Published in Initialized Capital·Jul 29, 2020Angel City: Initializing a Women’s Football Club in Los AngelesWomen’s Football Clubs are The New Esports Franchise — With More Upside — Women’s soccer is having a cultural moment in the United States and this Initialized investment, Angel City, embodies it. The U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team has consistently been the best in the world. The stars are icons who have already transcended the sport, attracting more than 14.3 million Americans, who…Venture Capital5 min readVenture Capital5 min read
Published in Initialized Capital·Apr 23, 2020Infinite Distractions, Finite AttentionWhat Defining Brands Will Need To Win the 2020s — This originally started as a meditation on how brands and brand marketing needs to evolve over the next 10 years. …Attention9 min readAttention9 min read
Published in Initialized Capital·Apr 16, 2020Atoms Masks for NYC Public Housing Residents#MaskOn #MasksForAll — Yesterday, Governor Andrew Cuomo said he’s issuing an executive order requiring all New Yorkers to wear a mask or face covering while in public. It’s a 100% reversal of advice from more than a month ago where medical-grade masks had to be prioritized for front-line healthcare workers. …Covid 193 min readCovid 193 min read
Published in Initialized Capital·Feb 12, 2020Incubating a Modern Dog Wellness Brand — JinxYour dog isn’t a wolf. Direct-to-dog food is here. — I’m a step-dad to two dogs. I’m also part of a generation of millennials who treated their dogs as “starter children.” Our pets matter. A lot. …3 min read3 min read
Published in Initialized Capital·Feb 11, 2020Katelin Holloway Joins Initialized to Level Up Founders on People and CultureIt’s Not HR. Culture is Built With or Without Your Permission. — If you’ve heard me talk about Paid Family Leave, you’ve heard me talk about Katelin Holloway, because she’s the one who joined Reddit shortly after I returned as Executive Chairman in 2014 to help lead a turnaround. She was instrumental in taking a company that had literally no HR department…Hiring4 min readHiring4 min read
Published in Initialized Capital·Jan 20, 2020Streetwear Rental Startup Seasons Unlocks a More Circular Fashion EconomyThe first of three parts about the cutting edge of retail and fashion from Initialized Capital’s Alexis Ohanian — The past ten years have fundamentally changed the way we consume fashion: we used to buy fewer things, wear them for longer, and had fewer brands to choose from. Instagram didn’t exist. Shopify only had 11,000 stores. Today there are more than 500,000 on their platform. …Apparel5 min readApparel5 min read
Published in Initialized Capital·Jan 14, 2020Launching Business DadWe’ve initialized our first podcast — How do you “have it all” as a working parent? Working moms are asked this question incessantly, but it’s rarely asked of working dads. After my daughter Olympia was born, it took months before I was asked about work-life balance and the inevitable trade-offs of being a working parent…Podcast2 min readPodcast2 min read
Published in Initialized Capital·Jul 24, 2019Where Players Own Their Loot: Why Initialized Capital Invested in SkyWeaverI don’t always invest in personal childhood dreams, but when I do, they’re usually around gaming — Growing up, I loved a collectible card game that was popular with my friends called Spellfire. No, not Magic: The Gathering — the world famous card game, which has produced over 20 billion cards in the last decade. Instead, I…Gaming3 min readGaming3 min read
Published in Initialized Capital·Jun 16, 2019Member-onlyWork-life. Balance.America needs Paid Family Leave. Fathers need to use it. — Serena only saw me on weekends for the first eight months of her pregnancy. I missed a lot of doctor’s appointments because I was deep in my third year back at Reddit in the midst of a big turnaround project that started in 2014. She was in Florida. I had…Family Leave9 min readFamily Leave9 min read
Published in Initialized Capital·Jun 13, 2019How to Predict the FutureTrends don’t start at the top. They ebb and flow in a spate of data. — As the co-founder of Reddit, I got a front row seat to witness how the Internet has democratized the way mainstream culture shifts. No longer are trends defined and dictated by a handful of elite tastemakers or companies. …Social Media4 min readSocial Media4 min read
