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Brett Berson
First Round
@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
firstround.com
Joined July 2008
2,498
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12.1K
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Posts
  • user avatar
    Brett Berson
    First Round
    @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.
  • user avatar
    Brett Berson
    First Round
    @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).
  • user avatar
    Brett Berson
    First Round
    @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.
  • user avatar
    Brett Berson
    First Round
    @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?
    196K
  • user avatar
    Brett Berson
    First Round
    @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.
  • user avatar
    Brett Berson
    First Round
    @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.
  • user avatar
    Brett Berson
    First Round
    @brettberson
    Jan 11, 2019
    I'm continually surprised that doing what you say you're going to do is a massive differentiator.
  • user avatar
    Brett Berson
    First Round
    @brettberson
    Feb 14, 2024
    This little story from Sam Harris is one I'm constantly coming back to.
    84K
  • user avatar
    Brett Berson
    First Round
    @brettberson
    Aug 16, 2020
    Contrarian take: SF is great.
  • user avatar
    Brett Berson
    First Round
    @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.”
  • user avatar
    Brett Berson
    First Round
    @brettberson
    Sep 12, 2020
    This is such a wonderful question that @tylercowen asks
  • user avatar
    Brett Berson
    First Round
    @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.
    151K
  • user avatar
    Brett Berson
    First Round
    @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?
  • user avatar
    Brett Berson
    First Round
    @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