Veblen services 🤝, managing token use 🤖, X ads reboot 📰

VC Conviction

Most VCs claiming to be conviction investors actually back pattern-matched founders (elite school, prior exit, hot market) rather than taking genuine risk on strange founders in unproven markets.

Token Cost Management

Everyone should be actively managing token usage now because models will get more expensive as they improve, making cost discipline a competitive necessity.

Veblen Services: Raising Prices to Signal Quality

In high-end professional services, lowering fees raises doubts about competence. Hiring the most expensive firm is treated as insurance, making discounting a liability rather than a competitive advantage.

Conventional pricing wisdom says lower prices attract more customers; Veblen services invert this — higher prices attract more trust and close more deals at the top end.

Pre-seed Is Not Cheap Seed — Different Risk Profile

Besvinick argues that pre-seed rounds at $5M-$15M post-money are not discounted seed rounds but a distinct category that rewards backing founders before consensus forms, not adverse selection.

Challenges the popular 'Great Bifurcation' thesis that low valuations signal weak deals, reframing early-stage low prices as opportunity rather than warning sign.