How to show up in any room with a low heart rate: Silicon Valley’s missing etiquette playbook
Lenny's Podcast episode, sponsored by TenWeb and DX, in which Lenny Rachitsky talks with Sam Lessin, partner at Slow Ventures, former VP of product at Facebook and two-time founder, about his etiquette playbook for founders. Lessin argues that as software commoditizes, trust decides deals, and etiquette is the skill of showing up in a room with a low heart rate: abundance over scarcity, relationships over business cards. He gives concrete rules - say great to see you instead of nice to meet you, keep fragrance subtle, remember B for bread and D for drinks, tip without making it the story, keep business email short and emoji-free, and order recipients by importance. He closes with his investing view that AI is a propellant, not a startup thesis, and that he backs companies needed because of AI rather than AI companies. PARTIAL COVERAGE: the captions cover most of the conversation, but this summary highlights the core etiquette rules only, so most of the ten book categories and the lightning round are not covered. These are Lessin's own opinions, not independently verified, and nothing here is investment advice.
Executive Summary (TL;DR)
Lenny's Podcast episode, sponsored by TenWeb and DX, in which Lenny Rachitsky talks with Sam Lessin, partner at Slow Ventures, former VP of product at Facebook and two-time founder, about his etiquette playbook for founders. Lessin argues that as software commoditizes, trust decides deals, and etiquette is the skill of showing up in a room with a low heart rate: abundance over scarcity, relationships over business cards. He gives concrete rules - say great to see you instead of nice to meet you, keep fragrance subtle, remember B for bread and D for drinks, tip without making it the story, keep business email short and emoji-free, and order recipients by importance. He closes with his investing view that AI is a propellant, not a startup thesis, and that he backs companies needed because of AI rather than AI companies. PARTIAL COVERAGE: the captions cover most of the conversation, but this summary highlights the core etiquette rules only, so most of the ten book categories and the lightning round are not covered. These are Lessin's own opinions, not independently verified, and nothing here is investment advice.