Author: rusnewton98

SAFEs: Not as safe as you think?

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?

Universal Basic Income: Time to be Brave

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

A Deep Dive Into Payments

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

Crypto & Commodities: The Arc Seems to Rhyme More Everyday…

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…

Crisis in Hyperbole

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

Quick Take on Brexit

Here’s my very quick take on UK’s vote to leave EU. I think a lot of voters felt very patronised by the political ‘elite’ of UK, EU and further afield over this subject. “Project Fear” inasmuch as it existed therefore probably backfired. It won’t be the financial cataclysm George Osborne suggested — weaker GBP great… Continue reading Quick Take on Brexit

Kenya: Investment Landscape

I have just completed a little under a week in Nairobi. It was a very enjoyable and enlightening experience — as well as being my first footsteps in East Africa. After a quick tour of the picturesque Karen Blixen Museum, I met with a couple of local VCs to discuss opportunities in the region. I… Continue reading Kenya: Investment Landscape

Oasis Kindergarten, Kibera: A Ray of Sunshine in the Slum

My first trip to Nairobi, Kenya. I started my first day with a visit to the Oasis Kindergarten in the Kibera slum. Seven years ago, I heard Sarah Shucksmith speak at a Fitzwilliam College alumni event. I was deeply impressed that she had founded a school (the Sarah Junior School) in Kibera whilst still an undergraduate… Continue reading Oasis Kindergarten, Kibera: A Ray of Sunshine in the Slum

#BrokenBritain

Let’s face it: Britain’s a mess. London is creaking under the weight of residents and tourists visiting one of the world’s trendiest cities. Its infrastructure was not designed for this. But corporate incompetence adds to the misery. On 3 January I had the misfortune to be travelling back from north London to Jersey, via a… Continue reading #BrokenBritain