Issue No. 21

The philosophy of decentralized influence and empowerment redefines leadership, moving away from top-down control to inspire ownership. It replaces rigid hierarchies with networks of empowered individuals. Naval Ravikant puts it succinctly: "Great leaders don’t create followers. They inspire others to become leaders. Empower, uplift, then step back."

In practice, this means prioritizing autonomy over micromanagement, trusting teams to take on challenges and create solutions. Empowerment fosters accountability and motivation, building a culture of ownership that attracts independent talent and reframes mistakes as growth opportunities. This approach works well with “smart creatives”—a term from How Google Works— whose initiative thrives with minimal oversight.

At Pier, this decentralized approach lets our investment team handle routine deal structuring and negotiations swiftly, accelerating our deal-making process—a clear competitive advantage. I’m grateful to work alongside Pier’s talented team, whose collaboration and drive make this management style possible.- Jillian

This is for humans, but I think it applies to AI as well. Remember, plan for the green line, not the red one.

The Atlanta Fed went from a 3.9% GDP forecast for 2025 Q1 to -1.5% in 4 weeks. Quite a swing.

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I'm having discussions with a repeat Fintech founder about a credit facility. This is his third specialty finance company. The first two had varying outcomes, but the education he's had is incredibly valuable.

He kicked it off by providing his term sheet, essentially a request of what he would like. While we will still use our term sheets, it is so helpful to have someone who knows what they want, and knows where they are willing to be flexible.

Upon a discussion about our terms, he loved three core parts of our offering. First, that we do not ask for warrants or equity. Second, that we pre-fund draws, calculating a borrowing base off of the post-draw assets. Third, we have very light pre-payment limitations.

We've never worked together before, but I'm confident this will go smoothly. Whether the advance rate and interest rate work, we shall see. But, if we can get those in line, this should be a layup for both sides.  

- Conor