Envision: January 2018

Few milestones are more refreshing than the beginning of a new year. We had a wonderful 2017, and now we’re looking forward to the  fun of focusing on investing for fund 1.

 

January 16, 2018 Volume 11
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Welcome to 2018!
Welcome to 2018!

Few milestones are more refreshing than the beginning of a new year. We had a wonderful 2017, and now we’re looking forward to the fun of focusing on investing for fund 1. We completed an addition of a fourth investment at the very end of December.

In this issue, we focus on issues surrounding managing a company. We are often asked for recommendations on books about management. We recommend three-

  • The Hard Thing About Hard Things, by Ben Horowitz
  • Extreme Ownership, by Jocko Willink and Leif Babben
  • The Everything Store, by Brad Stone (one of Dave’s favorites)

We chose these because each illustrates a particular skill needed to run a company. In order of the recommendations, these include management basics, the power of purpose and determination and the power of data analytics — the basis of our competitive edge. Enjoy!

Dave & Mark

Where are we now? The US economy seems to be running faster as we enter the New Year. The backdrop is set for a not-too-hot and not-too-cold US economy. From an economic perspective, the world seems to be just right. Geopolitical risks are concerning, but at least they’re well known.

I founded Bison, the go-to resource for private fund investments, motivated by a need to solve a problem for institutional investors. I was clear about my mission to create the best source of information for the institutional investing industry. My mission sustained me through tough times in the early days (and beyond).

When I was a CMO at a large financial services company, I learned how hard it is to gain and maintain insight into customers. The challenge: Find meaningful signals in transaction data to remind customers they made a smart choice doing business with you, and empowering a new conversation to expand the relationship.

Portfolio Updates

Vestmark In The News- How Banks Are Taking the Lead in Robo Advisor Technology

Banks are traditionally stodgy institutions built on creaky, old infrastructure and usually being the last ones to adopt new technologies. This has been true regarding robo-advisors and digital advice platforms, where broker-dealers and RIA’s have taken the lead over the past few years.

Cogo Labs-Fun Update On Summer Interns Start-up Experience

An interview with our summer interns, describing their experience building startups from scratch in the Cogo Labs summer internship program

Interesting News

Why Companies Don’t Respond to Digital Disruption

Many executives don’t recognize the threat posed by failing to respond to digital disruption.

Try really hard, and then stop, recover, and repeat.

7 Ways a Tech Startup Is Like Starting a Band

Building a successful tech startup and putting together a band are more similar than most entrepreneurs and musicians would like to admit.

They personalize instruction to help their employees soar.

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