I’m proud to announce that Washington Capitals forward, Tom Wilson, has invested in Collaborative Fund. Our team spends a lot of time thinking about the companies we back, but we’re also deliberate about who backs us. In the same way a successful startup can be choosy about what checks to accept, we think our limited partners say as much about us, and what we care about, as our investments do. The source of capital matters. One of the things I am most proud of is the eclectic group of backers we’ve attracted over the years – including the likes of Nicholas Negroponte, Chad Hurley, Pharrell Williams, Shepard Fairey, and even Sesame Street. Technologists, entrepreneurs, artists, and people who see the world differently. I look at that group and feel an overwhelming sense of gratitude that they’ve trusted us. Today, I’m excited to officially welcome Tom as an investor in our fund. If you didn’t grow up going to Caps games with your dad like I did, allow me a brief primer on why for 13 brilliant seasons I’ve been watching Tom establish himself as one of the best hockey players in the world. Tom came into the league at age 19 as a first-round pick who mostly hit people, a job he was extremely good at. Plenty of players make a fine career out of it. Instead, somewhere in his twenties, he decided to become a different kind of player, so he put in the work and brought back the receipts: back-to-back 30-goal seasons, a Stanley Cup in 2018, and a spot on the top line of the 2026 Canadian Olympic team. Our industry likes to write lists about what founders should be: relentless, coachable, obsessed. The lists aren't wrong, they're just not that useful, because no one has ever become relentless by reading about it. You learn it by doing it. Tom is doing it. He is the definition of grit, hardwork, and resilience. Those are qualities I value in entrepreneurs and in anyone I want to build something with. Tom is already a fan and customer of several of our portfolio companies. I’m excited to build on that connection as we continue backing companies pushing the world forward, especially in sports, health, and wellness (and dogs!). Let’s go, #43!

John spoke at a Collab Fund summit. This quote from him is such a good articulation of our worldview. "Business is good because it creates value, it is ethical because it is based on voluntary exchange, it is noble because it can elevate our existence and it is heroic because it lifts people out of poverty and creates prosperity."

Collab Fund: proud investors since June 2023 -- before any of this existed. Congrats Kyle and the @MarathonFusion team. Just getting started. 🚀

Hard not to feel hopeful reading this one. The Allen Institute is using AI to design DNA that delivers treatments directly to the brain cells most vulnerable to Alzheimer's and Parkinson's. Everything open-sourced. Arc Institute is doing great work here too. These are awful diseases that touch nearly every family (mine included). Grateful for people spending their careers on this. 👏 @Googleorg @AllenInstitute

Mad respect. Since 1999, the Skoll Foundation has invested ~$500 million to support over 100 entrepreneurs pushing the word forward.

Liam Fedus (ex-OpenAI) says real scientific progress needs the physical world, not just more inference: “The data simply just doesn’t exist…you have to build new knowledge.” His new company (Periodic Labs) builds artificial intelligence scientists coupled with autonomous robotic laboratories to accelerate discovery in the physical sciences like physics and chemistry.

The most powerful word in the world is "yes".

The case for being an underdog.

We never get enough time with our dogs. Celine and the team at Loyal are doing God’s work.