Tim Draper

I’m delighted to showcase a special guest blog from my Stanford colleague, Dr. Frederik G. Pferdt. Frederik is Google’s original Chief Innovation Evangelist, and just published his first book, “What’s Next Is Now.” *** Let’s face it: our minds are wired to crave certainty about the future. We scour the news, analyze trends, and even check our horoscopes—all in search of a glimpse into what’s coming next. But here’s the thing: that relentless hunt for predictions is a mistake! Why? Because the future isn’t something that happens to you. It’s something you actively shape. By obsessing over predictions, we become passive observers, waiting for the future to unfold. But what if we flipped the script? What if we stopped worrying about what might happen and started creating the future we want? I’m a future optimist because I believe in embracing the opportunities ahead rather than fearing uncertainty. The choices you make today are the building blocks of your future. The more intentional and varied your choices, the more opportunities you create for yourself. On the flip side, if you avoid stepping outside your comfort zone, someone else ends up making choices for you. Ever wonder how people find themselves in unfulfilling careers? It’s often because they stopped making intentional choices that could have led them down a different path. They become passengers in a car driven by fate, luck, or happenstance. But here’s the good news: You don’t have to be a passenger. You can be the driver. Imagination is your most powerful tool. By engaging with the possibilities of each moment, you start to see a different landscape for your future. (More insights at the link in comments below!)

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"Editors note: Welcome to issue #2 of Transcriptions. Today, we’d like to present a conversation between Qasar Younis of Applied Intuition, and Bilal Zuberi of Lux Capital. We discovered Qasar recently, and find his focus and clarity of thinking to be admirable. What follows is a lightly edited transcript of their talk, first held at the Paklaunch forum." Link to transcipt: https://lnkd.in/gH4uBmPE

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What do you do when a radical new technology puts your main product right in the crosshairs of disruption? Listen to David Okuniev — co-founder of Typeform | Ask awesomely — discuss the challenges of innovation within existing structures. David shared a game-changing insight: Radical innovation is really, really difficult to do inside your own product. He emphasized the need to break free from the constraints of familiarity and embrace change from outside the box. Henrik Werdelin and I have both seen our fair share of this in our respective careers. What struck us most was how David leveraged structure to overcome the innovator’s dilemma. By creating a culture of experimentation and providing space for bold ideas, he propelled Typeform beyond incremental improvements. What other hacks have you seen or employed to help your organization overcome the innovator’s dilemma? Share your stories below! 👇 And if you want to dive deeper into our conversation, click the link in the comments to catch the full podcast episode!

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This article could not come at a better time for me and my fund (Danta Fund ). After attending a recent Summit where I felt the industry of #startups and #vc has become too generalist and differentation is hard to find, I now know to include Danta Fund as (per the article below) a " Non-Consensus Alpha". 💪 It sounds pretentious, yes, but the description fits sooo well. Danta Fund is a specialized #agtech fund that provides #smartmoney to our founders. We are not only writing checks: we CONNECT, we MENTOR, we BUILD. 💥 As a recent colleague from another specialized Non-Consensus Alpha emerging fund told me (Andres Baehr from SAVIA Ventures ): we, specialized emerging funds need to find a way to thrive among the sea of VCs. It's like going back to when we were thinking about what to study in uni: -what am I great at? -what do I feel passionate about? -how can I make a difference in this world. #vc #truepassion #ikigai

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Well done, Frank. Would you consider posting these as articles on LInkedIn too? I lost access to Twitter (X) and have not been able to get any help from their support desk - I know a few others who have had the same experience. This is a topic Lisa Morales-Hellebo and I think about a lot as we build REFASHIOND Ventures: The Industrial Transformation Fund.

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