PORTFOLIO OF WORK
Experts: Housing crisis is increasing generational wealth gap — Harris' plan could have a big impact
Vice President Kamala Harris last month announced an ambitious plan to construct 3 million new housing units over the next four years. The proposal, which she made one of the key issues of her presidential campaign, aims to address the severe housing shortage that has pushed homeownership out of reach for millions of Americans and exacerbated the generational wealth gap.
What’s holding back America’s blue economy?
The blue economy is simultaneously one of the oldest and newest markets on earth.
Throughout history, great powers have used the oceans to extract natural resources, conquer new lands, and trade goods. The oceans have also played a critical role in cooling the planet, making it habitable despite the accelerating pace of global carbon emissions...
The Fertility Sector Braces for a Recession
As social distancing becomes the norm and hospitals across the country are overwhelmed with coronavirus cases, a stark, anxious reality is sinking in for thousands of Americans hoping to have a family someday, as well as companies whose business models often rely on smart time management for aspiring parents.
Will the future of meat be animal, vegetable, or lab-born?
The growth of the plant-based meat sector started to take hold a decade back. Thanks to rapidly increasing sales, even traditional meat companies—those of the animal protein world—want in on the game. But as the sector matures, many people are beginning to ask tougher questions about the long-term potential of the trend, the nutritional value of the products, and whether faux meat production can really help reduce the harm traditional meat production causes the environment.
There are still more questions than answers about the costs of coronavirus testing
As COVID-19 testing is poised to ramp up following the federal government’s recent measures and the rollout of a range of private initiatives, there are still more questions than answers about who will be able to access these tests, who will pay for them or any potential treatment, and how successful these measures will be in deterring the spread of the coronavirus across all parts of American society.
First Generation Money
More than half a century ago, my grandmother Vera arrived at a university in southern Russia with a suitcase of pirozhki, the ultimate Russian comfort food of baked buns. Her parents didn’t have much to offer in terms of financial support. But they believed that a college degree was the key to a better life—for their daughter and for their family.
Top 10 Impact Investing Trends for 2020
Key Takeaway: We enter the new decade full of promise for innovation and discoveries in healthcare, financial services and clean energy. Here are some of the top trends that impact investors should watch. 1. Financial Inclusion With big tech companies including Facebook and Twitter looking at the financial inclusion space, central banks are also waking […]
Not Done Yet: Still Work to Do on Gender Parity in VC in 2020
TAKEAWAY: While we may be lulled into thinking that an age of gender parity is upon us, the work is just beginning. Earlier this month, I saw something I’ve never encountered before in years of attending startup events: three out of four founders pitching their startups at the Food Future Co. demo day in New […]
The 2020s Will Be the Decade of Tech Reckoning
There’s no shortage of media pundits this time of year gazing at their crystal balls to divine what the next decade will bring, but the reality is that nobody can predict what technology and innovation will look like at the end of the 2020s. Earlier this year, I saw Ann Rosenberg, senior vice president and […]
Space Tomatoes and Air-Based Meat: Startups Looking to Conquer Agriculture Off Earth
A growing number of startups are working on developing agriculture technology that may feed people in space while helping protect the environment. If you’re having a flashback of Matt Damon fertilizing soil and growing potatoes in his garden on Mars as he does in the 2015 film The Martian, the emerging technologies and business plans […]
The Promise and Limits of SDGs as Guidelines for the Impact Investing
When every government in the world and a kaleidoscope of private stakeholders negotiated the Sustainable Development Goals in 2015, they had no idea the impact investing industry would embrace and run with them as the go-to investment principles for social impact. “As diplomats, you never thought that it would be such a big driver for […]
Space Tourism Calling: Thousands Are Ready to Board Virgin Galactic
Virgin Galactic, the first and still the only space tech company to go public, disclosed results for the third quarter this week.
It reported $80 million in deposits and $120 million in potential revenue, and founder Richard Branson promised investors to be profitable by 2021.
Virgin Galactic needed 15 years since its founding to get to this point and now commercial space travel may be finally in reach “within a year,” he said.
This CEO Wants to Make Geothermal Energy Affordable for Mass Market (CEO Profile)
Sound Businesses: Profiles of companies and business models we are keeping an eye on. Dandelion Energy, Inc., a spin out from Alphabet’s secretive research facility X, has only been around for a couple of years. But the New York city-based startup has bold plans: it wants to make geothermal energy affordable and accessible for a […]
How Microsoft has (so far) avoided tough scrutiny over privacy issues
The “original gangster of big tech” has managed to dodge the bad headlines and congressional grilling that have ensnared its rivals by working with regulators and advocating its own solutions.
Alice In Putin’s Wonderland: How Russia’s AI Assistant Compares To Siri And Alexa
The assistant, launched by a company with ties to the Kremlin, is exploding in growth and is not encumbered by any privacy or regulatory concerns.
Jailed Russian: Here’s How I Hacked The U.S. Election
From a cell in a high-security prison outside Moscow, Konstantin Kozlovsky reveals more about the software he claims disrupted the 2016 election.