Parveen Kaler retweeted
🚨 Waterloo is often described as the MIT of Canada. On CBC, Waterloo math instructor Dan Wolczuk describes first-year students arriving with inflated grades, missing foundational math skills, and unprepared for university math. The problem has worsened over time.
He makes several important points:
- High school math classes have been weakened so students can get better grades.
- Less testing in high school and fewer standardized tests both hurt student learning and lead to grade inflation.
- Grade inflation doesn't help students in the long run. It's demoralizing to get 99% in high school and fail your first calculus test b/c prerequisite knowledge isn't secure.
- Some memorization is necessary in math. Math builds on itself and students need to be able to easily retrieve foundational knowledge.
- The testing effect matters. More testing helps students retain information long term.
- More low stakes testing also helps curb test anxiety.
Dan thinks we need a national standardized test in Canada. I wholeheardedly agree.
Link below (Excellent job by @KrissyHolmes CBC, Newfoundland & Labrador, Sept 9) @CBCNL 👇
Parveen Kaler retweeted
Interesting trend:
CTO/ Head of Eng / VPE folks at startups and mid-sized companies are... leaving / burning out. Hiring for these roles is HARD, but even after filling the role, they will often leave a few months later and take a career break
And they have v good reasons
Parveen Kaler retweeted
“Over the five years following the event, B.C. is projected to see an additional one million out-of-province visitors and more than $1 billion in added visitor spending.” So I guess this nets out nicely. Plus we get the amphitheatre, capital investment into BC Place and international press. Oh and folks in Vancouver were out celebrating and having fun. This is a reminder of what this City can be. Let’s get the right people together to make it better. Next stop is the MLB push and of course keeping Whitecaps here.
Vancouver's role as a FIFA World Cup host city delivering big numbers 🇨🇦 dailyhive.com/vancouver/fifa…
Parveen Kaler retweeted
What it takes to reach $100B
Fewer than 0.1% of startups will ever be worth more than $100B, but those that do will have an outsized impact, so it’s worth understanding which companies have the potential and what it takes to get there.
Examining the history of these massively successful companies, it becomes clear that there are two ingredients necessary to reach $100B.
First, they must be building in a rapidly growing market of unlimited size. For example, Microsoft, Apple, Intel and AMD all emerged as part of the exponentially growing microcomputer market. These companies started when microcomputers were still relatively new and obscure. Micro-soft’s first product, Altair BASIC, was incredibly niche — MITS only ever sold about 25,000 Altairs, but that was the start of what is now a $3T company.
Likewise, Amazon, Google, and Facebook all became $T companies by growing with the Internet. Stripe ($160B) makes this dynamic explicit in its mission statement: “Our mission is to increase the GDP of the internet”.
Why now? $100B opportunities only exist for a limited time. If a company could have been started 20 years earlier, then it’s unlikely to have $100B potential. Important new technologies create massive new opportunities, but those windows of opportunity don’t last forever. For example, it was not possible to start Uber or DoorDash five years earlier because mobile platforms such as the iPhone did not yet exist, and it wasn’t possible to create them five years later because the opportunity had already been captured.
Large but slow growing markets rarely produce $100B companies. For example, startups selling to dentists or auto mechanics are not good candidates to reach $100B. A simple test is to ask if demand will increase 10x or 100x in the next ten years. Startups thrive when capturing a slice of a rapidly growing pie, not fighting zero-sum games against incumbents.
The second ingredient is defensibility, a durable control point in the market. If your company is making billions of dollars, that will attract a lot of interest from potential competitors.
This defensibility is typically provided by one or more of the following dynamics:
- Marketplaces like Amazon, Google, Facebook, and Uber aggregate supply and demand.
- Platforms like Apple, Microsoft, NVIDIA, Salesforce, and OpenAI provide a foundation for large ecosystems to grow.
- Foundational infrastructure companies like TSMC, AWS, Stripe, and Arm become hard-to-replace dependencies.
- Workflow systems like ServiceNow, Intuit, SAP, Oracle, and Workday become the default systems of record and action.
- Deep tech companies like ASML, Tesla, and SpaceX require extraordinary technical, manufacturing, operational, regulatory, and capital execution to reproduce.
Competing head-on with these companies is nearly impossible. They effectively “own” their slice of a large and rapidly growing market, which earns them high revenue multiples, lower cost of capital, and the ability to acquire smaller companies and hire top talent.
Probably fewer than 1% of startups have the potential to reach $100B, and of those, fewer than 10% will ever realize that potential. However, it is our belief that we can improve those odds by building a community of the most impressive founders working on the most ambitious ideas.
We are creating the “$100B Seed Group” to bring together these early founders in our group office-hours format, to periodically meet, review, revise and strategize their Path to $100B. Apply now if you would like to be a part of the program. The first cohort will be limited to 10 companies.
Any startup from YC P26, W26, F25, or S25 is eligible. Applications are due by May 28th at 9pm PT.
standardcap.com/100billion
Parveen Kaler retweeted
My wife mentioned a nice private school over dinner this week
She said the campus was beautiful
I asked what's the tuition
She said we should look at it as an investment in him not a cost
I made a note
She said don't make a note
I said I always make notes
She said this isn't a deal
I said everything is a deal
She closed her eyes
She said we'd discuss it Saturday
I agreed
Saturday 7:02am
She came downstairs in her Saturday robe
Coffee in hand
I had my cargo shorts on
The dining room had been cleared
The projector was on
The analyst was at the head of the table
Quarter zip on, three iced coffees, a legal pad, and two laptops
He had been there since 6:44am
I texted him at 11:14pm Friday
The text said dining room 6:45am bring the model
He sent a thumbs up
My wife stopped in the doorway
She said what is this
I said you said you wanted to discuss it
She said this is not a discussion
I did not respond
She sat down anyway
The analyst stood
He said good morning ma'am
She did not respond
He sat back down
A printed deck in front of each seat
A fourth copy in case
Slide 1 Tuition Schedule
$38,500 per year
Thirteen years
$500,500 nominal
Before escalators
The school has raised tuition 4.2% per year for a decade
With escalators $648,000
My wife said okay
I said I'm not done
Slide 2 Opportunity Cost
Even before escalators
$38,500 invested annually
10% nominal return
S&P long-run average since 1928
By his eighteenth birthday $944,000
My wife said we can afford it
I said I know that's not the slide
Slide 3 Terminal Value at Age 65
$83 million
She was quiet
The analyst slid the sensitivity tables across the table
8% return $31 million
10% return $83 million
12% return $222 million
She did not look
She said this isn't about money
I said it's always about money
She said no it isn't
I said then what is it about
She did not answer
She said you can't put a dollar value on his teachers his classmates his environment
I said I can the analyst already did slide 6
He flipped to slide 6
She did not look
She said the school is the best in the city
I said best is a feeling
She said it produces the best students
I said the students were already the best before they got there
She said our son deserves it
I said our son deserves $83 million
My son walked in
He is five
Dinosaur pajamas
He looked at the projector
He looked at the open deck on the table
He looked at slide 3
He said are we modeling pre-tax or after-tax
The analyst opened a new tab
My wife looked at the ceiling
He said what's the discount rate
The analyst set down his pen
She closed her eyes
He said is this the same return assumption from the 529 conversation
The analyst stopped typing
He looked at me
I did not say anything
She stood up
Sat back down
He said dad can I help
I said yes
He pulled up a chair
The analyst handed him a printout
He started reading
My wife watched him read
She watched him for a long time
She said his name
He looked up
She said do you like school
He said the work is too easy and the kids don't ask questions
She did not respond
She looked at the ceiling
She walked out of the room
The analyst started packing up
He said should I follow up Monday sir
I said no follow up needed
He'll be fine
Sent from my iPhone
Parveen Kaler retweeted
this woman doesn’t need a matchmaker. she needs to accidentally book the wrong airbnb in a mountain town called pine hollow.
it’s december. there’s one coffee shop, one christmas tree farm, & one emotionally unavailable man named jake who owns a struggling bookstore despite somehow having perfect stubble, a golden retriever, & unresolved grief from a fiancee who left him for a private equity guy in denver.
she arrives in a black suv, wearing a cashmere coat, trying to take a “clarity weekend” before interviewing $80k/year matchmakers in nyc.
the town hates her immediately because she asks if they have oat milk.
jake says, “we have milk.”
she says, “from what?”
tension.
then a snowstorm hits. her flight gets canceled. her phone dies. the only place with wifi is jake’s bookstore, which is called “second chances”.
over the next 4 days, she helps him realize the store doesn’t need to close, it just needs a better merchandising strategy, a paid newsletter, & a tasteful espresso machine. he teaches her how to chop firewood, slow down, & pronounce “community” like it isn’t a fund thesis.
by day 5, she has accidentally saved the town’s winter festival.
by day 6, she is wearing flannel.
by day 7, the high end matchmaker calls with “an incredible candidate” who is 42, divorced, skis, runs a family office, says he’s “emotionally available,” lives in tribeca, has 3 phones.
she looks across the bookstore at jake reading to local kids while his dog sleeps under a table.
she says, “i’m going to pass.”
cut to one year later & she has opened a bookstore wine bar called “due diligence.” jake still owns the original bookstore because hallmark cannot handle cap table complexity. she’s pregnant with twins. the golden retriever has a red bow. the matchmaker sends a christmas card.
“turns out the best match was the one not in the database.”
roll credits.
Parveen Kaler retweeted
The year is 2047. The Canadian Infrastructure Bank, the Canadian Sovereign Wealth Fund, the Canada Pension Plan and the Business Development Bank of Canada each nominate one warrior to fight to the death for the honour of owning a 15% stake of a new sushi restaurant.
Parveen Kaler retweeted
say the thing!
it will help save Canada
buildcanada.com/memos/say-it
Parveen Kaler retweeted
When Trudeau stepped down as Canada's Prime Minister and Carney took over on March 14th, 2025 the talking point was clear:
"This is a new Liberal Party."
This statement quickly permeated through every news, political chatter, and online social media account out there.
But even with the help of AI, this was a big challenge for the average person to make sense of it. And because these are big changes in government, with lots of data points and details, most people take it at face value.
So, we created The Parliament Tracker.
The Parliament Tracker visualises in great detail what actually happened, and what the numbers look like compared to every other major government since 1997.
It enables you to understand major shifts in Canadian government by looking through different lenses that tell you a more comprehensive story.
Let's dig in.
@Canada @liberal_party @CPC_HQ @NDP @BlocQuebecois
#cdnpoli #Parliament #Canada #OpenData #Carney #Trudeau #Liberals #CPC #NDP
🧵
Parveen Kaler retweeted
You have no experience.
You’ve never started a company.
You’ve never had a full time job.
Nike is going to kill you.
You’re a kid.
You don’t have technical skills.
You shouldn’t build hardware.
Apple is going to kill you.
You can’t build hardware.
You can’t measure heart rate non-invasively.
Athletes don’t care about recovery.
Under Armour is going to kill you.
It won’t be accurate.
You don’t listen.
You’re an ineffective leader.
You can’t recruit great talent.
You’re going to have to pay every athlete.
You can’t measure sleep non-invasively.
It’s too expensive to research.
Athletes are a small market.
The product costs too much to make.
The product costs too much to sell.
Your valuation is too high.
Consumers aren’t going to want it.
Hardware is too hard.
You should measure steps.
Fitbit is going to kill you.
You can’t build a marketing engine.
You can’t raise enough money.
You need a real CEO.
Google is going to kill you.
You can’t be a subscription.
You can’t build a brand.
You can’t do consumer in Boston.
Your valuation is too high.
You shouldn’t make accessories.
You shouldn’t make apparel.
Lululemon is going to kill you.
You can’t predict Covid.
Stay in your niche.
You are going to run out of money.
You can’t build a health platform.
Amazon is going to kill you.
You can’t measure blood pressure.
You can’t get medical approvals.
The market is too small.
You don’t understand AI.
The market is too competitive.
It won’t work internationally.
The supply chain is too complicated.
You can’t build an AI.
You can’t raise enough money.
It’s too competitive.
Healthcare isn’t going to want it.
…
Just keep going ✌️
Parveen Kaler retweeted
Today is the leadership convention of the NDP, Canada’s socialist party
The crowd at the convention chanted “Eat the Rich” in unison and then unironically elected a private school educated multimillionaire.
Socialists are fun like that.
Parveen Kaler retweeted
10 billion dollars in tax wasted trying and failing to make software that generates a CSV file with 450k rows in it twice a month.
Canada spent $5.1 BILLION fixing a broken payroll system (Phoenix). Now we're about to spend $4.2 BILLION+ replacing it with Dayforce.
I went through every lobbying record, every communication report, and every revolving-door hire to identify potential conflicts of interest.
Here's what I found.
1/🧵
Parveen Kaler retweeted
Canada spent $5.1 BILLION fixing a broken payroll system (Phoenix). Now we're about to spend $4.2 BILLION+ replacing it with Dayforce.
I went through every lobbying record, every communication report, and every revolving-door hire to identify potential conflicts of interest.
Here's what I found.
1/🧵
Parveen Kaler retweeted
This Kalshi ad was served to a 20 something year old male friend of mine.
Gambling is going to hurt young men more than porn ever did.
Parveen Kaler retweeted
Canada facts of the decade marginalrevolution.com/margi…
Parveen Kaler retweeted
if you or someone you know works with electrical equipment, invest in a @proxxiband - it could save your life!!
Parveen Kaler retweeted
The culture shift is real, this Disney cruise ship ad aimed at dads is fantastic:
Parveen Kaler retweeted
Everyone’s talking about the K-shaped economy—the rich pulling away while everyone else stagnates.
In our inaugural Stripe Economics post, I take a look at @stripe + macro data, and I see the K on Wall Street, but not yet on Main Street:
• The most profitable third of US public companies now account for ~2/3 of total market cap—the highest on record.
• The S&P 500 rose 16.5% in 2025, and the top 1% own ~40% of all equities. So unsurprisingly the top 1% wealth share has risen (~2pp) since 2022.
• BUT, Stripe data suggest lower-income household spending has been growing faster than high-income households over the last few years.
• Wages tell a similar story: real earnings at the 10th percentile grew ~0.5pp slower than the 90th since 2022, but BOTH posted positive real wage growth.
• Why? 1) The wealthy hold lots of equities but only account for ~25% of consumer spending. 2) Real wages at the bottom have been supported by continued labor market tightness post-pandemic, though this may cool.
Read the full post below and subscribe!
stripeeconomics.substack.com…
Parveen Kaler retweeted
Conversation with @vishalmisra where he goes into detail of how LLMs are *exactly* Bayesian. He demonstrates this both empirically and formally.
This is foundational work on the capabilities (and limitations) of LLMs.
youtube.com/watch?v=zwDmKsnh…