Feb 22Wolfram’s Computational Interpretation of the Second Law and a Physics Based View of Evolution (draft).A Computational Understanding of the Second Law of Thermodynamics This is an expansion of notes from Wolfram’s 3 part series which attempts to show a new theory of the Second Law of Thermodynamics, founded on a computational understanding vs an energy one based on heat exchange (Clausius) or the statistical…Physics21 min readPhysics21 min read
Dec 7, 2022The Root Causes of InflationThe Return of Inflation It’s widely believed that the return of inflation, after more than a decade of deflationary pressure, isn’t transitory. The causes are variously claimed to be: easy monetary policy, the COVID pandemic, and the war in Ukraine. These are all symptoms of counter-reactions to deeper underlying structural…Inflation11 min readInflation11 min read
Apr 7, 2022An FT Profile of me working on Moreover, from the early days of the Internet.A profile on me as an early Internet pioneer in the Financial Times, in March 1999, while I was working on my third startup, Moreover.com. The piece is early enough that it isn’t online, to link to. Moreover was the first online news search engine, prior to Google news. What…Internet History4 min readInternet History4 min read
Nov 18, 2021Crypto’s Strength and Achilles HeelCeFi vs DeFi. Why crypto will ditch decentralization medium term but will change the world later, when it returns. The Crypto universe exists in the virtual one in terms of regulation, law enforcement or protection. …Cypto5 min readCypto5 min read
Sep 1, 2021One Line Startup BiosEighteen years ago I did a presentation at South by Southwest, in Texas, where I proposed a trivial new standard for online bios. The problem at the time was that blogrolls (sidebar links to favorite blogs) had no descriptions. The concept was that people should describe themselves or their blog…Venture Capital2 min readVenture Capital2 min read
Published in Anthemis Insights·Mar 29, 2021Anthemis Opportunities: Food & AgricultureBelow are the slides from our examination of the opportunities around food & agriculture, from the perspective of embedded finance. It’s an area where there are timely opportunities at all levels and for different reasons. A full PDF is here. There are 6 different areas of opportunity in the sector: 1. Investment — expanding Dutch model, and ecosystem 2. Outcome based models — early adoption of embedded finance 3. Farm machinery — Shift to small scale robotics 4. Gene Editing — CRISPR opportunities for much more targeted products 5. Cooking — Ability to leverage machine learning in kitchen gadgets 6. Wellness — Expanding edge of consumer opportunitiesVenture Capital4 min readVenture Capital4 min read
Oct 21, 2020Design vs Engineering Environmental ImpactThe Inertial Arms Race in Car Design Issigonis’ original design for the Mini was a masterpiece of clever use of space and defined a new type of car that was impressive and sexy precisely because it was small and therefore urban.Design2 min readDesign2 min read
Oct 16, 2020Life, Energy & WasteThere is an instinctive mental model of the earth as a finite planet, a closed system with limited resources. This fits with the view of our destruction of the environment and is true to the extent that we are confined to one planet and there isn’t another, but it isn’t…Environmentalism3 min readEnvironmentalism3 min read
Published in Anthemis Insights·Oct 14, 2020Sustainable CapitalA new way to invest in modern businesses Debt Investment Before the advent of Venture Capital a new business would likely take a loan in order to be able to bootstrap and grow to profitability. Since 20% of new businesses in the US fail during the first two years of being open…Venture Capital9 min readVenture Capital9 min read
Published in Anthemis Insights·Oct 12, 2020A Systems View of EnvironmentalismThe above diagram outlines how the various systems on Earth interact to harness energy to create complex systems and deliberate output (living things, civilization, culture and knowledge) and waste. It is designed to highlight that the Earth is a self regulating open system far from equilibrium, to show where our…7 min read7 min read
