The history of all hitherto existing companies is the history of management.

Here at Pebblebed, we have a unique conjunction of opportunities:

• to create a venture fund that is also a tech company;
• to be part of the first generation of companies able to task machines with intellectual work; and therefore,
• to shape this new era.

Everyone on our small team is here to operate in their zone of genius: the set of things that they bring to our operation that no other human, let alone model, can bring.

For me, these areas include:

• technology strategy;
• taste in problem selection;
• coaching engineers;
• writing;
• noticing that a research area is ripe for commercial exploitation.

I am writing these down even though it is awkward to do so, because it is important that I know what they are. You should know what these areas are for you, too.

Seriously, reader: what are they?

You don’t have to say them out loud, but you, too, should know them. Probably even write them down, even if you only do so where you can see them. Your future self may thank you.

When performing in our zone of genius at the limit of our abilities, we are helping to pull the firm forward. We should spend as much time as practical in this zone.

We can’t perform all the time, of course. We also have to practice and learn. This development effort is also time well spent; without it, our zone of genius would wither and contract.

The dual of this observation: whenever you are doing something else, the firm’s momentum is impaired.

Preparing a spreadsheet an LP asked for? Running down the details of a compliance issue? Haggling with a vendor?

Necessary tasks, certainly, but I’d argue that they are not in any of our respective zones of genius.

Now, these are all things that objectively need doing. And I’m not advocating that we stop doing all the nitty-gritty little tasks that keep the ship afloat. But it would be better to automate these things, and for the first time in history, automating them makes sense to contemplate.

When we notice ourselves operating outside of our “pocket,” we have an opportunity to note it; to ask whether an agent could be doing this; and if they could not yet, what would need to be true to make it possible.

I propose that we make the following commitments to each other:

• That wherever possible, we will delegate work outside our respective zones of genius to agents.
• That when it is impossible, we collect instances of the problem and start building towards making it possible.

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This piece was originally shared internally at Pebblebed. We're sharing it here in the spirit of building our firm in the open. We hope you find it useful.