NVTC Newsletter No. 17
Happy Tech Tuesday everyone, and happy holidays! For those new here, welcome to the NVTC weekly newsletter. Here you’ll find recent updates from the tech world, insightful articles related to startups, and highlights from NV portfolio companies. With the end of the year quickly approaching, this week’s newsletter explores 2022 in review as well as a little glance into the looking glass for 2023.
THIS WEEK’S FEATURES ⚡
⭐ Seeing Red – Product delays at Apple and Google’s arch nemesis.
⭐ Tough Love from 2022 – How to innovate amid uncertainty and perspectives on some of 2022’s brightest innovations.
⭐ A Future Forecast – What to keep in mind heading into 2023.
🔥 Who Made the Roster? – Companies NV welcomed to its portfolio in 2022.
NV Portfolio Highlight 🎢
Although it’s undeniable that dental, vision, and medical coverage is important, it’s time to add a fourth pillar to the classic benefits package: mental health. This is a sentiment echoed by Modern Health, which offers a unique perspective for its members by showing how improvements to their mental health can lead to improvements in their physical health. This connection between physical and mental health is seldom represented in care models today.
Modern Health aims to be a one-stop shop for mental health, supporting organizations looking to better meet their employees’ needs. Its platform offers access to self-service wellness kits in addition to an expansive network of coaches and therapists. Members can manage all aspects of their mental health journey from one app.
In the short time since its founding in 2017, Modern Health has experienced rapid growth. In 2021, the company reached unicorn status and received a valuation of $1.17 billion after its Series D round in February. This round placed Modern Health among the most highly valued startups in digital mental health. If you want to be a part of this valiant mission, you can view their open job postings here.
Good Reads 📖
What We Learned This Week
The supply chain can’t catch a break. Early this month, the Chinese Communist Party dropped its zero-COVID policy, sparking a massive outbreak of the virus across the country. With millions of people falling sick, big tech companies operating out of mainland China are facing a major disruption. Apple is one big-name business most likely to feel the effects of what’s forecasted to be a months-long supply chain issue.
The new wave of chat bots like ChatGPT begs an existential question: what will happen to search engines? When people can receive information in neatly packaged sentences, it no longer makes sense to sift through hundreds of articles. In fact, Google’s management declared a “code red” in response to ChatGPT’s release, which is already positioning itself as a strong competitor.
What We Learned In 2022
Between economic uncertainty, political unrest, and environmental catastrophe, 2022 was a learning lesson for all. How do managers in the tech world keep momentum going in uncertain times? According to Harvard Business Review, the recipe for success includes five key ingredients: strategic digital investment, talent retention in a volatile job market, prioritization of sustainability, cybersecurity, and responsible investment in emerging technologies.
Kaley’s Comment: The article dances around an interesting point. How can companies take advantage of new opportunities that arise over the next year, which inherently present some risk, in a grossly risk-averse environment? The answer is easy-peasy: products and services need to be agile enough to react. This is where companies must lean into IT solutions for monitoring data and finances and embrace emerging tech.
MIT Technology Review asked its writers and editors to choose the stories that stood out most from 2022, and each read is just as good as the next. The list touches on a range of topics from psychedelic-like VR experiences to technology for speaking to dead relatives. If you missed any of the high points from 2022, this is a great and entertaining way to refresh.
What’s In Store For 2023
I doubt anyone playing the prediction game for 2022 won any bets, but there’s always next year. The Verge published an interesting opinion piece on what the tech world might look like in 2023. In The Verge’s vision, Twitter has been replaced, many crypto startups are ten feet underground, and Substack is overrun with ads. A recurring theme was how unsettled social media is right now and how that might unfold in the coming year.
Kaley’s Comment: Do you agree or disagree with The Verge’s predictions? What would you add to the list?
Given the impending recession, companies are tightening IT spending and brainstorming creative measures to drive sales in a down market. 2023 will see more of this push and pull between companies stretching their budgets for advanced sales tools, including data analytics and AI, and companies hunkering down for a sales winter. Companies will spend money to “recession-proof” their businesses, prioritizing features that promise long-term resilience.
Startup Showcase 🔥
The Mission: Build a unified API that helps low-income Americans buy online groceries. It’s Stripe, but for Electronic Benefits Transfer.
High Points: Forage is YCombinator-backed and was featured in Forbes as an Editors’ Pick in fintech. It completed a $22 million Series A round in August.
The Mission: Bring the brave new world of surgical robots to dentistry and empower dentists to provide optimal care using robotics.
High Points: Cyberdontics is YCombinator-backed and raised a $15 million Series A round in October for additional R&D.
The Mission: Provide a platform for professionals with access to advice and support, whether it be for developing one’s career or switching careers entirely. It links users to a community of career experts as well as extensive resources to reskill.
High Points: Career Karma is YCombinator-backed and raised a $40 million Series B round at the beginning of this year.
The Mission: Reimagine structural metal production by removing mining from the equation, instead producing magnesium from seawater at both a low monetary and low carbon cost.
High Points: Founded in March of this year, Magrathea raised $2 million in its first round of financing.
The Mission: Improve end-of-life care by leveraging technology without sacrificing the personal touches.
High Points: Based on the founder’s own experience with the hospice journey, the company is launching in Texas soon.
Mental
The Mission: Science-backed approach to help people be their most energized, disciplined, and motivated self.
High Points: The team is made up of ex-Calm executives, a Stanford PhD Neuroscientist, researchers and clinical psychologists, and the most decorated American athlete in the Winter Olympics. Launching in 2023!
Twitter Highlight 📈
Andrew Gazdecki is a serial CEO and founder and skilled writer for Forbes, Entrepreneur, and Bootstrappers.com. This past week, Gazdecki sent out the following nugget of wisdom:
What I liked more about this tweet was the comment it provoked:
It all comes back to the commonly expressed idea that the best founders are flexible when need be. If at first you don’t succeed, pivot, pivot, pivot.
OUTRO
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