Tech of the future needs humanity

I focus wholly on ventures that can codify a fundamental behavioral change or transformation at a micro-level, and then replicate that at scale - I call them "systems-change" ventures. They are the needle in a haystack of startups.?

I also believe they are the only ones who will succeed in the long-term, because what worked then (enterprise SaaS, marketplaces, competing on incremental value-add and surviving on VC), won't work for the next seven years of radical transformation for our planet.?

Here are some key differentiators of "systems-change" ventures, versus the rest. (This is my proprietary work, so please cite me if you choose to quote any of it.)?

They identify the "core lever of transformation" for their industry

Ventures must be hitting a "core lever of transformation" in a given system based on how that industry is shifting - for example, if AI is replacing conventional K-12 education, then filling that void in a way that creates positive outcomes (e.g. by merging AI with experiential learning), is an example of hitting an existing "lever" inside a system that can create large-scale transformation for an industry. (An example of not hitting the core lever of transformation would be to try to make incremental change inside an already crumbling system, like by increasing attendance rates.)

Or, if patients of chronic illness aren't getting better on meds and you can codify and replicate a holistic healing methodology with provable outcomes - you're hitting the existing lever of increased consumer demand for holistic healing. (An example of not hitting the core lever of transformation would be to try to make a better pharmaceutical drug, another incremental solution inside an already crumbling system.)?

Their moat is not just tech: it's also the root-level transformation, or fundamental value-add, for their community

While the core infrastructure of the Internet was being built, and then later when the core marketplaces and SaaS tools were launched, simply having a superior technology was enough to create exponential value (and exponential growth and returns.)?

Those days are over. Now that the infrastructure of the Internet has been built - though AI is still increasing at an exponential pace - you need something more to stand out, create value, and see real growth numbers.?

You need humanity.?

No, for real though.

Most ventures have a cool technology that does not satisfy any basic human need in any significant way.?

Systems-change founders and ventures, on the other hand, bring so much lived experience, inner wisdom, and intuition about their customer to the fore, that even if they move the needle 1% for their people, their people are willing to pay top dollar for their product or service or community.?

Let me explain. There is a difference between creating a tool, and creating transformation. A tool creates marginal productivity or efficiency. A transformation moves someone's heart, healing them in the process.

Holistic health outcomes are transformation. New paradigm educational models are transformation. Regenerative food systems (including the employment, food, and Earth-centricity) are transformation. Communities where you actually feel a connection, are transformation. Re-working systems of work, for example, by creating an innovative system by which to compensate an emerging, new paradigm workforce (e.g. creator economy) - is transformation for the individual as well as for the economy at large.?

(Also, decentralizing and bringing transparency to anything, is inherently transformation, as well.)

Just innovation won't cut it anymore. You must have a mixture of heart, and a birds-eye view of the large-scale industry trend and tech innovation. Transformation is the new innovation.?

And the best part is that this comes from lived experience, and it truly cannot be faked.?

For example, everyone is making a fuss over Flo Health becoming a unicorn by addressing menstrual health but having an all-male leadership team. I looked at their website. It's so dry and clinical. 

They may have success right now, but I prefer using Stardust - a colorful, moon-tracking period app which doesn't sell your data (and also has humor on the exact phases when I need it) - something only a woman could come up with, because we know what periods are and how they feel and what the deeper significance of our moon cycles are, inside our body. No man could ever understand the significance at that level. 

So, I'm not worried about Flo Health - it can fill its role in the ecosystem. I'm worried more about helping more beautiful, transformative, intuitive, and nourishing apps and technologies and systems to come into existence and thrive.         

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New Paradigm Venture Capital is my weekly newsletter - and live podcast - for investors, founders, and thought leaders creating a new paradigm for your industry and humanity. Subscribe now to join the community.

(It's a love letter because I believe in founders, and I think venture capital is the most powerful tool on the planet to create a new paradigm in all of our critical industries - e.g. healthcare, education, and more - in order to impact humanity and transform industries at scale.

My content is based on my lived experience of 15+ years in the impact venture space across the world. These are purposely opinion pieces, not rigorous academic pieces (though I have plenty of those, published at places like Harvard, UMich, and Kellogg.) Take what resonates. Leave the rest. And never, ever be a troll.)