All Signal is Square Peg's dispatch of portfolio news, resources and insights, open roles and more. No images? Click here All Signal 👋Reflections on venture economics and the opportunities for change Venture investing is hard, but it does have its advantages. The key distinguishing feature for VC investors is access; great founders can choose the investors they partner with and that forms a reinforcing loop of access to the best opportunities for leading VCs. Offering advice from a 10-year career in VC investment, Square peg co-founder and partner, Tony Holt, reflects on the lessons he's learnt along the way. Addressing common misconceptions and highlighting empirical truths for top-performing VC funds, Tony shares the unique elements and peculiarities of the economics and structure of VC investing. Portfolio newsAidoc have raised $66m from General Catalyst to transform patient outcomes through always-on AI. The Series C raise follows a surge in demand for Aidoc’s AI-driven solutions, including the largest clinical deployment of AI in healthcare. Via No Camels Feedvisor, the AI-driven optimisation and intelligence platform for brands and retailers on Amazon, Walmart, and e-marketplaces, launched its advanced Advertising Optimization and Intelligence platform enabling brands and retailers to make data-informed decisions across their entire advertising program. Via Tech Round Must-consumeI've almost finished Adam Grant's book "Think Again" and have been mesmerised by the stories and evidence he weaves into his key message - "if knowledge is power, knowing what we don't know is wisdom". He talks through the mindsets within Blackberry and Apple that lead to the demise of one and the rise of the other, the productive arguments that progressed Pixar and the Wright Brothers and how the Dunning-Kruger Effect plays out. It's prompted me to rethink what assumptions I'm holding onto too strongly (which is more fun than it sounds!) Via Booktopia Two recent excellent episodes from a favourite podcast of mine, Invest Like the Best. The first episode is with Howard Marks of Oaktree Capital - an investing legend. I love how he simplifies complex market dynamics, no wonder his Memos have a cult following. In this episode he also talks through his rethinking on value investing and why technology investing requires dedicated expertise. Via Spotify The second podcast episode is with Marc Andreessen of Andreessen Horowitz where he talks about fast vs slow sectors (eg health, education, housing) and areas of opportunity for startups. Via Spotify Annie Liebovitz is the most renowned portrait photographer of the last 40 years and is famous for taking photos of famous people. She started at Rolling Stone Magazine in the 70’s and spent the last 3 decades at Vanity Fair and Vogue. She was the foremost rock music photographer and an astute documentarian of the social landscape. She led an extraordinary life and this documentary shows how her photos have literally made history. Via Youtube Why would anyone want to be an ultrarunner? I’ve met a number of athletes over the last few years that are crazy enough to do these extreme distances and always wondered what it takes to do that? If, like me, you have wondered about your own limits, then you’ll be captivated by the discipline, determination and grit that it takes to finish one of these races. Via Amazon Kyle Parsons is the founder of Indosole, a sustainable footwear company he built after visiting Bali in 2004 where he witnessed the environmental disaster facing Indonesia caused by plastic and unused tyres. His passion and determination to help be part of the solution in a very meaningful way is inspiring people to live a more fulfilled and conscious life with every step. This podcast episode details Parsons' road to sustainability. We need more eco-warriors like this! Via Spotify Anthony Tan is the CEO of Grab, one of the most successful unicorns in South East Asia. Grab started in 2012 in Malaysia as a ride-hailing service, and has now expanded its operations into various business verticals, across multiple cities in various countries establishing itself as an on-demand “super app”. Via Eyerys Tech newsThe Buy Now Pay Later industry is under threat as the news that Apple is building a Buy Now Pay Later service creates uncertainty. Industry leader Afterpay and Affirm have already suffered as shares fall over 10% . Via Techcrunch Google fined $593 million in France over treatment of news publishers. Violating the orders established in April 2020, Google failed to negotiate with publishers for the right to show snippets of their content in its search results. Via Wall Street Journal Announced on Twitter, CEO and co-founder Jack Dorsey explained how Square is set to create a new Bitcoin-focused business. The business will make it easy to create non-custodial, permissionless and decentralised financial services. Via Reuters Open roles
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