In the Staples Center, the home of the Los Angeles Lakers and one of the world’s premier concert venues, a sold-out crowd buzzes. Hundreds of millions of people from around the world tune in to watch online or on a TV broadcast. Participants are vying for millions, seeking purses larger than the Tour De France,…
In 2000, Netflix founder Reed Hastings went to the then-CEO of Blockbuster John Antioco and offered 49% of his company for $50 million. Antioco saw Netflix as a very niche company, so he turned the offer down believing physical stores were enough to satisfy customers. The net value of Netflix today is nearly $144bn, while…
A few weeks ago, we wrote a blog post highlighting the emergence of sleep tech, touching on companies that utilize technology to monitor and optimize your sleeping habits. Despite critics who doubt its efficacy, the growth and success of startups like Oura Ring, Calm, and Snail Sleep highlight the expanding market for alternative health and…
Many of us saw Ready Player One last year and were entranced by Spielberg’s vision of virtual reality (VR). For those who haven’t seen it, the movie (based on Ernest Cline’s book) presents a futuristic earth where a virtual universe referred to as “The Oasis” consumes everyone’s lives and social interaction. Why would anyone want…
Have a casual chat about robotics and AI, and the conversation will almost inevitably lead to a debate about whether these emerging technologies are poised to replace human workers sector by sector, vertical by vertical, and ultimately usher in waves of mass unemployment and economic turmoil. Now, the basic premise of machines replacing human labor…
How does innovation happen? You are inspired by a great piece of art or research, a serendipitous discovery, or a chance meeting. Then you go about crafting and refining that inspiration into something more concrete. Bouncing off the initial inspiration, you dig and research for different ideas, then think about how to synthesize all your…
Have you ever given pause to consider the life of a t-shirt or a pair of jeans? After the old cotton and dirty denim have been worn and torn and patched and thrown, where do they go? The answer, it turns out, is rather depressing. A dismal majority of clothing ends up either in landfill…
At the beginning of this year, we wrote a post speculating on some of the trends we’ll be seeing throughout 2019. One of them was growing scrutiny over tech giants, and steps to fill a regulation and ethical vacuum where until now, firms in the likes of Facebook and Apple have been largely free to…
Over the lunch table the other day we started talking about the future of food production in the context climate change, and it got us wondering what kinds technological solutions are being cooked up to address the many disruptions that a warming world could bring. To preface this, in a casual reading of the stats…
So you’ve got the next unicorn worthy concept, a new vision to reshape and redefine the very fundamentals of how we live and work. You’ve also put together a team of cofounders with whom you will turn this vision in fact. Before you jump into the partnership, however, you find yourself the discussion table wondering…