Do distributed teams need new tools?
A question I have been pondering for some time now, especially since a lot of our portfolio companies are now distributed organizations… This tweet sparked a lot of thoughtful reaction and discussion. Here’s where things have landed at the moment: According to the responses, entrepreneurs running remote organizations seem pretty happy with the current software […]
The importance of checking in
Last week was a rough week. I can be a pretty open book when it comes to my personal and professional life (though I’m not going to delve into the details here). As I shared what I went through, the kindness and encouragement from family, friends, and colleagues helped tremendously. I proactively sought support from […]
Q2 2019 Summary: Portfolio News and Activities
Happy Canada Day to our friends and colleagues north of the border, and Happy Fourth of July to those of you south of the border. We hope everyone is having a great start to summer. Here’s a quick recap of the key activities and announcements from this past quarter. Welcome to the V1 family! We […]
Thinking about a managed marketplace for healthcare
A few years ago, I explored the idea of a healthcare marketplace model. At the time, I imagined it would be pretty difficult to build a true marketplace for several reasons: low frequency and high unpredictability of use (because thankfully, we’re not always sick), the monogamy issue (people prefer to stick to the same doctor once […]
Balancing the upside and downside of data sharing
This year we have seen privacy become top of mind for the general public, the media and “big tech.” The business model of Google and Facebook (collect as much data as possible about users for highly targeted advertising) is under attack. Europe’s legislators were addressing some of these privacy concerns when they put into effect […]