Seed Investing: Then vs Now
The Mission Newsletter, 5/1/18
“Either you run the day or the day runs you.” -Jim Rohn
News That Matters
Health
Is a new way to treat depression on the horizon? Maybe.
Thanks to a new study, scientists have pinpointed 44 genetic variants that contribute to depression and other issues.
“With this study, depression genetics has advanced to the forefront of genetic discovery… The new genetic variants discovered have the potential to revitalize depression treatment by opening avenues for the discovery of new and improved therapies.” -Dr. Gerome Breen, Co-author
Of the 44 genes pegged in the new study, 30 had never been identified before.
The next step in the research is human studies, and the scientists behind the study are looking for volunteers! If you’re interested in being part of the study, or just to learn more, head here.
Wealth
Seed investing is changing:
In a recent article, Natalie Dillon, an investor at Susa Ventures, discusses how the seed landscape has changed and what these changes mean for founders. Some of the points that she makes:
- Dollars into seed deals remain steady, deal volume, on the other hand, has been slashed in half since 2015 and the trend continues as we enter 2018… with more dollars going into fewer deals, the bar is higher for seed companies than ever before.
- Median deal size has more than doubled since 2015.
- The median age of companies raising institutional angel & seed rounds has more than doubled since 2012.
- With median time to IPO exceeding 8 years, surpassing the average length of marriage in the US, choose your investors wisely!
What are you doing to update your investing strategy for 2018? Read more: The State of Seed Investing in 2018
Wisdom
Is there a better way to learn?
Barbara Oakley, 8-time author and creator of Learning to Learn, an online course with over a million enrolled students, believes there is. Her Learning to Learn course shares the science behind the best way to learn more quickly and efficiently.
Listen here to a wide-ranging interview with Oakley in which she explains some of her favorite strategies and the science behind them.
Tech Trends
“Alexa, are you kid-friendly?”
The answer is yes! Amazon released a child-friendly version of the Alexa for presale last week called the Amazon Echo Dot Kids Edition. The new echo has parental controls, child-specific answers to questions, and is loaded with children’s audiobooks.
There are free and paid versions of the software, and parents will be able to monitor and control their children’s usage of the device.
All the details can be found on Amazon, but this BuzzFeed article does a great job of breaking down exactly what the new Alexa has to offer.
Marketing Trends
Say goodbye to consistent brand messaging — in today’s world, customers are looking for a lot more than the standard branded content.
To keep up with the times, businesses in every category are moving toward ‘Living Brands’. Living Brands adapt and change with the culture, and the messaging used aims to be more personal and human so as to better connect with the customer base.
With this new style of branded content, there are tons of updates on how companies are working to turn themselves into living brands. To learn more, visit here.
The Best of What We Are Reading
We are enjoying Bandwidth, a new science fiction novel by Eliot Peper! According to Andrew Chamberlain, Chief Economist at Glassdoor:
“Bandwidth blows the lid off today’s techno optimists, revealing a thrilling and all-too-realistic future in which the ubiquitous ‘feed’ — an immersive algorithm used by millions — becomes a tool for high-stakes blackmail, with climate change hanging in the balance. An eye-opening look at how simple, everyday technologies can change our world, one notification at a time.”
Bandwidth was selected as an Editors’ Pick for the Amazon First Reads Program and hit #1 in sci-fi and #3 overall on Amazon this week. 😲
If you love tech, sci-fi, and thrillers, then be sure to add this one to your collection: Bandwidth by Eliot Peper.
Our Media
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We create custom podcast sponsorships for enterprise companies. To learn more about why companies like Salesforce trust us to produce results, connect with our team here.
