Host Harry Stebbings interviews Albert Wenger, a partner at Union Square Ventures (USV), on the "20 minutes VC" podcast. Wenger discusses his journey from operator to investor, detailing his prior roles and investments, including his time at Delicious and angel investments in companies like Etsy and Tumblr. He explains Carlota Perez's framework of technological adoption phases—installation and deployment—and USV's focus on investing during the deployment phase, where infrastructure enables new innovations. Wenger also advocates for a basic income guarantee to support societal transitions amid increasing automation and emphasizes the importance of contestable markets with low switching costs, facilitated by APIs. He highlights the significance of personal bots for individual agency in computation and shares his latest investment in Clue, a women's health app. Throughout the conversation, Wenger reflects on the social implications of network effects and the challenges of embracing new economic models.
"And joining me today from USV, I'm thrilled to welcome Albert Wenger, who's a partner at USV and prior to USV, Albert was the president of delicious through the company's sale to Yahoo and an angel investor at Etsy and Tumblr."
This quote introduces Albert Wenger, highlighting his role at USV and his previous experiences, setting the stage for his expertise in venture capital.
"I like to say because I love startups, but I'm a bad operator and I think that sort of captures the truth."
Albert explains his affinity for startups while acknowledging his weaknesses in daily operational roles, which led him to venture capital.
"And so when Brad and Fred had started Union Square Ventures, they started in 2003 to fundraise and they launched the fund in 2004."
This quote gives a brief history of USV's inception and Albert's early connection with the founders, which led to his eventual partnership.
"Carlota is a professor of economics and economic history, and she's really studied the history of how technologies enter a market."
Albert introduces Carlota Perez's work, which is a framework that USV uses to understand technology market entry and informs their investment strategy.### Investment Phases: Installation vs. Deployment
"And so I would say the bulk of our investing tends to be in the deployment phase, which is the phase of all the things that become possible once you have the infrastructure of the new technology installed."
This quote explains the firm's preference for investing during the deployment phase, where the infrastructure is already in place, allowing for a broader range of investment opportunities and applications.
"We as a firm, like to invest more in situations where we think that there is sort of a longer term perspective."
This quote highlights the firm's strategy to focus on investments that offer a longer-term perspective rather than short-term speculative opportunities, aiming for sustainability and steady growth.
"We know very well that monopolists are near, monopolists tend to not behave particularly well because they are not checked by competition."
This quote reflects the concern that monopolistic companies may not act in the best interest of innovation or consumers due to a lack of competitive checks, which can be a downside of strong network effects.
"Yeah, so one of the key importance in making a market more contestable is to reduce switching cost."
This quote emphasizes the importance of reducing switching costs to create a contestable market, which can foster innovation and prevent market dominance by a few large players.## Contestable Markets and APIs
"market that has a few number of participants, but has low barriers to entry at low switching costs is a contestable market, meaning there is a limit that the potential new interests are putting on the behavior of the incumbent."
This quote defines a contestable market and highlights the competitive pressure new entrants can exert on existing players due to low entry and exit barriers.
"And APIs would seem to be very critical to that."
APIs are identified as key to maintaining contestability in markets, allowing new entrants to integrate and compete more effectively.
"we've actually made markets less contestable rather than more contestable."
This statement criticizes current laws for hindering the development of personal APIs, which would otherwise promote market contestability.
"I believe is what's necessary to make people free economic actors in the labor market."
The quote emphasizes the role of basic income in providing individuals the freedom to operate within the labor market without the constraints of basic survival needs.
"It doesn't at all rule out people earning more money."
This clarifies that basic income is not a ceiling but a foundation, allowing people the opportunity to earn additional income.
"the biggest challenge to getting to a basic income is purely an intellectual and cultural challenge."
The statement acknowledges the significant societal shift required to embrace basic income, requiring a reevaluation and unlearning of entrenched economic beliefs.
"Maynard Keynes in 1930, though, said we'd work 15 hours a week."
This quote references Keynes's prediction about reduced work hours due to technological advances, which has not come to pass.
"We will never run out of things to do. We'll never run out of things that we will pursue passionately."
The speaker distinguishes between the inexhaustible nature of human pursuits and the economic reality of earning a living from those pursuits.
"one just has to really clearly mentally separate those two things."
This statement underscores the importance of differentiating between personal passions and economically viable work in the context of automation.
(Note: The transcript provided does not contain the complete thoughts or statements about personal bots and representation, therefore, no quotes or detailed explanations can be provided for this theme.)## Importance of Individual Control in Computation
"The question is, what do we as individuals control that really acts on our behalf?"
This quote emphasizes the concern over individual agency and control in the digital space, particularly regarding computational resources and personal devices.
"I think in order to shift the balance of power back towards, or some of it anyhow, back to the edge, we need to figure out how to give each and every one of us compute that we control."
The speaker is advocating for a shift in the power balance towards individual users by giving them control over their computational resources, enhancing personal agency and power.
"It goes back to the element of contestability."
This quote ties the earlier discussion on individual control over computation to the broader principle of contestability in systems and markets.
"Because it challenges everything you think you know about science and the scientific process and method."
This quote explains the speaker's fascination with the book, highlighting its impact on challenging and expanding the reader's understanding of science.
"The view behind it is that I believe we're at the beginning of a transition that's as important as when we went from the agrarian age to the industrial age."
This quote summarizes the central thesis of the speaker's book, positioning the current technological and societal shift as a pivotal historical transition.
"I think the best board member is somebody who can help the team be the best team that it can be."
This quote outlines the speaker's belief in the primary role of a board member, which is to enhance the overall effectiveness of the company's leadership and team.
"I'm a big fan right now of Azeem's exponential View newsletter, which is sort of collecting the latest and greatest on all things kind of machine learning and artificial intelligence."
This quote reveals the speaker's interest in staying updated with the latest developments in AI and machine learning through a specific newsletter that they find particularly informative.
"I have learned a ton from my partners here at Union Square Ventures about how to be an investor."
This quote acknowledges the speaker's mentors and their significant influence on the speaker's development as an investor.
"In a company called Clue based in Berlin, an app that lets women track their health and their fertility, and said yes because there are more women in the world who will have smartphones than have access to traditional birth control."
This quote explains the speaker's decision to invest in Clue, highlighting the app's potential to provide accessible health education and services to women worldwide.
"It really was so fantastic for me to have him on and you must check out his blog@continuations.com likewise the link for his book world after Capital."
This quote from the host serves as an endorsement for the guest's blog and book, inviting the audience to engage with the guest's work.
"So check them out on designcrowd.com vc and enter the promo code vc 100 for an incredible $100 off."
The host provides a specific call to action for the audience to use DesignCrowd's services with a promotional discount, highlighting the host's partnership with the company.