Views

Views Substack features interviews with exceptional individuals from various industries, sharing their journey, insights, and advice. It explores themes like entrepreneurship, investment strategies, personal growth, technology innovation, and societal impact. The content aims to provide high-quality, accessible information for inspiration and guidance.

Entrepreneurship Investment Strategies Personal Growth Technology Innovation Societal Impact Venture Capital Startups Career Development Education Healthcare

The hottest Substack posts of Views

And their main takeaways

#14 Sonia Fernández: from Country Manager at Match.com ($38B val) and MercadoLibre ($75B val) to VC at Kibo Ventures

98 implied HN points • 06 Apr 21
  1. Sonia Fernández has an impressive career background with experience in tech companies, private equity, and as a VC at Kibo Ventures.
  2. She values the importance of belief in oneself, enjoying life's journey, and finding time for self-care.
  3. Ideal founders for Sonia are problem solvers who are humble, good listeners, and dream big, while ideal investors need to have strong conviction, detect top talent, and provide real value.

#12 Rebeca Minguela: co-founding a travel tech, exiting to Groupon, building a social impact investing tool backed by Blackrock 

78 implied HN points • 23 Mar 21
  1. Rebeca Minguela founded Clarity, a company focused on improving social impact investing through technology.
  2. Trusting the right people and building strong relationships is crucial for success as an entrepreneur.
  3. The best approach for social impact investing is to focus on solving significant global issues while maintaining profitability.

🚀 State of VIEWS 🚀

78 implied HN points • 09 Mar 21
  1. Friendship plays a key role in starting ventures and keeping the passion alive.
  2. Identifying a need for high-quality information in a niche market can lead to successful ventures.
  3. Reflecting on fails, learning, and expressing gratitude are crucial for growth and connection in business.

#9 Mar Hershenson: building semiconductors startup, exiting to NASDAQ company, co-founding $330M+ Pear VC (investor in $60B+ IPOed DoorDash)

78 implied HN points • 16 Feb 21
  1. Mar Hershenson, a Stanford PhD, founded multiple startups before co-founding a successful venture capital firm.
  2. Her biggest win was coming to Stanford in the 90s and immersing herself in the tech industry.
  3. Her biggest failure was not believing in herself enough and dreaming bigger, realizing later humans are capable of learning almost anything.

🚀 State of Views #2 🚀

58 implied HN points • 13 Jul 21
  1. The update shares significant growth in viewership and personal changes in their lives.
  2. The interviews highlight the diversity and success of the individuals featured, expressing gratitude for their contributions.
  3. Lessons learned emphasize the importance of loving what you do despite challenges and failures.
Get a weekly roundup of the best Substack posts, by hacker news affinity:

#15 Pere Mayol: from top angel investor in companies like Glovo ($1.2B val) to building Artificial General Intelligence 

58 implied HN points • 20 Apr 21
  1. Pere Mayol transitioned from being a successful business angel to co-founding AvatarCognition, focusing on solving General Intelligence.
  2. Important lesson learned is to balance vision with facts and avoid over-believing in a project when investing.
  3. Ideal founder profile should include a mix of storytelling, practical experience, and different team dynamics, while ideal investor should have a strong thesis and value intangible aspects.

#13 Howard Lindzon: fintech founder, fintech VC, early investor in Robinhood ($40B val), bullish on the crypto revolution 

58 implied HN points • 30 Mar 21
  1. Howard Lindzon, a successful fintech founder and VC, emphasizes the importance of doing what you love and achieving freedom in your work.
  2. One of Howard's biggest failures was picking the wrong people to do business with, highlighting the significance of surrounding yourself with the right team.
  3. When it comes to ideal founders, Howard values individuals with a strong understanding of timing, commitment, and domain experience.

#11 Luis Serrano: Maths PhD, ML at Google, AI educator at Udacity and Apple, AI + Quantum at Zapata Computing

58 implied HN points • 16 Mar 21
  1. Luis Serrano has a diverse background in mathematics, machine learning at Google, AI education at Udacity and Apple, and Quantum AI research at Zapata Computing.
  2. His biggest win in life was discovering his passion for teaching, receiving heartfelt messages from students worldwide.
  3. Through failures in academia and early jobs, Luis found his true passion for education and teaching, emphasizing the importance of being true to oneself.

#7 Pere Vallès: leading an e-voting startup while raising $129M+ and failing, becoming CEO of a travel tech and winning despite covid 

58 implied HN points • 19 Jan 21
  1. Pere Vallès has a diverse career, from being the CEO of a failed e-voting startup to successfully leading a travel tech company, Exoticca, with significant funding.
  2. Timing is crucial in business, as seen in the bankruptcy of Scytl after Pere left - emphasizing the importance of assessing market readiness.
  3. The ideal founder should be ambitious, optimistic, a great storyteller, and resilient, while the ideal investor should have a strong reputation and be adaptable to the entrepreneur.

#6 Srin Madipalli: from spinal muscular atrophy to building an accessible travel startup, exiting to Airbnb and becoming Head of Accessibility

58 implied HN points • 05 Jan 21
  1. Srin Madipalli founded Accomable, an accessible travel startup, which was later acquired by Airbnb.
  2. Srin emphasizes that an ideal founder needs to be smart, hardworking, resilient, and passionate.
  3. For investors, Srin highlights the importance of being comfortable with risk, ready for a rollercoaster, and having strong networks to add value.

#2 Pavel Mucha: leading as founding partner a €250M+ multi-stage venture capital firm and championing Eastern Europe

58 implied HN points • 10 Nov 20
  1. Pavel Mucha values achieving both relationship and economic freedom as his biggest win in life.
  2. Pavel Mucha learned a valuable lesson about choosing business partners wisely after experiencing a major failure in the past.
  3. Pavel Mucha looks for founders obsessed with customer pains and customer experience, as well as investors driven by patient curiosity and leading with questions.

#19 Gabby Cazeau: early stage VC with $174M AUM committed to empower diverse founders

39 implied HN points • 15 Jun 21
  1. Gabby Cazeau is a Principal at Harlem Capital, an early-stage VC firm with $174M AUM focused on empowering diverse founders.
  2. Gabby emphasizes the importance of taking risks, being confident, and always being your own biggest champion.
  3. Investors should balance critical analysis with optimistic beliefs, support relationships with founders, and focus on diversity in funding underrepresented founders.

#17 RaĂşl Torres: building and launching rockets from Spain, future opportunities and challenges in space

39 implied HN points • 18 May 21
  1. RaĂşl Torres is the Co-founder and CEO of PLD Space, a Spanish space tech company with significant funding providing launch solutions for small payloads and satellites.
  2. RaĂşl Torres highlights the importance of self-learning, the need for senior advice in engineering early on, the qualities of an ideal founder and investor, and his interest in space tech, robotics, AI, and genetics.
  3. He recommends reading about space tech startup successes like SpaceX and interest investors like Elon Musk, as well as discussing future markets and challenging the lack of funding and institutional support in the space tech industry.

#16 Phillip Hui-Bon-Hoa: founding a TikTok viral marketing startup and selling in <2.5 years

39 implied HN points • 04 May 21
  1. Starting a viral marketing startup and selling it within 2.5 years is achievable with the right mindset and dedication.
  2. A key win in life can be taking a step back, humbling oneself, and going back to school to learn and grow.
  3. Avoid getting too comfortable in success as it can lead to complacency and negative habits; stay conscious and keep working hard.

#10 Aly Tamboura: From San Quentin State Prison to becoming a software engineer and joining a $350M criminal justice fund 

39 implied HN points • 02 Mar 21
  1. Aly Tamboura went from being incarcerated for 12 years to becoming a software engineer and joining a $350M criminal justice fund.
  2. A key takeaway is the importance of having emotional intelligence and the impact of incarceration.
  3. Ideal founders are those with a focus on social causes and investors that aim to solve society's biggest challenges.

#8 Chris Tottman: early employee and sales lead at a $700M B2B SaaS exit, co-founding a $500M+ AUM VC to invest in enterprise tech

39 implied HN points • 02 Feb 21
  1. Giving up and starting again has been the biggest win in Chris Tottman's life.
  2. For Chris, the year after a career change and starting again can feel like the biggest failure, but it often leads to calculated risks and eventual success.
  3. Ideal founders for Chris are bold, restless, and able to make rational people do irrational things.

#5 Nnamdi Iregbulem: Self-taught programmer and Partner at Lightspeed Venture Partners ($10.5B+ AUM, exits like $33B+ NYSE IPO SNAP) 

39 implied HN points • 22 Dec 20
  1. Nnamdi Iregbulem is a self-taught programmer and partner at Lightspeed Venture Partners with a focus on tech investments.
  2. He acknowledges the advantages of being born in the USA for the opportunities it presents.
  3. His experiences have taught him the importance of perspective, drive, and supporting incredible people in building successful companies.

#24 Josep Lluis Sanfeliu: founding 2 health focused investment firms totalling €380M+ AUM and 4+ NASDAQ IPOs

0 implied HN points • 26 Oct 21
  1. Josep Lluis Sanfeliu founded 2 health-focused investment firms totaling over €380M AUM and 4+ NASDAQ IPOs.
  2. He reinvented himself by shifting from law to finance, emphasizing the importance of humility in facing failures and life lessons.
  3. As an investor, he values empathy, emotional understanding, and focuses on health markets, particularly mental health, cardio, cancer, and AI.

#26 Aubrie Lee: From rare neuromuscular dystrophy to Stanford engineer, Google and building disability communities

0 implied HN points • 04 Jan 22
  1. Aubrie Lee overcame her rare neuromuscular dystrophy to become a proud Stanford engineer and Brand Manager at Google, while advocating for disability communities.
  2. Her biggest win was finding pride in her disabled identity and helping others do the same.
  3. One of her biggest failures was struggling with daily tasks due to her condition, but she aims to leverage technology to improve and make a positive impact.

#32: Ariadna Farres: insights from NASA's legendary research lab, building the future of space tech, lessons to improve STEM ecosystems

0 implied HN points • 11 Jul 23
đź•ą Technology Space Tech
  1. From humble beginnings in Barcelona, Ariadna Farres made her way to NASA through perseverance and determination.
  2. Ariadna's doctoral research in Mathematics and space navigation, focusing on solar sails, led her to specialize in astrodynamics at NASA.
  3. In order to improve STEM education, we need more diverse role models, engaging storytelling, and innovative evaluation methods.

#36: Rubina Singh: engineer investing in frontier deep tech and climate tech w/ Octopus Ventures (>ÂŁ1bn AUM)

0 implied HN points • 23 Jan 24
đź’Ľ Business Venture Capital Innovation Energy Climate tech
  1. Explore the extraordinary opportunity in deep tech investment with potential for revolutionary advances in technology and addressing critical global issues.
  2. Investment in breakthrough tech like deep tech can be uncommon due to perceived difficulties and misconceptions, but offers significant value.
  3. Mitigate risks and enhance deep tech investments by focusing on big problems, improving understanding of technology and market, and building a supportive ecosystem.

#35 Manuel Silva: VC firm building, LP fundraising hacks, and the future of finance

0 implied HN points • 31 Oct 23
đź’Ľ Business Venture Capital Fintech Banking System
  1. Curiosity and diverse experiences play a key role in shaping a successful career in VC and fintech innovation.
  2. Building a corporate VC arm requires seizing the right opportunities, managing complex problems, and ensuring a personal fit.
  3. Lessons from Silicon Valley highlight the importance of strong relationships, ambitious thinking, ecosystem connections, and personal reputation.

#25 Austen Allred: building the leading online coding school and raising $122M+ to improve the education system

0 implied HN points • 23 Nov 21
  1. Austen Allred founded Bloom Institute of Technology to provide coding education and support people in becoming software engineers.
  2. Austen values his family as his biggest win, loves working on meaningful problems, and emphasizes resilience and learning from failures.
  3. A great founder is defined by attacking big problems smartly and persistently, while a great investor helps founders see blind spots and provides a broader perspective.

#21 Fabian Vogelsteller: early team member + author of key infra + Lead Dapp Developer at Ethereum Foundation, building a new blockchain for creators

0 implied HN points • 14 Sep 21
  1. Fabian Vogelsteller has been a key figure in Ethereum's development, creating projects like ERC20 and contributing to the growth of the ecosystem.
  2. Time management is crucial, finding the right balance between work and personal life is essential for success.
  3. In the world of blockchain, the focus is shifting towards creating new social and lifestyle applications, with NFTs driving a new creator economy.

#31 Oscar Farres: the semiconductor engineer turned biggest LP in European Venture Capital

0 implied HN points • 06 Jun 23
đź’Ľ Business Venture Capital Technology
  1. Oscar Farres started in tech by disassembling gadgets and coding at a young age, leading him to study electronics engineering.
  2. Transitioning into investments, Oscar founded startups before becoming a VC, then later the biggest LP in European Venture Capital.
  3. Key opportunities in European tech and VC include greater focus on research-based startups, adapting to macro contexts, and demonstrating solid team dynamics as important for LPs.

#23 Delian Asparauhov: building space factories while being a VC at Founders Fund ($6B+ AUM, investments like SpaceX and Stripe)

0 implied HN points • 12 Oct 21
  1. Delian Asparauhov is a Co-Founder of Varda Space Industries and a Principal at Founders Fund, with a background in tech startups and VC investments.
  2. His biggest win is being engaged and founding Varda, while his biggest failure was not scaling his first company effectively.
  3. He looks for unique, obsession-driven founders and investors who constantly evolve and stay curious in markets like aerospace, decentralization, and hardware.

#27 Ander Michelena: Scaling e-commerce from 0 to $100M+ sales, being acquired by Ebay for $165M and launching the biggest Spanish debut VC

0 implied HN points • 08 Mar 22
  1. Ander Michelena scaled an e-commerce company from 0 to $100M+ in sales, was acquired by Ebay for $165M, and later became a VC founding partner
  2. Success: Building and scaling Ticketbis, selling it to Ebay
  3. Failure and Lesson: Lack of product focus led to distractions at Ticketbis, learned to focus and not bite off more than can chew