i’m drunk with VCs

Indians with beards

Hi there,

We just wrapped up the Innovation Summit, and I’m about to drink heavily. But I write this sober (mostly).

First, thank you to everyone for coming out and making it a great event. We’ll see you next year. For those of you watching the livestream, don’t cheap out next year.

All the videos/presentations will be available soon. We talked about customized babies yesterday. Did you see that? Sign up here if you want the presentations/videos, but you can also check out a few highlights below.

Back to the future

Last year, our Future of Fintech conference had a lot of great speakers, including the co-founder of Palantir, COO of OnDeck Capital, and Fred Wilson.

So for our upcoming Future of Fintech conference this June, we’ve created a spot for you to nominate a speaker (or yourself).

Internet takes #1 spot

Yesterday, we released the MoneyTree Report with PwC, highlighting VC-backed trends across the US. Internet was the top US sector in four of the past five quarters, leading in Q4’16 with 462 deals.

Technology takes over

I mentioned customized babies, but what about 3D-printed homes, interchangeable limbs, and lab-grown diamonds? We looked at a host of these “N+1” innovations and how technologies will evolve over the next 5-10 years to turn these seemingly “strange” ideas into realities. 

This made my day

So a few people at The Summit came up to me and said things like “It’s really interesting that you sold your Facebook stock and bought Amazon. What made you do that?”

I was perplexed for a second and then realized folks thought I was Chamath.

Wrong Indian.

Speaking of which

Chamath Palihapitiya of Social Capital spoke at our Innovation Summit, criticizing VCs on their unwillingness to invest in “hard things.” He stressed the importance of healthcare initiatives like oncology and diabetes therapeutics, as well as the challenges that arise developing a product fit for the market.

Going global

Overall global financing to VC-backed companies hit deal and dollar lows, with deals dropping below 2000 for the first time since Q4’13. Europe beat the global slowdown, with funding jumping 22% to $3B across 498 deals.

For your LPs

Dear VCs. You can forward this chart to your LPs. You’re welcome.

But not always so easy

Scott Kupor of a16z sat down for a conversation about the IPO market during our Innovation Summit, and said that for small companies with a $1-2-billion market cap, it has become very difficult to go public. He also dives into shifting investor focus and company decisions to stay private for a longer.

But if companies do decide to IPO, look out for the ones mentioned in our 2017 Tech IPO Pipeline report, highlighting tech’s 369 most highly-valued and high-momentum private companies.

Cali — what?

The most popular Netflix series by state.

(I do have some concerns about this data so if it’s wrong, please don’t yell at me)

What’s all the chatter?

Day Two of our Innovation Summit wrapped up today and panelists and speakers weighed in on everything from the failures in product design, to how data will and won’t change insurance, to why AI won’t be a cybersecurity silver bullet.

The Industry Standard

CB Insights data is the most trusted by those in the industry and the media. A few recent hits.

Fortune Term Sheet. Erin Griffith (@eringriffith) dives into venture data in her newsletter with a reference to the CB Insights and PwC 2016 MoneyTree Report.

Bloomberg. Sarah McBride (@mcbridesg) digs into the US venture industry and cites data from the CB Insights and PwC 2016 MoneyTree Report.

Reuters. Heather Somerville (@heathersomervil) reports on the dip in VC investment in 2016 and references the CB Insights and PwC 2016 MoneyTree Report.

Chicago Tribune. Amina Elahi (@aminamania) writes about funding and deal trends in the venture space in 2016 and refers to the CB Insights and PwC 2016 MoneyTree Report.

Love you always.

Anand
@asanwal

P.S. Do you like the future? Do you like finance? If the two had a baby, this would be the event where it was conceived.