Weekly Roundup: PFAS Problems 🧪

Happy Friday, DVC! I was recently shocked to learn that the world's largest musical instrument is NOT the tuba I was forced to play in middle school, but a literal cave in Virginia. The "Great Stalacpipe Organ" is a 66-year-old instrument where each key triggers mystical soundwaves from 3.5+ acres of stalactites.

I don't know when I'll be in Virginia, but I know exactly what I'm doing when I get there. HINT: Hopping the security fence and playing "Hot Cross Buns" like I'm Billy Joel at Madison Square Garden.

Startup News & Weekly Poll:

Sam Lessin, a GP at Slow Ventures & intern at The Information, gave a presentation last month on the state of early-stage VC which has been making the rounds in startup communities.

In addition to making us feel bad about literally all of our past internships, Sam gives tons of interesting predictions on the future of early-stage venture.

The presentation is 84 slides and no you don’t have to read them all. Here are some highlights:

• “Factory-Farmed Unicorns” are out… 📉 The “free money” game is over and we’re unlikely to see the VC production lines of yesteryear churning out $10B+ startups into the public markets

• Let the line cutting begin 🔪 As valuations and exit expectations reset, Angels and VC’s of all stages will compete to fund companies earlier and earlier in a mad dash to show paper returns for their investors

• Revenge of the Small Business 💪 The tech is there for small teams, content creators, and even mainstreet business to build profitable companies with extreme capital efficiency - creating new “billionaire founders” with only early rounds of seed funding

We don’t know if any of that will happen… but we want to hear your thoughts! Choose an answer below and see how you stack up next week!

Last Week's Results:

Last week we asked you what would happen to WeWork as it enters Chapter 11 bankruptcy… and 50% correctly answered “restructuring”!

Chapter 11 bankruptcy is a process where the courts work to pay back creditors (if possible), forgive debts, and restructure businesses to return as profitable operations. So, while many individual WeWork locations are closing immediately, the company might have yet another shot at glory.

As for Adam Neumann… no, he’s not regaining control and putting a new office in Outer Space. Though, no one knows what’s going on at his new startup, so honestly I wouldn’t be surprised to see him flying around up there on a cloudless night someday soon.

Vote for New Deals:

Help select DVC's future deals! Please view the options, upvote your favorites, and suggest your own!

New companies suggested this week:

• Painterland Sisters

Deal Review #70 Update:

In case you missed it, this week we're looking at Invicta Water - a North Carolina-based startup seeking to remove toxic PFAS "forever chemicals" from water!

For the uninitiated, PFAS are man-made compounds historically used in a range of consumer & industrial products from Gore-Tex and non-stick pans to firefighting foam.

• PFAS Pros: Keeps us dry in the rain and helps make delicious & fluffy scrambled eggs every time 🙏 

• PFAS Cons: Evidence suggests it’s in 97% of Americans’ blood and has links to cancer, immune disruption, and developmental delays 😰

Life is all about tradeoffs… Thankfully, we’re doing a deep dive on the problem and Invicta Water’s solution! We invite you to read our Deal Review and submit questions you’d like us to ask the founder.

Bonus Links:

DVC Portfolio Updates:

Read on for recent updates from past DVC Deals!

Sensate (Deal #16) - Flexible Sensate Account:
Meditation/relaxation startup Sensate shared that it is enabling the purchase of its devices using FSA (Flexible Spending Account) and HSA (Health Savings Account) funds! See full update.

Nucleus (Deal #39) - Put the kettle on…
You’ll want a cup of tea for this one! Psychedelic-focused venture studio Nucleus returned with a thorough October in Review update which included news of 1) new user growth on its Neuly 2.0 platform, 2) a well-attended webinar on psychedelics education, 3) new monetization and content testing, and more! See full update.

Thanks for reading & participating! Have a great weekend and see you for more DVC action next week!

Sincerely,

Team DVC