People are on the move this fall. Well, at least people that get reported on. John Curtius from Tiger Global and Matt Mazzeo from Coatue are leaving their venture brand names to start their own firms. It is the nature of things that VC personnel movement is reported in the tech news rather than operating leaders. Such is life.

I believe this trend extends far beyond just a couple of VC departures. Like John & Matt, the incentive keeping many people at their current companies looks a lot less enticing now than it did 6 months or a year ago. Have you taken a look at your 409A valuation lately?

One beautiful side effect of the valuation balloon deflating around us is that people are going to be less likely to “hold on” when the financial incentives float away. When the upside is gone, what’s left? Recessions are a good reset that can mean new beginnings for the right enterprising minds.

It’s time to go out and meet some peers. In person. Remember you used to get coffee for informal networking all the time? Yep, it’s time to do that again. Because a lot is changing in this reopening. You might have heard we are at the end of the mobile internet platform cycle. There are enough SaaS company logos to blot out the sun in the cloud.

Something is coming next and it’s not quite clear what it will be. Web3? Artificial intelligence? Virtual reality?

I think that it’s time to go find out. We should all be dying to know who’s growing 50%+ this year, has avoided layoffs, is doing something unique, and might be raising some more money but certainly doesn’t need to.

Where’s that list and how can I find it? You’ll have to go build it yourself. Before winter comes.