PinnedMember-onlyThe Founder Behind Silicon Valley’s Most Important Failure, General MagicInterview with General Magic co-founder and visionary Marc Porat — “Every once in a while, a revolutionary product comes along that changes everything,” Steve Jobs excitedly announced at the iPhone launch in 2007. But few knew that two decades earlier Marc Porat had the very same idea and, with some of the best designers, engineers and marketers, he tried to…Technology44 min readTechnology44 min read
PinnedMember-onlyRony Abovitz: The Tech Visionary Behind Magic LeapMajor breakthroughs require commitment, time, and the resources to go the distance. — Rony Abovitz is a serial tech entrepreneur and visionary. He co-founded MAKO Surgical in 2004 — a robotics company specialising in manufacturing surgical robotic arm assistance technology utilised by hospitals worldwide. MAKO was acquired by Stryker Corporation in 2013 for $1.65 billion. Abovitz went on to found Magic Leap —…Innovation35 min readInnovation35 min read
PinnedMember-onlyThe Story of Shazam: The Startup Days“The number one determinant of entrepreneurial success is persistence. If you are not prepared to go to superhuman levels that are beyond rationality to realize your dream, then your chance of finding success is virtually zero.” Chris Barton The story of Shazam is one of pure innovation, foresight, and friendship…Startup48 min readStartup48 min read
Oct 1, 2022Member-onlyWhat is The Metaverse?“I always think it’s important that people understand what something is. And I’m really not sure the average person can tell you what the metaverse is.” Tim Cook, Apple This week, I wanted to try something different with the newsletter.* I wanted to theme it and I decided upon “The Metaverse” simply because I think it is hugely misunderstood and something we can dive deeper into, together. Whilst I don’t claim to be an expert in this area, I…Metaverse14 min readMetaverse14 min read
Jan 24, 2022Member-onlyLessons From Building a $1.5 Billion CompanyInterview with Lynda Weinman, co-founder of Lynda.com — Women In Tech22 min readWomen In Tech22 min read
Nov 12, 2021Member-onlyWWIII Already Exists But This Time It’s a Cultural War and It’s Happening on the InternetInterview with Riva-Melissa Tez — Riva-Melissa Tez is one of my favourite people on the internet. She studied Philosophy at UCL before digging deeper into technology and engineering, and starting the Berlin Singularity. She also co-founded Permutation Ventures — an early stage VC fund which focused on AI startups and, most recently, worked with Jim…Innovation8 min readInnovation8 min read
Oct 31, 2021Member-onlyFrom Cairo to MIT: How Rana el Kaliouby Overcame Adversity to Build a Multi-Million Dollar StartupRana el Kaliouby is co-founder and CEO of Affectiva, a software company that builds artificial intelligence that understands human emotions and cognitive states and activities by analyzing facial and vocal expressions. The company was spun out of the MIT Media Lab with Rana and professor Rosalind Picard as co-founders. A…Artificial Intelligence23 min readArtificial Intelligence23 min read
Oct 29, 2021Member-onlyThe Art of StorytellingAnd why founders should write more — Storytelling is our speciality. It’s the basis for everything we do as a species. Yuval Noah Harari In the Beginning As far back as I can recall, I have loved hearing people’s stories. Learning how interesting and successful people got to where they are; the paths they took, the challenges they faced, and…Startup9 min readStartup9 min read
Oct 22, 2021Member-onlyNo One Is Going To Steal Your IdeaTen years ago at our mobile apps studio, prospective clients were forever trying to get us to sign their NDAs. It was one of the most pointless exercises that got repeated, ad infinitum. So when founders ask me about it now, I always say: No one is going to steal your idea. So don’t be afraid to share it. It wasn’t until I interviewed Adam…Ideas7 min readIdeas7 min read
Oct 14, 2021Member-onlyFostering Innovation and Choosing the Right Founding TeamInterview with Avery Wang, Principal Research Scientist at Apple and Co-Founder and Chief Scientist, Shazam — The story of Shazam is a remarkable one. In 1999, Chris Barton dreamed of a seemingly impossible solution to ambient music recognition and gathered together a team to achieve it, including his friend Dhiraj Mukherjee, classmate Philip Inghelbrecht, and engineer Avery Wang. …Technology23 min readTechnology23 min read
