We dive deep into our sectors. Our research drives our insights and thesis-driven approach.

2 years ago when we led SmartHop’s seed round, we shared a vision with Guillermo to democratize the road for truckers. These truckers faced tough working conditions and low pay, but perhaps even more concerning was how the long-tail of drivers were exploited by the industry. This long-tail wasn’t some fringe case, it was the majority of the truck drivers in America (which is about 3.4m drivers in 2020).

Just over a year ago, we announced our investment in David Energy — a new type of power company.

At Equal, we’ve published our thoughts on different facets of the energy transition, from business-in-a-box solutions for clean energy developers to the importance of unified data solutions. As one of the largest producers/exporters of oil, Russia is the backbone of energy for numerous countries around the world. 40% of Europe’s natural gas and 27% of their oil come from Russia. This impacts the US as well — Russia is our third-largest supplier of oil. The closure of key nuclear plants further disturbs existing energy infrastructure, increasing the need for new power sources. With NATO members continuing to sanction Russia and put energy security at risk for hundreds of millions of people, conditions in energy markets could become increasingly uncertain.We believe in the power of a prepared mind, and understanding how the energy markets respond to the crisis in Ukraine is no different.

The number #1 job of an early-stage VC is to invest in people. If you get the people part wrong, nothing else can go right. As an investor, it can be terrifying that something that can seem so qualitative represents the lion’s share of influence in investment performance, but it’s the truth. This is what places such a significant premium on repeat founders with demonstrated success and sky high valuations for founders that seemed “de-risked”.

In a recent conversation I had with a founder looking for some friendly advice, he asked “what metrics do I need for a seed round?”. I get this question a LOT and it always frustrates me a bit. To distill the total worth of a company to a few basic metrics has always felt limiting, especially when the value of the company is what it will do in the future, not in the past. For better or worse, I don’t focus on metrics at seed and I personally don’t know why others do.