Brad Burnham co-founded Union Square Ventures after gaining both large telecom experience at AT&T Business Network Systems and entrepreneurial operating experience, giving him an unusual background for a venture investor. He's known for articulating the concept of skinny platforms—lean infrastructure that enables many independent providers rather than heavily intermediating marketplaces—and for consistently advocating that individuals should control their own data and identity online through open, permissionless networks rather than closed platforms.

• A strong conviction that crypto and decentralized protocols are the most viable free-market solutions to break the dominance of major data monopolies. This includes a preference for a future architecture built on small, loosely joined protocols rather than dominant platforms, as seen in the support for projects like Filecoin and the idea that tokens can power open networks.
• Focus on the critical role of digital identity and incentives within Web3 infrastructure. The perspective here is that while decentralized compute and storage are important, the ecosystem will not succeed without solving the identity piece first, a challenge highlighted by the interest in the work being done by teams like 3Box.
• Advocacy for net neutrality and a free, open internet as the foundation for innovation and the freedom to choose information sources. This involves a consistent push against regulatory changes that might close off the internet, illustrated by joining other tech leaders to urge the EU to protect neutrality and supporting efforts to keep the web a vibrant marketplace.
• Support for business models that prioritize user privacy and return control of data to individuals. This involves a clear distinction between helpful personalization and aggressive targeting, alongside enthusiasm for alternative platforms like DuckDuckGo that challenge the standard data-harvesting practices of the largest tech companies.
• Appreciation for nimble, innovative teams that can outmaneuver incumbent giants. There is an admiration for companies that prove small players can do what big corporations cannot, such as Cloudflare building a strong team to power much of the internet quietly or Sonic demonstrating agility against larger competitors.