2023 Summer Reading List
AI Everywhere
We are here to hype books this month, as is our tradition in late summer. After all, we are in the ideas business, so sharing each other's favorite reads of late helps us gain insight broadly. Anything that helps us and our portfolio companies' leaders expand our perspective is welcomed and appreciated. Any recommendations you have can be sent to us at mcasady@vestigoventures.com.
Hype is a good word to use as conversational AI takes off (beware of over-promises on this turn of the tech!). Yet while it is very early days for these new models, it is certainly still exciting. At Vestigo, we love start-ups focused on unique data sources or solving specific problems such as customer service or adding the guardrails needed to check on AI being deployed in the world (much to do here!).
As summer comes to an end, and as you catch up on family time or on a good book, think about aspects of your business or life that will be impacted by AI. It will be pervasive. It will be frightening. It will be fun. Our perspective is driven by our investing activities since 2017 in AI startups. And in the spirit of exchanging ideas, we include some of our findings:
- Massive 10x productivity can be achieved in processes that are today dependent on humans
- Insights on behaviors that cannot be observed by the human cognitive process are possible now
- Joining processes across the enterprise or an industry holds great promise for creating new business models
- Predictive AI is still very difficult when it comes to financial market investments versus taking on tasks like allocation of assets or evaluating financial decisions
We hope you find this month's issue engaging and entertaining!
- Mark & Dave
Summer Reading List
Laura Spiekerman, President/Co-Founder @ Alloy
Recommendations:
- After the Winter by Guadalupe Nettel
- The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder by David Grann
Peter McKee, CEO/Founder @ Aeqium
Recommendation:
- What You Do Is Who You Are by Ben Horowitz
Oliver Belin, CEO/Founder @ Calculum
Recommendation:
- The Last Soldiers of the Cold War: The Story of the Cuban Five by Fernando Morai
Adam Braun, CEO/Co-Founder @ Climate Club
Recommendation:
- The Overstory by Richard Powers
Carlson Choi, CEO/Co-Founder @ Cork
Recommendation:
- The Storytelling Edge by Joe Lazauskas & Shane Snow
Austin McChord, Co-Founder @ Cork
Recommendations:
- The Storytelling Edge by Joe Lazauskas & Shane Snow
Jon McNeill, Partner/Co-Founder @ DVx Ventures
Recommendations:
- My Years at General Motors by Alfred P. Sloan
- Working Backwards by Bill Carr & Colin Bryar
Bill Conners, CEO @ ForMotiv
Recommendations:
- The Making of the Atomic Bomb by Richard Rhodes
- Americana: A 400 Year History of American Capitalism by Bhu Srinivasan
Chaz Perera, CEO/Co-Founder @ Roots Automation
Recommendations:
- So You've Been Publicly Shamed by Jon Ronson
- Millenium by Tom Holland
- Running with the Firm by James Bannon
Team Vestigo
Recommendations:
- The King's Shadow by Richard Rhodes
- A Shark Going Inland Is My Chief by Patrick Vinton Chief
- Competing Against Luck by Clayton Christensen
- Oscar Wilde by Richard Ellman
- The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles
- When We Cease To Understand The World by Benjamin Labatut
- Island by Aldous Huxley
X Marks Its Spot
Everyone loves financial services - high margins and recurring revenue are great. This seems to be Elon Musk's perspective (and certainly his experience with PayPal) as he has now decided the blue bird can fly off and leave an X to mark the spot for his next financial foray.
Will it work? One key issue in financial services is trust. Twitter seems to be shedding that rapidly under its new ownership. Without trust, which comes from stability and transparency, it seems less likely that X will mark a success.
This doesn't mean you should count Elon out, nor his backers at the firm formerly known as Twitter. They know the right talent to create some amazing solutions for consumers so we believe something interesting will come out of this shift. But what is it?
It could be the all-in-one "jack-knife" of financial services with banking, asset management and the like. Yet that feels a wave (or three) behind the consumer journey of today. On the other hand, utilities to make life easier, like a verification/ identity certification platform to use in financial services or to assist in AI, is interesting. An X Worldcoin (do check out what Sam Altman is doing to verify humans), now that's brilliant.
But these aren't the only possible ways forward. Alternatively, one could use X as the place to crowdsource any number of activities that companies need done, from marketing research to proof of concept, that allows an X user to get paid. That payment could then be in their neo-bank or be invested. Or what about developers using it to crowd-build technology for payment? Many are already on Twitter now so that would work.
But all this begs another question: why hire a media executive to run a financial services app at X? This is the part that leads us to believe it's more about content monetization and the financial services needed for that to be supported.
Whatever the case, stay tuned! It's sure to be an amazing show.
- Team Vestigo
Just Another Day V-Sea'ing
In what's quickly becoming an annual excursion, the Vestigo team spent an afternoon out on Boston Harbor for the summer offsite. We lucked out on weather (big thanks to Nick for choosing the best day) and included some pictures below!
Boston VC Meetup
Portfolio Updates
Acorn Finance Partners With Momnt
By partnering with Momnt, an embedded lending solution for businesses, Acorn Finance builds on its ability to provide financing options for home improvement merchants.
Christie Horvath Featured on "Life with Pets" Podcast
The Wagmo CEO and Co-Founder joined the latest podcast episode to take a deep dive on pet insurance. Be sure to check it out if you're a pet parent!
ZenLedger's Jonté Harrell Featured in CFO Piece
Check out this great interview with ZenLedger's Jonté Harrell, as he describes the tips, tricks, and tendencies that all contribute to his success as a CFO!
Interesting Reads
Apply to One of Our Portfolio Companies!
Our mailing address is:
Vestigo Ventures
1 Kendall Sq Ste B2101
Cambridge, MA 02139-1588
Add us to your address book
DISCLAIMER: The information presented in this newsletter is intended for general informational purposes only and may not reflect current law or regulations in your jurisdiction. By reading our newsletter, you understand that no information contained herein should be construed as legal, financial, or tax advice from the authors or contributors, nor is it intended to be a substitute for such counsel on any subject matter. No reader of this newsletter should act or refrain from acting based on any information included in, or accessible through, this newsletter without seeking appropriate professional advice on the specific facts and circumstances at issue from a professional licensed in the reader's state, country, or other appropriate licensing jurisdiction. This newsletter and its content should not be considered a solicitation for investment in any way.