Most startups don’t takeoff at the moment of invention. Usually, several unlocks need to occur to enable commercial success — a new API, market pressures, behavior shift, or policy change for example. With these changes, what once sounded crazy becomes obvious. We write to spot those shifts and how to take advantage of them early.
First Pass is a monthly blog for builders primarily, but it should be interesting to anyone thinking about the problems and markets we highlight. We’re constantly seeking the edges of change where new commercial possibilities emerge.
We write in three formats:
Bets — bold, falsifiable theses about what can be created now and how it might play out
Retros — postmortems on past predictions and pivots
Lessons — stories from people who caught the edge and jumped
We’re former founders and investors who can see both perspectives. More recently, Chris spent the last several years at Discord building machine learning and engagement systems, while Wes builds and launches new FinTech / SaaS product lines at Carta.
The name First Pass reflects our mindset: these are early calls. Some will be wrong. But we believe that coming up with an actionable plan early can help someone get started.
Best case? You read a post and start something. Worst case? You sharpen our thinking or prove us wrong. We’re good with either.
Let’s explore the edge.