Limits of network effects in venture

Gigi Levy-Weiss is a serial founder and a Founding Partner at NFX. NFX is an early-stage firm that has established itself as one of leading experts in network effects. We talked about network effects, AI agents, the importance of speed of exectuion, why first-mover advantages are overrated, and how NFX has built its own brand, systems, and network effects. 

We also covered:

• Going global without going local — Despite a 10-hour time gap between Israel and Silicon Valley, NFX partners rejected the easier path of separate regional funds, instead building a fully integrated, unified investment process based on trust, asynchronous communication, and individual founder meetings.

• Content as a competitive weapon — Early, sustained investment in short-form, actionable founder content gave NFX outsized market presence. Articles like the “Network Effects Bible” turned content into a persistent competitive advantage, positioning NFX as the definitive voice on network effects.

• AI's future is agent-to-agent, not agent-to-human — Gigi sees current AI implementations as merely transitional (agent-to-human workflows), predicting the true revolution lies in agent-to-agent interactions, cutting entire human-dependent processes from months down to minutes.

• B2C is AI’s biggest opening — Contrary to many investors betting big on AI-driven enterprise SaaS, Gigi argues consumer and SMB markets offer more attractive opportunities. Large enterprises will adapt quickly, limiting disruption, while SMBs and consumer verticals are ripe for agent-first innovation.

• First-mover advantage is overrated — Gigi challenges the widely-held VC belief in the inherent value of being first. Pointing to past failures, he argues that "being great is more important than being first," and successful fast-followers often become category leaders.

• Great products rarely sell themselves — Founders mistakenly obsess over perfecting product details (“product delusion”), yet distribution and defensibility usually matter more. NFX advocates for “product-market-network-distribution fit,” highlighting cases like Craigslist where distribution outshone product polish.

• VC needs its own disruption — NFX built internal VC tooling (“The Force”) and founder-focused products like Signal and BriefLink, seeing tech-driven innovation as essential for winning deal flow. They reject the outdated assumption that every industry except VC itself can be disrupted by technology.

Investing in Startups is hosted by Joe Magyer and produced by Seaplane Ventures.