Digest #65 | Future of Sex, Ideas to fund in Web3, Quantum Deep-Dive & more

Feb 28th – Mar 6th | Insights from AfterWork, Electric Capital, Menlo, TCG Crypto, and others

Hi Everyone,

We wanted to start this week’s newsletter off with 2 resources shared by others in the VC community to support those in Ukraine. Packy McCormick compiled a number of ways to contribute and support in his post this week. Additionally, Alex Iskold of 2048 VC launched the 1k Project to support families impacted by the crisis in Ukraine. You can learn more about the initiative here.

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Investment Themes, Theses, & Outlooks

• The Future of Sex (Annabel Acton, Director @ AfterWork)

• Announcing Our $1 Billion Raise & Ideas We Are Looking to Fund (Electric Capital Team)

• A Deeper Dive into Near-Term Quantum & Applications in Drug Discovery (Nicole Ruiz, VC @ Compound)

• Web3 x Commerce (Erik de Stefanis, Partner @ Interlace)

• SaaS → Freemium OS: a new wedge for financial services (A16Z Team)

• BNPL for Businesses (Corinne Riley & Sarah Guo, Greylock)

• Security Themes for 2022 and Beyond (Daniel Daya & René Bonvanie, Battery Ventures)

Industry Developments & Analyses

• The Clean Energy Transition, A Guide (Tsung Xu, ex-Uber Eats)

• Web3’s Mobile Moment (Gaby Goldberg, VC @ TCG Crypto)

• The parallels between sneaker culture and Web3 (Manan Modi, Angel Squad @ Hustle Fund)

• New Alpaca Field Study: EV, Parking & Mobility Tech (Daniel Fetner, GP @ Alpaca)

• Stuck In The Middle No More: How German Mittelstand Companies Can Break Out And Go Global (Morad Elhafed, GP @ Battery)

• A Journey Through 100 Influencer & Creator Startups — Part 3: The How (Nicole Quinn, GP @ Lightspeed)

Guides, Case Studies, and Best Practices for Operating

• Ask a Seed VC: Should I approach seed investors for pre-seed funding? (Anthony Ha & Claire Rafson, Eniac)

• Array Bytes: Pitch Deck Insights (Shruti Gandhi, GP @ Array)

• 10 insights to guide product managers, CEOs and founders (Grace Ge, Principal @ Menlo)

Additional Reads

• What is a "Moat" and why does it matter? (Rick Zullo, GP @ Equal)

• How to Find a Job as a VC Scout: Compensation and Which Firms Are Recruiting (David Teten, Partner @ Versatile VC)

• War (Mike Solana, VP @ Founders Fund)

• What do your VCs care about and does it matter? (Charlie O'Donnell, GP @ Brooklyn Bridge Ventures)

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