#214 | Startup themes for 2025, Palantir for Health, & more

Jan 12th | The latest from Cowboy, Bowery, Matrix, Khosla, Homebrew, Maveron, and others

SandHill.io aggregates and shares the latest investment themes, market insights, and best practices for operating and investing from 700+ VCs, analysts, and operators.

This newsletter curates a selection of posts featured on the website each week.

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Investment Themes, Theses, & Outlooks

• Where we’re hunting in 1Q 2025 (Caroline Duffy, Partner @ Cowboy)

• Why Healthcare needs a 'Palantir'(Nkechi Iregbulem, Principal @ MVP Ventures)

Industry Developments & Analyses

• Opportunities in Vertical Software v6.0 (Patrick McGovern, Sr. Associate @ Bowery Capital)

• The Equal Ventures Insurance Index (Adam Chadroff, Principal @ Equal Ventures)

• Software Spend Goes Parabolic (Nikunj Kothari, VC @ Khosla)

• Test-Time Search: A Path To AGI (Akash Bajwa, Principal @ Earlybird)

• Biomarker Discovery and Diagnostics: Transforming Healthcare Through Precision (Amit Kini, VC @ Lotus Capital)

Guides, Case Studies, and Best Practices for Operating

• Profitability Can Be a False Goal If You’re Playing Defense to Get There (Hunter Walk, GP @ Homebrew)

• Investor Updates Matter (Nkechi Iregbulem, Principal @ MVP Ventures)

• Hiring a Finance Leader (Geoff Donaker, GP @ Burst Capital)

• Diagnosing Growth Challenges: Product, Market, or GTM? (Anna Baird, Loren Alhadeff & Ted Kummert, Madrona Ventures)

Additional Reads

• Market Sizing in Vertical Software (Euclid Ventures)

• Do Hard Things (Nikunj Kothari, VC @ Khosla)

• Lessons I Learned in 2024 About VC (Santosh Sankar, GP @ Dynamo)

• What to Expect from VCs if the Downturn Persists (Ali Afridi, Principal @ Equal)

• The Inevitability of Advertising (Kyle Harrison, GP @ Contrary)

• Fulcrum Points (Morgan Cheatham, VP @ Bessemer)

• Four Reasons People Leave Venture Firms (Charles Hudson, GP @ Precursor)

• Funding the Hunch (Rob Go, GP @ NextView VC)

2025 Predictions

• What I'm preparing for in 2025 (Nikhil Basu Trivedi, GP @ Footwork)

• 25 for ’25: The App Renaissance Arrives (Meera Clark, Principal @ Redpoint)

• Maveron’s 2025 Predictions (Maveron Team)

• 25 Predictions for 2025 (Rex Woodbury, MP @ Daybreak)

• Frontier Ideas For 2025 (Multicoin Team)

• A few themes for 2025 (Tanay Jaipuria, Partner @ Wing VC)

• Predictions on Predictions (Vivek Ramaswami & Sabrina Wu, Madrona)

• What I'm watching in AI in 2025 (Molly Welch, VC @ Radical Ventures)

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Resources & more

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