The Bulletin #10: Algorithmic, Zero-Stage, and Ethical Investing & Closing Remarks
Everything Van Wickle Ventures is reading, listening to, thinking about, and more in the world of VC.
What We're Consuming in Venture:
Articles we've enjoyed
Do Algorithms Make Better - and Fairer - Investments Than Angel Investors
Can AI platforms outperform human judgment in making early stage investment decisions? And how should angel investors use it? For more information on this subject, check out Ben’s recent article
Pear VC’s Mar Hershenson is Doubling Down on Zero Stage Investing
In an interview with Mar Henshenson, founder of PearVC, he doubles down on zero stage investing, as experience & time can help find product market fit for startups earlier, necessary to scale.
Israel Going from ‘Start-Up Nation’ to Scale Up Nation
The Israeli startup scene has gone from one that values a quick exit to one that places emphasis on growth and ownership. Once Israeli companies started to form better processes and talk about not just exit strategy, but growth strategy, going back to the value to their customers and when several Israeli companies bought into becoming huge companies, the appetite grew to keep building big companies that keep generating value.
Podcasts
Listen to this fascinating conversation with Tariq Fancy, a former executive of sustainable investing at BlackRock, one of the world’s largest asset management firms. He argues that individual ethical investing is a mostly a scam, as corporations will continue to fall short of performative environmental promises as incentives are aligned with profitability first. Government action is needed to address the issues ESG(environmental, social & governance) funds claim to take on.
John Doerr, chairman, author, venture capitalist, and engineer, talks about his original investment in Google & Amazon. As a pioneer in Silicon Valley’s investment in climate tech company, he feels “hopeful, but not optimistic.” Listen & learn from this episode of 20VC
People to Follow
Smart people whose Twitter feeds we like to stalk
Andrew Chen (@andrewchen): Author of The Cold Start Problem & A16Z podcast author. Follow for all things science & technology.
Kanyi Maqubela (@km): Former VC at Collaborative Fund, currently building Kindred Ventures, investing in early-stage tech founders with a mission of solving problems around the world. Follow for inspiration & insight.
Memes
Because venture capital memes are a very real thing
Looking at my note-taking apps, investments in these platforms are funding dreams.
Always nice to have a familiar face:).
Van Wickle Ventures Updates
We want to thank all of you for subscribing to our newsletter, and hope that you’ve enjoyed all of the content (especially memes) that we’ve enjoyed. If you have any suggestions or comments on our newsletter, please shoot us an email! Have a lovely & restful winter break, and we’ll be back next semester with much more fun content for all of you!