About Packy McCormick
Packy McCormick is a writer and investor who writes Not Boring, a newsletter of long, enthusiastic essays about technology companies, startups and the future. He also founded Not Boring Capital, an early-stage venture fund, and has been an adviser at a16z crypto.
Before writing full time, McCormick began his career in investment banking at Bank of America Merrill Lynch and then worked at Breather, a company that ran a network of on-demand meeting spaces in New York City. He started writing Not Boring in April 2020, and it grew quickly through deep dives on individual companies and broader essays about where technology is heading. The newsletter now says it reaches more than 250,000 subscribers each week, and it describes its mission as making the world more optimistic.
In July 2021 he launched Not Boring Capital, which backs founders working on ambitious technology and helps them tell their stories. Writing and investing feed each other: many Not Boring essays explain a company's strategy or an emerging industry in depth, and some are written with founders or experts as co-authors. Issues tend to be long and heavily illustrated with charts and screenshots, and they often open with a casual greeting and a sponsor note before the essay begins.
His best-known essay may be "The Great Online Game" (2021), which describes life on the internet as an open-ended game in which curiosity, generosity and participation compound into social and financial returns. More recent pieces include "The Electric Slide" (2025), written with Sam D'Amico, "a16z: The Power Brokers" (2026) and "World Models: Computing the Uncomputable" (2026).
What Packy McCormick is known for
- The Not Boring newsletter
- Founding Not Boring Capital
- The essay "The Great Online Game"
- Optimistic deep dives on startups and technology
Works by Packy McCormick
1 essay to practice
More notable works
The Electric Slide (opens in a new tab)
Essay · 2025
A long essay co-written with Sam D'Amico, one of Not Boring's most popular pieces.
a16z: The Power Brokers (opens in a new tab)
Essay · 2026
A deep dive on the venture firm Andreessen Horowitz.
An essay on world models in artificial intelligence.
Riding the Leopard (opens in a new tab)
Essay · 2026
A 2026 essay that ranks among the newsletter's most-read pieces in its own archive.
Not Boring (opens in a new tab)
Newsletter · 2020
His weekly newsletter of in-depth analysis of technology and startups.
Packy McCormick’s writing style
McCormick blends detailed analysis with entertaining prose. He excels at making complex topics accessible through analogies and storytelling. His writing is characterized by enthusiasm, thorough research, and clear explanations of technical concepts.
- Chatty, personal openings
- Issues often begin with a casual greeting like "Hi friends," a sponsor note and an emoji before the essay starts.
- Short, punchy lines
- He uses brief sentences and fragments for emphasis, such as "Every tweet is a free lottery ticket."
- Pop culture and humor
- Explanations lean on memes, games, films and celebrities, with irreverent, self-deprecating jokes.
- Direct address to the reader
- He speaks to "you" and asks rhetorical questions, which keeps very long essays conversational.
- Long-form with lots of visuals
- Essays run to thousands of words, broken up by headings, bulleted frameworks, charts, screenshots and embedded posts.
- Unapologetic optimism
- He writes as an enthusiast, emphasizing what could go right, in line with the newsletter's stated goal of making the world more optimistic.
How to write like Packy McCormick
Pick a company, technology or idea you are genuinely excited about and explain it to a smart friend who has not followed it. McCormick's essays work because the enthusiasm is real and the research is thorough: he explains how the business works, why it matters and where it could go, and he is not shy about saying he is optimistic. Do the homework first, then let your voice loosen up.
Keep the tone conversational. Talk to the reader as "you," use short lines to land points, and borrow analogies from games, movies and internet culture. Break long pieces into clear sections with headings, use simple frameworks and charts, and end with a call to action or a reason to care. If a topic is outside your expertise, consider co-writing with someone who works in it.
The quickest way to absorb these habits is to retype one of Packy McCormick’s essays above, word for word, then write a paragraph of your own in the same voice. New to this? Read what copywork is and how to do it.
Frequently asked questions about Packy McCormick
- Who is Packy McCormick?
- Packy McCormick is the writer of Not Boring, a weekly newsletter about technology and startups that he started in April 2020, and the founder of Not Boring Capital, an early-stage venture fund launched in July 2021. Before that he worked in investment banking at Bank of America Merrill Lynch and at Breather, a New York meeting-space company. He has also advised a16z crypto.
- What is Not Boring?
- Not Boring is McCormick's newsletter of long, in-depth essays analyzing technology companies, startups and trends. It says it reaches more than 250,000 subscribers every week and describes its mission as making the world more optimistic. Alongside the newsletter, Not Boring Capital invests in founders building ambitious companies and helps them tell their stories.
- What is "The Great Online Game"?
- "The Great Online Game" is a 2021 Not Boring essay arguing that being online works like an open-ended game. Every post, comment or project is a low-cost bet that can lead to new friends, ideas or opportunities, and people who play with curiosity and generosity tend to gain the most. It is one of McCormick's most widely shared pieces.
- What is Packy McCormick's writing style?
- McCormick writes long, upbeat, conversational essays. He opens casually, speaks directly to the reader, uses short punchy lines and leans on pop culture, memes and humor to explain business and technology. His pieces are thoroughly researched and broken up with headings, frameworks and charts, and their tone is openly optimistic about technology and the people building it.