Monzo, one of a number of “challenger” banks in the U.K. aiming to re-invent the current account, is assembling quite an array of backers, many with a U.S. bent. Its most recent round, which gave the startup a £280 million post-money valuation, saw the likes of Goodwater Capital, Stripe, and Michael Moritz invest, and before that Thrive Capital became a backer. Now TechCrunch… Read More
November 21, 2017
Looking Glass, a Brooklyn-based company we recently led the Series A investment in, just released HoloPlayer One, the worldâs first interactive lightfield development kit. This is a new interface that lets groups of people see and interact with floating 3D scenes without VR or AR headgear. While itâs an early release dev kit, itâs still as close to achieving the dream of the hologram shown in Blade Runner 2049 as Iâve seen.
This is relevant in my world because an investment theme we think a lot about is Human Computer Interaction. While itâs dangerous to try to predict the future, I think itâs a safe bet that in 20 years humans wonât be interacting with computers in the same way they are now. Amazon Echo is an example of one massive HCI shift that will impact our lives for years to come. Looking Glass is betting that another HCI shift will be related to how people interact with 3D content, like how a doctor will show a patient a CAT scan or how a 3D modeller will rig a Pixar character or design a rocket engine.
There are a lot of people who see this interface shift on the horizon with billions of dollars flowing into AR and VR companies evidence of this general interest. But what if there was a way to do it without the cost and constraints of a VR or AR headset.
The Looking Glass founders Shawn and Alex have been obsessed with chasing this dream since they were kids. Now theyâre betting deeply against the headgear-based VR/AR trend by saying that holograms will be the next shift in human computer interaction. And they want fellow hologram hackers along for the ride.
I just got one (well, another one â we already have two HoloPlayer prototypes in the office with Structure Sensor scans of all the Foundry partners).
You can pre-order your Holoplayer dev kit here. Save $50 with code TOTHEFUTURE.
Also published on Medium.
Entrepreneurs interested to learn more about raising funds for their startups need to keep up with what is happening with seed investors today. The seed eco-system has become a 5-stage process,...
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You’re sitting down to a nice meal and your aunt, always one step ahead, mentions she wants to start investing in Bitcoin. You freeze, a drip of gravy plopping off the ladle. It’s your time to shine. You got this. First, you know that the state of crypto is very, very good. This has been a banner year for cryptocurrencies. Bitcoin rose from $738 a year ago to $8220 as of this year.… Read More
November 20, 2017
Thereâs a magnificent exercise that I like to do for myself on a periodic basis. Iâm sure it has a more formal name but I call it âGood Bad Like Dislike.â
I create a two by two matrix that looks like this:
I then go through my calendar for the next few months as a starting point to stimulate things to put in each box. Iâm careful not to put specific items in the box, but concepts. For example, âManaging Other Peopleâ often ends up in âBad â Dislikeâ box when I realize, through my forward calendar review, that I have a set of activities where Iâm managing others. Or, instead of Good-Dislike: Company X Board Dinner, I end up writing âBoard Dinnersâ in the Good-Dislike Category.
To be more specific, I deeply dislike managing others. While I might have been good at it a long time ago, and I could also likely be good at it if I worked at it, since itâs in the Dislike category, I donât want to work on it. In contrast, I like âLeading Other Peopleâ and am good at it.
Part two is a personal reflection. Instead of being prompted by my calendar, I sit quietly and think about the things Iâm doing that I dislike. Iâll often talk to Amy about this as she knows my Good Bad Like Dislike better than anyone on the planet. This is a particularly hard exercise for me because I often rationalize that I should be doing things in the Dislike category. I often overrate my ability on certain things that I feel that I should be good at, so they land in the Good category instead of the Bad category. Having a Fair Witness in oneâs life helps with this.
Part three of the exercise is to take specific action around the high-level categorizations. Since I used my calendar to stimulate the review, I have my next three months in the front of my mind. I can then take specific actions. For example, I systematically decide not to do any board dinners in the future. Or, I change the management structure around the project that Iâve ended up managing so that Iâm a participant in the project instead of the manager.
I just did this over the weekend as I was considering what 2018 was going to look like for me. Iâm also sneaking up on v52 of myself, so itâs a good time for me to think about these kinds of things.
Also published on Medium.
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