Motion Blur

Today we’re talking about a topic we get asked about at least once every week: capital as a moat. Should you raise a billion dollars? Should you bootstrap?Grant opens the debate by discussing the merits of durability and the idiosyncrasies of building in different categories. We dig more into Parker Conrad’s tweet about venture backed competition potentially eating your lunch, and Hammad then steps in to discuss his thoughts on capital as acceleration and the quality of leadership.This discussion plays off of many of our prior episodes: chicken sexing, anointment, the hedonic treadmill, and more. Ultimately, capital can be a powerful accelerant in the hands of disciplined leadership, and it’s contingent upon founders (and their investors) to make the most of it. Enjoy! 🔗 Show Resource LinksStrategy Letter I: Ben and Jerry’s vs. AmazonParker Conrad TweetRavens GM on the NFL Draft TweetRic Elias of Red Ventures on The Drive Podcast (a top recommendation from Grant)🎙️ Podcast LinksSpotifyApple Podcasts⁠X (FKA Twitter)⁠Subscribe🌀 About Motion BlurExploring what makes great companies and technologies work. Brought to you by Grant Gregory & Hammad Aslam. Grant is a Partner at Cantos where he focuses on physical world technologies. Hammad is a Partner at Kivu Ventures, Susa’s growth fund.Learn more about the hosts:Grant Gregory, ⁠Embers⁠Hammad Aslam, ⁠Susa VenturesIntro music credit: ⁠Will Harrison⁠

We are back after a short summer break! Our first order of business, commodity companies. But not the ones you’re thinking of, we’re talking about businesses that make and sell commodities.Most investors shy away from commodities because they imply heightened competition and structurally lower margins (and returns). But there are benefits – commodities imply massive scale, and many of the incumbents are huge as a result. Which begs the question, can startups break into these markets and capture some of the upside?Grant believes there’s real opportunity to do just that within in the American Dynamism Cinematic Universe. Companies like Shinkei, Solugen, and others are finding ways to provide products at structurally different cost profiles, and that opens the door to large outcomes.We wrap up the podcast by exploring how Hammad thinks about the topic and how it relates to software companies.🔗 Show Resource LinksShinkeiSolugen🎙️ Podcast LinksSpotifyApple Podcasts⁠X (FKA Twitter)⁠Subscribe🌀 About Motion BlurExploring what makes great companies and technologies work. Brought to you by Grant Gregory & Hammad Aslam. Grant is a Partner at Cantos where he focuses on physical world technologies. Hammad is a Partner at Kivu Ventures, Susa’s growth fund.Learn more about the hosts:Grant Gregory, ⁠Embers⁠Hammad Aslam, ⁠Susa VenturesIntro music credit: ⁠Will Harrison⁠

The podcast dives into the challenges of defining benchmarks in today’s fast-evolving venture landscape. It discusses a significant tech acquisition's implications for AI and blockchain startups. The hosts examine the need for aligning product design with user needs rather than investor interests. They also stress the importance of clear vision and adaptability for founders navigating complex funding strategies. The discussion highlights the shifting dynamics of startup investing and the need for immediate revenue generation, especially in SaaS models.

Delve into the fascinating concept of the 'Idea Maze,' which illuminates how founders navigate the complexities of entrepreneurship. Discover the importance of historical context in becoming a 'Maze Historian' and why this knowledge is crucial for success. The discussion also explores the balance between optimism and credible ambition, along with strategic insights for navigating the startup landscape. Dive deep into evolving frameworks and the vital relationship between venture capitalists and founders.

Given we’ve had a bunch of new subscribers recently, we decided to re-release one of our first episodes we ever recorded, and the first one we launched with!You know the saying: Hardware is hard! In today’s episode, Grant and Hammad discuss why that’s the case. Together they examine the software investing frameworks that also apply to hardware, and also explore new frameworks that offer some predictability in the built world.The culmination of this conversation is a project Grant’s been working on for a while now dubbed The Hardware Playbook. Hammad closes us out with some thoughts on his perspective on the Near Frontier / Dynamism categories, and gets us ready for an upcoming episode on his software world view.🎙️ Podcast LinksSpotifyApple Podcasts⁠X (FKA Twitter)⁠Subscribe🌀 About Motion BlurExploring what makes great companies and technologies work. Brought to you by Grant Gregory & Hammad Aslam. Grant is a Partner at Cantos where he focuses on physical world technologies. Hammad is a Partner at Kivu Ventures, Susa’s growth fund.Learn more about the hosts:Grant Gregory, ⁠Embers⁠Hammad Aslam, ⁠Susa VenturesIntro music credit: ⁠Will Harrison⁠

Grant's Promotion to Partner, the State of Seed Investing, and Quantum vs Classical RisksToday’s episode is a day late but for good reason — Grant was recently promoted to Partner(!), so Hammad wanted to open the pod congratulating him, and let Grant share some thank you’s to those that have helped him reach this amazing milestone.We then shift to a topic that’s seemingly on everyone’s minds: why is early stage (seed) investing so competitive? And what will happen from here? Grant opens with an iconic Jerry Neumann post from 10 years ago, and connects it to two other posts on the differences in risks between early and late stage startups.This is one of our most wide-ranging episodes to date. We cover everything from quantum vs classical risks to lessons from Grant’s recent dinner with a founder of an iconic venture firm. Grant was also semi-caffeinated for this, which if you know him well, means you’re in for a high-tempo convo. Enjoy!“I like hitting the tennis ball.” —Novak Djokovic🔗 Show Resource Links⁠The Purity of Obsession⁠ - Grant’s post on becoming Partner⁠Heat Death: Venture Capital in the 1980s⁠ - Reaction Wheel (Jerry Neumann)⁠Slow Ventures’ State of VC 2025 Deck⁠⁠There are No Stages, Just Early and Late⁠ - Yoni Rechtman⁠Classical Risk vs Quantum Risk⁠ - Kanyi Maqubela⁠Odds of Success⁠ - Grant’s Ignition essay🎙️ Podcast Links⁠⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Apple Podcasts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠X (FKA Twitter)⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Subscribe⁠⁠⁠🌀 About Motion BlurExploring what makes great companies and technologies work. Brought to you by Grant Gregory & Hammad Aslam. Grant is a Partner at ⁠⁠⁠Cantos⁠⁠⁠ where he focuses on physical world technologies. Hammad is a Partner at Kivu Ventures, ⁠⁠⁠Susa⁠⁠⁠’s growth fund. Learn more about the hosts:Grant Gregory, ⁠⁠⁠⁠@grant__gregory⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠Embers⁠⁠⁠⁠Hammad Aslam, ⁠⁠⁠⁠@_hammad_aslamh⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠Susa Ventures⁠⁠⁠If you're interested in the real inside baseball of tech, entrepreneurship, and start-up investing, tune in every week for new episodes.Intro music credit: ⁠⁠⁠⁠Will Harrison⁠⁠⁠⁠Thanks for reading and listening to Motion Blur! ⁠⁠⁠Subscribe⁠⁠⁠ to get notified for future episodes.

Today’s episode is the long-awaited Q&A. Thank you to all our listeners who submitted questions to us, we did our best to cover as many as possible. We plan on making more of these in the future so please keep them coming (and hopefully we can get to some that we couldn’t cover this time).🔗 Show Resource LinksBryce Roberts’ tweet on the Wiz acquisition🎙️ Podcast Links⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠Apple Podcasts⁠⁠⁠⁠X (FKA Twitter)⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Subscribe⁠⁠🌀 About Motion BlurExploring what makes great companies and technologies work. Brought to you by Grant Gregory & Hammad Aslam. Grant is an investor at ⁠⁠Cantos⁠⁠ where he focuses on physical world technologies. Hammad is a Partner at Kivu Ventures, ⁠⁠Susa⁠⁠’s growth fund. Learn more about the hosts:Grant Gregory, ⁠⁠⁠@grant__gregory⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠Embers⁠⁠⁠Hammad Aslam, ⁠⁠⁠@_hammad_aslamh⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠Susa Ventures⁠⁠If you're interested in the real inside baseball of tech, entrepreneurship, and start-up investing, tune in every week for new episodes.Intro music credit: ⁠⁠⁠Will Harrison⁠⁠⁠Thanks for reading and listening to Motion Blur! ⁠⁠Subscribe⁠⁠ to get notified for future episodes.

Entropy, record revenue growth, and persistenceToday’s episode covers the Second Law of Thermodynamics — entropy, and how it extends to the world of (AI) companies. We’ve seen a number of companies shatter revenue milestones in record times, and Hammad and Grant viewed this as an opportunity to talk about building enduring businesses in the face of shifting environment.We open with one of Grant’s favorite facts: the average age of a company in the S&P 500 has fallen over 50 years in the past few decades. The Hedonic Treadmill has only accelerated, and we’re seeing more and more companies impacted. AI companies are no different. Hammad carries us through discussion on some of the practical implications of what this means, and Grant shares some thoughts on the broader uncertainty (and opportunity) with building in such a rapidly shifting playing field.It’s hard to build a company. It’s even harder to make it last!“Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming 'Wow! What a Ride!'“ —Hunter S. ThompsonLastly, please send us any questions you’d like us to cover in our upcoming Q&A episode! LinkedIn or Twitter DM us.🔗 Show Resource LinksClouded Judgement - 3.28.25 - The New AI Risk Curve — Jamin BallThe average company age in the S&P 500 — Innosight Corporate Longevity ForecastUSS Indianapolis🎙️ Podcast Links⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠Apple Podcasts⁠⁠⁠⁠X (FKA Twitter)⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Subscribe⁠⁠🌀 About Motion BlurExploring what makes great companies and technologies work. Brought to you by Grant Gregory & Hammad Aslam. Grant is an investor at ⁠⁠Cantos⁠⁠ where he focuses on physical world technologies. Hammad is a Partner at Kivu Ventures, ⁠⁠Susa⁠⁠’s growth fund. Learn more about the hosts:Grant Gregory, ⁠⁠⁠@grant__gregory⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠Embers⁠⁠⁠Hammad Aslam, ⁠⁠⁠@_hammad_aslamh⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠Susa Ventures⁠⁠If you're interested in the real inside baseball of tech, entrepreneurship, and start-up investing, tune in every week for new episodes.Intro music credit: ⁠⁠⁠Will Harrison⁠⁠⁠Thanks for reading and listening to Motion Blur! ⁠⁠Subscribe⁠⁠ to get notified for future episodes.

Explore the evolving concept of reindustrialization and its implications for the U.S. economy. The discussion examines the impact of recent tariffs on startups and supply chains, urging entrepreneurs to adapt to these changes. Delve into how global trade dynamics influence American industrial policy and discover investment strategies amid these tariff shifts. The challenges facing businesses are highlighted, alongside insights on operational innovation and navigating economic uncertainties in today's landscape.

The hosts dive into the quirky world of chicken sexing, linking it to talent evaluation in venture capital. They explore historical techniques like feather sexing and draw parallels between scouting founders and sports talent, emphasizing the importance of resilience over statistics. Discussions on authenticity in entrepreneurship highlight the pressures faced by founders. Navigating investment decisions is compared to the art of chicken sexing, illustrating the blend of instinct and analysis in spotting true potential. Expect laughs alongside insightful moments!