Stealth

Co-Founder

Outlander VC

Partner

Principal

U.S. Bank

Product & Venture

Shore Capital Partners

MBA Associate

FactSet

Investment Management Product

SYKES

Product

Building in stealth (for now). If you want a peek behind the curtain, DM me and I’ll show you.

Before I hire someone, I take them out for a meal…

And watch how they treat the server. 

That’s the real interview.

The only thing I care about is being surrounded by high-character people who are humble and have a chip on their shoulder. If you think you’re better than the server, you’re f***ed.

But if you listen, engage, and treat them with genuine respect?

That tells me everything I need to know about how you’ll show up in the office.

Blaine Davis

We’re moving offices.

And just like with any move, it’s been a total pain. 
Logistics, furniture, setup… the usual chaos.

But this one’s worth it.

We’re crossing the river from Hoboken to Manhattan.

Because, let’s be honest… New York > everywhere else.

Every investor, every partner, every dealmaker –  they’re here.
The energy is different. The conversations are faster.
You can feel things happening in real time.

San Francisco had its moment.
Miami had a run.
But New York?
New York is back.

And I’m thrilled to be right in the middle of it.

I thank God every day that I started my career before the social media boom.

No Snapchat. No TikTok. Instagram barely existed.

Back then, you didn’t worry about your “online presence.” You weren’t terrified someone might record every dumb mistake. You just had to show up, talk to people, touch grass.

That mattered. Because those in-person reps built skills that still serve me today:

✅ Walking up to a stranger at a networking event.
✅ Navigating healthy conflict in the workplace.
✅ Having real debates without hiding behind a screen.

I look at Gen Z and feel for them. Many of them never had to cold-approach someone in real life. They’re dealing with a mix of lingering COVID isolation and a lifetime of social media. 

The result: Serious social anxiety.

I’m grateful I got to come up in the “wild west” years – before feeds, filters, and algorithms dictated everything.

Because those early reps at being human… turned out to be prime-time training for business and life.

There’s no such thing as a safe career path.

That was true before AI, and it’s even truer now.

Things are changing too fast. Entire industries are being reshaped. Roles that felt “stable” five years ago are now being automated or redefined overnight.

The people who think they’re safe? They’re usually the ones most at risk.

Because what’s actually unsafe is staying still. 
The only real protection is staying adaptable, curious, and ahead of the curve.

And in today’s world, we’re all forced to take risks no matter what…

So you might as well bet on something you love.

People love asking me this question:
“If you had to start a business from scratch tomorrow, what industry would you pick?”

My honest answer?
There isn’t one.

Because there’s no silver bullet. No secret industry. No easy path.

Every great business is brutally hard to build – no matter what you’re selling. The difference between the ones that make it and the ones that don’t usually comes down to one thing: how deeply the founder actually cares.

If you’re not obsessed with what you’re building, the grind will eat you alive.

So the only right answer is this:

Start something you can’t not start.

One of the saddest habits I see in people:

Constantly comparing themselves to others.

It’s always been human nature, but social media has made it 1000x worse.

Everyone’s posting their highlight reel, and people start measuring their own worth by someone else’s filtered version of reality.

“Nicer car.”
“Bigger house.”
“Better life.”

It’s all BS. 

When I see people caught in that cycle, it usually comes down to two things: insecurity and boredom.

If you’re fulfilled – doing work you care about, spending time with people you love, and actually living your life – you don’t have time to compare yourself to anyone.

Focus on your own lane, and you’ll be shocked how much lighter life feels.

One warm referral from a friend is worth more than 100 cold emails.

I get 50 to 100 spam emails a day.
Most go straight to the trash.

But if a friend pings me saying, “Hey, can you take a look at this?” 
I’ll read it. Respond (usually that same day). And I’ll probably take the call.

That’s the difference.
Trust cuts through noise.

And in a world drowning in automation, real relationships are still the ultimate shortcut.

As a kid, I always loved parties, but I never liked Halloween.

I know it’s weird – everyone loves Halloween, but it’s always been my least favorite holiday.

I just hated dressing up as something I’m not.

My mom would beg me to join in, and I’d just say,
“I am not participating in this.”

Some things never change, I guess.
This year, we’re heading to see Lauren’s sister and my niece.

And I’ll still be the only guy at the party not in costume.

The best networking tip I’ve picked up is something I call the “follow-up sandwich.”

It’s inspired by the old “compliment sandwich" for giving feedback.
(compliment → critical feedback → compliment)

But this one’s for business conversations.
The structure goes: positive → important/critical → positive.

For example:
“Looking forward to that spearfishing trip we talked about. By the way, I’ll send that contract over. Let’s lock in a spring date for spearfishing too.”

Same message, different vibe.
Instead of ending on “Please sign this thing,” you end on something human.

It keeps the conversation light, reminds people you’re more than just the deal, and makes follow-ups a lot easier.

I’ve been using it for years. And it works.

The Fed just cut rates. And more cuts are coming.

Powell held off as long as he could, but the economy finally forced his hand.

And while the politics of it are noisy, the effect in the short-to-medium term is clear:
→ Capital gets cheaper.
→ Deals start flowing again.
→ Tech feels momentum.

For startups and VCs, that shift matters. Liquidity is oxygen. When the cost of money drops, more founders can breathe.

It won’t fix everything…but it’s fuel for the next stretch.

And from where I sit, you can already feel the gears turning.

Funny how Sam Altman’s messaging on AI has changed.

In 2015, he was worried about artificial superintelligence ending humanity.
In 2025, he’s worried about em dashes.

That shift says a lot.

When you’re in the weeds every day, it’s easy to lose sight of the big picture. Details take over. You can’t see the forest for the trees. 

It’s a reminder for all of us:

Sometimes you need to zoom out, think high-level.

You can already feel it.

People are sprinting to close the year strong: hitting goals, signing contracts, checking every last box.

But the most interesting conversations right now aren’t wrapping up 2025.

They’re gearing up for 2026.

You can tell who’s thinking long-term. They’re the ones locking in partnerships, building new sales channels, and setting the table for what’s next.

That’s the difference between ending strong vs starting stronger.

And based on the calls I’ve had this month, 2026 is going to move fast.

What if you could rent a sales network instead of hiring a sales team?

Hiring new reps is expensive, slow, and risky.
It takes months to onboard, and even longer to see results.

Now imagine plugging into a network that already has relationships in your market.

→ You scale it up when you launch a new product.
→ You scale it down when things slow or budgets tighten.

Same output.
Zero fixed headcount.
Complete flexibility.

With how fast tech and AI are changing things, adaptability is more critical than ever.

And the idea of a “plug-and-play” sales network is starting to make a lot more sense…

Meta just dropped $800 “conversation focus” glasses.

Here’s the irony:

They’ve spent the last decade destroying our attention spans – rewiring our dopamine receptors, addicting hundreds of millions of people to endless scrolling, hijacking how we interact with our phones…

And now: They’re selling us back the ability to focus. For $800 a pop.

It’s the most Meta thing ever.
Break your brain, then sell you the cure.

Useful? Maybe.
Dystopian? Absolutely.

But also kind of genius.

Outsourcing global talent is a goldmine – if you do it right.

I’ve made a few global hires recently, and here’s what I’ve learned:

There’s incredible talent out there.
But there’s also a lot of noise.

The problem?
Talent firms have become one of the easiest businesses to start. (It’s a simple pricing arbitrage between labor markets.)

That’s created a flood of low-quality operators and shady “placement” firms that don’t vet for communication or cultural fit.

The good ones, though? They’re worth their weight in gold.
→ Clear communicators.
→ Great organizational instincts.
→ Hungry to build and grow.

The key is trust.
You either have to work with someone you personally know to source candidates, or go through a direct referral. Anything else is rolling the dice.

If you find the right partner, global hiring can unlock serious leverage for your business.

But if you don’t… it can drain you of time, money, and energy fast.

Walmart partnering with OpenAI was inevitable.

AI has quickly become the new search engine – the next Google.

And just like brands fought to appear at the top of Google results, now they’ll fight to appear in ChatGPT.

Ecommerce has always been about meeting customers where they already are. 
And more and more, where they are is inside an AI interface.

The question isn’t whether people will shop through AI.

It’s which brands will adapt fast enough to meet them there.

Remember when Google and Yelp reviews actually meant something?

Now it feels like every review was written by ChatGPT, a bot farm, or just someone who got a free appetizer.

People don’t trust 5-star ratings anymore. They trust personal recommendations from people they know.

That’s why new apps like Beli and corner are taking off: they show you reviews from your friends, not strangers on the internet.

We’re shifting from “crowd-sourced” → to circle-sourced credibility.

Because at the end of the day, trust doesn’t scale through marketing or algorithms. 

It scales through real people.

What's missing from our new office setup?

The author can see how you vote. Learn more

Taplio

Blaine Davis's Linkedin Analytics

's Best Posts (last 30 days)

Want to drive more opportunities from LinkedIn?

Taplio

.css-1jgreyo{background-image:linear-gradient(284deg, rgba(39,43,72,1) 0%, rgba(33,47,183,1) 100%);color:transparent;-webkit-background-clip:text;background-clip:text;}Blaine Davis's Linkedin Analytics

's Best Posts .css-qqfgvy{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);}(last 30 days)

Want to drive more opportunities from LinkedIn?

Blaine Davis's Linkedin Analytics

's Best Posts (last 30 days)