What’s on our minds

As we exit the information age and enter the automation age, concern has (justifiably) arisen around the topic of disruption in the labor market. What human jobs will be replaced? We consider that question from the standpoint of labor specialization.…

Whether big tech and little tech like it or not, 2019 will be a year of regulation. Virginia Senator Mark Warner’s 15-point framework is likely to be the basis for starting talks about policy for tech regulation. Based on his early proposal,…

Since we started writing about tech addiction as a potential market opportunity, we’re often asked, “What exactly are the opportunities?” We see opportunities across three broad categories: Health services Leveraging healthy addiction Augmentation These opportunities can be visualized along a…

Invest in high-integrity founders making products people love and that our LPs will be proud to back. We talk a lot about ethics at Loup Ventures. Debate might be a better term. The themes we invest in — AI, robotics,…

A while back, I laid out an argument for why I think neurotechnology is an important and compelling field: it entails investigating, fixing, and enhancing the brain—the substrate of human phenomenological existence. Here, I want to discuss the ethics of…

Happy belated Thanksgiving. One of our four closely held values is what we call intentional generosity. We believe that giving with a purpose is a powerful tool for good. It’s baked into the venture capital model and baked into our…

Two weeks ago, I tested using a distraction-free iPhone – no social media, no email, no entertainment, no news, and no web browser. I loved it so much that I named the device the “Good Phone” in my settings. I don’t think I’ll ever go…

The first thing many of us think when we hear the word esports is: “why would someone want to watch someone else play video games.” And this is often just referencing Twitch streamers or YouTube gaming channels, let alone going…

Technology is neither purely good nor evil. At Loup, we remind ourselves of that construct often, especially when discussing social media as it seemingly moves across the spectrum toward evil from good. If Facebook is truly committed to being a…

A couple weeks ago, Loup Ventures went phoneless. We turned off our iPhones and tested Apple Watches as our only source of connectivity. That experience was both freeing and frustrating. There were times when more connectivity would have been useful,…

Loup Ventures went phoneless last week. That is, some of the Loup team turned off our iPhones for a full week and only used Apple Watches for connectivity. It was freeing. And frustrating. Tech addiction is something we’re spending a…

Over a seven-day period last week, the Loup Ventures team decided to go phoneless. We used only a cellular Apple Watch S4 and left our iPhones turned off. Apple Watch is the most viable (and most expensive) wearable available today…