Taking the Obvious Next Step
Embracing my millennial inclinations towards purpose as well as my personal passion for sustainable and technology-enabled consumption, I’m excited to be joining Obvious Ventures.
This marks a point to which I’ve been building for some time.
Raised as the daughter of an immigrant working mother and small business owner father in the South, I’ve long been fascinated by consumer preferences across varying demographics. Whether spending weekends on the farm in Waxhaw, NC or Decembers in Delhi, I’ve been curious about shifts in behavior — how our identities, values, and experiences drive how we’ll spend our time and money ten minutes, ten months, and ten years from now.
In an effort to better understand such disruption, I first moved to the Bay eight years ago to study engineering at Stanford and have remained captivated by the pace of innovation ever since. Following operational exposure at both B2C (Stella & Dot) and B2B (PayPal) businesses, I joined Morgan Stanley to widen my perspective on the transitions occurring across industries and derivative implications. Spanning Technology Investment Banking to the firm’s accelerator for women and multicultural founders, I advised fast-growing disruptors on financing-related strategies to fuel their next phases of growth.
From Series A raises to Initial Public Offerings, my time at Morgan Stanley taught me that the most valuable perspectives are those that are most authentic and that the most impactful leaders are those that attract, develop, and inspire the best talent.
Given this emphasis on authenticity and terrific teams alongside a deep-seated desire to establish myself as a long-term partner to those companies redefining how and what we consume, joining the OV team is the “Obvious” next step for me. I could not be more honored and excited to be investing alongside such a talented, inspiring, and driven team.
Founded on the belief that the most valuable companies of our time will be the ones solving humanity’s biggest problems, Obvious and its world positive strategy align with my personal credo of leveraging capital, content, and connections to drive material change in the global consumer experience.
From Beyond Meat and Diamond Foundry to Proterra and Good Eggs, Obvious’ portfolio is redefining how we live, build and fuel our lives.
As part of the investing team, I’m eager to dig deeper into Sustainable Systems, People Power and Healthy Living — three areas in which Obvious focuses on deploying capital. Across these themes, I’m particularly excited to explore how generational shifts are creating opportunity, how preventative care is reshaping wellness, and how digitization is transforming old world economies.
I. On Generational Shifts
With Gen Z entering the workplace, millennials establishing homes, and boomers transitioning into retirement, the day-to-day needs of America’s largest generations are changing dramatically, creating the need for new platforms to emerge. Workplace solutions will be expected to be as user friendly as our social networks for digitally native Gen Z employees. Residential quality and accessibility expectations will rise with the institutionalization of home ownership / management as millennials form family units. Personalized and remote healthcare offerings will continue to see increasing demand as boomers elect to age in place. Obvious’ investments in Gusto, Keyo, and CareZone capitalize on such changes and I’m excited to invest others across the demographic spectrum.
II. On the Wellness Revolution
As the masses’ approach to wellness transitions from episodic interactions to intentional, integrative care, I believe that the preventative care opportunity will continue to expand. Cleaner personal care and nutrition offerings as well as more accessible physical fitness and mental health platforms speak to specific $100Bn+ opportunities in the $4.2Tn wellness market. Today, Obvious’ investments in Olly, Urban Remedy, and Myro serve the robust appetite for the space and align with my conviction in the long-term category expansion potential.
III. On Old World Economies
When we widen our lens beyond the hundred mile radii of San Francisco and New York, I also believe great opportunity exists in serving old world economies such as agriculture, construction and manufacturing. The relative under-penetration of technology provides potential for digitization to materially improve system efficiency, product quality / customization and employee experience. Obvious’ investments in XpertSea, Plant Prefab, and Canvas speak to these opportunities and I look forward to uncovering many more.
If you’re as enthusiastic about these topics as I am, I’d love to hear from you! Find me on Twitter (@itsmeeraclark) or at meera@obviousventures.com.
