Venture capital

• Alphabet
• Tech Industry
• GV (Google Ventures)
• investing
• Venture capital

Google Ventures year in review: Life sciences and health are key areas of investment

Abner Li Dec 7 2015 - 1:47 am PT

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Update: The Financial Times is Starting in 2016, all investments will be made by a global fund, rather than having separate US and European divisions. Five investments made by its European fund were in the UK, while the sixth, a Swedish VR gaming studio, was invested by its US fund.

As 2015 comes to a close, Google Ventures, Alphabet’s venture capital arm, has released their comparison, they had $1.6 billion and invested in 57 new companies last year.

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• Meetings
• Blue Bottle Coffee

Google Venture’s mechanical secret to efficient meetings in a digital world

Ben Lovejoy Jun 30 2014 - 5:29 am PT

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Anyone who has worked for any company with more than, well, one person has experienced those interminable meetings filled with people who like the sound of their own voice much more than they like getting to the point.

Google Ventures, has a simple solution: a mechanical timer that sits on the table to enforce 20-30 minute time limits on discussion items.

“It makes time visible and tangible,” says design partner Jake Knapp, “so it changes the way people think about time passing.” As a result, he says, long-winded participants are cut off, and the more reserved are encouraged to pipe up before it’s too late.

Knapp says he first saw the $25 Time Timer in his son’s classroom.

I figured what worked for small children would probably work well for CEOs, too.

I’m amused by a Google team using a mechanical device: don’t they know there’s an app for that?