Recently, the Interior Department ordered the grounding of its drone fleet that was made in China or contained Chinese parts. This comes on the heels of similar actions taken by the Department of Homeland Security in May and the United States Army in 2017. While political pundits credit the ban to the Trump administration’s policy initiatives […]
Business
Why Do We Invest In Health AND Happiness?
I am sometimes asked: Why do you invest in health and happiness? Why not just invest in health, or even health care, which is where other funds focus and where the impact of science is obvious?
Modern Animal Raises $13.5M to Redefine the Vet Experience for Both Pets and Their Owners
The pet care industry is booming as pet owners, many of whom are millennials, are more attentive than ever, which can be seen in the popularity of brands like The Famer’s Dog . While pet food has benefitted from tremendous innovation, the veterinary industry has not adapted to today’s pet owner. Modern Animal has created the membership […]
Reinventing The Wheel, Autonomously
Logistics in America is one of the fastest-growing private sectors of the economy, generating more than $1.6 trillion of spending (or close to 10% of GDP) in supply chain, transportation, and distribution investments.
Stream of Consciousness: How Netflix and its Rivals Will Define Entertainment
Recently, Netflix had its first drop in US users in nearly a decade. The streaming giant’s subscriber base fell by 130,000 in the US– the first drop since 2011 according to the Wall Street Journal. Netflix has always been an expert at playing the long game (remember when they used to ship you DVDs?), but […]
Where We Are Investing Now: Next Gen Food and Drink
In a recent post, I talked about our focus on Digital Brands. Food, drink, and new ingredients certainly are part consumer goods and digital brands. But this area is unique enough to deserve its own explanation. That’s because food and drink are not only digital products, but also new expressions of the emerging science of health […]
Musk is Wrong, We’re Not Already Cyborgs
Neuralink proposes to transcend reality and make virtual experiences feel totally real. How will Elon Musk’s neuralink challenge subjectivity?
Quantity Can Be The Gateway Quality: A New Way To Think About Content
The more content you put out for more audience demographics and segments, the more you can really understand what they respond to and refine what you’re putting out based on actual data – instead of only depending on the subjective opinions of decision-makers.
Where We Are Investing Now: E-Sports and Digital News
Each year, our funds define specific areas of investment focus for the year. We then do a mid-year review of each of these and adjust our approach if necessary. Most often, this mid-year correction is modest, just a tweak or lane change. But this summer, we felt that changes in our immersive experiences and content […]
TCG Buys Majority Stake in Food52 Valuing it at Over $100M
Food52, the content and commerce destination for those interested in cooking and food that has an active community of over 16M, has been acquired by TCG Capital Management, an affiliate of The Chernin Group, the media holding company founded by broadcast executive Peter Chernin in 2009. The exact terms of the transaction were not disclosed […]
AvantStay Raises $20M to Create the Ultimate Travel Experience for Groups
AvantStay is a technology and experience-first hospitality brand that is redefining the way in which people travel by offering short-term rentals tailored for groups.