The Generalist helps you understand what matters in tech, artificial intelligence, and venture capital.

Welcome! 

The Generalist delivers in-depth analysis and insights on the world's most successful companies, executives, and technologies. Whether you’re an investor, entrepreneur, or operator, we equip you with the knowledge and understanding to capitalize on the future.

Hey! 👋 I’m Mario, founder of The Generalist.

We hope you’ll find The Generalist as valuable as one of our long-term members, the CMO of a large public tech company:

“The one email I'm actually waiting for in my inbox. Deep and thorough analysis of the most interesting trends and companies in the digital world, delivered with the right touch of wit.”

What to expect

Every week, you’ll receive The Generalist’s newest piece in your inbox, for free. We specialize in deeply-researched case studies that unpack the strategies, tactics, and secrets of exceptional businesses. We refer to these pieces as “briefings.”

Beyond teaching you how the best businesses operate, our briefings help you stay ahead of the curve, and capitalize on change. You’ll understand tech’s most important trends and what they mean for the future. We strive for high-quality writing and extremely deep research – as a result, we recommend setting aside 30 minutes to enjoy our briefings.

For reference, The Generalist’s thinking has been cited by leading publications and figures like The Financial Times, Wall Street Journal, TechCrunch, Bloomberg, and Tim Ferriss

As a free subscriber, you get access to our full archive of briefings covering organizations like Stripe, Airbnb, Y Combinator, and Kleiner Perkins. You’ll also unlock interviews and insights from some of the world’s most successful founders and investors. 

Join Generalist+

Generalist+ is our premium newsletter. It’s been built to make you a sharper investor and technologist. You might be an experienced investor running a storied fund, a new manager just getting started, an angel investor dipping their toes in, or a founder looking to understand the game from the other side of the table. 

Fundamentally, if you’re interested in tactics, strategies, insights, and stories from the investing world, Generalist+ is made for you.

Here’s what you’ll unlock inside Generalist+

By joining Generalist+, you get access to four exclusive series architected for the modern investor. We believe they’re just the start of what Generalist+ will grow to include.

Series 1: Letters to a Young Investor

This series features a monthly email correspondence on the craft of investing between me and a legendary investor. Each season, we ask a titan of the industry for their advice on topics both current and timeless. 

Season 1 of Letters to a Young Investor will feature a correspondence between The Generalist and the incredible Reid Hoffman, co-founder of LinkedIn and partner at Greylock. Reid has been at the heart of some of the most influential companies and trends over the past few decades, and the stories he has to offer are remarkable. To unlock his wisdom on venture investing, artificial intelligence, and the future, subscribe to Generalist+ below. You’ll also set yourself up to hear from the other exceptional investors we have lined up for future seasons! 

Series 2: The Braintrust

How do great companies handle challenges, manage change, and fuel growth? 

To help answer these questions, we’ve formed The Braintrust. This group of eight unicorn founders answers pressing operational questions like:

  • How do you hire upwards? 

  • How do you optimize your investor base? 

  • What should you have prioritized much earlier in your company’s life?

Season 1 features an incredible roster of founders and CEOs spanning diverse industries and business models. By subscribing to Generalist+, you’ll hear from Pedro Franceschi (Brex), Christina Cacioppo (Vanta), Trae Stephens (Anduril), Avlok Kohli (AngelList), David Hsu (Retool), Mathilde Collin (Front), Jack Altman (Lattice), and Immad Akhund (Mercury). 

Together, they’ve raised just under $4 billion in capital and built businesses valued at over $35 billion. While understanding breakout companies’ operations is essential to being a good investor, The Brainstrust is also designed with founders and operators in mind. If you’re an early-stage startup founder or an operator thinking about building a business, this is a chance to learn from peers who have been in the arena and found a way to thrive. 

Series 3: The Watchlist

One game-changing company can make a fund several times over. To help you find your next breakout hit, we’ve built a database of 50 startups that we’re keeping a close eye on – and outlined why we think you should, too. Subscribe today to get access to our first release of selected startups (launching in January 2024). 

Series 4: Ask Mario (and more)

As a Generalist+ subscriber, you’ll also get access to private Q&As with me, The Generalist’s founder. Interested in the solo-capitalist landscape? Want to talk about OpenAI’s latest mega-fundraising round? Curious about the contours of the newsletter business? I’m excited to answer your burning questions in the weeks and months to come.

As well as connecting with me, you’ll also unlock commenting. This is a chance to participate in the conversation and learn alongside other Generalist+ members. 

For the price of a New York City cocktail, you’ll get access to new investment ideas and strategies every month. (That says quite a lot about the price of cocktails in the Big Apple but hopefully even more about the comparative value of hopping aboard.)

Why you should consider joining Generalist+ today

  1. Learn from investing legends. Hear the wisdom of legendary venture capitalists in their own words. You’ll discover the mistakes they’ve made, how they’ve honed their practice, and where they see opportunity today. 

  2. Understand how exceptional businesses are built. Hear how some of the world’s best founders manage their companies. Then, bring those lessons back to your portfolio or your startup. It’s like unlocking a mini-advisory board. 

  3. Find the next great startup. Discover the early-stage companies we think are most promising, and why. Add curated picks to your pipeline, updated every quarter. 

  4. Benefit from exclusive investing insights at an affordable price. Access information designed to make you a better investor – all for just $22 per month.

  5. Attain dangerous levels of competence. It is very possible that Generalist+ may make you even more astute, insightful, and thoughtful than usual. Be prepared for flattery from colleagues and invitations to senior management meetings.   

  6. Build The Generalist with us. In the grand scheme of things, The Generalist is still a very small and very young startup with our best days ahead. By joining Generalist+, you help us grow, evolve, and deliver even more valuable information to your inboxes each week. 

Expensing the newsletter

Good news! Generalist+ is highly tactical and, as a result, very expensable. Joining Generalist+ can directly help you accelerate your investing or operational career.

To make the expensing process as easy as possible, we’ve created a template you can use to send an email to your manager. We’d love to welcome you aboard! 

The best of The Generalist

We’re true to our name. The Generalist covers a range of sectors across tech and finance including venture capital, fintech, artificial intelligence, marketplaces, ecommerce, healthcare, crypto, emerging markets, and more. You can find all the topics that we cover here.

Venture capital

Big brands

Artificial intelligence

Fintech

Consumer social

Crypto

Physical world

Emerging markets

Interviews

Join us to get our next briefing delivered to your inbox! 

Sponsorships

Interested in collaborating? The Generalist partners with incredible tech companies like Vanta, Brex, Plaid, Tegus, Mercury, WorkOS, Carta, Masterworks, Phantom, and many others. Through deep storytelling and thoughtful calls to action, we craft a story and share it with our audience.

The Generalist is read by decision-makers across tech and business. That includes the C-Suite of iconic public and private companies, the GPs and CIOs of the world’s largest and most influential funds, and business leaders around the world.

If you’re interested in learning more, we’d love to hear from you. Send us a note at hey@readthegeneralist.com, and we’ll respond!

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Learn what matters in tech, AI, and venture capital – for free.

People

Founder of The Generalist