David Eun

At BBG Ventures we continue to think about changing demographic shifts and the groups of overlooked Americans at the centre of those shifts. We ask: what are the opportunities to build something valuable for those groups across the biggest areas of the economy to drive prosperity, growth and wellbeing for all Americans, not just some. Future of Work and underserved workers is an arena we've long dug into. This summer, my partner Susan Lyne and investor Carol Magalhães Isaacs, CFA went deeper on Boomers - by 2030, Boomers will outnumber under 18s - living longer, working longer, spending longer - what will their Third Act be? How might AI supercharge their productivity? Check out their post below and share your thoughts with us. Longevity and Prosperity > Death and Decay. If you're building at the intersection of Aging x Work reach out!

35

2 Comments

Wonderful article about Emily Knight and the whole The Engine Accelerator team on the amazing work their doing changing the world with #ToughTech!

28

This week on Future Back Drinking, host Dr. Athina Kanioura dives into what human-centered AI looks like in action! She’s joined by Panos Madamopoulos-Moraris, the first Managing Director for Industry Programs and Partnerships at the Stanford Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence (HAI) for a fascinating conversation about the future of AI. Together, they explore how strategic collaborations are fueling innovation and how AI can amplify human ingenuity to benefit us all. It’s an inspiring episode that showcases the importance of keeping people at the heart of tech innovation. Brought to you by PepsiCo and TIME, tune in on your favorite platform below! #FutureBackDrinking Listen on Spotify: https://lnkd.in/eXe-Uvgz Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://lnkd.in/eHdaN87Q

39

3 Comments

If you believe that #Diversity and #Inclusion matter, specifically in times like this, join us on October 30th. We will discuss the challenges and success stories of promoting Diversity in 2024. With me you will find industry leaders who were able to pull it off (!) 💥💥💥 Dorit Dor, Hasan Abasi, Vered Raviv Schwarz, Gal Shaul Guesty, Augury, HAAT Delivery, Check Point Software Power in Diversity Glilot Capital Partners Poalim Tech, Meitar | Law Offices, ESOP - Phoenix, Microsoft, Calcalist כלכליסט #nomatterwhat

36

1 Comment

This San Franciscan has landed in the Big Apple for #NYTechWeek! Here’s why it was important to me to be out here this week and I view NYC as a sister city. ((scroll down for 2 events The Council is hosting today!)) 🏭🏥 Reminder: The Council Fund invests at Pre-seed in Software’s Third Act, the transformation of the essential economy. Our investments span healthcare and industrial sectors like manufacturing, logistics, construction. 🐂 I’m eternally bullish on NY & SF and hate how many pit the two cities against each other. The reality is that a lot of capital and talent flow back and forth between the cities. They need each other to thrive! 🗽🌁 Cities like NY & SF attract young and mid-career talent because of their population density, transient nature, beauty, and reputations as cities where someone new on the scene can make a name for themselves. For the areas we invest in, I’m *specifically* excited about NY because of: 🏗️ Closer proximity to industrial hubs which are scattered across the Midwest / Rust Belt 🏛️ Closer proximity to DC where a lot of regulation around VC, startups, healthcare, onshoring initiatives, and industrial sectors takes place 💰 Many of the large financial institutions that are backing hard tech focused funds and major healthcare initiatives are also headquartered here in NYC 🎯 We’ve got several startups here who are hitting it out of the park, like Dirac and Siena. This has further validated my belief in this ecosystem to support young companies! Today we are kicking off with 2 events on Day 1 of #NYTechWeek 👉 AI Demo Day: The Council, Next Wave NYC, Lynx Collective, Flybridge will host 8 founders and 200+ investors and founders for a pitch competition this evening! Luma: https://lnkd.in/gbdYiJMw 🔜 Can still join the waitlist! Small & Big VCs in Hard Tech: The Council joined General Catalyst, Lux Capital, Iron Prairie Ventures, AlleyCorp, House Of Ventures, Steel Atlas for 2 back to back panels on industrial innovation & collaboration across the capital stack Luma: https://lnkd.in/gj6D4-Au ⏰ Event has passed

126

6 Comments

Another Steelhead "Investor Series" article just dropped, with John Connolly, Partner at Spectrum Equity 📈 Never heard of Spectrum? That might be intentional... In our chat, John and I explored what's behind Spectrum's 3 decades of successful growth investing. Some highlights: 🌲 How John went from the green pastures of Oregon to Partner at a leading software & internet investment firm 🔇 What makes Spectrum unique and why they're not often in the news cycle 🤝 How John and Spectrum win deals 🔭 What Spectrum does when they are performing at their best And a lot more... Link in the comments!

15

4 Comments

The Three Lessons I've Learned When I reflect on my career, it is unequivocally the paths less traveled that have had the most profound impact. Lesson 1: Embrace the Unexpected In 2008, I moved to London on the very day Lehman Brothers collapsed. My new job evaporated as the person who hired me was let go. Instead of despair, I found opportunity. I took a temporary position at The BMJ, where I met Dr Charles Young. Earning just £10 an hour, I worked with his team as a publishing assistant, exploring decision science data for Point of Care. Our groundbreaking work was later licensed by epocrates, which became one of the largest healthcare databases in the world. Takeaway: Sometimes life doesn't go as planned. Just take the next best step; you might be surprised at the opportunities it opens. Lesson 2: Connect and Collaborate In 2012, I changed seats on a flight to my TRIUM Global Executive MBA and met Professor Marianne Winslett. During that flight, we connected and virtually commercialized everything in her lab. This led me to moonlight at the Advanced Digital Sciences Center (ADSC), where, fast-forward a decade, Marianne is now my esteemed partner at R3I CAPITAL and R3i Ventures. Together, we are changing the flows of capital in #appliedAI and #frontiertech investments for #climate, #water, and #healthcare impact. 306 founders accelerated cross border today via R3i Ventures! Collaborating with prolific VC Henry Wong and brilliant humans and inventors like Kyle Rupnow, Swathi Gurumani, Shaunak Ahuja, and Vasileios Vonikakis, we pioneered applied AI projects in robotics, surveillance, sports analytics, healthcare, and safety. Takeaway: Open your mind and truly connect with the person next to you. Genuine engagement can lead to incredible collaborations and intertwined lives. Lesson 3: Be Present Back in 1994, as a Queensland University of Technology student working as a palliative care nurse, I learned the importance of presence. Helping people in their final days taught me that what matters most is being present for those we love. Nobody cares about money or missed deals in their final moments; they only wish they had spent more time with loved ones. Robert Frost once said, "Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference." Takeaway: Being present in the moment is what truly makes a difference in life. I'd love to hear from you! What unexpected turns in your career have led to new opportunities? My life has been completely transformed by what were or could have been transient passing interactions. We are all so connected to our screens. Imagine what could happen if we just put the phone down. When was the last time you looked up? My life has been transformed by these experiences. How have connections and collaborations shaped your journey? Share your experiences and let's inspire one another! #CareerJourney #ProfessionalGrowth #LifeLessons

51

6 Comments

Today, Two Chairs announces $72M of new funding to continue building a world where everyone has access to exceptional mental health care. Since late 2017, when Maveron led the Two Chairs Series A, the need for mental health services has grown considerably as our society has become lonelier and more isolated than ever. At the same time, our culture’s willingness to openly acknowledge these challenges is greater than ever. Sadly, the rapid growth of Two Chairs affirms the fact that our society is in desperate need of better mental health support. Two Chairs has built a business that believes clinical quality is the defining characteristic of success. Alex Katz has always emphasized the paramountcy of measurement-based clinical outcomes, which the team works tirelessly to achieve. In the process, Two Chairs has illustrated that embracing the ‘move fast and break things’ mentality doesn’t always work. Instead, Two Chairs opted for a different approach: they went slow to go fast. They built a proprietary algorithm that matches patients with the perfect therapist at the onset and hired a team of W2 clinicians oriented toward providing the highest quality care available. Even as the Two Chairs team has grown, their culture has remained small. This has enabled more intimate relationships within the team and between clients and clinicians. Reflecting on this milestone brings me back to the founding of Maveron and the values we hold dear. In 1998, my friend Howard Schultz and I founded Maveron to help entrepreneurs build companies that improve the lives of everyday people—their employees and their customers. There is perhaps no better example of this than Two Chairs. *** Thank you to TechCrunch's Marina Temkin, CFA for the great write-up. https://tcrn.ch/4aMt7yG

255

18 Comments

I'm building my second startup. Why? I had a panic attack at my first. I spent a few years and so much of my own money figuring out how to learn the skills to come down from high stress situations, clear my head, stay happy, and (as a result) make great decisions. It's a journey every busy human goes through. After building those skills (an ever evolving journey), I have built a world-class team to help me bring an everyday solution to busy women: smart Moodrings (Moodring Tech). I took the Founder Mental Health Pledge because I know, first hand, what needs to be done on the individual's level to care for themself. It's not affordable and it's time consuming. We have to test solutions for ourselves inch by inch and we have to build solutions to make it easier and, even, feasible to care for ourselves. Join me...

6

Excited to announce Frist Cressey Ventures' investment in Qualified Health and privileged to partner w/ SignalFire, Healthier Capital, Town Hall Ventures and others!   Healthcare costs are increasing at a faster rate than ever before, with the US spending nearly twice as other wealthy countries and still ranking bottom in outcomes. It's a story you've all heard - - US healthcare is known for astronomical inefficiencies, waste, workforce supply constraints, fragmented access, appalling patient experiences, and driving patients and businesses into debt.   Yes these problems present opportunities. But opportunities are limited to the system's appetite for change, desire and incentive to try something new and the innovation available. At FCV we believe we've hit the trifecta with Generative AI. Generative AI has given us truly transformational tools in the toolkit and the healthcare ecosystem is demanding to absorb its benefits. This perfect collision of supply and demand means healthcare is poised for big change.   Generative AI is everywhere, it's buzzy, it dangles hope and opportunity. But many things need to be true for the Gen AI transformation in healthcare to take hold, such as but not limited to:   💡 Patient lives and data need to remain safe: We believe in a highly regulated and human life-touching sector such as healthcare we must ensure Gen AI can drive to unrivalled savings and improvements in the quality of care WHILE not putting patient lives or data at risk.   💡 Systems need to own their utilization of Gen AI: We believe systems will use some hybrid of external partners and homegrown solutions but importantly will want full control of data provisioning and utilization as well as the ability to solve an unlimited number of nuanced issues and not cookie cutter algorithms.   💡 Costs need to be looked at on an enterprise level: We believe the speed of innovation in Gen AI means costs will continue decreasing dramatically but at an enterprise level this will still not be a small detail. Systems will want the ability to understand costs and delegate as needed for the outcomes desired at the organizational level.   Enter Qualified.   We knew when we met Justin Norden, MD, MBA, MPhil and team we were standing in front of changemakers. These individuals have lived and breathed the true application and implementation of Generative AI far before we were asking ChatGPT to write our emails. In fact, if you’ve ever driven in a Waymo you’ve benefited from past products this team has built.   Qualified Health is on a mission to enforce governance in Gen AI, allow systems to rapidly build for their needs, monitor and make decisions for all GenAI (homegrown and external) and accelerate the value the sector can glean from these new technologies.   Huge shout out to William T., Tommaso Auerbach and Jamie Kuntz for their hard work!

240

14 Comments

How does an institutional LP decide which GPs to back? UTIMCO alum (and now partner at Foundry) Lindel Eakman opened up about how he picks on Samir Kaji's Venture Unlocked podcast 👇 (episode linked in comments) 🎣 "Would you trust them with your children?" Questions like this one tend to elicit genuine reactions and a real sense of a GP’s character and capabilities. Non-answers or silence in response to a pointed question like this one can be telling. 🤨 "Who fires who?" Questions like this help him evaluate governance and conflict resolution dynamics and the overall stability of the partnership. 1️⃣ Unlike some LPs, Lindel is very open to backing solo GPs. One of the reasons being that partnership risk -- which is one of the biggest when investing in VC funds -- is by definition, eliminated. 👍🏻 Lindel shies away from backing investors who may have potential to be top performers but are divisive or unpleasant to work with. Life is too short! Follow me - John Gannon - to learn more about the ins and outs of the VC market from all 3 sides of the table.

7

1 Comment

🗞️ Breaking News: Red Ventures Selling CNET at a huge Loss❗️ Context: Red Ventures, the privately held digital media and marketing juggernaut based in Fort Mill, South Carolina, is selling CNET, one of the largest tech publishers on the web, to Ziff Davis for just $100 million. For context: Red Ventures bought CNET for approximately $500 million. Reason for the Sale: Total traffic to CNET has dropped by a staggering 50% over the last three years. The main driver behind this decline is a 68% drop in organic traffic (loss off Google rankings and traffic). Tables turned: This sale is a stunning turn of events for CNET, which once bought Ziff Davis (then a tech magazine firm) in a deal worth roughly $1.6 billion - more than two decades ago. Catch Up: - Ziff Davis trades publicly with a market value of $1.94 billion. The company lost about half of its marketcap over the course of the last 48 months. Strategic rationale: If Ziff Davis is able to ink a content licencing deal with Google, Bing/Microsoft or ChatGPT (or else e.g. X.AI) - like Reddit did - it might turn out to be a very smart deal …

5

1 Comment

Lexington Books managed to release my book Disagreeing despite the Data before the election. It argues the belief segregation underway in the US may be irreversible. Today's battles over climate change, disease mitigation, and election results run deep -- they're cognitive, not just strategic. Here's the gist of it. 20th-century revolutions in the philosophy of mind, meaning, and matter uncover three surprising requirements for widespread factual agreement. Critical thinking and community building have the potential to reverse two of them -- the growing refusal to test assumptions and individual isolation. Factual agreement between groups is impossible without the third one, though -- shared projects or other meaningful interaction. And a large part of American society has insulated itself from the rest. Without shared projects, communities gradually lose the ability to tell whether they agree or not regardless of the words they use. Belief segregation with similar roots has led several developing countries to the brink of failure. We'd better watch out. The attached flyer gives a discount code that makes the book -- priced in this initial run for academic libraries -- a little more affordable. Please feel free to forward it and, if you're connected to any libraries or book stores, pass it on!

21

3 Comments

Who wants some data? 📉 The venture capital (VC) industry exhibits significant disparities in funding for female and underrepresented founders, reflecting broader issues of gender and racial inequality in entrepreneurship and tech. Here are the key aspects of this disparity:   1. Funding Gap: - In 2022, companies founded solely by women received only 2% of all VC investment[1]. - All-women teams received just 1.9% ($4.5 billion) of the $283.3 billion available VC funding in 2022[4]. - Women of color received an even smaller share, at just 0.39% of VC funding[4].   2. Representation in VC Firms: - Only about 15% of all VC 'cheque-writers' are women[1]. - Nearly 81% of venture capital firms have never hired a female employee[3].   3. Entrepreneurship Rates: - Women own only 36% of U.S. firms[3]. - The female participation entry rate into entrepreneurship has increased from 7.16% in the early 1990s to just under 11% after 2010[3].   4. Industry-Specific Disparities: - Women make up only 6% of information technology entrepreneurs, which is the industry most backed by venture capital[3]. - Female entrepreneurs typically receive capital for traditionally "feminine" areas, such as fashion or children's products[3].   5. Racial Disparities: - Black entrepreneurs saw a 45% decrease in funding at the end of 2022[4]. - Between 2010 and 2015, 87% of VC-backed founders were white, and 83% of founding teams were all-white[5].   6. Funding Success Rates: - In 2013, only 15% of minority-owned firms successfully translated a pitch into investment, compared to 22% of all businesses[5].   7. Alternative Funding Sources: - Approximately 80% of female tech startup leaders reported using personal savings as their primary source of funding[3].   Factors contributing to these disparities include:   1. Limited Access to Networks: Women and minorities often lack access to the social and intellectual capital networks crucial for securing VC funding[5].   2. Unconscious Bias: Investors may unconsciously favor entrepreneurs who fit certain stereotypes, such as being white and male[4].   3. Lack of Representation: The limited number of women and minorities in VC firms perpetuates a narrow perspective in investment decisions[4].   4. Educational and Career Path Differences: Women are underrepresented in fields typically targeted by VC firms for hires, such as engineering, technology, and finance[3].   Citations in the comments. NonBinary Solutions #ItsNotBinary™️🪩 #startup #tech #socialimpact #neurodiversity #bcba #appliedbehavioranalysis #abatherapy #decisionsupport #TechForGood #queerfounders #womenfounders #lgbtq #dei #blackfounders #founders #vc #neurodivergent #SaaS #HealthTech #invitedspeaker #speaker #thoughtleadership #nonbinary #thinking

54

9 Comments

Strategic and corporate venture funds are increasingly playing a bigger in role earlier stage startups, particularly for #deeptech companies needing design partners to build and test their beta products. Looking forward to discussing some lessons learned for earlier stage companies seeking strategic investment with my fellow panelists Michael (Mick) Gilbert, Kenzie Weston Mucci, Katerina Fialkovskaya, Adarsh Sowcar, Jianyu (Jerrold) Wang, MBA, Maria G. Manrique and moderator Stephen Brook. Thanks to Peter Walker and the team for organizing the annual New England Venture Summit. Definitely recommend the youngStartup Ventures conferences. #vc #cvc #startups #investment

40

At Costanoa Ventures, we pride ourselves on identifying and supporting exceptional founders poised to create impactful, lasting change. Hona is a shining example, driven by a trio of extremely talented founders: Manny Griffiths, Joshua Christensen, and Matt McClellan. They each bring unique, differentiated expertise to the table, and Amy Cheetham and I are extremely excited to partner with them. There are approximately 450,000 law firms in the United States, with half of those firms being B2C - think personal injury, mass tort, or immigration law as opposed to BigLaw. One of the reasons we love how Hona is tackling this market is their focus on B2C law firms and product excellence - B2B firms are historically difficult to sell brand new software products into, but B2C firms are completely different buyers. Oftentimes there's just a handful of lawyers and paralegals in a partnership, and any piece of technology they can use to give them an edge would be valuable. 44% of negative Google reviews on law firms directly reference poor communication as the reason for a negative experience, and the number 1 reason for Attorney Bar complaints in the U.S. is "lack of communication". On the lawyer's side, attorneys, paralegals and legal assistants spend an average of 7.4 hours per week on unnecessary updates, redundant communication, and activities that aren't directly contributing towards getting a client's case solved. Manny and the team at Hona are working to change all of that. Hona delivers a tightly-integrated communications platform to help facilitate better communication between law firms and their clients. During legal proceedings, client communications tend to be a large resource-stressor for law firms. Clients will frequently call firms for case updates, legal explanations, or general administrative questions that tend to eat away at firm resources without providing any additional progress toward case resolution. Hona exists to ease that burden - it’s a platform that allows law firms to efficiently communicate with their clients over text, easily build customizable web pages and embed videos, and share information on case status and basic legal process education. This crucial communication processes allow attorneys to focus on their job – moving cases forward, while keeping their clients informed and educated. If you're a lawyer dealing with these problems - don't hesitate to reach out to us or the Hona team! It's a privilege to work with Hona on this journey. The company has been growing at a rapid pace, and they're delivering meaningful technology to help people get through legal proceedings in a much more fluid, transparent, and easy process. Manny, Joshua, and Matt are exceptional founders whose combined skills and dedication to continuous learning position them perfectly to lead Hona to success. They're just getting started, and we can't wait to see what they'll achieve.

28

True partnerships are transformative catalysts for change. They transcend mere funding, embracing deep listening, dynamic collaboration, and vibrant community-building. Recent experiences at the MARGULF FOUNDATION Grantee Convening, Culture Shifting Summit, EdLoC, and Google Impact Summit have reignited my passion for reimagining how funders can evolve to genuinely empower social impact leaders. In my latest Camelback Ventures blog, I dive into the heart of this crucial conversation: ➡️ How can we build partnerships that fuel innovation? ➡️ What does holistic support for entrepreneurs of color and women really look like? ➡️ How might we create an ecosystem where visionary ideas thrive? Join me in exploring how we can reshape the landscape of social impact. Together, we can craft a future where diverse voices lead the charge in solving our most pressing challenges. Read the full article and let's continue this vital dialogue. How are you reimagining partnerships in your work? 🔗 https://lnkd.in/eW7UrGXu #SocialImpact #EquitablePartnerships #InnovationInFunding #DiversityInEntrepreneurship #SystemicChange

17

We've invested in some really compelling teams with awesome products. As they transition from startup to scale-up, you reach a strategic inflection point where the company begins considering its options. The Power Law is a mathematical nicety (copium), but the cold reality is that not all exits are ideal. For a winning startup, an acquisition or an IPO can accelerate growth, provide access to greater resources, and create opportunities for expanded market reach and innovation. But, for a struggling company, an acquisition is a responsible consideration to safeguard employees’ jobs, preserve the company’s mission, and provide stability by integrating with a financially stronger organization. A lot has been written about how startups are acquired, but not much about *why* startups are acquired. I penned some thoughts on how to be more 'acquirable' and build with the end in mind. https://lnkd.in/dHdbXpPt

22

1 Comment