Brian Watson spent a little more than two years at USV and yesterday was his last day. He’s moving on to an operating role in a fast growing company that will remain nameless until Brian decides to tell that part of his story (soon). We have a two year rotational analyst program at USV that has produced an incredible alumni class and Brian is now a member of that illustrious group. He has a very bright future ahead of him.
Brian took the time to write a post on the things he learned at USV. I kidded him yesterday that it could have been a tweet storm because it’s chock full of 140ish character lessons learned. It’s a great collection of insights and I would encourage everyone to read it.
Our analyst program is a two way street. We teach our analyst things and they teach us things. Brian has taught me a lot. He was never afraid to walk into my office and say “we aren’t paying attention to this and we should” and he did that a lot.
I am a pretty directed person in the office and I am sure I put off a “don’t bother me” vibe. Brian ignored that and I appreciate it.
Here are a few of the things that Brian taught me in no particular order:
– Photos are the killer content type on mobile. Quick to consume like text, but easier to produce on a phone.
– Pay attention to what Apple does. It is more important than you think.
– Tech is fashion as much as you don’t want to admit it.
– If you insist on using everything we invest in, we will miss important things (Tinder).
I would also like to thank Brian for introducing me to Isaiah Rashad and many other great musicians. Brian’s soundcloud likes are here.
I am proud of many things about USV, and Brian noted a bunch of them in his post, but the thing I am most proud of is the people that collectively make up USV, past and present. Brian is a great representation of that and I wish him well.
