David Kaye’s Essays

Is this hard because it's new or because it's wrong?

There are two kinds of hard in startups, and most founders can’t tell the difference until it’s too late.

Oct 29 • 

David Kaye

8

1

September 2025

Why Your $50M Game Studio Can't Compete With a $4M Japanese Team

Notes from the show floor on shifting power dynamics, AI adoption, and why your $50M game budget might be obsolete.

Sep 29 • 

David Kaye

15

Why the best products tell most people to f*** off

The counterintuitive math of building for your haters.

Sep 8 • 

David Kaye

17

Beyond the slop cannon

An atmospheric physicist posts a careful thread about uncertainty bands in Arctic ice models.

Sep 3 • 

David Kaye

12

1

July 2025

What Superhuman's exit tells us about venture math and the power of distribution

First things first - I'm a huge fan of Superhuman and I don’t think this exit was a bad outcome.

Jul 1 • 

David Kaye

6

June 2025

AI breaks everything except trust

Why trust is the new oil.

Jun 26 • 

David Kaye

8

2

April 2025

The venture deadpool in games

The most recent GameCraft episode with Mitch Lasky and Blake Robbins should be required listening for anyone in games.

Apr 30 • 

David Kaye

9

3 ways being a founder made me a worse VC

Thoughts from a man outside the arena.

Apr 15 • 

David Kaye

6

3

AI's new primitives

How the next breakout consumer technology companies might emerge.

Apr 8 • 

David Kaye

7

1

December 2024

How I stopped worrying and learned to love the brainrot

Building for fragmented attention in the age of AI.

Dec 17, 2024 • 

David Kaye

9

1

The End of Traditional Seed Investing | Charles Hudson, Precursor Ventures

Why multi-stage firms are here to stay, finding alpha in non-obvious founders, and the power of giving your team real money to invest.

Dec 10, 2024 • 

David Kaye

 and 

Charles Hudson

8

1

1:25:20

November 2024

What Hollywood Gets Wrong About Gaming | Simon Pulman, Pryor Cashman

A spicy conversation with Simon Pulman, entertainment lawyer and gamer.

Nov 25, 2024 • 

David Kaye

1

52:55