Plato, tech giants, and start-ups have a secret recipe in common
If I asked you, what you think, ancient Greek philosophy and modern innovation practice have in common, you would probably answer not a lot, if anything. But you would be surprised. The most successful methodologies applied...
Why We Invested In Decoded Health aka “A Medical Resident In Your Pocket”
In January we invested in Decoded Health as part of their $4.5M seed led by Sierra Ventures. Tau Ventures is an AI-first fund in Silicon Valley investing primarily in seed but we occasionally take...
Synthetic Biology — Golden Land Of Startups?
Synthetic biology is the branch of biotech that is about creating new biological parts from scratch or from templates in nature. It is often about genes or proteins that can be used in research...
Optimism is a double edge sword
Let’s agree, there is a thin line between reality and hallucination. To be an entrepreneur, you need to be delusional, and small lies are essential to progress in an environment that lacks hard evidence. Sometimes...
Synthetic Equity — Pros > Cons For Startups?
In the US, limited liability corporations (LLCs) are a recent phenomenon -- Wyoming pioneered them in 1977, the IRS issued comprehensive rules around their taxation in 1988, and by 1996 all 50 states had...
Is Silicon Valley Dying? No And Why It Still Makes Sense For Entrepreneurs
There are these headlines: Aug 26, 2020: Palantir’s Bay Area move makes Denver the city to watch amid Silicon Valley’s exodus Dec 1, 2020: Hewlett Packard Enterprise moving headquarters from Silicon Valley Dec 12, 2020: Oracle to...
Disaggregation of the Hospital – A Counterintuitive Opportunity for Startups?
Tau Ventures is a seed-focused fund investing in applied AI in digital health, enterprise and automation (cars, robots). We think a lot about where healthcare is going and one of the biggest trends we...
To PR Or Not To PR? 5 Key Questions For Startups
Wired published a thought-provoking opinion article in 2015 comparing the news cycle around startups to a 12-hr clock. Indeed, tech in general and Silicon Valley in particular has received significant criticism over the years...
Early-stage is not about speed
I’ve long been wanting to write about speed. I am developing my 4th startup in solo mode, and I cannot go fast :-). Is it an issue? A common perception is that speed is what...
Pivoting Your Startup? 4 Ways To Do It Right
1) Cash In Reserve -- At the early stage, especially seed, chances are you will keep pivoting till finding product-market fit. At Tau Ventures we advise entrepreneurs with four main principles: to start fundraising...
Nitty-Gritty Details Will Make (or Kill) Your Valuations. Here’s Why.
Genius is in the details that other people skim. Answer me honestly. When’s the last time you bothered to read beyond the first line of a Terms and Conditions agreement or take the time to...
Why We Invested In FidoCure aka How Tech Can Help Save Dogs (And Eventually...
In October FidoCure, also known as One Health Company, announced a $10M series A led by Polaris Ventures and we increased our position given our continued excitement. Tau Ventures, an AI-first seed fund in...
Fundraising is badly misunderstood
If there is one thing that most startups misunderstand entirely, that’s probably fundraising. Thus, they create their own mental image of what needs to be done to raise money successfully. After interacting with more...
Replacing Your VC? 5 Principles For Entrepreneurs
At Tau Ventures we advise all entrepreneurs to look upon the diligence process during a fundraising round as a two-way street. We believe it is not only an opportunity but a duty of the...
Offshoring? 5 Key Principles For Startups
At Tau Ventures we have invested in startups that are fully in the US, where the CEO is in the US and the rest of the team offshore, and everything in between. For us...
Innovation in Nature: a life history strategy approach to change your business
It’s time to ask nature how to keep pace with the change. Amplified by the pandemic, the digital dare is creating new winners and losers as we speak. From reimagining our lives to reassessing...
The Biden Presidency – 5 Key Changes We Can Expect For Startups
This is NOT an article to debate politics and any inappropriate comment will be removed. Instead, this is a data-driven background on five of the key stated / expected policies of President-elect of the...
Raising A Startup Round? How And When To Share Fundraising Updates
How long does it take to raise capital? Why am I not getting term sheets when other companies are? Is that investor really interested? These are among the most common questions entrepreneurs ask themselves and VCs. Rounds...
Can Startups Disrupt Medical Errors?
Primum non nocere -- Latin for “first, do no harm” has been enshrined by the medical practice since the times of the Hippocratic Oath. Unfortunately erring is part of the human condition and despite...
SPVs and SPACs — A Straightforward Guide For Entrepreneurs
Have an investor wanting to do a SPV? Wondering what is all this talk of SPACs? This post is focused on entrepreneurs looking to learn more. 1) Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) -- Also sometimes called...