James Currier
Most investors talk about network effects. James Currier catalogued 17 of them.
That distinction matters. It is the difference between knowing a word and knowing a language. Currier spent decades building companies where network effects determined survival, then codified those patterns into a framework anyone can use. He sold Tickle to Monster for 1.6 billion, investing almost exclusively in companies with defensible network effects.
But here is what makes Currier unusual among investors: he seems equally interested in applying network effects to life itself.
The Worm Salesman
Currier’s first business sold worms. He was a kid, making six dollars a week digging bait for fishermen. This detail matters because it reveals something about his disposition. Most people stumble into entrepreneurship after discovering they are unemployable. Currier was selling before he knew what a job was.
That early start gave him something valuable: lots of time to iterate. By the time he reached Harvard Business School, he had already failed enough to know what failure felt like. This made him faster. As he put it: speed matters in network effects, it matters in tech, but actually what he has come to realize is that it is a philosophy of life. Get over it, keep moving.
Almost Inventing Bitcoin
In 1996, Currier started a company called Blue.com. The idea was digital currency with cryptographic verification. Essentially Bitcoin, twelve years before Satoshi’s whitepaper.
They got the technology working on a whiteboard. But they needed e-signature laws to pass first. The technology was ready. The regulatory environment was not. Currier moved on to other things.
This is a useful story because it illustrates his philosophy on timing. He later developed a framework for it. There are three phases in any new technology:
Phase one: Hobbyists playing with stuff.
Phase two: Business people show up and see an opportunity.
Phase three: Incumbents figure out what is going on.
The best time to start is phase two. Too early and you are fighting for a market that does not exist yet. Too late and you are fighting incumbents with distribution. Blue.com was phase one disguised as phase two. The hobbyists were not even playing yet because the infrastructure did not exist.
What Network Effects Actually Are
Currier defines network effects simply. In his words: a network effect is when every new person who uses your product makes the product more valuable for the other users. As opposed to Stripe, where one more person using Stripe does not actually make the product better for existing users.
This distinction gets confused constantly. Scale effects are not network effects. Lower unit costs are not network effects. Having lots of users is not a network effect unless those users make the product better for each other.
Facebook has network effects. More friends on Facebook makes Facebook more useful for you. Amazon’s retail business has scale effects. More customers means better supplier terms and lower logistics costs, but one more shopper does not improve your shopping experience.
Currier identified 17 distinct types of network effects, ranging from direct (like phone networks) to data (like Waze) to marketplace (like eBay). The taxonomy matters because different types have different defensibility. Some are nearly impossible to break once established. Others are surprisingly fragile.
Language as a Wedge
Early-stage startups face an obvious problem. There is nothing to show. The product does not work yet. Sometimes the product does not exist yet. So how do you get early users?
Currier’s answer: language. The way you get early users is with language, because there is nothing to show. Language becomes your wedge.
He proved this at Tickle with viral quizzes. “What breed of dog are you?” was not a technological innovation. It was a linguistic one. The quiz mechanic was simple. The hook was in the language.
This explains why he thinks so carefully about frameworks and naming. Ideas without memorable language do not spread. Technology windows, savage founders, giving competitions, turning yourself into an API. Each concept has a name that makes it easier to recall and share. The language is part of the product.
Savage Founders
When NFX evaluates founders, they look for a specific combination. Currier calls them savage founders: optimistic, savage, and paranoid at the same time. Low ego with really aggressive ideas.
The paradox is deliberate. Optimism without paranoia leads to complacency. Aggression without low ego leads to defensiveness when the market delivers feedback. You need founders who believe completely in their vision while remaining genuinely open to changing it.
This is rare. Most people are either confident and closed-minded or humble and uncertain. The combination Currier describes requires holding contradictions in tension. Believe this will work. Be ready to pivot tomorrow. Both at once.
Compounding Partnerships
Currier has worked with his business partner Stan for decades. He thinks this is an underrated advantage. As he explained: if you are with somebody for a thousand days or two thousand days together, going through so many iterations, that the other person can riff off of you and you can trust them more, and you are more relaxed so you can actually think better, that compounding that happens over 20 years of working together is just remarkable.
The math here is counterintuitive. Most people optimize for finding the best partner for each new project. Currier’s argument is that partnership quality compounds over time. A good partner after 20 years of collaboration beats a great partner you just met.
This applies beyond business. His framework for relationships is what he calls a giving competition. Both parties try to do more for the other. In his words: my wife and I are in a giving competition. We are always doing more for the other person. You are constantly grateful. You are constantly excited. You never feel used. You never feel taken advantage of.
Your Life Runs on Network Effects
Shaan Puri cites Currier frequently on the show. One framework that stuck: your life runs on network effects. Who you spend time with compounds. The network you build early determines the opportunities you see later.
Currier makes a distinction between being an “up” versus a “down” in networks. An up owns their network and has others support their mission. A down supports others’ networks and missions. Neither is wrong, but most people never consciously choose. They default to one without realizing the tradeoff.
Related to this is his framework on great life versus global greatness. Most people, if they are honest, do not actually want global greatness. They want a great life. Being clear about which you want helps you make better decisions and avoid resentment when you get exactly what you chose.
AI as Water
Currier’s prediction on AI: it is going to be like water. Everywhere. Free. Almost unlimited.
The implication is strategic. If AI access becomes commoditized, competitive advantage will not come from having AI. It will come from what you build with it. The defensibility will be elsewhere: in network effects, in data flywheels, in brand, in regulatory capture, in distribution. The AI itself will be table stakes.
This is consistent with how Currier thinks about technology generally. The technology is rarely the moat. The moat is what the technology enables you to build that others cannot easily replicate.
Frameworks Referenced on MFM
Currier is one of the most cited guests and thinkers on the show. His ideas surface repeatedly across episodes:
- Technology Windows: The three-phase framework for timing entry into new markets
- 17 Types of Network Effects: The taxonomy for categorizing and evaluating defensibility
- Savage Founders: The paradoxical combination NFX seeks in investments
- Language-First Strategy: Using language as a wedge when you have no product
- Turning Yourself Into an API: Becoming the person people call for one specific thing
- Great Life vs Global Greatness: Framework for evaluating ambition honestly
- Giving Competitions: Relationship model where both parties try to out-give the other
- Life Runs on Network Effects: Applying network thinking to personal relationships
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Primary Source: From making 110M+ - Full interview covering his background, frameworks, and philosophy.