David Awad
@davidawad.bsky.social
Attorney, Investor, Engineer
- technical due diligence and automation
- expert testimony and subject matter expertise
- custom software tools for investors
More on my work at
https://awad.consulting/
- technical due diligence and automation
- expert testimony and subject matter expertise
- custom software tools for investors
More on my work at
https://awad.consulting/
Has anyone heard of interesting examples of venture funds hedging risk?
Examples of what I'm looking for;
- private credit spreads
- selling private options on secondary markets
- buying public market puts for an index or industry
Would love to hear what others are doing.
Examples of what I'm looking for;
- private credit spreads
- selling private options on secondary markets
- buying public market puts for an index or industry
Would love to hear what others are doing.
November 14, 2025 at 9:10 PM
Has anyone heard of interesting examples of venture funds hedging risk?
Examples of what I'm looking for;
- private credit spreads
- selling private options on secondary markets
- buying public market puts for an index or industry
Would love to hear what others are doing.
Examples of what I'm looking for;
- private credit spreads
- selling private options on secondary markets
- buying public market puts for an index or industry
Would love to hear what others are doing.
Majorana, the new quantum CPU from MSFT seems to be yet another in a long string of attempts to implement large numbers of stable qubits that's yet to produce meaningful impact on the size of tractable computing problems that can be solved.
I hate to say, but investment in the space is overrated.
I hate to say, but investment in the space is overrated.
November 12, 2025 at 10:10 PM
Majorana, the new quantum CPU from MSFT seems to be yet another in a long string of attempts to implement large numbers of stable qubits that's yet to produce meaningful impact on the size of tractable computing problems that can be solved.
I hate to say, but investment in the space is overrated.
I hate to say, but investment in the space is overrated.
So if you're an advisor, you might purchase financial research for yourself. You COULD use client commissions to do this, but that creates a conflict of interest. For better or worse 15 U.S.C. § 78bb(e) specifically created a “safe harbor” for advisers to spend client commissions on research for any
November 10, 2025 at 9:05 PM
So if you're an advisor, you might purchase financial research for yourself. You COULD use client commissions to do this, but that creates a conflict of interest. For better or worse 15 U.S.C. § 78bb(e) specifically created a “safe harbor” for advisers to spend client commissions on research for any
I'm late to this but it's a big win.
The 5th Circuit held smart contracts like Tornado Cash's are not “property” under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act because they cannot be controlled or altered. Further, OFAC exceeded authority by sanctioning them. The assets are now freed
👉
The 5th Circuit held smart contracts like Tornado Cash's are not “property” under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act because they cannot be controlled or altered. Further, OFAC exceeded authority by sanctioning them. The assets are now freed
👉
November 5, 2025 at 8:01 PM
I'm late to this but it's a big win.
The 5th Circuit held smart contracts like Tornado Cash's are not “property” under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act because they cannot be controlled or altered. Further, OFAC exceeded authority by sanctioning them. The assets are now freed
👉
The 5th Circuit held smart contracts like Tornado Cash's are not “property” under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act because they cannot be controlled or altered. Further, OFAC exceeded authority by sanctioning them. The assets are now freed
👉
A while back, President Trump attempted to launch Truth Social using a copy of Mastodon, a project using a GNU-GPL V3 license. Any project using GPL-v3 code CAN be used commercially but MUST be open sourced. These licenses come up every now and again in the audits we do for investors.
This is w
This is w
November 3, 2025 at 8:00 PM
A while back, President Trump attempted to launch Truth Social using a copy of Mastodon, a project using a GNU-GPL V3 license. Any project using GPL-v3 code CAN be used commercially but MUST be open sourced. These licenses come up every now and again in the audits we do for investors.
This is w
This is w
I don't like to post too many jokes on the timeline, but is there any reason that a burger chain would have a PE ratio of 190+, over 3X NVDA? I just want to understand. Happy Halloween I guess 😂
👉 https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/SHAK/
👉 https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/SHAK/
October 31, 2025 at 7:01 PM
I don't like to post too many jokes on the timeline, but is there any reason that a burger chain would have a PE ratio of 190+, over 3X NVDA? I just want to understand. Happy Halloween I guess 😂
👉 https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/SHAK/
👉 https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/SHAK/
I had never heard of this, but apparently there's a Unified Thread Standard (UTS) for all screws used in the United States (it makes perfect sense this would exist) but I'd never thought about it!
More on this 👉 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unified_Thread_Standard
More on this 👉 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unified_Thread_Standard
October 22, 2025 at 6:40 PM
I had never heard of this, but apparently there's a Unified Thread Standard (UTS) for all screws used in the United States (it makes perfect sense this would exist) but I'd never thought about it!
More on this 👉 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unified_Thread_Standard
More on this 👉 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unified_Thread_Standard
Use a text expander; it's a game-changer.
Every time I type "idts" it automatically expands to "I don't think so". I have over 500 of these for common phrases.
I have easily saved millions of keystrokes, probably helped my physical keyboard too.
Every time I type "idts" it automatically expands to "I don't think so". I have over 500 of these for common phrases.
I have easily saved millions of keystrokes, probably helped my physical keyboard too.
October 8, 2025 at 5:45 PM
Use a text expander; it's a game-changer.
Every time I type "idts" it automatically expands to "I don't think so". I have over 500 of these for common phrases.
I have easily saved millions of keystrokes, probably helped my physical keyboard too.
Every time I type "idts" it automatically expands to "I don't think so". I have over 500 of these for common phrases.
I have easily saved millions of keystrokes, probably helped my physical keyboard too.
There's a deeply hilarious case from the 1800's, Edgar claimed McCutchen had engaged in 'carnal knowledge of a mare'. Upon losing his defamation defense in the lower court, Edgar attempted to claim that no one understood the words he used (just lol at this case). I would have LOVED to attend the or
October 3, 2025 at 5:20 PM
There's a deeply hilarious case from the 1800's, Edgar claimed McCutchen had engaged in 'carnal knowledge of a mare'. Upon losing his defamation defense in the lower court, Edgar attempted to claim that no one understood the words he used (just lol at this case). I would have LOVED to attend the or
Google Meet had an outage on September 8th.
Back in 2014 Gartner estimated a downtime cost of $5,600 per minute lost due to downtime, at the roughly 30 minutes this outage lasted, this UI outage would have cost google around $108,000. If adjusted for inflation it's even higher.
Back in 2014 Gartner estimated a downtime cost of $5,600 per minute lost due to downtime, at the roughly 30 minutes this outage lasted, this UI outage would have cost google around $108,000. If adjusted for inflation it's even higher.
October 1, 2025 at 5:25 PM
Google Meet had an outage on September 8th.
Back in 2014 Gartner estimated a downtime cost of $5,600 per minute lost due to downtime, at the roughly 30 minutes this outage lasted, this UI outage would have cost google around $108,000. If adjusted for inflation it's even higher.
Back in 2014 Gartner estimated a downtime cost of $5,600 per minute lost due to downtime, at the roughly 30 minutes this outage lasted, this UI outage would have cost google around $108,000. If adjusted for inflation it's even higher.
I hadn't written about it before, but the federal government recently published it's strategic action plan. Here's the highlights;
Accelerate AI Innovation
- Slash regulatory barriers—rollback prior Biden rules and resist state-level overreach
- Expand open-source/open-weight models and large
Accelerate AI Innovation
- Slash regulatory barriers—rollback prior Biden rules and resist state-level overreach
- Expand open-source/open-weight models and large
September 29, 2025 at 5:20 PM
I hadn't written about it before, but the federal government recently published it's strategic action plan. Here's the highlights;
Accelerate AI Innovation
- Slash regulatory barriers—rollback prior Biden rules and resist state-level overreach
- Expand open-source/open-weight models and large
Accelerate AI Innovation
- Slash regulatory barriers—rollback prior Biden rules and resist state-level overreach
- Expand open-source/open-weight models and large
I found a very funny paper recently, claiming to use economics to prove that time travel is impossible because interest rates are currently positive. If no-cost time travel were possible at any point in the future, than interest rates would be zero. Since interest rates are not zero in this reality
September 26, 2025 at 5:25 PM
I found a very funny paper recently, claiming to use economics to prove that time travel is impossible because interest rates are currently positive. If no-cost time travel were possible at any point in the future, than interest rates would be zero. Since interest rates are not zero in this reality
Some big changes to slack's Terms of Service recently.
- Bulk exporting your Slack data via API is now forbidden—you can’t create long-term copies, indexes, or archives of your Slack content. You can’t use your own Slack data to train large language models (LLMs) anymore.
- Companies must now
- Bulk exporting your Slack data via API is now forbidden—you can’t create long-term copies, indexes, or archives of your Slack content. You can’t use your own Slack data to train large language models (LLMs) anymore.
- Companies must now
September 24, 2025 at 5:25 PM
Some big changes to slack's Terms of Service recently.
- Bulk exporting your Slack data via API is now forbidden—you can’t create long-term copies, indexes, or archives of your Slack content. You can’t use your own Slack data to train large language models (LLMs) anymore.
- Companies must now
- Bulk exporting your Slack data via API is now forbidden—you can’t create long-term copies, indexes, or archives of your Slack content. You can’t use your own Slack data to train large language models (LLMs) anymore.
- Companies must now
So, apparently it's a felony to write a bluetooth jammer!
47 U.S.C. § 333 states:
“No person shall willfully or maliciously interfere with or cause interference to any radio communications of any station licensed or authorized by or under this chapter…”
Even further,
47 U.S.C. § 302a(b) –
47 U.S.C. § 333 states:
“No person shall willfully or maliciously interfere with or cause interference to any radio communications of any station licensed or authorized by or under this chapter…”
Even further,
47 U.S.C. § 302a(b) –
September 22, 2025 at 5:24 PM
So, apparently it's a felony to write a bluetooth jammer!
47 U.S.C. § 333 states:
“No person shall willfully or maliciously interfere with or cause interference to any radio communications of any station licensed or authorized by or under this chapter…”
Even further,
47 U.S.C. § 302a(b) –
47 U.S.C. § 333 states:
“No person shall willfully or maliciously interfere with or cause interference to any radio communications of any station licensed or authorized by or under this chapter…”
Even further,
47 U.S.C. § 302a(b) –
A breakthrough in graph theory!
A deterministic solution achieving O(m log^(2/3) n), breaking the long-standing O(m + n log n) for Single Source Shortest Path algorithms.
From what I can tell this complexity is a little bit worse for highly dense graphs with tons of edges (meaning really high
A deterministic solution achieving O(m log^(2/3) n), breaking the long-standing O(m + n log n) for Single Source Shortest Path algorithms.
From what I can tell this complexity is a little bit worse for highly dense graphs with tons of edges (meaning really high
September 19, 2025 at 5:25 PM
A breakthrough in graph theory!
A deterministic solution achieving O(m log^(2/3) n), breaking the long-standing O(m + n log n) for Single Source Shortest Path algorithms.
From what I can tell this complexity is a little bit worse for highly dense graphs with tons of edges (meaning really high
A deterministic solution achieving O(m log^(2/3) n), breaking the long-standing O(m + n log n) for Single Source Shortest Path algorithms.
From what I can tell this complexity is a little bit worse for highly dense graphs with tons of edges (meaning really high
We're used to the traditional story of pure silica for semiconductors, there's actually a lot of benefits from a materials standpoint going to Silicon Carbide (SiC).
- Higher breakdown field strength (the maximum electric field intensity measured in volts per centimeter, V/cm; that a semiconduct
- Higher breakdown field strength (the maximum electric field intensity measured in volts per centimeter, V/cm; that a semiconduct
September 17, 2025 at 5:10 PM
We're used to the traditional story of pure silica for semiconductors, there's actually a lot of benefits from a materials standpoint going to Silicon Carbide (SiC).
- Higher breakdown field strength (the maximum electric field intensity measured in volts per centimeter, V/cm; that a semiconduct
- Higher breakdown field strength (the maximum electric field intensity measured in volts per centimeter, V/cm; that a semiconduct
Did you know that you can buy uncut sheets of money from the treasury?
- This sheet of 50 $5 bills is $330 (they sell them at a premium of course)
- You can actually cut them yourself!
You can get them 👉 https://www.usmint.gov/paper-currency/uncut-currency/
- This sheet of 50 $5 bills is $330 (they sell them at a premium of course)
- You can actually cut them yourself!
You can get them 👉 https://www.usmint.gov/paper-currency/uncut-currency/
September 15, 2025 at 5:10 PM
Did you know that you can buy uncut sheets of money from the treasury?
- This sheet of 50 $5 bills is $330 (they sell them at a premium of course)
- You can actually cut them yourself!
You can get them 👉 https://www.usmint.gov/paper-currency/uncut-currency/
- This sheet of 50 $5 bills is $330 (they sell them at a premium of course)
- You can actually cut them yourself!
You can get them 👉 https://www.usmint.gov/paper-currency/uncut-currency/
If you were to research the M2 money supply you'd see that there's 22 Trillion dollars in existence, but a more interesting question is WHERE is that money? If a bunch of pirates wanted to raid this money, could they?
- Over 90% of U.S. dollars exist only as digital entries on bank ledgers.
-
- Over 90% of U.S. dollars exist only as digital entries on bank ledgers.
-
September 12, 2025 at 5:10 PM
If you were to research the M2 money supply you'd see that there's 22 Trillion dollars in existence, but a more interesting question is WHERE is that money? If a bunch of pirates wanted to raid this money, could they?
- Over 90% of U.S. dollars exist only as digital entries on bank ledgers.
-
- Over 90% of U.S. dollars exist only as digital entries on bank ledgers.
-
Thank you to the Acasia Angels for inviting me yesterday for our second workshop on startup valuation. I had a great time, looking forward to the next one!
September 11, 2025 at 4:31 PM
Thank you to the Acasia Angels for inviting me yesterday for our second workshop on startup valuation. I had a great time, looking forward to the next one!
Alice Corp. held four patents (with overlapping claims) focused on a computer-implemented system to mitigate settlement risk—essentially an electronic escrow service using a third-party intermediary to ensure both sides in a financial transaction are protected. Alice Corp then tried to enforce the p
September 10, 2025 at 5:05 PM
Alice Corp. held four patents (with overlapping claims) focused on a computer-implemented system to mitigate settlement risk—essentially an electronic escrow service using a third-party intermediary to ensure both sides in a financial transaction are protected. Alice Corp then tried to enforce the p
Sarbanes-Oxley is a huge set of requirements for public companies that emerged back when Enron blew up. What's funny about it if you look at the history is that it basically just outlaws everything that Enron did.
- CEO/CFO Certification: Must personally certify accuracy of financial statements
- CEO/CFO Certification: Must personally certify accuracy of financial statements
September 8, 2025 at 5:05 PM
Sarbanes-Oxley is a huge set of requirements for public companies that emerged back when Enron blew up. What's funny about it if you look at the history is that it basically just outlaws everything that Enron did.
- CEO/CFO Certification: Must personally certify accuracy of financial statements
- CEO/CFO Certification: Must personally certify accuracy of financial statements
The market is a voting machine in the short term, but a weighing machine in the long term.
The bored ape yacht club truly has fallen from 'greatness' and apes are at some of their lowest prices ever (not much liquidity either).
Glad to see some reality return to this space. While I haven't lo
The bored ape yacht club truly has fallen from 'greatness' and apes are at some of their lowest prices ever (not much liquidity either).
Glad to see some reality return to this space. While I haven't lo
August 29, 2025 at 5:05 PM
The market is a voting machine in the short term, but a weighing machine in the long term.
The bored ape yacht club truly has fallen from 'greatness' and apes are at some of their lowest prices ever (not much liquidity either).
Glad to see some reality return to this space. While I haven't lo
The bored ape yacht club truly has fallen from 'greatness' and apes are at some of their lowest prices ever (not much liquidity either).
Glad to see some reality return to this space. While I haven't lo
Some things to know about dealing with stockbrokers most retail investors don't know;
- You can negotiate a discount on margin interest rates. If they tell you margin is 12% you can get it down to 7-10 easily.
- You can negotiate discounts on commissions! It can get as low as 0.40 per contract
- You can negotiate a discount on margin interest rates. If they tell you margin is 12% you can get it down to 7-10 easily.
- You can negotiate discounts on commissions! It can get as low as 0.40 per contract
August 27, 2025 at 5:05 PM
Some things to know about dealing with stockbrokers most retail investors don't know;
- You can negotiate a discount on margin interest rates. If they tell you margin is 12% you can get it down to 7-10 easily.
- You can negotiate discounts on commissions! It can get as low as 0.40 per contract
- You can negotiate a discount on margin interest rates. If they tell you margin is 12% you can get it down to 7-10 easily.
- You can negotiate discounts on commissions! It can get as low as 0.40 per contract
Quantconnect has shipped an MCP server! This has been a very fun hobby so far as I've now taken a strategy live to the market and now I can casually ask claude how they're doing and what they're holding.
Super handy and really fun idea. Well done to all.
Super handy and really fun idea. Well done to all.
August 25, 2025 at 5:05 PM
Quantconnect has shipped an MCP server! This has been a very fun hobby so far as I've now taken a strategy live to the market and now I can casually ask claude how they're doing and what they're holding.
Super handy and really fun idea. Well done to all.
Super handy and really fun idea. Well done to all.
There's a fun debate about labor productivity with the advent of AI. If you ask me, this will follow Jevon's Paradox, as resource efficiency increases, usage will along with it. This will probably happen with knowledge work just like it would with driving. Certainly the driving example has played ou
August 22, 2025 at 5:05 PM
There's a fun debate about labor productivity with the advent of AI. If you ask me, this will follow Jevon's Paradox, as resource efficiency increases, usage will along with it. This will probably happen with knowledge work just like it would with driving. Certainly the driving example has played ou