Albert Wenger | Union Square Ventures | Page 49 of 170

Updates by Albert Wenger

Mar 16, 2017

OK, so technically it is Thursday but as it turns out I had kind of an epic day yesterday and so Uncertainty Wednesday is a day late (thus introducing some uncertainty about when you will get your next dose of ...

Mar 13, 2017

This past Saturday, Susan and Oliver from Ziggeo organized the third New York City Videohackday. Turnout was terrific with over 100 participants and 18 teams submitting a project. The format of a one-day event works well and appears to attract ...

Mar 10, 2017

With the release by Wikileaks of the so-called Vault 7 CIA Hacking tools, the debate has once again turned to the effectiveness and role of encryption. As Zeynep Tufekci (you should absolutely follow her on Twitter) rightly points out, this ...

Mar 8, 2017

Last week in Uncertainty Wednesday, I introduced the example of the PSA test for prostate cancer. I provided all the probabilities for elementary events assuming a 50-year old male. We then did some simple addition to figure out the probability ...

Mar 1, 2017

After a 2 week hiatus for travel here is another Uncertainty Wednesday. After going through probability I had promised a concrete example. As a 50 year old male one that is close to home is prostate cancer. The system in ...

Feb 27, 2017

Last night we got back from an epic ski trip to Hokkaido, Japan. Going there as a family was my 50th birthday wish and something I had been looking forward to for several years. I am thrilled to say it ...

Feb 15, 2017

Even back when I was in graduate school, I found the price of textbooks to be high and their quality to vary widely. Now that I have children taking college courses, I was shocked to find textbooks that cost over $200 and are still large physical objects that have to be lugged around! The high prices and lack of innovation are the result of a market structure which has become highly concentrated among just a few textbook publishers. That's why I am excited to announce that USV has led a new round of financing for Toronto-based Top Hat, which last year launched a content marketplace for higher education. Read more

Feb 15, 2017

Apologies to all those who were anticipating an Uncertainty Wednesday post today. I am taking a two week hiatus. Today for announcing our investment in Top Hat and next week I will be out skiing. Will resume the week after ...

Feb 13, 2017

One of my favorite questions to ask business students is why companies require external financial capital (equity or debt). Answers tend to turn quickly towards some need to invest, e.g. in developing software or building a plant. But that doesn’t ...