Published in World Positive·PinnedHow to Build a Time MachineThe four elements of thematic venture capital — At Obvious Ventures, we build time machines. Not the science fiction kind that teleport into the far future or the deep past. I’m talking about building a researched point of view on where the world is heading, and backing exceptional founders bringing exponential technologies to market in the near future…Venture Capital5 min read
Published in Obvious Ventures·Jun 7Obvious Hits Our Prime With $461M RaiseToday we’re announcing the raise of two new Obvious funds, which combine to $461M of new capital: 4We’ve completed the fundraise for our fourth flagship early-stage fund, Obvious Ventures IV. 6 In addition, we raised our second opportunity fund, Obvious Prime II, bringing our total number of funds to six. …Venture Capital3 min read
Published in Obvious Ventures·Apr 20The Nue Toolkit for Mental Health ManagementAnnouncing our Series A Investment in Nue Life — At Obvious, we have long believed that the next great consumer company will be a health-focused platform. …Venture Capital3 min read
Feb 17Implementing GTD in MemA new approach to “Getting Things Done” using Mem.ai Background At the very beginning of my career, I was a software engineer. The first products I worked on were in the Personal Information Manager (PIM) category in the early days of the personal computer. I helped design the first digital address…Productivity5 min read
Published in World Positive·Jan 12Ten Predictions: Knowledge Work in 2022Re-moat advantages, new kids on the blockchain, and more. — By James Joaquin and Arek Zarowski One major takeaway from 2021: the only certainty about the future is uncertainty, especially for knowledge work. We felt it firsthand with return-to-office plans thwarted, our sampling of multiple new productivity and collaboration platforms, and a wholesale reevaluation of the purpose of the workplace.Entrepreneurship3 min read
Published in Obvious Ventures·Mar 1, 2021Rebels Without A PauseMenopause meets its match with Womaness — 1.1 billion women are expected to be postmenopausal by 2025, representing over $600 billion in market opportunity. These numbers have been overlooked by traditional consumer products and beauty companies for…well, forever. We’re excited that this is finally changing in a big way, and even more so to announce our investment…Menopause3 min read
Published in World Positive·Feb 16, 2021Unsub OptimalBest practices for respectful email marketing — When I ask CEOs “Do you value your long-term relationship with your customers?” they all emphatically answer YES! “Do you value your customers’ time and respect their choices when you interact with them?” They again nod their heads and say OF COURSE. So how did it become acceptable to aggressively…Email Marketing5 min read
Published in Obvious Ventures·Sep 3, 2020The World Needs OK PlayThe OK Company launches today with OK Play, its first product encouraging children’s social and emotional growth by inspiring kids and parents to play together — The year 2020 will be remembered as an unbelievably challenging time for parents with young children: quarantine at home, work from home, and teach children to learn from home. At Obvious, we believe technology can play a positive role in early childhood education, and this year we know that parents…Startup3 min read
Published in World Positive·Jul 7, 2020Delightful Board MeetingsA recipe for effective and enjoyable startup board meetings — The folklore of bad board meetings at venture-backed startups is too strong to ignore. Desultory meetings run by sleep-deprived CEOs pulling all-nighters to get the board slides done. Frantic product teams racing to cobble together an innovation demo for the just-conjured roadmap. …Startup5 min read
Published in Obvious Ventures·May 13, 2020Welcome to the Future of CoffeeObvious invests in Taika — I’m excited to share the story behind our investment in Taika: a new kind of functional beverage company based in San Francisco, CA. We first met Taika co-founders Michael Sharon and Kal Freese in early 2019. We were on a quest to find and fund a next-generation beverage company that…Startup3 min read
