February 2012
6 posts
The data scientist v2.0
I’ve been thinking deeply about the need for more people facile with extracting meaning from data - or a “data scientist” for lack of a better term. My friend and colleague Drew Conway developed a useful model for thinking about the attributes of a data scientist. He essentially views this individual as sitting at the intersection of three spheres of a Venn diagram -...
Thoughts from Ann Arbor
Last week I spent two glorious days deeply engaging with my alma mater, the University of Michigan, and the Ann Arbor tech community. I had the privilege of presenting at the Ann Arbor New Tech Meetup (thanks, Dug!), exchanging ideas with the Wolverine Venture Fund, and spending lots of time with professors and heads of different programs and institutes such as the Zell Lurie Institute, the Center...
“When everyone seems to want to unload the same risks at once, it is a good idea...”
– Wall Street Journal 2/25/2012, Is “Derisking” Even Riskier?
IA Ventures - the next phase
The facts are straight-forward. We just closed IAVS Fund II. This new fund, at just over $105 million, allows us to pursue the same investment strategy we followed in Fund I – investing in companies that create competitive advantage through data. Just like Fund I, we will continue to invest in strong founders at the Seed, Series A, and even sometimes Series B stage. As part of this fund we will...
In startups, Always be...
recruiting.
selling.
raising money.
thinking about risk.
worrying about running out of money.
focused on firm culture.
selling.
recruiting.
having fun.
aware of your utility function.
honest with partners, employees and investors.
evaluating yourself against objectives.
humble.
identifying and leveraging mentors who can help you grow and achieve your objectives.
“paying it...
What startups can learn from the NY Giants
Last night’s Giants/Patriots game was another epic contest, displaying the greatness and intertwined fortunes of two of the best teams of the era. However, what underpinned the contest were the widely divergent paths of the teams who had reached the pinnacle of the sport: a 13-3 Patriots team with arguably the best quarterback (Tom Brady) and coaching mastermind (Bill Belichick) of our...