“Do you know where we are?” asked Milo.

“Certainly,” he replied, “we’re right here on this very spot. Besides, being lost is never a matter of not knowing where you are; it's a matter of not knowing where you aren't – and I don’t care at all about where I’m not."

Areas of Interest (v2)

Just under a year into my existence in the world of startups and venture capital I wrote a post on my areas of interest. Almost a year later, my perspective has just about completely changed. First, lessons learned:

  1. There’s a ton I don’t know, and learning it is hard (if you don’t care). Gaining experience is a gradual process, and it’s best to start with what you know, then to jump to the tangential unknown. And focusing on what you genuinely care about is super important - it makes it so much easier and worthwhile.
  2. You’re most useful to startups if you stick to what you know. I could write essays on this, but basically: the more you know > the more value you can add > the more involved you can be > the more you will learn > repeat.

Currently my kaleidoscope of interest in the startup space looks pretty much like the above. Underlying everything are three interconnected macro trends: mobile-first, the social layer, and data availability. These three trends are pretty obvious at this point: 

  1. With mobile phone ubiquity (5 billion worldwide) and unlimited extensibility (thanks to iOS and Android), developers are often building new applications for mobile use first.
  2. Thanks in large part to open APIs and people’s desire to stalk each other, everything now either has or is capable of having a ‘social layer’ built in.
  3. More data is created every 2 days than in the entire history of the world up to 2003, and that data is now more accessible than ever.

These three macro trends have created a really cool set of positive externalities everywhere. Three that I care about are:

  • Education / Knowledge. New ways to teach, learn, and share ideas are now possible, including mobile education games (that are actually fun), deep linked interactive books, and an ability to use data to analyze what works and what doesn’t.
  • Developing Countries. M-Pesa, a mobile payment company, has roughly 10 million subscribers in Kenya - 40% of the adult population. These trends, combined with startups like FrontlineSMS, are creating huge opportunities for innovation.
  • Filtration / Curation. In short, with all this new data availability, there are tons of opportunities to better track, analyze, and use all sorts of new datasets to improve our lives.

comments. 3 notes.

Juventas Fugit  is designed and written by Justin Wohlstadter, who, when not writing in the third person, can be found in a coffee shop talking about startups, thinking about the future of education, and generally procrastinating something important.

  • Passions: startups that positively affect the world, education innovation, good design, learning, and meeting those with an equally insatiable curiosity.
  • Play: director of product design at Enterproid and partner at BOLDstart Ventures.
  • Previously: built the early-stage venture arm of Penny Black. And many other crazy, less successful ventures involving fire extinguishers, measuring philanthropic impact, and creative spaces.
  • Pedantry: most of the important stuff I taught myself or learned from friends, but I’m fortunate to have (barely received) degrees from Harvard and Oxford. At Oxford I wrote my dissertation on how internet innovation will disrupt access to higher education.
  • Procrastination: can be found on Twitter, Linkedin, AngelList and other web spaces, and be reached via email at my first name at this domain.
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