I’ve been reading a lot of physical books from our town library since the holidays. Reading has been a healthy way to escape from the news of the day. And, now that the HBS semester has ended, I have more time. On the VC front, I also have more time: the companies on whose boards
Angel Investment: Varuna
We’re happy to announce that our family angel program (back 80+ entrepreneurs over eight years and donate all gains to charity; details here) has invested in Varuna. It is our 19th investment so far (portfolio here). The company uses AI to improve water quality for cities and towns, which is a growing need and for
‘Why Not You?’ and Dan Primack’s Peloton Ride
As I told my HBS students, it took me a while to figure out what I wanted to do for my career. And, it was a process to take on risk. Over time, however, I’ve subscribed to the view of “Why not you?” (taken from the 2004 Red Sox). More below. I had an extremely
Tony Hsieh
I never met Tony Hsieh (pronounced “shay”). But we were in an investment together decades ago, before there was a Zappos, before he was famous, and during the Dot-Com Bubble. When I was working on an investment (Ask Jeeves, which went IPO), I saw “Venture Frogs” listed on the cap table. I asked Rob Wrubel,
Conquering Fear
I’ve long thought that the two most powerful human emotions are these: fear and greed. You see it in everyday life, in the news, on social media, and in ourselves. I write this because I have been reading students’ reflections on fear. We organized the class into small groups and each discussed this: “If fear
Angel Investment: Finmark
We’re happy to announce that our family angel program (back 80+ entrepreneurs over eight years and donate all gains to charity; details here) has invested in Finmark. It is our 18th investment so far (portfolio here). Co-Founders Rami Essaid and Greg Lissy are experienced and very thoughtful. I met Greg through the The Reflective Leader