Welcome to issue #18 of our ongoing newsletter series, From the First Row.

Thanks to Danna Redmond and Rachel ten Brink for sending some startups our way this month.

Look here for First Row firm updates and the startup ecosystem news that catches our attention. Feedback and ideas welcome.

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First Row Partners | Highlights

<aside> 📚 Thank you to Jay Newton-Small from MemoryWell for presenting at Deals & Drinks this month, and to Julie Schlosser for introducing us! And thanks to our participants for bringing their energetic and thoughtful engagement to the discussion. Sign up here to be included on the invite list moving forward, and access our Deals & Drinks info page **here.**

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<aside> 🎓 Yoko participated as a judge to evaluate 12 Semi-Finalist Teams for Seattle University’s Harriet Stephenson Business Plan Competition. Minda will be a judge for the Final Four for the May 20 closing event.

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<aside> 📣 First Row made an investment in Snippyly, a YC company building an API for multiplayer collaboration features. They’re also hiring engineers and a developer advocate. Check out our highlight below for more!

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<aside> 🛠️ Our portfolio companies are hiring! Please let us know if you you or anyone in your network is interested in these opportunities:

First Row Partners | What we've been reading

<aside> 🖥️ Hyperscalers – Friend or Foe? – Disruption theory involves an upstart targeting an under or over-served market segment to eventually displace incumbents. But what if the upstarts are built on the incumbents? That’s exactly what’s happening in the cloud space. This essay deconstructs how those competitive dynamics are now shifting from competition to cooperation. A great read for anyone looking for a thoughtful answer to the common “what if AWS builds this?” question!

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<aside> 📈 Multicoin Capital: How to be a Contrarian – With a demonstrated history of making non-consensus investments and being proven wildly correct, Multicoin Capital is a fascinating firm to study. This is one part of an excellent three-part series that discusses how Multicoin cultivates a culture of thinking independently and rigorously. Give it a read to glean insight into everything from how they assess market dynamics to tactically battle-testing ideas to reach true conviction. While geared towards investors, it’s full of gems on fundamental decision making too.

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<aside> 🧵 Being cheap, fast, and decentralized is not enough for a blockchain to win – The best insights often lie at the intersection of different fields, so we loved this thread from Tascha. She’s long argued that Layer 1 Blockchains (ex. Ethereum) should be treated analogous to countries. In this thread, she takes that analogy a step further to suggest “industrial policies” that are critical for an individual blockchain to succeed. An incredible read not only for a fresh take on blockchains, but also as a reminder of the many levers needed for innovation to thrive!

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<aside> 📢 20 Product with Robinhood’s CPO: In this episode, Aparna Chennapragada delivers a masterclass in not only doing product management, but also building a product management organization. She draws on her years at Google and Robinhood to deliver a ton of insight in a relatively short episode – worth a listen for all the founders out there!

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Venture Funding News | The Big Picture

Trends:

We’ve framed our funding news to match our evolved pillars: Software Power Tools, Data Interconnectivity, and Creator-Controlled Media. This month, we're exploring John Legend’s new NFT startup, a code quality maintenance company, and a wild new take on AGI! Let's dive in: