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Boost VC closes $40M fund as revamped ‘sci-fi’ accelerator

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Re: Boost VC closes $40M fund as revamped ‘sci-fi’ accelerator

#4
post #2

I don’t understand the “revamp” or “sci-fi” terms here. Does “revamp” mean they do demo day via zoom now? Does “sci-fi accelerator” just refer to their pre-pandemic willingness to fund blockchain and AR/VR?

I'm with you. As far as I can tell, the changes were less startups, more money per startup. Kinda a revamp?

Re: Boost VC closes $40M fund as revamped ‘sci-fi’ accelerator

#5
post #2

I don’t understand the “revamp” or “sci-fi” terms here. Does “revamp” mean they do demo day via zoom now? Does “sci-fi accelerator” just refer to their pre-pandemic willingness to fund blockchain and AR/VR?

We didn't choose the title :) "Boost VC closes $40M fund to continue the same Sci-Fi accelerator for the last 7 years" doesn't have the same appeal.

Revamp: We have been a Sci-Fi accelerator for awhile. But new terms are $500k for 15%.

Sci-Fi: What do you imagine the future to be? Current Tribe 13 include crypto, VR, quantum & biotech.

Sci-Fi - Whatever you imagine that to be

Re: Boost VC closes $40M fund as revamped ‘sci-fi’ accelerator

#6
I'm gonna start by saying I know I'll be downvoted to hell because this probably sounds too markety, but this is an honest review. It's amazing to see how far Boost VC has come from tiny investments in crypto companies to larger deals, towards futuristic technology, and that too in the middle of a pandemic.

I went through the Boost program in 2016 and it was one of the best experiences I've ever had. I met some of my best friends there, and their motto (be the cockroach) drilled survival into me at a time when another incubation program had left me confused about business priorities. Whenever I feel like I'm slowing down or confused, I still use their Wednesday dinner format and find a group of peers to bring myself back on track and up to speed.

Re: Boost VC closes $40M fund as revamped ‘sci-fi’ accelerator

#8

I'm gonna start by saying I know I'll be downvoted to hell because this probably sounds too markety, but this is an honest review. It's amazing to see how far Boost VC has come from tiny investments in crypto companies to larger deals, towards futuristic technology, and that too in the middle of a pandemic. I went through the Boost program in 2016 and it was one of the best experiences I've ever had. I met some of my…

Can you share about that Wednesday dinner format?

Re: Boost VC closes $40M fund as revamped ‘sci-fi’ accelerator

#9
post #8

I'm gonna start by saying I know I'll be downvoted to hell because this probably sounds too markety, but this is an honest review. It's amazing to see how far Boost VC has come from tiny investments in crypto companies to larger deals, towards futuristic technology, and that too in the middle of a pandemic. I went through the Boost program in 2016 and it was one of the best experiences I've ever had. I met some of my…

Can you share about that Wednesday dinner format?

I don't know if they still use that, but every Wednesday, Boost would host us for dinner and talk about what we'd done, the challenges we'd faced, how far we'd come and discuss how we could help each other out.

It was very informal, and Boost would barely moderate it. But it was always incredibly helpful to talk about our problems, and we'd always want to share better metrics the next week. Getting peer-feedback was great too! The sessions would never last very long, either.

Re: Boost VC closes $40M fund as revamped ‘sci-fi’ accelerator

#10
My opinion has been that the real SciFi are extremely unpopular work. For example:

Packet switching was a very unpopular idea by Paul Baran [1], which was invented to be survivable under nuclear attack. Similarly, the theory foundation, queueing theory by people like Leonard Kleinrock [2].

And for anything people imagine to be futuristic or Sci-Fi, it's almost always a clever usage of some foundational tech that has been unnoticed for a long time.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Baran

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonard_Kleinrock

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