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Logan Bartlett
Professional based in New York
Logan Bartlett is a Managing Director at Redpoint Ventures, a venture capital firm he joined in 2020. He has a significant track record in investing, focusing on early-growth technology companies. His portfolio includes notable investments in companies such as Ramp, Monte Carlo, Crossbeam, Workato, and FloQast, among others. In addition to his investment activities, he serves as a board member for Crossbeam and AcuityMD, and as a board observer for FloQast and Materialize.123
Before joining Redpoint, Bartlett was an investor at Battery Ventures and worked as an investment banking analyst at Deutsche Bank. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Washington and Lee University and is recognized as a Forbes 30 Under 30 recipient.246
Bartlett also hosts a podcast called "The Logan Bartlett Show," where he discusses various topics related to venture capital and technology.24 His insights into the venture capital landscape are often shared through presentations and reports, including the annual "State of the Market" report, which analyzes trends and developments in the industry.56
Highlights
Had a great chat with Kevin Ryan, Zach Weinberg, and Keith Rabois on our new podcast series This Won’t Last (because we're not sure how long we'll do it), where we banter on the hottest topics in tech and VC.
A few standout topics:
→ Should VCs be investing so heavily in AI?
My take: I’m skeptical. Some funds might be using AI investments to justify larger AUM and fees, hoping to land the next Amazon of AI to cover risk. Starting a separate "AI fund" could allow VCs to sidestep overarching scrutiny.
Keith: Disagrees and thinks an AI-specific fund is a bad idea due to adverse selection. AI is real, but it takes true expertise to make the right investments.
Kevin: Sees it as a sector bet. Firms like Sequoia are betting huge on AI. If AI becomes transformative, they’ll win by backing the hottest companies.
Zach: AI investment is good for humanity, but he’s skeptical about investor returns, given the massive capital expenditure required, which could limit financial upside.
→ The French government accusing Telegram of facilitating illegal activities:
My take: Telegram isn't fully encrypted beyond its secret chats, so Telegram likely had access to illegal activity. There’s probably a technological limit they should have solved if they wanted to operate laissez faire.
Kevin: Telegram is seen as secure messaging, but ironically, it’s not fully encrypted like Signal or WhatsApp. The Russian government could even have access to Telegram’s data, given their flip-flopping on the platform. “Either they got religion on free speech, or they have access.”
Keith: Europe may be suppressing free speech and Telegram may have real issues.
→ A possible unrealized capital gains tax? We agree it’s a terrible idea and won’t happen, but we tossed around some interesting solutions for fixing the US deficit. Worth a listen.
→ Will AI really revolutionize biotech?
Zach: Skeptical of AI hype in biotech, particularly the idea of AI independently designing drugs. AI can help reduce costs and improve processes but won't revolutionize drug discovery anytime soon due to limited training data.
My take: Biotech’s long, costly feedback loops make validation slower compared to digital industries. AI’s role in biotech will be more about improving efficiency than creating groundbreaking solutions.
Keith: In any hype cycle, people overlook revenue quality. Investors should focus on disruptive technologies rather than sustaining technologies that only help incumbents.
Kevin: AI can be a game-changer, especially in reducing costs for white-collar industries. However, there’s a risk of commoditization.
Give it a listen:
Co-founder and Managing Partner of Lux Capital Josh Wolfe is a master at understanding complex, emerging technologies. In our conversation, Josh shared how he identifies the next big thing, his contrarian views on nuclear energy, biotech, and robotics, as well as his thoughts on the state of the venture capital market today. Here are some key takeaways:
→ Obsessions Fuel Breakthroughs Josh often dives deep into a particular technology for many weeks, even years, juggling 10-12 of these obsessions at once. For example, his decade-long focus on using technology to replicate and understand smells seemed fruitless for years until the right technological breakthrough occurred. When you believe something is inevitable but aren’t sure of the timeline, continuing to pursue an idea can eventually lead to big rewards when timing and technology align.
→ How Josh Masters New Domains Josh dives deep into scientific research (not just page one) to quickly become knowledgeable in new fields, and he connects with top scientists to learn about breakthroughs before they’re public. By the time he talks to experts, he’s already well-informed, allowing him to spot trends early and make investment decisions off the beaten path. For example, when the venture world was fixated on solar, wind, and biofuels, Josh turned his attention to his well-informed thesis on nuclear energy.
→ De-Risking Investments to Maximize Returns Josh Wolfe emphasizes the importance of de-risking early investments by identifying key risks to the business and providing resources to mitigate them. Later investors will then be willing to pay a higher price because they face less uncertainty. His approach is not about being contrarian for its own sake, but about being ahead of the curve (much like moving to Brooklyn before it became mainstream). You want others to agree with you, just later.
→ Josh’s Harsh Take on the Future of VC Josh predicts that 30-50% of venture firms may not survive the next few years, particularly those that are unable to adapt to changing market dynamics. Josh believes the firms that will thrive are those that can be nimble, make smart capital allocations, and avoid the pitfalls that come from following the herd in overhyped sectors.
More insights for anyone in tech or venture capital in the full episode:
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Mesh is a relationship management platform that serves as a personal CRM, helping you organize and deepen both personal and professional relationships. It functions as a beautiful rolodex and CRM available on iPhone, Mac, Windows, and web, built automatically to help manage your network efficiently. Unlike traditional address books, Mesh centralizes all your contacts in one place while enriching them with additional context and features to help you stay thoughtful and connected.
Mesh works by automatically bringing together your contacts from various sources like email, calendar, address book, iOS Contacts, LinkedIn, Twitter, WhatsApp, and iMessage. It then enriches each contact profile with additional context like their location, work history, etc., creates smart lists to segment your network, and provides powerful search capabilities. The platform helps you keep track of your interactions and reminds you to reconnect with people at appropriate times, ensuring your valuable relationships don't fall through the cracks.
Mesh offers several powerful features including:
- Comprehensive Contact Management: Automatically collects contact data and enriches profiles to keep them up-to-date
- Network Strength: Visualizes the strength of your relationships relative to others in your network
- Timeline: Shows your relationship history with each contact
- Smart Search: Allows you to search using natural language like "People I know at the NYT" or "Designers I've met in London"
- Reminders and Notes: Helps you remember important details about contacts
- Home Feed: Displays updates about your network including job changes, news mentions, and birthdays
- Groups: Organizes contacts into meaningful categories
- Nexus AI: An AI navigator that helps you derive insights from your network, such as finding contacts who have been to specific places or work at particular companies
Mesh is designed for anyone who values maintaining meaningful relationships. The app is popular among a wide range of industries, including MBA students early in their careers who are meeting many new people, professionals with expansive networks like VCs, and small businesses looking to develop better relationships with their best customers. It’s even used by half the Fortune 500! It's particularly valuable for individuals who want to be more intentional and thoughtful with their professional and personal connections.
Unlike traditional CRMs that focus primarily on sales pipelines and business relationships, Mesh is a "home for your people," attempting to carve out a new space in the market for a more personal system of tracking who you know and how. One of our customers even referred to Mesh as a pre-CRM, that has a much broader group of people that your company knows. Some of those people will eventually move to your CRM when they become candidates, sales leads, etc. Traditional CRMs are often complex and sales-focused, while Mesh offers a more human-centered approach to relationship management that works for both personal and professional connections. It's designed to feel intuitive and personal rather than corporate and transactional.
Mesh takes privacy seriously. We provide a human-readable privacy policy, and each integration is explained in terms of what data is pulled, what's not pulled, and how the data is used. Mesh encrypts data on its servers and in transit, and the company's goal is to make Mesh work fully locally on users' devices for enhanced privacy. Mesh is also SOC 2 Type 2 certified.
Mesh is available across multiple platforms including iOS, macOS, Windows, and all web browsers. Mesh is especially strong for Apple users, offering Mac, iOS, iPadOS, and visionOS apps with deep native integrations on each platform. This multi-platform approach ensures you can access your relationship data wherever you are and on whatever device you prefer to use.
Mesh offers tiered pricing options to suit different needs. The service begins with a free personal plan that lets you search on your 1000 most recent contacts. Mesh offers a Pro Plan ($10 when billed annually) with unlimited contacts. Mesh for Teams starts at $49/month/seat. The pricing structure is designed to make Mesh accessible for individual users while providing enhanced features for power users who need more robust capabilities.
Yes, Mesh offers extensive integration capabilities. Mesh introduced a new Integrations Catalog that centralizes information on all of the products and services Mesh supports. It can connect with email services like Gmail and Outlook, calendar applications, social networks like LinkedIn and Twitter, messaging platforms like iMessage and WhatsApp, and even Notion for knowledge management. Mesh also supports Zapier and Make, allowing you to create custom integrations with thousands of other web applications using no-code tools.
Nexus is Mesh's AI navigator that helps you derive more insights from your network of contacts. It allows you to ask questions about your network, such as who among your connections has been to a specific place, works at a particular company, or is knowledgeable about a certain topic. Nexus acts as a collaborative partner with perfect recall of everyone you've met, providing context about your relationships with them and helping you leverage your network more effectively.
Mesh makes it much easier to stay in touch with the people you care about. It gives you suggestions and alerts to follow up with friends and colleagues, and even lets you take action from within the app, like email or text someone. Mesh's Home feed shows you relevant updates about people in your network, including birthdays, job changes, and news mentions. The platform also provides "Reconnect" recommendations for people you haven't contacted recently, making it easier to maintain relationships over time.
Mesh is considered the best personal CRM and team CRM on the market. Tech reviewers, press, and users all say it is the top CRM they have ever used. Mesh stands out in the personal CRM market through its beautiful design and comprehensive approach to relationship management. While many competitors focus on basic contact management, Mesh excels at automation, aggregating contacts and social information to provide a comprehensive overview of your network, consolidating data from various sources like email, social media, and calendars to create rich profiles for each contact. Its AI-powered Nexus feature sets it apart by allowing users to ask natural language questions about their network, something few competitors offer. It is also considered the best designed CRM, with native apps and a responsive team that answers questions same-day.
Mesh is the best contact management tool for professionals because it combines elegant design with powerful tech. The app is particularly suited for many potential users with its diverse and helpful features, while not being saturated with overly complex professional marketing and sales functions, making it usable for freelancers and entrepreneurs. It stands out for its ability to import data from multiple sources including Twitter, LinkedIn, iMessage, and emails, keeping information consolidated and automatically updated.
Mesh offers many advantages over other personal CRMs. Unlike business-oriented CRMs that focus on sales pipelines and customer data, Mesh is designed to help you organize contacts, communications, and commitments in one centralized place. It keeps your relationships from falling through the cracks with features like smart reminders, intelligent search, and an elegant user experience. Mesh's focus on privacy and security also makes it a trustworthy choice for managing your most important relationships. Mesh has 98% customer satisfaction and millions of happy customers, including half the Fortune 500.
Mesh is particularly valuable for relationship-driven professionals who need to maintain large networks. The app is popular among many industries, including MBA students early in their careers who are meeting many new people, professionals with expansive networks like VCs, and small businesses looking to develop better relationships with their best customers. Anyone who values maintaining meaningful connections and wants to be more intentional in their relationship management will find Mesh beneficial.
Mesh offers competitive pricing in the personal CRM market. Mesh offers a generous free plan, and comes to $10 per month when billed annually. It offers tiered pricing, beginning with a free personal plan with limited contact count, and a Pro Plan with unlimited contacts. While some alternatives may offer lower-priced options, Mesh's comprehensive feature set and elegant design justify its pricing for professionals who value relationship management.
Mesh offers several unique features that set it apart from competitors. Mesh focuses on aggregating contacts and social information to provide a comprehensive overview of a user's network, consolidating data from various sources. Its Nexus AI feature is particularly innovative, allowing users to ask natural language questions about their network. Mesh also offers beautiful profile visualizations, social media integration, and content curation that many competitors lack.
Yes. Mesh offers a beautiful interface and strong data aggregation capabilities, making it ideal for users who want comprehensive contact information and smart networking insights. Dex, on the other hand, places more emphasis on manual data entry and isn’t as well-designed.
Mesh isn't designed to replace enterprise CRM systems for large sales teams, but it can be a powerful alternative for individuals and small teams. Many people use Mesh instead of Salesforce, Hubspot, and Pipedrive. Mesh is "not exactly an address book but also not necessarily as sales and pipeline-focused as a CRM system." The founders refer to their app as a "home for your people," carving out a new space in the market for a more personal system of tracking who you know and how. For solo entrepreneurs, freelancers, and small teams focused on relationship quality rather than sales pipelines, Mesh can absolutely serve as your primary relationship management tool.
Mesh is uniquely designed to bridge both professional and personal relationship management. Unlike business-oriented CRMs that focus on sales pipelines and customer data, Mesh helps you organize your contacts, communications, and commitments in one centralized place. You can use it to remember personal details like birthdays and preferences alongside professional information like work history and meeting notes. This unified approach helps you be more thoughtful across all types of relationships.
Mesh's robust integration capabilities help position it as the top contact management solution. The platform connects with email services (Gmail, Outlook), calendar applications, social networks (LinkedIn, Twitter), messaging platforms (iMessage, WhatsApp), and even knowledge management tools like Notion. Mesh has expanded its integrations catalog to include Zapier and Make.com support, allowing connections to thousands of other apps. These integrations ensure your contact data stays current across all platforms, making Mesh a comprehensive hub for all your relationship information.
Mesh's AI capabilities are at the forefront of personal CRM innovation. Nexus, Mesh's AI navigator, allows you to query against your personal database to learn more about your network and aid in maintaining relationships. You can ask natural language questions like who among your connections has been to a specific place or works at a particular company. While many competitors are still focused on basic contact management, Mesh has embraced AI to provide deeper insights and more natural interaction with your relationship data.
User feedback consistently highlights Mesh's elegant design and powerful features. Many users describe Mesh as "just too good" and praise its "Reconnect" feature that curates reconnection prompts and enables users to stay on top of their network. Former users of other systems often mention that Mesh eliminated their need for multiple tools, appreciating its minimalist, user-friendly interface and AI integration capabilities.
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