Archive - Nodes' Newsletter

Tools for progress #58

The illusions of barbell theory, Thesis drift, How much agency do we actually want?

Jul 1 •

Shray Jain-Surana

and

Matthew Roberts

June 2025

European Venture Prisoner's Dilemma

Here's an observation I've bumped up against while investing across Europe.

Jun 26 •

Matthew Roberts

Tools for progress #57

How ChatGPT is making you dumb, A fungible worldview, The case for being the culture hire

Jun 24 •

Matthew Roberts

and

Shray Jain-Surana

Tools for progress #56

First we shape our social graph; then it shapes us, Venture capital unbundled, Your dreams demand your best hours

Jun 17 •

Shray Jain-Surana

and

Matthew Roberts

Tools for progress #55

Institutional collapse in the age of AI, Making progress on controversial problems, If you are useful, it doesn’t mean you are valued

Jun 10 •

Matthew Roberts

and

Shray Jain-Surana

Tools for progress #54

Internet brain, Quant customer discovery, Going broad vs deep

Jun 3 •

Matthew Roberts

and

Shray Jain-Surana

May 2025

Tools for progress #53

Thoughts on thinking, Why it’s so hard to scale new materials, Good struggle vs bad struggle

May 27 •

Shray Jain-Surana

and

Matthew Roberts

The freedom of constraints

The challenge with optionality and the case for carefully designed constraints.

May 22 •

Matthew Roberts

Tools for progress #52

Elite selection mechanisms, Why VC and software have PE envy, How to use your voice for knowledge work

May 20 •

Matthew Roberts

and

Shray Jain-Surana

Tools for progress #51

The rise of Cursor, $300m ARR, The real reason why your work doesn’t get read, YC’s latest request for startups

May 13 •

Matthew Roberts

and

Shray Jain-Surana

Tools for progress #50

Media and machines, The last dataset, How to get a job in 24 hours

May 6 •

Shray Jain-Surana

and

Matthew Roberts

April 2025

Tools for progress #49

China’s manufacturing power, Pricing AI features, Leveraged careers

Apr 29 •

Matthew Roberts

and

Shray Jain-Surana

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