While it may be some time until autonomous vehicles are on the roads, there is certainly space for them in other sectors.
Author Archives: Champ
The Economics of Fund Ownership: Ignoring Ownership and Enabling LP Co-Investment
Being a method-driven VC, we’re not playing Russian Roulette. We’re counting cards in the game of 21.
even if the signals tell us that they must be great companies or suggest we have to overpay because they are “hot”).
The Unspoken Victim of Extreme Climate
Creative Ventures recently led an investment into PlanetWatchers, a Satellite Aperture Radar (SAR) technology company that turns months of crop assessment into minutes of analysis at one-tenth of the cost. Here we unravel the underlying macro trends driving the need for SAR and why it is needed to combat the exponential growth of extreme climate.
Deep Tech Awakening and How to Predict its Success: Part II
A critic of Deep Tech often claims that Deep Tech investment possesses such a high technology risk, the return is often unjustifiable. This premise fails to distinguish between the shade of grey within the maturity curve of each emerging technology. By understanding this particular nuance, we stand a significantly greater chance in predicting the success of a Deep Tech company.
Deep Tech Awakening and How to Predict Its Success: Part I
During the 2010’s, mobile Internet was experiencing its golden years.
The US started with 20% smartphone penetration and ended with over 70% and 250 million users. Uber roared. Airbnb IPO’ed at a $100+ billion valuation.
But for an investor, this is yesterday’s glory and that means it’s also someone else’s money.
So what’s next?
Keeping Up with the Delivery Rocketship Part III: A Case Against Last Mile Delivery and How to Change Our Mind
Let us be frank about this: we think last mile delivery has a very attractive upside, but we think it is too challenging to be an attractive investment.
The difference between the two are the risks involved.
Luckily, we know exactly what it takes for founders to change our mind.
Keeping Up with the Delivery Rocketship Part II: Opportunities in Warehouse Automation
In Part I, we discussed how the exponential growth in eCommerce leads to an increase in cost of fulfillment and shipping as a percentage of net sales, driven by rising wage and consumer expectation. Worker wages in fulfilment centers sit at $17 an hour, almost two and a half times more than minimum wage. ConsumersContinue reading “Keeping Up with the Delivery Rocketship Part II: Opportunities in Warehouse Automation”
Keeping Up with the Delivery Rocketship Part I: The Case for Logistic Automation
Two things that my wife loves are good food and nice purses. In 2020, those two options became exclusively available, for the first time, online. While our personal airline and hotel expenses declined by 100%, our e-Commerce and food delivery bill mushroomed.
The $400 Billion Market Part III: Opportunities in Construction Analytics
In our previous posts in this series, we established a case for construction technology due to severe labor shortages, and discussed two primary challenges as market fragmentation and complex market structure. We then looked into a number of automation-related opportunities involving site preparation and foundation phases of the construction process, focusing on construction surveying andContinue reading “The $400 Billion Market Part III: Opportunities in Construction Analytics”
The $400 Billion Market Part II: Opportunities in Construction Automation
In Part I, we explained that the construction industry is experiencing heightened demand primarily from the residential and infrastructure segment, an aging workforce that is retiring, and the challenge to attract younger generations. These factors lead cumulatively to a severe labor shortage and rising labor wages that are constricting an industry historically operating at aContinue reading “The $400 Billion Market Part II: Opportunities in Construction Automation”