets me diversify my real estate investments so I’m not too exposed to any one market. I’ve invested since 2018 with great returns.

    More on Fundrise in this post.

    If you decide to invest in Fundrise, you can use this link to get $100 in free bonus shares!

    Misfits Market

    I’ve used Misfits for years, and it never disappoints! Every fruit and vegetable is organic, super fresh, and packed with flavor!

    I wrote a detailed review of Misfits here.

    Use this link to sign up and you’ll save $15 on your first order. 

    *Names are changed to protect those guilty of gluttony. 🙂

    **The Google review got me a free slice. I wrote this post just because I really liked it — I’m not compensated for this in any way.



  • AI Discovers Fingerprints Aren’t Unique

    Every finger has a unique fingerprint, right? Wrong, according to a new study published in Science Advances.

    The Columbia University team used an AI model to analyze tens of thousands of fingerprints. It found that fingerprints can actually be shared across multiple fingers.

    From a Columbia statement:

    It’s a well-accepted fact in the forensics community that fingerprints of different fingers of the same person–”intra-person fingerprints”–are unique, and therefore unmatchable. 

    A team led by Columbia Engineering undergraduate senior Gabe Guo challenged this widely held presumption. Guo, who had no prior knowledge of forensics, found a public U.S. government database of some 60,000 fingerprints and fed them in pairs into an artificial intelligence-based system known as a deep contrastive network. Sometimes the pairs belonged to the same person (but different fingers), and sometimes they belonged to different people. 

    The researchers found that several of a person’s fingers sometimes shared the same print!

    This finding could help police stop serial offenders. A thumbprint at Scene A and a ring finger print at Scene B could potentially be matched to the same person.

    To be clear, the study didn’t find that different people share the same fingerprints. But I have to wonder what a larger data set might reveal.

    First They Ignore You, Then They Laugh at You

    Guo and his team tried to publish their incredible finding. But establishment journals gave him a chilly reception:


    Once the team verified their results, they quickly sent the findings to a well-established forensics journal, only to receive a rejection a few months later. The anonymous expert reviewer and editor concluded that “It is well known that every fingerprint is unique,” and therefore it would not be possible to detect similarities even if the fingerprints came from the same person. 

    Eventually, Guo and his team were able to get published in the less specialized Science Advances. Sometimes experts in a field are the last ones to accept new discoveries.

    A Trillion Scientists

    Artificial intelligence just helped an undergraduate with no background in the field disprove one of the central truths of forensic science. What else will AI help us discover?

    Here’s a thought experiment…

    There are around 8 million scientists in the world. What if we 10x-ed that number? We’d have more scientific discoveries, right?

    Now imagine if there were a trillion scientists.

    This is the world we’re entering. More GPU’s are being built every day, and in time, we’ll have access to the IQ equivalent of a trillion scientists who never eat or sleep.

    They’ll be assisted by human scientists as well. But each human will be able to accomplish more in an afternoon than he could’ve in an entire career without AI.

    The discoveries we’re about to make will change our lives.

    How do you think AI will change science? Leave a comment and let us know!

    If you enjoyed this post, subscribe for more like this!

    More on tech:

    Welcome to the First Robot Restaurant

    Cyberpunk Francis Is Here!

    Meet My New AI Mentor

    Save Money on Stuff I Use:

    Fundrise

    This platform lets me diversify my real estate investments so I’m not too exposed to any one market. I’ve invested since 2018 with great returns.

    More on Fundrise in this post.

    If you decide to invest in Fundrise, you can use this link to get $100 in free bonus shares!

    Misfits Market

    I’ve used Misfits for years, and it never disappoints! Every fruit and vegetable is organic, super fresh, and packed with flavor!

    I wrote a detailed review of Misfits here.

    Use this link to sign up and you’ll save $15 on your first order. 

    Photo: “{71} Fingerprinted” by scribbletaylor is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0.

  • Cyberpunk Francis Is Here!

    What if you could make yourself look any way you want, all with a couple of clicks? A new AI tool called uPix is making it happen.

    UPix lets you upload a picture of yourself and create a new version of your image. You can become a cyberpunk, Iron Man, Snow White, and more!

    Let’s test this out…

    Test #1: Cyberpunk Francis

    Scrolling through the possible settings, one stood out to me: cyberpunk.

    The dyed and pierced Blade Runner aesthetic is awesome. I don’t even have hair anymore, but thanks to AI, I can still pull it off!

    Wow, amazing!

    It really does look like me, albeit a younger and much cooler version. The clothes and background are very convincing.

    I look like I’m in Los Angeles in some dystopian, neon future.

    Test #2: Korean Woman Francis

    For my next test, I went with something really out there: how about a beautiful Korean woman in a traditional hanbok?

    Not too impressive.

    It’s a nice picture, but it doesn’t look like me at all. I guess I better stick to images of men.

    These first two were fun, but what about something more realistic? Something I just might be able to pass off as me…

    Test #3: Handsome Autumn Francis

    For this, I went to “Autumn Male.”

    Autumn Male is a handsome devil. He looks like he’s straight out of a teen drama.

    Surely the ladies will swoon!

    Nailed it!

    It looks like James Vanderbeek is wearing my glasses. I’ll take it — all those girls didn’t watch Dawson’s Creek for nothing!

    How Did uPix Do?

    For making AI versions of yourself, uPix is hard to beat. I could see people using this for fun, and also to make more attractive pictures for social media and dating apps.

    If I could add follow-up prompts, uPix would be even better.

    I’d tell it to make Autumn Francis’ hair dark, so it looks more like me. And give Cyberpunk Francis some tattoos so he looks even cooler.

    Wrap-Up

    All in all, this is a darned impressive product for something that just came out. I’m excited to see how it develops.

    What do you think of uPix — solid product, or not ready for prime time? Leave a comment and let us know!

    If you enjoyed this post, subscribe for more like this!

    More on tech:

    Meet My New AI Mentor

    Welcome to the First Robot Restaurant

    Is This the End of Manual Labor?

    Save Money on Stuff I Use:

    Fundrise

    This platform lets me diversify my real estate investments so I’m not too exposed to any one market. I’ve invested since 2018 with great returns.

    More on Fundrise in this post.

    If you decide to invest in Fundrise, you can use this link to get $100 in free bonus shares!

    Misfits Market

    I’ve used Misfits for years, and it never disappoints! Every fruit and vegetable is organic, super fresh, and packed with flavor!

    I wrote a detailed review of Misfits here.

    Use this link to sign up and you’ll save $15 on your first order. 

  • Meet My New AI Mentor

    So I got a new mentor! He listens patiently, then jumps in with helpful suggestions. And since he’s not human, he’s available around the clock.

    His name is Sama AI, a new app just released by a startup called Welovenocode. Sama AI listens to your conversations and gives you tips to improve your performance.

    Founder Nik Shevchenko released a demo this morning on X:

    Today, Sama is available as an iOS app. Soon, the company plans to release a pin to improve sound capture and the resulting recommendations.

    Sama is not the first AI assistant to listen to your conversations. Rewind AI does something similar on your computer, and Humane has a pin as well.

    But Sama is the first I’ve seen that proactively offers suggestions, rather than just waiting for you to ask a question.

    In Search of Some AI Wisdom

    Curious, I had to try it out!

    I fired up Sama this morning on my iPad. Installation was pretty easy, and I pressed “start recording.”

    I didn’t have any meetings this morning, so I talked to myself for about 5 minutes while I did some housework. I reviewed my schedule for the rest of the day and also talked about a trip I’m planning in March to visit my grandmother.

    Let’s see what suggestions Sama gives me:

    “Focus on clear objectives; your conversation jumps topics. Prioritize tasks; mention the most important first. Avoid vague language; be specific about your plans. Eliminate filler words; they add no value. Keep it professional, personal anecdotes can wait. Confirm details; ensure understanding of the schedule.”

    Ouch! Sounds like Sama didn’t like my little monologue at all.

    My chitter chatter is disjointed, vague, and wordy. And I just might be an oversharer.

    Did Sama Help?

    Maybe I’m just being defensive, but I don’t feel like I got much from this critique.

    Of course my monologue jumped topics…I’m reviewing my schedule for the day and then talking about a trip I’m planning. Conversations don’t stay on a single topic forever.

    Also, Sama simply assumes this is a meeting at a job. It’s not — it’s me reviewing my own schedule.

    One suggestion I did like was that I need to prioritize tasks. In my little monologue, I just listed tasks in order, rather than focusing on the most important one.

    I have a tendency to bang out tasks in sequence without thinking about what’s most important. That’s a tip I’ll try to keep in mind.

    It’s Not You, It’s Me

    So, will I be chatting with Sama again? Not for now.

    I’m not going to bring my iPad everywhere. And I don’t want everything I say recorded for posterity either.

    After all, I’m wordy and too personal! 🙂

    But I’d definitely consider using a version of Sama that operates on my laptop and is optimized to record meetings. This could be Otter on steroids.

    All in all, this is a pretty solid beta. I’m excited to see what Sama becomes.

    Will you give Sama a try? Why or why not?

    Leave a comment and let us know!

    If you enjoyed this post, subscribe for more like this!

    More on tech:

    Welcome to the First Robot Restaurant

    Is This the End of Manual Labor?

    Elon Musk (Part 1): Overcoming the Odds

    Save Money on Stuff I Use:

    Fundrise

    This platform lets me diversify my real estate investments so I’m not too exposed to any one market. I’ve invested since 2018 with great returns.

    More on Fundrise in this post.

    If you decide to invest in Fundrise, you can use this link to get $100 in free bonus shares!

    Misfits Market

    I’ve used Misfits for years, and it never disappoints! Every fruit and vegetable is organic, super fresh, and packed with flavor!

    I wrote a detailed review of Misfits here.

    Use this link to sign up and you’ll save $15 on your first order. 

  • Welcome to the First Robot Restaurant

    The fries are golden brown. The wagyu blend burgers are juicy. Welcome to the world’s first robot restaurant.

    From a report out this morning from NPR:

    “What is believed to be the world’s first automated restaurant is opening in Pasadena, California.

    Customers at the CaliExpress will order food from self-service kiosks and then watch as robots grind premium beef for their burger or cheeseburger and cook up their fries. The creators of the burger spot say it will be safer for employees and cut down on waste.”

    How It Works

    Technically, CaliExpress is not fully automated. The ordering and cooking are done automatically. But there are still a few employees.

    Someone has to bring in supplies and clean up — for now.

    The automation lets CaliExpress sell wagyu blend burgers for a similar price as regular burgers elsewhere. This is a preview of the cost savings that automation can provide.

    Consider the countless costs taken out here: wages, health insurance, sick time, and random no shows. Robot restaurants may be cheaper and better.

    About That Minimum Wage…

    Automation is the inevitable result of skyrocketing labor costs. As of January 1st, fast food workers in California are entitled by law to a $20 an hour minimum wage.

    When the law passed in September of 2022, I predicted automation and job losses on this blog. I even specifically called out Flippy.

    Those predictions are coming true a lot faster than I expected.

    Pizza Hut has already announced job cuts in California. Many more restaurants will follow, especially as these robots get cheaper.

    The Next Generation of Robots

    Single-purpose robots like those at CaliExpress are step one. For what they are, they’re impressive.

    But Flippy is just for cooking, and only certain items. The next generation of robots can do anything you tell them.

    Last week, a Stanford team unveiled a robot that can do a huge variety of physical tasks. It can make a multi-course meal, do the dishes, and even take out the trash. (I covered it on the blog here.)

    Get the new Stanford robot, Mobile ALOHA, into CaliExpress and they can fire the few employees they have left.

    Wrap-Up

    These robots will cause huge job losses. And I say bring it on.

    I know what you’re thinking — Francis, how can you cheer people losing their jobs?!

    But I believe that people can and should do something more significant with their lives than frying potatoes and emptying the trash.

    Let’s give humans significant work, like caring for the sick or creating things of beauty. Leave the fries to Flippy.

    Would you eat at CaliExpress? Leave a comment and let us know!

    If you enjoyed this post, subscribe for more like this!

    More on tech:

    Is This the End of Manual Labor?

    Elon Musk (Part 1): Overcoming the Odds

    Why Marc Andreessen Passed on Airbnb

    Save Money on Stuff I Use:

    Fundrise

    This platform lets me diversify my real estate investments so I’m not too exposed to any one market. I’ve invested since 2018 with great returns.

    More on Fundrise in this post.

    If you decide to invest in Fundrise, you can use this link to get $100 in free bonus shares!

    Misfits Market

    I’ve used Misfits for years, and it never disappoints! Every fruit and vegetable is organic, super fresh, and packed with flavor!

    I wrote a detailed review of Misfits here.

    Use this link to sign up and you’ll save $15 on your first order. 

  • Why Can’t Ken Griffin Beat the S&P 500?

    Ken Griffin’s Citadel is one of the biggest hedge funds on earth. But last year, its performance lagged well behind the S&P 500.

    From CNBC:

    Billionaire investor Ken Griffin’s various hedge fund strategies at Citadel all posted double-digit returns for 2023, but they failed to beat the S&P 500.

    Citadel’s multistrategy Wellington fund gained 15.3% last year, according to a person familiar with the returns. The flagship fund had enjoyed a stellar 2022 with a 38% gain, marking its best year on record.

    The Miami-based firm’s tactical trading fund gained 14.8% in 2023, while its equities fund, which uses a long/short strategy, returned 11.6%, said the person who spoke anonymously because the performance numbers are private. Citadel’s global fixed income fund returned 10.9% last year, according to the person.

    Citadel’s Declining Performance

    The S&P 500 trounced every fund Griffin has, posting a 24% gain for the year.

    The multistrategy Wellington fund is Citadel’s flagship. Multistrategy funds can invest in stocks, bonds, commodities, or most any other asset. If they can find returns there, it’s fair game.

    Citadel has thousands of the smartest people on earth scouring markets to find opportunities. But incredibly, it couldn’t beat a simple ETF.

    Even my personal stock portfolio, comprised entirely of index funds, blew away Citadel. And it did so for a few basis points a year in fees.

    Compare that to the typical hedge fund, which charges 2% of assets and 20% of investment gains.

    This isn’t the first time Citadel has underperformed. The Wellington fund also lagged the market in 2021.

    Too Big to Succeed?

    So what’s wrong with the hedge fund giant?

    Citadel may be a victim of its own success. Citadel’s funds have ballooned over the years.

    Despite uneven returns, it has had a few strong years. Those tend to draw in new investors. The firm now has $58 billion under management.

    As funds increase in size, returns often drop. It’s simply harder to post big numbers on a huge pot of assets.

    I have no doubt that Griffin and his people are great traders. But there are only so many gains out there in markets, no matter how good you are.

    Griffin Takes Action

    Griffin appears to be taking steps to fix this problem.

    Citadel is returning all of the fund’s 2023 profits, $7 billion, to investors. Normally, a hedge fund would hold onto that money and keep investing it.

    Griffin may be trying to shrink Citadel back to a more manageable size. This could help the firm get back on track.

    As for me, I’m sticking to my index funds. They may be boring, but they never lag the market.

    Would you invest in Citadel? Leave a comment and let us know!

    More on markets:

    Major Hedge Fund Falls 50% — Billions Lost

    Tiger Venture Chief Out in Management Shakeup

    Hedge Funds Fight to Keep Short Sales Secret

    Save Money on Stuff I Use:

    Fundrise

    This platform lets me diversify my real estate investments so I’m not too exposed to any one market. I’ve invested since 2018 with great returns.

    More on Fundrise in this post.

    If you decide to invest in Fundrise, you can use this link to get $100 in free bonus shares!

    Misfits Market

    I’ve used Misfits for years, and it never disappoints! Every fruit and vegetable is organic, super fresh, and packed with flavor!

    I wrote a detailed review of Misfits here.

    Use this link to sign up and you’ll save $15 on your first order. 

    Photo: Citadel CEO Ken Griffin

  • Is This the End of Manual Labor?

    A Stanford team has developed a robot that can perform almost any manual task, from cooking to straightening up the house. All it needs is a human to show it how.

    The Greatest Demo I’ve Ever Seen

    The demo, released yesterday on Twitter, is one of the most incredible things I’ve ever seen. The robot makes a 3 course Cantonese meal, completely autonomously — and it looks delicious!

    The robot’s hands crack the eggs more skillfully than I do. The chicken is perfectly done.

    After you have your delicious shrimp, chicken and greens, it’s time to do the dishes, right? Wrong!

    The robot takes care of them for you, and can even give you a high five when it’s done!

    A Flexible Platform

    Mobile ALOHA goes way beyond the kitchen. It can push in chairs, call an elevator, or complete most any physical task.

    For the robot to learn a new skill, you have to demonstrate it 50 times. The detachable arms let you train the robot on new skills or move it around.

    Today, most robots do a single task, over and over. In areas like car manufacturing, they weld the same spot all day long, often separated from humans by a cage to keep the humans safe.

    Mobile ALOHA is totally different. It can do a huge variety of tasks and safely operates right next to humans.

    Best of all, the tech behind Mobile ALOHA is completely free and open source. You can see it all on GitHub here.

    The Robot Takeover

    Having to train a robot 50 times for it to learn a new skill might sound like a lot. But imagine McDonald’s using thousands of these all over the world.

    At that scale, having to show it how to cook the fries 50 times is nothing! Staff could complete the training in an afternoon, then push the new skill to all its robots worldwide instantly.

    This may be the end of manual labor.

    Today, robots are cheaper and more reliable than humans for a few repetitive tasks. But humans are more flexible.

    What if the robot is flexible too, and can learn any new skill in a few hours? That puts a lot of humans out of business.

    The Human Edge

    The best hope for our species is to do jobs where the human touch matters.

    No one wants a robot yoga teacher. They want a person they can connect with.

    I would love to go to a concert with a great pianist. But make it a player piano, and I’m out.

    Humans still have the edge for jobs where humanity matters. But if it’s just about getting something from point A to point B, robots will soon take over.

    What do you think of Mobile ALOHA? Leave a comment and let us know!

    If you enjoyed this post, subscribe for more like this!

    More on tech:

    Elon Musk (Part 1): Overcoming the Odds

    Elon Musk (Part 2): Saving Tesla and SpaceX

    Why Marc Andreessen Passed on Airbnb

    Save Money on Stuff I Use:

    Fundrise

    This platform lets me diversify my real estate investments so I’m not too exposed to any one market. I’ve invested since 2018 with great returns.

    More on Fundrise in this post.

    If you decide to invest in Fundrise, you can use this link to get $100 in free bonus shares!

    Misfits Market

    I’ve used Misfits for years, and it never disappoints! Every fruit and vegetable is organic, super fresh, and packed with flavor!

    I wrote a detailed review of Misfits here.

    Use this link to sign up and you’ll save $15 on your first order. 

  • How to Stop LinkedIn InMail Forever

    Are LinkedIn InMail messages driving you nuts? Turns out there’s a way to stop them — forever.

    These random messages were driving me to the brink of insanity.

    So I complained on Twitter.

    What happened next shocked me. The kind folks at LinkedIn stepped in to help!

    Here’s how to turn off InMail forever:

    1) Logged into LinkedIn, click on the “Me” button next to the picture of yourself.

    2) Click “Settings & Privacy.”

    3) The settings screen appears. On the left, click “Data & Privacy”.

    4) Under “Who can reach you,” click “Messages”.

    5) Under “InMail messages,” click “No.” LinkedIn InMail is now gone forever!

    I turned these messages off because they were never targeted well. I got random proposals to invest in funeral parlors, solar farms, etc. despite saying on my profile that I’m a software investor.

    I don’t really blame them — founders have to raise money. But I also need to protect my most precious resource: my time.

    I hope this little trick helps you protect your time too!

    Are you turning off InMail? Why or why not?

    Leave a comment and let us know!

    If you enjoyed this post, subscribe for more like this!

    More on tech:

    An Investor’s Dream Cold E-mail

    Tiger Venture Chief Out in Management Shakeup

    The Fall of OpenView: Shocking Departures and an Uncertain Future

    Save Money on Stuff I Use:

    Fundrise

    This platform lets me diversify my real estate investments so I’m not too exposed to any one market. I’ve invested since 2018 with great returns.

    More on Fundrise in this post.

    If you decide to invest in Fundrise, you can use this link to get $100 in free bonus shares!

    Misfits Market

    I’ve used Misfits for years, and it never disappoints! Every fruit and vegetable is organic, super fresh, and packed with flavor!

    I wrote a detailed review of Misfits here.

    Use this link to sign up and you’ll save $15 on your first order. 

  • Tiger Venture Chief Out in Management Shakeup

    Scott Shleifer, Tiger Global Management’s head of private investments, is out. Founder Chase Coleman will now oversee the struggling unit, according to Bloomberg:

    Months before Scott Shleifer stepped down as head of Tiger Global Management’s private investments, Chase Coleman had already begun to reclaim control of the firm’s $34 billion venture-capital arm.

    Now, he’s taking over the unit that accounts for about two-thirds of the firm’s assets and has made Tiger a dominant force in startup investing. The move comes after some investors asked Coleman and other partners to get more involved in the wake of steep markdowns and has given many comfort that the firm is seeking to correct the biggest misstep in its history, according to clients.

    Party Like It’s 2021

    Tiger pumped a torrent of capital into late stage startups at the peak of the market in 2021. Now, the unit’s returns are suffering. Losses total nearly 40%.


    “Tiger essentially was trying to deliver index-like exposure to disruptive tech companies,” said Andrew Beer, co-founder of Dynamic Beta Investments. “The irony is that their aggressive investing may have fueled the bubble and hence contributed to subsequent losses.”

    As brutal as those markdowns are, they may still be too optimistic. Many major LP’s doubt today’s VC valuations.

    Moving the Market

    Tiger’s biggest fund tipped the scales at a staggering $13 billion. If you average the five years of venture capital investments prior to 2021, that fund would amount to about 10% of an entire year’s total.


    At the late stages where Tiger invested most of its money, it formed an even larger portion of the market. Tiger didn’t just make an index — it moved the market.

    Troubles with Fundraising

    Paying high prices in a bubble has predictable results — big losses. Eyeing those brutal markdowns, LP’s are closing their wallets when Tiger comes calling.

    Again, from Bloomberg:


    As of June, [a new Tiger fund] had gathered just a third of its $6 billion target, amid a difficult fundraising environment. While the firm has had another capital raise since then, many institutional investors are limiting new VC and private equity commitments because they’re already overexposed to the asset class.

    That New Year’s Hangover

    Tiger was a classic venture tourist. It saw fat returns, elbowed its way into the party, and made it rain.

    For a while, it works. The party keeps going, and the markups look yummy.

    But sooner or later, the music stops. Everyone’s getting sloppy, and it’s time to go home.

    The next day, reality sets in. “What the heck was I thinking?”

    A lot of people had that experience yesterday. Tiger’s been having it for two years.

    Wrap-Up

    As troubled as it is, Tiger’s portfolio could find redemption. The startups keep growing and eventually exit for more than Tiger paid.

    But that will take many years. The yearly rate of return, or IRR, won’t be much.

    I take Tiger’s experience as a warning. I invest in solid companies at reasonable prices — hold the FOMO.

    Would you invest in Tiger’s new fund? Why or why not?

    Leave a comment and let us know!

    Happy New Year — glad to be back!

    If you enjoyed this post, subscribe for more like this!

    More on tech:

    Number Go Up (Part 1): The Rise and Fall of SBF

    The Fall of OpenView: Shocking Departures and an Uncertain Future

    Elon Musk (Part 1): Overcoming the Odds

    Save Money on Stuff I Use:

    Fundrise

    This platform lets me diversify my real estate investments so I’m not too exposed to any one market. I’ve invested since 2018 with great returns.

    More on Fundrise in this post.

    If you decide to invest in Fundrise, you can use this link to get $100 in free bonus shares!

    Misfits Market

    I’ve used Misfits for years, and it never disappoints! Every fruit and vegetable is organic, super fresh, and packed with flavor!

    I wrote a detailed review of Misfits here.

    Use this link to sign up and you’ll save $15 on your first order. 

    Photo: Tiger Global CEO Chase Coleman

  • The Fragrant Curries of Karma Kafe

    The aroma of cardamom and cloves wafted up at me. I rolled up a piece of bread, dipped it in, and tasted heaven.

    Paneer curry

    This is Karma Kafe in Hoboken, NJ. For 24 years, Karma has produced fragrant curries and spicy biryanis, and today they’re better than ever.

    I perused the extensive menu, settling on paneer makhani, a close relative of paneer tikka. This creamy, tomato based curry has always been my favorite.

    Paneer makhani

    Alongside my curry, I ordered onion kulcha. This cheese and onion stuffed flatbread is hard to find — Karma is one of the few places where I’ve seen it.

    “We’d better make that two orders,” I concluded.

    My friend Tim went with the chicken vindaloo. And as ever, for Matt*, it had to be chana saag, a curry of spinach and chickpeas.

    Chicken curry and kulcha
    Garlic naan

    I made perfunctory conversation, but in a restaurant this good, my mind is elsewhere. I fantasized about my curry, contemplating its creamy deliciousness.

    Suddenly, a torrent of dishes flew out of the kitchen. Chicken, spinach curry, and my beloved paneer.

    I dunked the cheesy kulcha into the curry. The combination of gooey cheese, caramelized onion and fragrant curry cannot be beat.

    Lamb curry
    Crab cake curry

    “This chicken is really good, nice and spicy,” Tim exclaimed.

    I tried a bite. It was tender and beautifully seasoned.

    Karma’s staff does a wonderful job guiding you through menu items that may be unfamiliar. The dishes are spicy without being overpowering, and the portions are generous.

    Sitting inside the warm, beautifully furnished restaurant on a chilly winter’s evening, there was nowhere else I’d rather be.

    Chicken kashmir

    Karma Kafe is open 7 days a week for lunch and dinner. It’s conveniently located on Washington Street in the center of town.

    Drop in for a delicious curry in a friendly atmosphere!

    What’s your favorite Indian restaurant? Leave a comment and let us know!

    This is the last blog for this year. Thanks to all of you for a great year and see you on Tuesday, January 2nd.

    Have a very merry Christmas and a happy New Year!

    Paneer saag

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    Miznon: The Professors of Pita

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    *Note: names have been changed.