Vertically Integrate or Die

<p>Today Grant reads his latest essay on the topic of vertical integration.</p><p>Vertical integration has been the topic de jour the last few days — leading to some energized back and forth on X. One position that kicked off the frenzy centered on the idea that “too many startups vertically integrate without any real strategic reason.”</p><p>Honestly we’ve enjoyed it. But I think a lot of the conversation is missing something fundamental. So I want to share how we think about it at Cantos, informed by what we’ve seen work (and not work) across our portfolio and the broader ADCU.</p><p><strong>🔗 Show Resource Links</strong></p><ul><li><p><a href="https://odysea.substack.com/p/vertically-integrate-or-die" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Vertically Integrate or Die</a></p></li><li><p><a href="https://x.com/grant__gregory/status/2027102390021922985?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Post on X</a></p></li><li><p>Original <a href="https://x.com/tbpn/status/2026114424332009828" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">post</a> that sparked the essay</p></li></ul><p><strong>🎙️ Podcast Links</strong></p><ul><li><p><a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/6caKxOvhIoajsp6c2TnLC9" target="_blank" rel="nofollow ugc noopener">⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠</a></p></li><li><p><a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/motion-blur/id1777266172" target="_blank" rel="nofollow ugc noopener">⁠Apple Podcasts⁠</a></p></li><li><p><a href="http://twitter.com/MotionBlurFM" target="_blank" rel="nofollow ugc noopener">⁠⁠⁠X (FKA Twitter)⁠⁠⁠</a></p></li><li><p><a href="https://motionblur.substack.com/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow ugc noopener">⁠⁠Subscribe⁠⁠</a></p></li></ul><p><strong>🌀 About Motion Blur</strong></p><p>Exploring what makes great companies and technologies work. Brought to you by Grant Gregory &amp; Hammad Aslam. Grant is a Partner at <a href="https://cantos.vc/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow ugc noopener">⁠⁠Cantos⁠⁠</a> where he focuses on physical world technologies. Hammad is a Partner at Kivu Ventures, <a href="https://susaventures.com/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow ugc noopener">⁠⁠Susa⁠⁠</a>’s growth fund. Learn more about the hosts:</p><ul><li><p>Grant Gregory, <a href="https://twitter.com/grant__gregory" target="_blank" rel="nofollow ugc noopener">⁠⁠⁠@grant__gregory⁠⁠⁠</a>, <a href="https://grantgregory.substack.com/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow ugc noopener">⁠⁠⁠Embers⁠⁠⁠</a></p></li><li><p>Hammad Aslam, <a href="http://twitter.com/_hammad_aslam" target="_blank" rel="nofollow ugc noopener">⁠⁠⁠@_hammad_aslamh⁠⁠⁠</a>, <a href="https://susaventures.com/team" target="_blank" rel="nofollow ugc noopener">⁠⁠⁠Susa Ventures⁠⁠</a></p></li></ul><p>If you&#39;re interested in the real inside baseball of tech, entrepreneurship, and start-up investing, tune in every week for new episodes.</p><p>Intro music credit: <a href="https://open.spotify.com/artist/01vcSVQOpFHutiYq0lrBwt" target="_blank" rel="nofollow ugc noopener">⁠⁠⁠Will Harrison⁠⁠⁠</a></p><p>Thanks for reading and listening to Motion Blur! <a href="https://motionblur.substack.com/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow ugc noopener">⁠⁠Subscribe⁠⁠</a> to get notified for future episodes.</p>