Dear Thomson,
We met in early 2015, near the beginning of my long and arduous startup journey. Keeping the company and dream alive for almost seven years has been the most challenging endeavour of my life, and I feel very lucky that my team and I get to continue working towards our vision within Substack.
We would not have persevered for as long as we did nor reached this happy milestone without your help, and Clyde, Monish, and I feel incredibly grateful to have been the beneficiary of your preposterous kindness for so many years.
We first met via Skype. I was hiring a designer for Karma, and you were a reference for Lily Jen. You gave Lily a glowing recommendation (thank you), and then enquired about Karma. You showed a genuine interest in what we were building, and we had a long and interesting discussion peppered with valuable insights and advice.
As we ended the conversation you offered to stay in touch, and to help in any way you could. I assumed this was more a polite gesture than a sincere offer. Why, afterall, would a busy startup founder in San Francisco, who’d just raised money from some of the top VCs in the world, spend his time helping a pair of idealistic amateurs on the opposite end of the globe?
I still don’t know the answer to that, but your offer was sincere, and over the years you’ve given us dozens of hours of your time, guided us, and provided invaluable advice and meaningful encouragement. You’ve reviewed and recommended our countless YC applications, introduced us to people in your network, and vouched for us.
In 2017 we made an exploratory fundraising trip to San Francisco. Having never met us in person, you (and your brother, Transon) opened your door to us and let a trio of vagabonds take over your apartment for three weeks.
Some of my oldest friends wouldn’t be keen on me squatting in their loungroom for weeks at a time, but you took us in without reservation, and let us know we could stay as long as we needed.
You tooks us on a sightseeing tour of San Francisco, and when we asked for suggestions for things to do and places to eat you whipped up a list of sixty seven recommendations just for us.
In 2019 Clyde, Monish and I returned to San Francisco to interview with YC. We were staying in an Airbnb outside the city, and you made a special trip out to conduct a mock interview and help us prepare. We were rejected by YC, but you helped us stay positive, reminding us that few startups make it as far as we had, and that a startup only fails when the founders give up.
Clyde, Monish, and I wanted to reciprocate the value you’d given us, and we offered you a small piece of the company. You rejected the offer of remuneration for value you’d already provided, and suggested instead an advisor contract with a 2-4 year vesting period.
If you wanted to grant equity to me as an advisor (which I'm stressing again, is completely optional as I'm happy to help for free), it's probably safer to grant shares through an advisor contract… I know you guys want to compensate me for stuff I've done in the past, but 1) the advisor equity is for work that will be done in the future, and 2) I was happy to do it for free then with no expectation of compensation... [the vesting agreement means that] I don't get to be a freeloader (i.e. you guys get the option to terminate in case I drop off the earth)
For all your business acumen you really are a feeble negotiator.
We started exploring the acquisition opportunity with Substack in March. We had no experience in this domain, and your guidance and advice during this process was especially helpful.
We received the formal offer from Substack while you were away at a company off-site. I emailed the document to you with a bunch of questions. It was late in the evening, and you were out having drinks with your colleagues. Nevertheless, when you arrived home you took the time to review the document, and you jumped on a call with me at 1am to talk through our questions and concerns. Your insobriety hardly diminishing the quality of your analysis and advice.
When we met in 2015 you were a first-time founder, seemingly just a few steps ahead of us in the startup game. It’s been gratifying, and very cool, watching you achieve all the incredible things you have since then. From exiting Framed, heading up Data Science at Square Capital, taking the plunge back into startups with founding Hatch, and seeing that grow.
Despite your impressive credentials and achievements you’ve always treated Clyde, Monish and me as equals, and helped us believe that our crazy dreams are possible. I know I speak for Clyde and Monish in saying that we couldn’t have asked for a better advisor, mentor, and role model.
With love and gratitude.
Your friend,
Dayne (with unreserved endorsements from Clyde and Mo)
Dear Thomson,
What a beautiful letter. I've never had the opportunity to be part of your kind of start up life, rather focusing on local grass roots social enterprises but the generosity of spirit by fellow social entrepreneurs is just like you describe. And that is always a beautiful thing.
What a great way to say thank you! Awesome mentor, awesome menteees!