Can AI become a tool to promote equality and fairness?
“Technological innovation should give us hope, not despair.” Those words were a key part of the G7’s first-ever Innovation7, which was held last month in Turin, Italy. The Innovation7, or I-7, is a gathering of industry representatives from the G7 countries to help bridge industry and government. The theme of this summit was on making […]
My next chapter of VC: More data!
On the heels of being named principal last week, I am humbled by Boris’s announcement and thrilled to begin leading deals for Version One. While many of you have already worked with me directly or read my thoughts on this blog over the years, I want to take the opportunity to share my goals: what I’m […]
Creative Destruction Lab West: Helping create the next generation of entrepreneurs
Very often, start-ups fail at the earliest stages. They might get the wrong advice at a critical point, or they can’t raise the first hundreds of thousands of dollars required to move from prototype to initial product. This problem is relatively minor in large, vibrant ecosystems like Silicon Valley, but can be more pervasive in smaller […]
Some of our favorite investment themes right now: AI and machine learning
At Version One, we take a thematic approach to investing and are very focused on start-ups with strong network effects, like marketplaces and social platforms. This year, we’ve been writing about the power of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, and the potential for strong data network effects to emerge with these companies – particularly when start-ups […]
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” […]