Afterthoughts - Issue #8

Mar 21, 2020

With Governor Newsom's "shelter-in-place" mandate, I've been forced to find new ways to get my coffee shop fix. Thankfully my son Leo is learning to be a barista and make the perfect cappuccino. It's important to find creative outlets as we all spend considerably more time together under one roof!

I also believe this crisis is an important time to give back. Two groups I've been drawn too are Austin-based Just and their $1M loan fund targeting female entrepreneurs, many of them single parents, who have found themselves out of their cleaning jobs or kitchen staff positions. The second is the Southern Smoke Fund which provides relief to restaurant and beverage workers in crisis. Austinites can find more ways to support local restaurants, here.

Words of Wisdom

"You will never fully convince someone that he is wrong. Only reality can." - Nassim Taleb

Coronavirus Coverage 🦠

The First U.S. Company Has Announced an Upcoming Home COVID-19 Test. We are honored that one of our seed stage investments, Everlywell, is going to be the first to market with an at-home COVID-19 test kit which launches Monday. It's amazing to see public-private partnerships as we all come together to fight this new virus! Julia Cheek and team have been working 24/7 to get this test kit out to the public. | read more

GOOD NEWS ABOUT THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC. How about some good news for a change? There have been A LOT of facts going around regarding COVID-19, and a flurry of “positive news” items to lift our spirits. Here are a number of major victories from the Pandemic line. Peter Diamandis had his team fact-check these wins with links you can follow up on. | read more

Home Emergency Preparedness. Yinon Weiss (a fellow NextGen portfolio founder) shares some practical tips on emergency preparedness for a variety of probable future calamities. We should all have basic provisions in place and I'd trust Yinon -- his qualifications include combat deployments in the Marine Corps, the Army Special Forces, attending the military’s most rigorous survival training program in addition to survival training in desert, jungle, and urban environments. | read more

Interesting Readings 👨🏻‍💻

Business History Crossword Puzzle. Stuck at home? With no sports on TV, fewer restaurants to patronize, and less interest in political coverage, why not try your hand at this business history crossword puzzle. | link here

The world’s most powerful corporation. It was the most powerful multinational corporation the world had ever seen. Founded in 1600, the English East India Company’s power stretched across the globe from Cape Horn to China. Imagine a company with the influence of Google or Amazon, granted a state-sanctioned monopoly and the right to levy taxes abroad – and with MI6 and the army at its disposal. | read more

At What Age Can a Child Be Left Home Alone? As a new(er) parent, I've always wondered when I can leave our children home alone. We now have the answer and it's older than I thought... | read more

How the Horrific 1918 Flu Spread Across America. The toll of history’s worst epidemic surpasses all the military deaths in World War I and World War II combined. And it may have begun in the United States. | read more

Oh Austin 🤠

77-year-old movie captures the sights of a bygone Austin. In this three minute video we witness scenes of an Austin skyline from a time when the State Capitol dominated the landscape and only a few buildings were more than 10 stories tall. The funny thing is it doesn't look all that different from today! | watch here

What I'm Listening to 🎧

Invest Like the Best - Dan Rasmussen: Investing Through a Crisis. Just a month before the COVID crisis hit markets, Dan and his team completed and published a study on investing during periods of market crisis, which is the topic of this conversation. Patrick and Dan discuss what works and what doesn’t during and after acute periods of panic in markets. I think you’ll find it extremely informative. | listen here

Afterthoughts