Investing in the power of clear communication

By Jeremy G. Philips

In an era of emojis, voice control, and three letter acronyms, it’s easy to forget the power of clear communication. But it’s as important as ever — in our business and personal lives.

To be sure, clear writing is not about following archaic rules of grammar. It’s about writing well in any context — from a job application to a customer service inquiry to a condolence letter.

This is not a matter of pedantry or intellectual vanity. It matters in small and large ways. It can help someone get a new job. It can improve self-confidence. It can enhance career opportunities for someone for whom English is a second language.

Software made (involuntary) spelling errors obsolete years ago. Now, with advances in artificial intelligence, Grammarly can dramatically improve anyone’s writing.

At Spark, we got to love the product first. Then we met Alex, Brad, Max and the team. We were incredibly impressed by their laser-like focus in providing a compelling experience for users, and their thoughtful approach to building a sustainable long-term business at the same time.

Grammarly helps almost seven million people every day write better. Improving writing is a complex problem — requiring an understanding of context, tone as well as all the vagaries of the English language that has as many exceptions as rules. Every day, Grammarly provides its users with hundreds of millions of suggested improvements. Each of these edits also helps Grammarly improve — forming a powerful feedback loop based on an enormous data network.

We are looking forward to working with Alex, Brad, and Max, as well as our friends at General Catalyst, IVP and the other investors in this company. Grammarly is uniquely positioned to address its ambitious vision in an important, growing market.

Any errors in this post are deliberate for verisimilitude.

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