What is Pivotal?
Pivotal is an infrequent, sophisticated, non-technical newsletter about data, investing, and startups.
Here’s what readers have to say about it:
“There is no more thoughtful writer on financial topics today.” — global head of data, 10b AUM hedge fund
“Bravo. Likely the most lucid and accurate rendition of the space. Absolutely loved it. A little jealous that I didn’t write it.” — CEO, tech startup (near-unicorn)
“I absolutely love your newsletter. Your article regarding [data businesses] was the most concise and knowledgeable overview on this topic I have come across.” — MD, 50b publicly traded data company
“When Abraham Thomas writes, it’s worth stopping to read and be rewarded for the time spent. The best kind of writing helps you create new first principles. This article delivers that.” — head of data and analytics, 100b asset manager
“Excellent writing. A very thoughtful summary of cycles and trends. Enjoyed it greatly. Thank you!” — senior (managing) partner at 10b AUM venture major
“[Your article] was one of the most accessible, entertaining and engaging framings of how to think about speed, and risk in the early stage that I have ever read. Thank you for writing and sharing!” — partner, growth stage venture firm
“I don’t read all the tech blogs and rarely love them, but I think this essay is both brilliant and enlightening.” — partner, top silicon valley seed firm
“I doubt if even the [investors] doing this have this kind of clarity about their own industry.” — CEO, tech startup (unicorn, exited)
“I’ve been in the data game from all angles for a long time — user, consumer, creator, vendor, investor, board member. It is hard to overstate how nice of a job you did framing it all out. Thank you for the gift.” — retired portfolio manager, 25 years at 12b AUM hedge fund
Themes and Topics
Pivotal has three underlying themes: the data explosion, markets in everything, and software eating the world. Some of the topics I’ll be writing about:
Data businesses and the business of data
Venture capital, angel investing, and early-stage startups
Being a founder, and building a company from zero to exit
Quant hedge funds, alpha, information and edge
Marketplaces, networks, narratives, and feedback loops
How organizations use, misuse and sometimes abuse data
Capital markets structure, incentives and dynamics
Software, especially AI/ML, APIs, and the data stack
Finance, in all its terrible glory
If you enjoy reading Matt Levine, Byrne Hobart and Patrick McKenzie, you might enjoy reading Pivotal.
Who Writes Pivotal?
Pivotal is written by me, Abraham Thomas.
I’m the co-founder and chief data officer of Quandl, a venture-backed tech startup that built a data marketplace and pioneered the category of ‘alternative data’ in finance. Quandl was acquired by Nasdaq a few years ago in a successful exit.
Before Quandl, I was a coder, trader and portfolio manager at Simplex, one of Asia's oldest quant hedge funds. At Simplex, I specialized in statistical bond arbitrage, and I built some of the industry’s first high-frequency (relative value) trading systems.
These days I’m an active (and fairly successful) angel investor in tech startups. I serve on a couple of boards, and advise a handful of VC funds; I also manage a small investment syndicate.
There are people who know data; there are people who know investing; and there are people who know startups. There are not many people who know all three at a deep professional level. I’m one of them. (Modest, too.)
What Pivotal Isn’t
Pivotal is not technical. I might talk about technical subjects — quant finance, market microstructure, data science & engineering, AI/ML, enterprise software — but I try to do so at a level that’s accessible to generalists.
Pivotal is not topical. I don’t plan to write about current events or developments, except on the rare occasions when they intersect strongly with my underlying themes.
Pivotal is not overwhelming. I aim to publish 3-6 posts a year, at an irregular cadence. But they’ll be good posts.
Pivotal is not paid, and I have no plans to ever change that.
Why Pivotal Exists
Pivotal exists because I’m fascinated by data, markets and technology.
Data: As a species, we are defined by our ability to manipulate information: language, writing, software. It’s not a coincidence that the word we associate most strongly with human evolutionary advantage — intelligence — means both raw data, and the capacity to act on it.
Markets: Markets are the most effective and resilient mechanism we have found to solve a hard problem: how should society allocate resources in the face of incomplete information and uncertain outcomes?
Technology: Writing, agriculture, government, cities, money, industry: these and other technologies have impacted humanity in profound (and still evolving) ways. We’re living through another technological revolution right now: software. And we’ve barely scratched the surface of what it can achieve.
Despite these big themes, this is not an abstract, 30,000-foot-view newsletter. Instead, it aims to be concrete, detailed and observational.
Why The Name?
I can’t resist a triple entendre. “Pivot” is a word that has a precise and specialized meaning in each of the fields this newsletter covers: in trading (technical analysis), in startups (course corrections), and in data (matrix manipulation).
Sadly, pivot.substack.com was taken, but the adjective form has the additional implication of cruciality. So maybe it’s actually a quadruple entendre!
And Finally
If you’ve made it this far, you’re definitely the kind of reader who’ll like this newsletter. Subscribe!
