Legacy Compass’ Post

My passion for VC is driven by the founders - people who are dedicated, take action, and bring a positive change to entire industries. Some industries are more analogue than others, and some are easier to innovate in. Inspired by one such founder and a good friend of mine, Natalia Pazzaglia, I decided to take a closer look at the Legacy Tech (or Death Tech) industry she is innovating in. Natalia & Legacy Compass is at the beginning of her journey to change the status quo in legacy planning and make it easier for all parties involved to plan, talk, and prepare. Legacy Tech is one of those "hard to crack" industries and a difficult topic to think about—as a quick illustration, in G7 countries, only 30-40% of adults have a will. But it's a universal event that will happen whether we want it to or not, which creates a massive (and often overlooked) opportunity. Here are a few takeaways about the industry: - Legacy Tech Redefining Our Relationship with Mortality: Legacy Tech is integrating technology into end-of-life experiences, challenging long-held taboos, and reshaping how we perceive mortality. - Ethical Questions About Digital Legacies: It raises important ethical considerations regarding digital legacies and data privacy, especially concerning personal information after death. - AI Simulations Prompting Deep Reflections: The use of AI to simulate interactions with the deceased leads to profound reflections on identity, memory, and what it means to be human. - Empowering End-of-Life Planning: Death Tech empowers individuals in end-of-life planning, granting greater control and easing the emotional burden on loved ones. You can find the full text here: https://lnkd.in/eZNSZ6ra

UnHerd Capitalism is dead: long live Technofeudalism We have all been turned into cloud-serfs Humanity’s fear of its technological creations is ancient: films such as The Terminator and The Matrix are driven by the same anxiety that animated Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and Hesiod’s tale of Pandora, in which she is a robot made by Hephaestus to punish us for Prometheus’s crime. All such stories have a point of singularity: the moment a machine, or a network of machines, achieves consciousness. Generally, the machine then takes one look at us, its creators, and decides we are not fit for purpose, before proceeding to eradicate or enslave us — or merely make us miserable. Real power today resides not with the owners of traditional capital — machinery, buildings, railway and phone networks, industrial robots. They continue to extract profits from workers, from waged labour, but they are not in charge, as they once were. Indeed, they have become vassals in relation to a new class of feudal overlord, the owners of cloud capital. As for the rest of us, we have returned to our former status as serfs, contributing to the wealth and power of the new ruling class with our unpaid labour — in addition to the waged labour we perform, when we get the chance.

Here's the poem "Civilization Begins in Silicon Valley" By Earl Potters Civilization begins in Silicon Valley. Welcome to the artificial (real) world. Getting up as late as the startup founders do is, in their view, a feat of stoic heroism beyond the understanding of less motivated and lazier mortals. Any creature scurrying about earlier than themselves must be civil communal workers or homeless refuse that the city has regrettably failed to clean up; not that they are cruel, these children of the digital age. Many of them are kinder souls than those exalted leading players, thought leaders, and visionaries you've so often heard about and are so impatient to be a part of. It's just that the startup founders of Silicon Valley care nothing for the shadowy communal workers who actually consume the services they sell. The world has outgrown its quaint local intimacies, ushering in the modern digital age. Consider this: a new video uploaded to TikTok, featuring a latest Elon tweet, gains 1M views and 100k likes in mere hours. How that video came to virally spread to hundreds of millions is no question for a digital man. In this new world, content transmits fully formed from the brain of a benign monster called The Algorithm—a never-ending data stream of curated human experience, flowing from a virtual realm hidden behind the veils of a digital screen. You may point out the vast and infinite plague of abrasive commercials and invasive advertisements, a relentless reminder of who pays for this cornucopia. But dissatisfaction is not a trait of the digital man; a bombarded mind is quite good enough for entertainment. Its only disadvantage is the fleeting attention span it cultivates, leaving us perpetually hungry for the next bite-sized morsel of content. But what use is there, the techno-optimist sighs, in nostalgia for past times? The digital age has dawned, and the authentic world of unhurried conversations and undivided attention fades into sepia-toned memory. The physical has given way to the virtual, the local to the global, the genuine to the curated. The digital age has come; the world will never be authentic again, but oh: what content!

Is capitalism dead and being replaced by an evolving technofeudalism which is driven by rent seeking? “Imagine the following scene straight out of the science fiction storybook. You are beamed into a town full of people going about their business, trading in gadgets, clothes, shoes, books, songs, games and movies. At first everything looks normal. Until you begin to notice something odd. It turns out all the shops, indeed every building, belongs to a chap called Jeff. What’s more, everyone walks down different streets, and sees different stores because everything is intermediated by his algorithm… an algorithm that dances to Jeff’s tune.” “In big tech we face a totalising power that in key respects disqualifies itself from being understood as capitalism, but rather as a wholly new form of governance by the few over the many.” #bigtech #technofeudalism https://lnkd.in/gQCxqZT8

Last night, I wrote about how I’d like to see a business plan that describes how companies like #OpenAI or #Anthropic would reach a utopia.  As I’ve said elsewhere, a utopia is something that would have to exist beyond our current economy.  Utopias are places where value is on something very different than fiat currency and our current understanding of ownership.  The journey is fraught with problems.  A utopia has to fundamentally be agreed upon by all participants of the utopia, including everyone who has access to it.  Otherwise, it will be destroyed through tensions of all sorts, all the way up to wars of conquest.  Fundamentally, greed destroys a utopia. Ok, so that’s a problem.  For hundreds of billions of dollars being invested, I’m quite sure, someone is looking for an ROI.  Every investor of that class that I’ve met only has one kind of ROI.  More money. So given the challenges that companies like OpenAI are finding with monetizing the technology, both with the extreme training costs and operating costs, revenue is a problem.  It’s possible that there might be some longer term monetization - not uncommon in tech - but that is certainly disconnected from the wild utopic claims that have been going on. So I’m wondering what it could be that would drive people with unspeakable wealth to part with their dollars that might also align with the claims of utopia. Immortality. The idea of immortality is something that could make investors see a path to non-financial ROI.  Though my bet is that it’s not an immortality for all sort of scenario, but I could see that promise being something that might have people willing to overlook good sense. And immortality isn’t the sort of thing that would be rolled out ubiquitously, so those that are enrolled in the program will naturally become the defacto rulers of all. So, yeah. I don’t know that immortality is particularly in line with a utopia, but I think it could well make it feel more “real” if you’re promising a wide swath of goodness to humanity.  It makes the immortality play (or at least doubling life span) feel far less isolated and insane. If someone offered me an extra 75 years of good quality life, and I had a few billion lying around, there would be temptations to be sure. Once you’re bought into the promise, all the insanity drifts away as necessities to keep the rabble on side. Something to think about. Image is "The Daoist Immortal", Liezi #ai #artificialintelligence #google #openai #microsoft #meta #anthropic #chatGPT #claude #gemini #copilot #amodei #altman #utopia #immortality

The death of Mike Lynch is a tragedy and hits many of us hard because of its sheer injustice. But we do not improve things through conspiracy theories, and there have been some beauties in recent days (most involving the CIA). As a long-time Cambridge person, I saw the early days of most tech companies from the region, and the rise and fall of Autonomy reminds me of another, less famous company, which I knew well. I thought this story might help people understand what happened with Autonomy. Not a story of conspiracy: just failed ambition. When my wife and I moved back to Cambridge, my wife's best friend introduced us to an eccentric mathematician and his wife. She is a saint in human form and remains a close friend. He was so high on the autism spectrum as to be almost out of sight. He had the privilege of being fired from the Cambridge University Maths department two weeks after being recruited. He prepared a long report explaining why the department was doomed to failure without massive reforms. The other Dons got together and booted him out. They can be brutal, these academics. So the maths wizard founded a tech company. His dream was Expert Systems, I guess we can call this a very early form of AI. He was brilliant, but 1980s tech could not make his vision work. So: he used the last investor money to buy a company called Harlequin. A rather dull company. It made printer SW and it was triumphantly successful. Harlequin was a money-making machine. Everything changed. The business grew, everyone was rich and they sold for lots of lovely cash. The SW still exists and remains highly successful. The new owners quietly closed down the Expert System division and politely told the founder he was free to take on "other interests", such as permanent retirement. This is the anti-Autonomy story. A business that wanted to create a magic wand but grew rich on down to earth software. Autonomy followed the same path, growing through complete solutions, with a SW core but most money coming from services, support and associated HW. BUT- the HP leadership had staked its reputation on buying a business with a magic wand to offer them. They were greedy, brutal, naive and stupid. Gosh, never met a senior business leader than that before! As for Mike Lynch, did he sell at top rate, with a very pretty prospectus? Ladies and gentlemen, have you ever met a salesman? The questions in my mind are NOT about corporate fraud but these: How could a great IT business like HP be led by such fools? And immoral fools, who would destroy lives rather than admit a mistake? How come the UK ratified an extradition treaty TO the US when the US did not ratify the agreement to the UK? If it's true that 99.6% of US white collar cases end in conviction, how many innocent people are in jail today because of false plea bargaining? Let the dead rest in peace and maybe, Americans, ask why foreigners dread falling into the hands of the US "justice" system almost more than anything else.

Yesterday's intelligentsia has had its day - it's on the sidelines. Everything it has done, tried and implemented has - on the whole - failed. Keynesian strategies, CSR, ESG, SDG's, as well as education, healthcare, mobility, CO2 emissions... The results are bad. Very bad. Not to mention the fact that the population is at its wits' end, ageing, and in a hurry to do “as before” so as not to lose too much money... (what they think). Obviously without rethinking their business model (whereas new opportunities are rapidly emerging as we speak ... discreetly). My primary school teacher would say: “kan beter” = “can do better”... BUT WHERE ARE THEY? At worst, some of them are carrying on as before, clinging to their old models for as long as possible - without questioning them, of course. Until... well... we'll see. Economists behind their graphs, financiers behind their spreadsheets, scientists well hidden behind their pipettes, academics - hypnotized by a model long since obsolete, the media in front of a tsunami of insipid, noisy and nauseating briefs, politics behind their mandates, burnt-out doctors and teachers,... and exhaiusted entrepreneurs overwhelmed by hyper-complexity and exorbitant costs. At best, they realize their mistakes and failures, but are lost too, because tied up in their old beliefs and conditioning. Checkmate. Game over. A 'NEXT GENERATION' INTELLIGENTSIA? The good news. It exists, albeit timidly. And... not where you'd expect. We've found some of them: amongst young people, in war-torn countries, among indigenous peoples, in discreet circles asking themselves smart questions, humble people who have been evolving personally and spiritually for decades. LET'S BRING THEM TOGETHER Those who want to leave something good behind, very often feel alone... fight alone, and have only one desire: to leave, but where? The black sheep of our families, those who have spent their lives discreetly under the radar, humbly, wetting their shirts to help others, and who have even been criticized by those close to them and so haven't found their place for the time being. They're tired, questioning the purpose of all the effort they've put in... for whom, for what... and entering a 'life transition'. FUTUREPROOF We've created a whole new process and sandbox for building that dreamed-of tomorrow. And... it works. Let's get together in confidential places, to build tomorrow - to detect them, to coalesce them, to 'empower' them. Gather, inspire, and co-construct for real. For a 2-hour “FutureProof” talk, or a presentation of our programs for 2025, PM.

Dreams could be the next big thing in intellectual property. Seriously, think about it. Ever had a dream so vivid, so creative, that you wished you could bottle it up and use it later? I have. Here’s why this matters 👇 First, let's understand the potential of dreams. Freud said dreams reveal our deepest desires. Jung believed they connect us to the collective unconscious. But what if they could do even more? Imagine if you could store your dreams and trace their origins. Imagine transcending boundaries of space and time. Imagine answering life's big questions or even choosing to forget certain memories. Unfortunately, the fear of the unknown often holds us back. But capitalism can turn this on its head by inducing a fear of missing out. Losing the potential value of dreams is scarier than exploring the unknown. We’ve always been fascinated by dreams. Ancient cultures saw them as divine messages. Dream-sharing was a big deal. Even now, sleep tech focuses more on quality than content. But what if we combined both? Companies like Prophetic are already working on stabilizing lucid dreams. And Story Protocol is all about tokenizing IP. A collaboration between the two could revolutionize the tech industry. We need a marketplace for tokenized dreams. Read all the details about it in my newsletter. Forgetting dreams means losing innovative solutions. Many inventors and artists, like Elias Howe and Salvador Dalí, found inspiration in dreams. It's time for humanity to rise above mediocrity. We need to reward curiosity and innovation over success. More importantly, we can utilize our creative resources more efficiently. Do you remember your dreams after you wake up? (Link to the full article in the comments)

This is Larry W. - aged 100! In his workshop at his home on the upper west side of New York City, which he has shared with his (slightly younger) wife, Elaine, for more than 60 years of their 66-year marriage. That’s right - forget AI as the “new electricity.” When Larry was born, electricity was still only standard in half the households in the U.S. (https://lnkd.in/eHXfT9Pb). Including in south NJ where he started life. Today he’s part of the Search and Care network in NYC - mostly UWS/UES residents - as people of a certain stage in life request - and need - assistance with their preferred technology. It’s one of my favorite ways to give back and a phenomenal nonprofit that fills a growing need since 1972. I offered some tips with photo editing and organizing but Larry didn’t need many pointers from me (we both share a need for optical enhancement when looking at screens - reading glasses plus contact lenses for me not seen in photo). The fact is I often learn new applications for existing technologies when I visit people in their home (e.g. scheduling an Uber ride weeks in advance for a medical appointment to avoid the stress of trying to hail a NYC cab on the day of). And let’s remember that ageism is real. Divides of any kind are there to be conquered. Those elders you empower with their devices and questions and needing to figure entire new paradigms like quantum computing or Web3 or disintermediation and organizational decentralized digital assets - yeah, I think it’s called Karma. Let’s not leave anyone behind in pursuit of a brighter future. Will you be older one day? So before we go thinking technology from work or elsewhere won’t follow us in life in ways we can’t even yet imagine collectively let individually as mere sapiens - it’s also a reminder we’ll all need to adapt to countless unforeseen advancements at every level in our journey. Let’s lend a hand to those still learning - and what a gift. 100! Extraordinary. The countless advancements witnessed firsthand by Larry and Elaine of #NYC. And hey - who knows, many of those technological advancements might even *improve* our lives too. 🤔🌞 P.S. Yes, also, dear readers, and, LinkedIn bots/editor-bots, it’s true: I “edited” my post after I posted it - I know - but - but - only to delete an extra space after a period I missed the first few times while looking at it on my #iphone. While not wearing my glasses. But that’s no excuse. Because I would not have caught it anyway. Anyway. No more edits. 🗽 P.P.S. Mulligan, I’m adding *one more* edit - so that’s a total of 3 - in the hopes a PM at the LinkedIn cc Diana Alvear imagines a world in which any digital content does not solely contain a flat and frankly unhelpful label of “Edited” but perhaps a toggle to highlight precisely *what* has been edited? Otherwise I fail to see how it helps make any edits more transparent. Flags have colors. Life - and edits - have gradients. Reaching character limit. 🗽 I yield to the peo

The Future of Humanity (continuation) We are at a point in time when Humanity must fight to reclaim 100 years' of advanced technologies that solve many of the global problems that we have today. Disruption is taking place right now and at a massive scale. It is simple: What worked before does not work any longer. We are a stagnated civilization where technology advances at an exponential rate and Humanity does not have neither the money, nor the jobs, nor the healthcare system, nor any of the things that are vital for survival. Furthermore, there are inconsistencies in the voting systems. The leaders that occupy key positions, do not represent the wishes nor interests of the people. Lies have short legs. This will not hold very long. That is for sure! You can be absolutely sure that there will be a tremendous legal action coming from all angles. This is injustice and in today's world where we have major challenges, it can not be excused. There is corruption at the core and one wonders who is or are running the world. Whoever it is or are do not care about Humanity at all. Yesterday, I watched videos of people living in tents on the streets in the UK and the US. They have no homes. This is a very bad sign. It shows that the policies in place today are not benefiting us at all. There is a Technology-First (or AI-First) Approach that is making survival impossible. This is being disrupted. Unless Humanity steps it up and fights for its human rights, this will only get worst. One thing is to have advanced tech as a companion and a different thing is to have millions of people laid off on an ongoing basis. The way innovation is being done is lethal. Companies do not take the time or trouble to study the global social and technological impact before they launch their powerful technologies. This puts a lot of stress on everyone. The UK: https://lnkd.in/dGjbs4me The USA: https://lnkd.in/dWX9xiSJ Europe: https://lnkd.in/dJ9gMkNw Visit Dr. Greer's website. Understand the problem and give him and his team support. This is the right thing to do. https://lnkd.in/dyMYRM3c Where is the money going? Can we really afford this situation any longer? We are out of the Matrix.