The Art of Learning: The reason for The Dart Board (And how I attack VC)

As my first blog post, I thought it only fitting to set the tone and offer my ‘why.’ I’ve heard many times, ‘why does the world need another blog?’ the same as I have heard why does the world need another VC fund, or another podcast, or in that line of argument, anything? Well, for many of these ‘philosophical’ and somewhat condescending rhetorical questions, I see no reason to even answer. But especially so, for the ones I posted above, my simple answer is that I don't know and I don't care, because those questions are entirely unimportant to me.

Everyone thinks VC is about deal flow, portfolio construction, and building your brand. And to some extent, sure, those are all important. But that is not my fundamental belief on what is most important, which is: venture capital is actually about mastering the art of learning. If you have great insight and can offer interesting input, the deal flow and network will come. People seek out experts… because they’re experts. For portfolio construction, I see this like the freshwater and saltwater economic debate - to each their own. (You can expect a few posts about this down the road!)

But for me, when trying to understand MY why. It always comes back to this: The Art of Learning.

The Podcast Story

I recently started a podcast, The Dart Board. And almost unanimously, I heard, ‘it is for brand’ or ‘it is for network’ and myriad of things along this line. One potential LP went as far as even emailing me about it, saying something along the lines of ‘ohhh another podcast, yippee.’ It absolutely astonished me that so many so-called ‘smart’ people completely overlooked the real value of a podcast: learning.

The foundational reason my podcast exists is for this simple reason, which is especially true in venture and tech. How often have we heard, ‘VC is an apprenticeship business!’ I imagine I have realistically heard this repeated hundreds of times. Well, it’s impossible for me to apprentice under everyone. It is impossible to apprentice under even dozens. So, what is the next best thing? I try to distill my learnings from the opportunity to sit with the smartest people in the world and learn from them. That's it. The content that comes out? That's just a byproduct. The real value is me getting to learn from these brilliant minds for an hour at a time. And, because they freely offer their time to me, I think it is only fair to freely offer it to everyone else - bang, boom, podcast.

I want to learn from these people. I hold the exact truth about reading books, which I do fanatically. How amazing is that I can pick up a book and learn in weeks what took the writer years to learn. Simply astonishing.

Do I care if a million people listen to my podcast? No. I don’t care at all. I just want to learn. NOW, the great thing is, oddly enough, that is why I expect many people do listen to podcasts, because they also want to learn. But the one thing I don’t do it for is to ‘build my brand.’

Why This Matters More Than You Think

But here is the kicker - and why it is more essential in VC than almost anywhere else: because what's relevant today is rarely relevant in the future. Technology is moving so fast that by the time you think you've figured something out, the game has already changed. If you aren’t trying to learn something new every single day, there's no way you'll win day in and day out.

A Network Without Substance Is Nothing

I’ve heard a lot about big networks, but what people don’t really understand is that a network without substance will never last. The reason why some people have big networks is not that they simply know people. It’s that they bring value to folks, and because of this, they are able to continue strengthening that network. I try to do it through concerted learning; about sectors, people, history, technology, and more. Learning compounds, and the more you can bring to others, the more they will welcome you.

My thesis is pretty simple - if I can stay at the bleeding edge and learn faster than everyone else, I'll be better positioned to see where things are headed. It's not about having all the answers right now. It's about being better at finding tomorrow's answers before others do.

So why the blog? To help distill thoughts and do so intentionally.

Which brings me to why I'm actually starting this blog.

The act of writing is the act of putting frameworks and structure to learning. As the old adage goes, the best way to learn is to teach. Maybe the second-best way is to write. I hope to be a VC investor for decades to come. As I continue to evolve, I want to improve and become more intentional with my day-to-day, month-to-month, and year-to-year. I often tell LPs, at the end of the day, you are hiring me for my system - the internal way I approach, assess, and decide. I am telling you that on any given day, I can apply my lens to something and decide whether to make an investment on your behalf. This writing is another mechanism for me to improve my lens and continue my process of eternally seeking to improve.

So, welcome to this blog (my gang!), my Daniel Dart Board. I have not fully decided exactly where these posts will take us, but that's exactly the point. I know enough to know it will evolve. And we'll figure it out together.

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What are you reading or listening to that I should know about? Hit me up - I’d love to know.