Why I Invest in Deep Tech

I grew up reading science fiction stories. Those stories envisioned a future with robots, cheap energy, space exploration, and virtual reality. In those stories, sometimes, the robots caused problems, and space exploration led to war. It's human nature; such ills exist with or without technology. But this isn't a reason to simply close our eyes and pretend technological progress isn't worth our time. 

The future described in those sci-fi stories fascinated me because they were the opposite of my childhood reality: A future of abundance and daily miracles. This is the future I want, a future I’m excited to live in. 

Investing in Deep Tech startups is the best way to create this future. Technological advancement has improved our quality of life unlike anything else. As brilliantly put by the physicist David Deutsch: We are at the beginning of infinity. 

Startups have helped bring about the most exciting changes in the world since I was born. Here are a few things that were not possible before:

• Having all the world's information available at my fingertips.

• Finding and connecting to anyone in the whole world.

• Listening to any song I want whenever I want and wherever I'm. 

• Mapping the most efficient route to anywhere on the planet with a few clicks.

Now is the best time to be alive. If you could not choose where and to which family you would be born but could choose any time up until now, there would be no better choice than now. A random baby born today has better prospects than in any previous period of history. The chances of dying from hunger, disease, or war have never been lower. Not only that, but the chance of getting an education and a prosperous life has never been better.

It is becoming increasingly popular to blame tech companies for everything wrong with society. Everything seems to be tech's fault, from hate and misinformation to war and inequality. This is a big mistake.

Technology Startups create more solutions than problems. I believe they bring a net positive to the world. The world needs more technology and more startups, not less. 

The category of startups I'm most excited about is Deep Tech. Deep Tech Startups are companies bringing new technology to the market. They are startups with more technical risk than market risk, while shallow tech startups have low technological risk but high market risk. 

A food delivery startup isn’t likely to fail because it is impossible to develop the app but because it didn't find enough customers. Technology is not the most significant risk. A startup developing a novel drug for a deadly genetic disease won’t fail because no one wants the treatment. After all, the demand for the treatment already exists. The challenge would be making the "product" more than the market. Technology is the most significant risk here. 

The highest risk in a Shallow Tech Startup is making something people don't want. The highest risk in a Deep Tech Startup is not being able to build something people already want.

It’s easy for cynicism about our ability to change the world to prevent us from making audacious plans for the future or, worse, from imagining a better future in some big, tangible way. This diminishing of imagination is a real tragedy. 

Humanity's future is bright, but believing is not enough. We need to plan, and we need to act. The best time to start is now.