When Angela Merkel, Mark Zuckerberg or members of the World Economic Forum want to understand how the technology of the present is shaping the future, they consult Yuval Noah Harari. Harari’s influence is deserved: An Oxford-educated historian based in his (and my) native Israel, his books integrate history, philosophy, theology, neuroscience, ethology, computer science, film criticism and meditation.

Harari is a thoughtful generalist who makes insightful connections between disparate subjects. …

The experts predicted it. They’ve been trying to alert the rest, but few pay them any mind. It’s now affecting aspects of our lives that we never anticipated: healthcare, education, employment, and even national security. We hear that our lives will never be the same, but how many really believe what they’re being told … or can even understand what’s happening?

Is this another piece about the coronavirus pandemic? Hardly. I’m talking about artificial intelligence: the big AI. Many still discuss AI as prophecy, something “New Age”. …

2020 released unprecedented black swans responsible for the deepest global market crash we’ve seen in a century. With an unavoidable recession in the cards, what can we expect in the coming months? How quickly can markets, societies, and small businesses recover? Can they at all?

The past decade was successful overall, showcasing phenomenal four-times S&P growth and close to seven-times Nasdaq growth. After crashing in March 2009, both rose in the face of adversity by mid-February 2020. But that all changed by March 2020.

In just a few short weeks, both S&P and Nasdaq plummeted by around 40%. Historical data…

I found myself participating these days in different interviews and video podcasts, answering many questions asked by entrepreneurs and venture capital investors. I’d like to share a few thoughts here as well:

How VCs respond:

All experienced VCs, including our firm Scale-Up, have already proactively responded to the crisis by the end of February, early March. We have all talked to our CEOs and called for extraordinary board meetings. Sequoia has released its open letter to the founders and CEOs on March 5.

Most VCs who aren’t new to this business put all their attention on their existing portfolio companies…

Silicon Valley Set to Become America’s Official 51st State

From Alabama through to Wyoming, we all know the 50 United States of America. Or…do we? History as we know it is changing lanes with the potential emergence of America’s newest official state, Silicon Valley.

My name is Alex Lazovsky, a venture capitalist from Palo Alto, CA. I recently raised $100M to turn this global hub of tech and innovation into its very own state.

Surprisingly, I’m not the first to tackle this challenging mission.

Famous venture capitalist investor, Tim Draper, tried and failed to make Silicon Valley a state. Unfortunately…

2013 was a simpler time to invest in unicorns. There were only 39 private startups valued at $1 billion or more; 37 of them were based in the U.S., and their collective value was around $150 billion (excluding Facebook, which accounted for nearly half the total).

How things have changed. In Q4 2019, there were over 500 unicorns spanning 24 countries and collectively valued at over $2 trillion. Dozens of unicorns join the list each month.

But a unicorn boom is not necessarily a unicorn bubble. Given low interest rates, continued growth in technology and recent regulatory perks, investing in…