AI is moving mainstream, but are users ready to trust it yet?
When DeepMind’s AlphaGo defeated South Korean master Lee Se-dol, it was a historic stride for AI. The depth of this development, coupled with higher computing power and cheaper data storage, is moving AI into the mainstream. Perhaps the most popular application of AI today comes in the form of virtual assistants and bots, or “agents” […]
V1’s latest investment: Booster Fuels – on-demand delivery of gas for vehicles
Last year, we quietly invested in the seed round of Booster Fuels, a then-stealth on-demand gas delivery service. Today, we’re excited to officially announce our investment as they raise their Series A financing from Maveron, Madrona, and RRE, and other invests, as well as expand into Silicon Valley. Much has been written about the Uberification of the economy […]
Version One in 2015: A year of building, backing, and exits
As 2015 comes to an end, it’s time to reflect on what we’ve done and where we’re headed. It’s hard to believe that it has been just a little over a year since we launched Fund II with $35M in commitments. Since then, we’ve accelerated our pace – backing exceptional entrepreneurs, feeding their growth, and […]
The art of hiring a data scientist
Nearly four years ago, I joined the Insight Data Science team and we launched an intensive 7 week post-doctoral training fellowship bridging the gap between academia and data science. Since then, over 400 Insight alumni have been hired as data scientists or data engineers at top tier companies like Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Airbnb, and Google. Although I formally […]
Our guide to marketplaces
Note: We’ve updated this handbook — read the latest and greatest 3rd edition here! At Version One, we love marketplaces. Just look at our portfolio, and you’ll understand how important we think marketplaces are to the future of commerce. Over the past year, we have focused much of our blog content on helping marketplace founders […]