Brett Berson (@brettberson) / X

Brett Berson

8,917 posts

Brett Berson

@brettberson

An aspiring learn it all. I’ve been trying to make @firstround a little better every day for 18 years. Partner to @stedi, @Persona_IDV and @clay

San Francisco

Joined July 2008

Brett Berson
@brettberson
Feb 28, 2018
I just learned from a former longtime Amazon employee, the idea for Prime came from an IC engineer. He wrote up a 6 page memo. He was inspired by the Costco membership model. It was built as a test. It's now the key pillar of Amazon. The best ideas can come from anywhere.
Brett Berson
@brettberson
Mar 19, 2018
Adobe's pivot to SaaS is one of the most impressive tech stories that I haven't heard many talk about. Now a 110+ billion dollar company ($20b more than Salesforce for context).
Brett Berson
@brettberson
May 1, 2021
From the Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting - top 20 companies in the world today vs. 30 years ago. Amazing what can happen in just 30 years.
Brett Berson
@brettberson
Mar 29, 2025
Still trying to wrap my head around Google spending $32B on Wiz when their AI talent could easily vibe code a clone during a lunch. I thought all software was now free?
Brett Berson
@brettberson
Jan 30, 2019
It’s funny, it seems for most people, earlier in their career they want to manage the most people possible and later in their career, they want to manage as few as possible.
Brett Berson
@brettberson
Mar 29, 2019
I'm thinking of putting together an S-1 reading club and having a few experienced public market analysts help facilitate the conversation. If you're interested in joining, let me know by filling this out:
firstround.typeform.com
S-1 Reading Club
Turn data collection into an experience with Typeform. Create beautiful online forms, surveys, quizzes, and so much more. Try it for FREE.
Brett Berson
@brettberson
Jan 11, 2019
I'm continually surprised that doing what you say you're going to do is a massive differentiator.
Brett Berson
@brettberson
Feb 14, 2024
This little story from Sam Harris is one I'm constantly coming back to.
Brett Berson
@brettberson
Aug 16, 2020
Contrarian take: SF is great.
Brett Berson
@brettberson
Nov 14, 2020
I was reminded of the remarkable email Andrew Mason sent to his entire company when he was fired from @Groupon “After four and a half intense and wonderful years as CEO of Groupon, I’ve decided that I’d like to spend more time with my family. Just kidding — I was fired today.”
Brett Berson
@brettberson
Sep 12, 2020
This is such a wonderful question that @tylercowen asks
Brett Berson
@brettberson
Sep 6, 2025
When a VC says they want to pre-empt your round and then asks you to come into a partner meeting and talk to a bunch of customers, they’re not actually asking to pre-empt; they’re asking you to run a fundraising process with one potential bidder.
Brett Berson
@brettberson
Nov 24, 2021
Is there any greater joy in life than when someone who you didn't want to meet with in the first place, cancels the meeting?
Brett Berson
@brettberson
Mar 2, 2022
I’m thrilled to finally share a new product we’ve been heads-down building, now available in public beta: @firstround Angel Directory. It’s the most extensive resource for founders & future founders to discover the best active angel investors in tech. angels.firstround.com/directory