Paul G. Silva

APRIL 1, 2025

Take Action This Week Audit your language : Review how you communicate with your team. Are you assigning tasks or clarifying responsibilities?

frameworks 147

frameworks leadership coworking spaces coworking 147

Revolution

JUNE 26, 2025

At Rise of the Rest, we aim to meet founders where they are — on the ground in their communities, and in a mindset shaped by real constraints, not blind optimism. Pulling founders into one physical room has always been a powerful tool for clarity, camaraderie, and the occasional course correction.

peer-to-peer 162

peer-to-peer founder funders mix-use 162

A VC: Musings of a VC in NYC

OCTOBER 12, 2021

A few weeks ago, I wrote about NYC’s Tech Resurgence. I observed that NYC continues to develop as one of the world’s leading centers of tech innovation. And then yesterday, I saw this tweet : NYC startups are getting funded at 2/3 the rate of Silicon Valley startups.

innovation 329

innovation development capital startup 329

This is going to be BIG.

NOVEMBER 28, 2021

After 80 long days in the NICU, my 10 week early daughter Mirren has finally come home. We’re overjoyed and we’ve begun the task of learning how to manage all the logistics of her care—while somehow doing the bare minimum of that for ourselves. We both showered in the last 24 hours, which is a major moral victory for the team.

hospitality 480

hospitality board energy pitching 480

A VC: Musings of a VC in NYC

SEPTEMBER 17, 2020

There are a number of reasons that decentralized crypto apps (dapps) have not gone mainstream, but certainly one of them is that the Apple and Google app stores don’t allow a number of important features that decentralized apps require.

financing 72

financing finance development innovation 72

Revolution

JANUARY 27, 2025

Reflections on Georgetowns 2025 pitch competition from TedLeonsis Last week, Georgetown Universitys McDonough School of Business once again became a launchpad for the next generation of bold thinkers and doers. Take Hilda, this years grand prize winner.

entrepreneurship 100

entrepreneurship capital pitching startup ecosystem 100

Entrepreneurs' Organization

MAY 15, 2024

In May, mental health is top of mind with Mental Health Awareness Month and Mental Health Awareness Week , 13-19 May. These high-performance disciplines have strict requirements for rest and recovery that we just don’t get as business owners. Sounds luxurious, doesn’t it? Here’s what does work for entrepreneurs.

peer-to-peer 253

peer-to-peer founder health entrepreneurship 253

Revolution

AUGUST 2, 2022

Where to go: King Street for people watching, Charleston Municipal Golf Course for a fun (and affordable) round of golf, and Rodney Scott’s for Lowcountry-style slow-smoked barbecue. Where we went: Miami, FL ?? What we did: Rise of the Rest Managing Partner, David Hall , joined Chris Heivly?—?co-chairman

economic growth 344

economic growth innovation communities startup ecosystem 344

A VC: Musings of a VC in NYC

OCTOBER 12, 2020

They should do this not just because it is good for the climate, but because it is good for the bank account. That’s a big deal. In another twenty years this chart will have a huge amount of green and almost no red in it.

energy 363

energy financing finance innovation 363

Entrepreneurs' Organization

APRIL 1, 2020

Before you tackle the problems at hand, take time to reflect on your core purpose. Ask yourself: Are there new ways for you to support your goals? Let go of how you operated last week and consider what might make sense in this new reality. Health care laboratories innovate, collaborate and share findings like never before.

peer-to-peer 339

peer-to-peer health entrepreneurs support 339

Dream It

APRIL 7, 2020

Dreamit Ventures , an early-stage venture fund and growth-focused program for startups with early product-market fit, announced its latest batch of startups and kicked off its completely virtual Securetech, Urbantech, and Healthtech programs. Since 2008, Dreamit has worked with over 350 companies.

ventures 369

ventures accelerator enablement communities 369

A VC: Musings of a VC in NYC

DECEMBER 5, 2022

The advances in AI over the last year are mind-boggling. I attended a dinner this past week with USV portfolio founders and one who works in education told us that ChatGPT has effectively ended the essay as a way for teachers to assess student progress. This is an attestation at the end of last week’s blog post.

education 346

education founder VC technology 346

Paul G. Silva

MARCH 31, 2022

Baer Tierkel. The world lost Baer Tierkel last week at the age of 61. About 20 years ago I was a kid running my first startup and Baer was one of the early people to join our Board of Advisors. He came to every board meeting with deep insights and deeper belly laughs. I learned a great deal from that man that proved pivotal.

board 279

board ventures startup accelerator 279

A VC: Musings of a VC in NYC

FEBRUARY 20, 2020

Earlier this week I purchased 1% of a collection of five 1985 Nike Air Jordan sneakers using our portfolio company Otis’ mobile app. I paid $330 for ten shares (out of a total of 1000 shares) implying a value of $33,000 for the five pairs, or roughly $6600 each.

investment 331

investment investing technology entrepreneurship 331

A VC: Musings of a VC in NYC

APRIL 8, 2020

A couple of weeks ago, I saw this tweet by my partner Albert: Must read thread on #Masks4All #covid19 [link] — Albert Wenger ????? albertwenger) March 28, 2020. I clicked on the underlying tweet thread and learned that some countries have adopted an approach where everyone wears face masks when they are out and about.

creativity 362

creativity 362

Entrepreneurs' Organization

MARCH 4, 2022

The companies I helped guide through this transition shifted to regular, weekly or biweekly performance evaluations of team members by team leaders. Weekly performance check-ins. The weekly performance evaluation takes place during brief check-in and review meetings of 15-30 minutes between each team member and the team leader.

consulting 250

consulting collaboration strategy opportunity 250

Paul G. Silva

FEBRUARY 11, 2025

Creating Your Innovation-Forcing BHAG Set a goal so ambitious current methods won’t work Question every “known truth” in your field Test new approaches systematically Gather evidence of what works Scale the proven innovations Take Action This Week List your industry’s “unchangeable truths” Pick one to challenge through (..)

innovation 130

innovation accelerator angel investing entrepreneurship 130

Entrepreneurs' Organization

SEPTEMBER 2, 2022

Having time to think quietly over the past few weeks produced several professional and personal breakthroughs and important ideas that seemed to come out of nowhere. In these moments, your brain can focus where it’s needed most.

creativity 231

creativity culture accelerator board 231

A VC: Musings of a VC in NYC

JANUARY 9, 2023

I read last week that the NYC Department of Education has banned ChatGPT from its networks and devices. I understand that reaction and mentioned the issues that AI/ML create for educators in a post a few weeks ago.

education 264

education networking technology founder 264

American Entrepreneurship

MARCH 12, 2025

Crimson Founders, a global platform dedicated to connecting MIT and Harvard-affiliated startups with investors, strategic partners, and expansion opportunities, has successfully concluded The Crimson Collective Week 1.0 in the United Arab Emirates. Conclusion The success of The Crimson Collective Week 1.0

innovation 73

innovation founder startup entrepreneurship 73

Paul G. Silva

JANUARY 21, 2025

Step 4: Put It to Work Break your vision into smaller goals Talk about it regularly in team meetings Use it to guide decisions Celebrate progress toward it Learn More Want to explore this topic further? Check out Chapter 4, “Vision,” in BE 2.0. The section “BHAGs Everywhere” on page 75 is especially helpful.

leadership 130

leadership entrepreneurship startup accelerator entrepreneurs 130

Entrepreneurs' Organization

NOVEMBER 17, 2022

They roll up their sleeves and find solutions. They are the drivers of change and the ones who rebuild countries from within, carrying entire communities on their shoulders. One initiative in particular stands out: an entire group focused on equipping Pakistan’s enterprises with the tools to grow business right there in their country.

entrepreneurship 248

entrepreneurship communities entrepreneurs support 248

Paul G. Silva

FEBRUARY 4, 2025

Let Values Guide Design Shape your processes around your values Design experiences that reflect your culture Be willing to say no to ideas that don’t fit 4. Are they clear enough to guide decisions? Find one process that doesn’t align with your values. How could you redesign it? Ask your team: “What makes our culture unique?

culture 130

culture strategy entrepreneurship mentorship 130

Entrepreneurs' Organization

DECEMBER 21, 2021

The Pick Two Rule is a big reason why I have never liked the term work-life balance and instead prefer the concept of work-life integration. The reality is that nothing will ever be perfectly balanced in a given day or week; what matters is making the pieces fit together overall.

entrepreneurs 284

entrepreneurs construction accelerator culture 284

Paul G. Silva

JANUARY 28, 2025

After all, the ability to keep iterating until you find what works (coming in Post #9) and staying resilient in the face of uncertainty (Post #15) are key parts of building your Luck Flywheel. Take Action This Week List your team’s current “groundwork”what capabilities and relationships could create future opportunities?

entrepreneurship 130

entrepreneurship opportunity culture networking 130

A VC: Musings of a VC in NYC

DECEMBER 9, 2020

Michelle Zatlyn is the co-founder and COO of our former portfolio and now public company Cloudflare ( NYSE: NET ). In this conversation she did with the Gotham Gal a few weeks ago, she talks about how she and her co-founder Matthew decided to work on cybersecurity versus many other ideas they had.

founder 302

founder entrepreneurship 302

Dream It

APRIL 7, 2020

Please note, this page does not cover the basics of the CARES Act and we encourage founders to read What Startups Need to Know About PPP and The CARES Act for broader context. The information on this page was updated on April 6th, 2020. What are the immediate do’s and don’ts for startups? Wondering if your bank’s portal is live?

startup 348

startup communities VC ventures 348

A VC: Musings of a VC in NYC

JANUARY 5, 2021

It was shortened to 15 days from the customary “at least 30 days and often much longer” and it was issued in late December making comments due yesterday. That means that comments were due over two holiday weeks in the midst of a global pandemic.

innovation 349

innovation venture capital technology ventures 349

A VC: Musings of a VC in NYC

JULY 19, 2021

Over the last 18 months, the early-stage financing market has seen dramatic changes characterized by these three things: A shift from in-person fundraising to virtual fundraising A reduction in financing process timelines from months to weeks A continued increase in the amount of capital available for early stage companies.

board 276

board financing finance sustainability 276

Entrepreneurs' Organization

JULY 29, 2020

Yet, we know deep down that we have friends, peers and family members willing to listen to us and offer a helping hand if we were to reach out. Here’s a trick I use to stay connected to my network. I make a list of the 15 people I most appreciate speaking with.

energy 313

energy peer-to-peer leadership support 313

INBIA

APRIL 30, 2024

WASHINGTON– This week, the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) announced the International Business Innovation Association (InBIA) as a Stage One winner for the 2024 Growth Accelerator Fund Competition (GAFC).

accelerator 195

accelerator collaboration innovation development 195

Tomasz Tunguz

NOVEMBER 4, 2024

” “Our AI business is on track to surpass an annual revenue run rate of $10 billion next quarter, which will make it the fastest business in our history to reach this milestone.” ” Those quotes from Amazon & Microsoft last week underscore the dramatic transformation in cloud growth rates. GCP 23 35 52.2% Azure 26 33 26.9%

accelerator 90

accelerator development investment investing 90

A VC: Musings of a VC in NYC

JUNE 13, 2023

The last time I posted was May 23rd , three weeks ago. There was a time when I wrote every day. When I had not yet posted on any day, I felt like something was missing, like I had not yet had my cup of coffee. Clearly, I have moved on from that need to write every day. So why did I go three weeks without posting? There are reasons for that.

energy 229

energy health VC innovation 229

Entrepreneurs' Organization

NOVEMBER 18, 2020

At EO, we celebrate entrepreneurs every day. But with Women’s Entrepreneurship Day taking place this week, we’re directing our applause to all the entrepreneurs who are women! What better way to recognize these hard-working innovators than by showcasing female founders who have been featured on EO’s Wonder podcast ?

entrepreneurship 319

entrepreneurship entrepreneurs financing finance 319

A VC: Musings of a VC in NYC

DECEMBER 9, 2022

I have written many times about the Hour Of Code here at AVC. It is the highlight of the annual Computer Science Education Week which is the first week of December, which is this week.

education 242

education hospitality energy opportunity 242

Paul G. Silva

MARCH 25, 2025

.” Looking for sustained trends rather than short fluctuations Comparing year-over-year data to account for seasonal patterns Testing small changes before major overhauls Take Action This Week Identify one “everything is fine” narrative you might be telling yourself about your team or organization Select a few key metrics that would (..)

leadership 130

leadership angel investing entrepreneurship investment 130