In another era I would have been put out to pasture or left behind by my tribe.
Today, I have a career I love and people on the world wide web think I’m a somebody. My kids read this blog!
I am amazed that the stars are aligning even better for me these days. I am willing to head to pasture but this damn internet keeps dragging me back in.
If I could work on/participate in just three areas over the next 20 years it would be Web 3.0, biking and golf and all three are in growth mode.
Web 2.0 was very good to me. During the early early web 2.0 era I also was fortunate to invest in Golfnow.com. It was a very early web 2.0 winner that is still a dominant tee time consumer product owned by Comcast (boo). When I made the Golfnow investment it was poo poo’d by all the venture capitalists because the TAM (Total Addressable Market) was too small. It probably was/is, but a win is a win. Today, golf has a Covid tailwind, interesting characters on the Tour, and cool fashion. I think participation rates stay up because YouTube and Instagram are making the game more playable. I know many people who have honed their swings from off-course YouTube instruction. I plan to make an investment or two in the sector, TAM be damned.
As for cycling, Social Leverage recently made its first investment, but I expect to make a couple more. Personally, Tom, Gary and I invested in a very cool helmet company out of London and I can’t wait to see the product in the wild. I think the TAM of cycling will continue to explode with the COVID tailwind, but technology and new business models are rapidly working their magic as well. Have a look at ‘DANCE‘ from the founders of Soundcloud, out of Berlin. Fred has the details. I really like my odds when Fred and I see eye to eye.
As for this Web 3.0, I don’t fully get it, but I have been extremely fortunate with my dabbling on the investing side.
Chris Dixon says it is still early. If Chris says so…quit whining and worrying and get in the game.
Here is Chris’s latest Web 3.0 thread.
The A16z team also put together a web 3.0 startup school with free lectures and discussions.