Investment Philosophy

You might wonder what Aristotle, automation, and empathy have to do with one another. The answer is simple: the future of happiness. Aristotle believed that man could achieve happiness by working on and developing the things unique to his nature,…

We believe that automation will make customer service — delivering empathy — the most in-demand job in tech. Humans will need to take advantage of the three core capabilities that robots can't compete with: creativity, community, and empathy, and The…

Last week we wrote about simplicity as a driving force behind the world’s biggest technology offerings. We’re extending our thoughts on simplicity into a series that explores the necessity of simplicity in frontier technology. First, we’ll dive into AR.

Simplicity is underappreciated. In many things. But most obviously right now in our world of consumer technology. Simplicity is a requirement of mass adoption. Look at the iPhone, Google, Amazon, and Uber as examples: The iPhone never shipped with a…

This note is the first in a series of four that detail Loup Ventures’ core values. These values drive how we operate, who we hire, and ultimately, what we look for in founders. We believe that vibrant culture driven by…

Every VC says they only invest in great founders, but the majority of venture-backed businesses still end in relative failure. Does that mean we as VCs are just bad judges of founders or do we not know what great founders…

Elon Musk continues to warn us of the potential dangers of AI, from debating the topic with Mark Zuckerberg to saying it’s more dangerous than North Korea. He’s called for regulating AI, just as we regulate other industries that can be dangerous to humans.…

Will AI and robotics revolutionize human labor or not?  More than half of all US jobs could be disrupted by automation in the next several decades; at least that’s our opinion. About half the people we talk to disagree. Those…

The most important lesson from Uber’s travails is that bad culture doesn’t scale. Talented teams with bad culture can build fantastic businesses, but not businesses that last. A unicorn with bad culture is a unicorn with a bomb strapped to its back…

At the Viva Tech conference in Paris, Google Chairman Eric Schmidt stated that he believes automation will create more jobs, not eliminate them. I think he’s wrong, and I hope he’s wrong. Disagreeing with the Chairman of the most advanced AI company in the…

I read about 80 books a year and am always looking for new suggestions from people in technology (email us your recommendations). A number of VCs and technologists recommended Failure Is Not An Option by Gene Kranz, flight controller for…

Vibrant culture driven by shared values separates the best companies from the rest. Without clearly stated values, a “company” is just a temporary group of people, not a sustainable organization. Working together over the past 10 years, we’ve identified a…