Drake Pooley

NYC is losing young technical founders to SF — and it’s not about vibes. It’s about cost of entry. SF has far more entry infrastructure than NYC: i.e. the housing, community, and early support (financial and otherwise) that lets founders start building before they raise capital. This is widening the gap between the two cities' tech sectors. We are specifically calling for ideas (and hopefully action) to address NYC’s dearth of hacker houses: physical spaces that combine housing, workspace, community, and early peer support. I’m convinced that seeding hacker houses, if done right, is a low-cost, high-impact way to attract more young technical founders to NYC — and critically, something this community can actually do. And we should. The data is stark. Venture investment in NYC is ~19% of SF’s total — the lowest since 2017 — and the biggest, most innovative companies (especially in AI) are overwhelmingly being built in San Francisco. People who want to be entrepreneurs tend to work where those companies are. Unsurprisingly, many students and young builders assume they must go west. But do they actually want to — or is it just easier to get started there? I spent significant time in the Bay last year, and one difference stood out immediately: SF is dense with hacker houses and founder residences that help people get from 0→1. These resources are especially critical for recent grads and first-time founders who might lack capital or built-in networks. NYC may have long-term pull, but at the earliest stage, higher upfront costs and friction (recent Economist data suggests ~50% higher rents than SF) push many founders away. Hacker houses may sound anachronistic, but they’re real centers of gravity. We estimate SF has at least ~10x more active hacker houses than NYC, and that these houses have helped foster hundreds of billions of dollars in market value. I’m an NYC tech evangelist. I’ve worked on tech ecosystem development at New York City Economic Development Corporation, helped design national innovation programs for the Obama White House, and now invest in early-stage companies as a GP at Max Ventures. From a dollars-to-impact perspective, seeding hacker houses in NYC is one of the most efficient levers the city can pull. We wrote an overview doc (linked below) that explores this concept — and we'd welcome feedback from the NYC tech community. We are also hosting a small series of conversations — starting with a dinner in February co-hosted with Tech:NYC, Keel (Brent J. Smith), Company Ventures and Inspired Capital — to bring together leaders across tech, real estate, and policy. 👉 If you’re a founder, operator, VC, student, or have built / lived in a hacker house: • Does this resonate? • What would make this work in NYC? • Who’s already doing something adjacent we should talk to? Would love to connect if you’re interested in contributing or joining the conversation.

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How The $100k H-1B Shock Has Renewed the Case for Global-First Teams. My latest piece: As of Sept 21, new H-1B petitions carry a $100,000 fee and selection rules tilt toward higher-paid roles. The cap is still 65k + 20k, and ~70–75% of visas go to India. Median H-1B comp sits near $120k—meaning the fee ≈ a year’s salary for many first-time filings. Implication: the “win the H-1B lottery, relocate the hire” playbook is now higher cost, slower, and riskier. The durable response is global-first hiring with surgical U.S. sponsorship. Operator playbook: 1️⃣ Default global: eng, data, design, QA, finance ops, CS. Structure 4–6 hrs overlap + explicit async norms. 2️⃣ Use visas tactically: nearshore hubs (Toronto, London, Dubai/CDMX/ Bogotá), L-1 after building abroad, cap-exempt H-1B, O-1 for outliers, TN/E-3, and F-1/OPT bridges. 3️⃣ AI-amplify output: standardized copilots, code assistants, model-driven QA; govern prompts, data boundaries, and access. 4️⃣ Institutionalize culture: decision logs, crisp specs, cadence rituals; periodic in-person sprints. 5️⃣ Measure what matters: velocity, cycle time, escaped defects, features shipped, COGS/feature, NRR, CSAT—normalized by fully loaded cost. Startups vs. incumbents: Mega-caps can absorb six-figure visa capex for a few roles; startups generally can’t. Expect concentration at incumbents unless early-stage teams globalize now. Board/LP checklist: 1️⃣ Global hiring map + immigration spend policy (including when not to file). 2️⃣ Quarterly output-per-dollar dashboard. 3️⃣ Bench across Canada/Mexico/EU/LatAm/India + continuity plan if U.S. filings slip. Bottom line: Treat H-1B as scarce capex. Reserve it for revenue-proximate roles; build the rest of your team globally. Would love to hear from fellow travel warriors and globally-minded investors Marvin Liao Asher Siddiqui Bill Reichert Steve Goldberg Hans Tung Jenny Lee Anu Hariharan Shailendra J Singh Niklas Zennström Danny Rimer Fabrice Grinda Tom Stafford and Reshma Sohoni to get their takes. 🔗 Full analysis: https://lnkd.in/gi_BYhUs #H1B #GlobalHiring #Startups #VentureCapital #ImmigrationPolicy #RemoteWork #AI

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Today Isembard announced a $50m Series A fundraise led by Union Square Ventures, less than a year after Notion Capital led their Seed round. 💥This is a company right at the intersection of AI & supply chain sovereignty & they’re exceeding even our most optimistic expectations. By the end of the year they will have 25 factories across the UK, US, Germany, France & Ukraine. 💥Isembard is rapidly scaling its network of AI-first factories for precision manufacturing at the same time as market demand is accelerating. Macro forces (reshoring, rising defence spend, concentration risk in Asia, and the growth of neo-primes) are structurally increasing demand for fast, local, flexible manufacturing that the current industry is unable to deliver on. 💥The innovation is in the way the company builds and franchises factories as a product with tightly integrated units of machines, software, robotics, & process intelligence that turn design files into certified components with speed & reliability. 💥Their AI software platform, MasonOS, connects all sites into a single operating system, replacing fragmented shops with standardised, high-performance industrial nodes & enabling real-time quoting, predictable delivery, & low defect rates. By owning the full production stack, Isembard delivers premium manufacturing performance with the scalability & flexibility of a software platform. 💥We are at the top of the AI hype cycle and there are understandable concerns about the ROI on the vast sums of money being invested into this new super-cycle. But, the ROI for Isembard is both clear and compelling. They will deliver components 10x faster and at 50% of the cost of current suppliers. They will also build a de-centralised, global network of factories to meet the growing demand for national or regional sovereignty. 💥This is a company with a clear vision to disrupt a massive, fragmented $1.8tn component manufacturing market. Today marks another huge stride towards that vision. And they are only just getting started. We’re thrilled to be on this journey with Alexander Fitzgerald & the team & we’re also excited to welcome Rebecca Kaden & USV into the investor base. Notion Capital Union Square Ventures Alexander Fitzgerald Rebecca Kaden Maximilian Eichler Stephen Millard Britt Mulder

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July closed out with one of the strongest bumps in M&A activity we've seen this year. As Mitch Berlin noted in his CNBC interview, there's real energy in the market right now: deal value is up, mega-deals are getting done, and spin-offs are becoming a go-to tool for strategic clarity. This is greater than a simple burst of activity. It's momentum fueled by sharper deals and tighter alignment across leadership teams. The companies that act with this kind of focus now are the ones most likely to turn today's activity into tomorrow's lasting value. #MergersAndAcquisitions #DealMomentum #Strategy

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I’ve spoken to over 2 dozen MDs at PE firms I can confidently say that the arb of figuring out how to implement Vertical AI at portfolio companies is very real right now It will fundamentally change underwriting for those who can do it predictably and unlock generational returns. Most are aware they need to act. Very few have.

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Institutional capital is quietly rewriting its playbook. After a decade focused on SaaS and consumer tech, the next wave of disciplined capital is moving into space and deep tech infrastructure—where returns are tied to the real backbone of our economy, from national security to energy and logistics. If you’re still treating space and deep tech as a niche, 2026 may be the year you’re not just underweight—you’re structurally off‑benchmark. https://lnkd.in/gmSD5q6E

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