Science, Business, and the Obvious Choices Before Us
“It’s our individual and collective duty to leave the world in better shape than when we entered it. I will do my share by creating businesses that change the world for the better.” — Me, quoting myself.
It took many months of late night conversations on “The Field” at IIT Bombay for me to figure out this logical, simple guiding principle for my life. (For reference, The Field is a magical place at IIT.)
As a student of science, I believe the most elegant and robust characterizations of the world are the simplest. Once you’ve figured it out, it makes perfect sense. In hindsight it always seems obvious.
But that’s the thing about simplicity — it’s often notoriously hard to find. And therein lies the common challenge to both science and business: finding the simple truth that tell us how the world works, and determining how to act thereupon.
After spending four years working at startups attempting to solve challenges of sustainable systems, I found myself headed to the Stanford Graduate School of Business (GSB) to learn how to separate the signal from the noise.
Choosing to move to Silicon Valley (World Change Central — as a friend put it) was simple — but then came a harder question: how should I spend my time here?
More immediately, and more recently: where do I invest my summer?
“VCs spend their days looking into the future. You should work at a VC,” a good friend recommended
“Makes sense,” I said. “But which one?”
As serendipity would have it, Andrew Beebe was scheduled to speak at the GSB that same week. As he spoke and I learned more about Obvious Ventures, it became crystal clear that our world views aligned.
There are many problems in the world. Any businesses that solve these problems to make the world better are creating significant value for those living within it, and are bound to be more successful in the long run. Any firm betting its success on businesses that made the world better was a firm I wanted to be a part of.
I’ve been here for just over a week, and it’s been great. Apart from interacting with truly interesting companies, I’m learning more about autonomous vehicles (AVs) and helping the firm figure out how to invest in this space. AVs have the potential to reduce congestion and pollution, increase productivity and reduce accidents. It’s not a matter of if AVs will become mainstream, but when. And we at Obvious Ventures hope to positively shape this trajectory.
I’m thrilled about the promise the next two months here hold for me. Like the best business ideas, I think that’s obvious.
