Rus Newton

For Founders I am an Active Operator. I’m on the Board or Advisor to several early-stage companies. Speak to some of my portfolio founders. I write cheques from $50k to $500k and move fast. Once we’re in the trenches and I see how you operate, I double down. I back my winners aggressively. To work… Continue reading How I’m Investing in Music Tech (Part 3)

Some VCs lose money in music because they bet on hits (labels) or distribution (DSPs). Hits are luck. Distribution is a monopoly. I’m betting on infrastructure. During the gold rush, don’t dig for gold and don’t sell shovels. Build the railroad. We’re Herding Animals Craving Connection Humans are wired for herds — shared rituals, live… Continue reading How I’m Investing in Music Tech (Part 2)

Live performance is the only irreplaceable asset. While revenue per stream stays flat or dips due to content overload, live ticket prices have surged as fans crave irreplaceable experiences. Data: Pollstar (tickets), Royalty Exchange/IFPI (streams). I’m a drummer. That matters more than it sounds. I look at every deal through two lenses: The Drummer (would… Continue reading How I’m Investing in Music Tech (Part 1)

Everyone is waiting for Africa’s startup ecosystem to mature. I think they’re looking at the wrong market. Everyone is waiting for Africa’s formal startup ecosystem to catch up to the West. I’m done waiting. What you need to believe: The African tech unicorn is a distraction. Real generational wealth is being built right now in… Continue reading The African Tech Unicorn is a Distraction

As active venture capital investors, we regularly participate in unpriced rounds, often through SAFEs. The SAFE, which is shorthand for Simple Agreement for Forward Equity was popularized by Y Combinator back in 2013 and has become a very popular method for raising financing without too much to-and-fro on trying to establish a valuation for the company. SAFEs… Continue reading SAFEs: Not as safe as you think?

The summer edition of Britain’s The Critic Magazine featured a pair of very interesting articles on Universal Basic Income (one pro, one con). This is a subject I’ve been pondering for several years and I’ve found my thinking on the topic over that period has developed significantly and (for me, from a personal perspective) surprisingly. Although as… Continue reading Universal Basic Income: Time to be Brave

At CoinShares, one area we’ve been very focused on recently is payments, the different ways that digital assets including cryptocurrencies and stablecoins could play a role in the development of a global, digital payment system, and what platforms and infrastructure will be needed to support this type of activity. We thought it would be interesting… Continue reading A Deep Dive Into Payments

Before discovering cryptocurrencies in 2013, my partner Daniel Masters and I were involved in commodity trading for almost three decades. At that time, one of the features of bitcoin that appealed to us was the limited issuance, as only 21 million bitcoin will ever be issued. This made it feel quite similar to gold or silver. The longer… Continue reading Crypto & Commodities: The Arc Seems to Rhyme More Everyday…

Type “UK Crisis” into Google Search and you’ll get 183 million items. According to Google, the UK is currently experiencing crises in Social Care, Financial Services, Constitution, Housing, Policing and Teaching, to name but six. Is it really possible that so many key areas are in crisis, or are we actually suffering from a crisis in… Continue reading Crisis in Hyperbole