Digest #58 | The Great Resignation, Promise & Hurdles to NFT Adoption, and more

Jan 9th – 15th | Insights from AfterWork VC, TCV, Battery, Greycroft, others and a note on Pakistan 🇵🇰 tech

Hi Everyone 👋,

I’m sending this digest from Pakistan 🇵🇰 where I’m spending much of this month. I’ve had the opportunity to spend time with many great founders & VCs while on the ground and would love to help facilitate some connections with investors (VCs, angels, or LPs) in other geographies who are interested in the country.

If you or someone you know is interested in looking at opportunities in Pakistan, please reach out. I’d love to connect you with appropriate deal channels and/or founders here.

Best,

Ali

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Investment Themes, Theses, & Outlooks

• The Great Resignation: opportunities created by the changing talent landscape (Annabel Acton, Alex Khor & Jessy Wu, AfterWork Ventures)

• New Year, New Fund, New Opportunities in Bio + Health (A16Z Team)

• Building the Operating System of the CFO: SMBs & Beyond (TCV Team)

• Ten Predictions: Knowledge Work in 2022 (James Joaquin & Arek Zarowski, Obvious Ventures)

• 2022 Healthcare Predictions (Bessemer Team)

• 10 Climate Tech Predictions For 2022 (Andrew Beebe & Arek Zarowski, Obvious Ventures)

Industry Developments & Analyses

• NFTs: The Promise and the Structural Hurdles to Widespread Adoption (Roger Lee & Courtney Chow, Battery Ventures)

• Digital Health Year-in-Review (Tyler Olkowski, VC @ Greycroft)

• Here Comes The Sun: How Software Makes Solar Energy More Profitable (John Tough, MP @ Energize VC)

• What Gets Measured Gets Managed: The Challenge and Importance of Carbon Accounting (Francesca Whitehead, VC @ G2VP)

• State of the Crypto Market & Ecosystem (Part 5 of 7) (Matt Cohen & Dom Lau, Ripple Ventures)

• Ecommerce Growth is Slowing. Long Live Ecommerce. (Damir Becirovic, Principal @ Index Ventures)

Guides, Case Studies, and Best Practices for Operating

• How to Build Your Enterprise Sales Team (Ryan Caldbeck, Founder @ CircleUp)

• Pricing Transformations in 2022 (Kyle Poyar & Steven Forth, OpenView Partners)

• The Oscar Puzzle (Packy McCormick, GP @ Not Boring)

• You never get a second chance at a first impression (Jackie DiMonte, Partner @ Chicago Ventures)

• Your guide to PQLs (Kyle Poyar, Partner @ OpenView)

• Building Next Year’s Sales Plan: Doing It Right and Avoiding Common Mistakes (Bill Binch & Neeraj Agrawal, Battery Ventures)

Additional Reads

• How Startup Narratives Form: Frontier Tech Case Studies (Nicole Ruiz, VC @ Compound)

• Building American Dynamism (Katherine Boyle, GP @ A16Z)

• On Feelings, Morality, and Heretics (Trae Stephens, Partner @ Founders Fund)

• How to Monetize Free Products (Tanay Jaipuria, PM @ Instagram)

• How to Become a Great Storyteller (Pratyush Buddiga, VC @ Susa)

• Gen Z, Creators, and Our Mental Health Tipping Point (Rex Woodbury, Principal @ Index)

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