The Head at 8VC: Broken Things Present Opportunities, Action Matters
The pandemic hit us like a storm, and when it’s no longer a threat anymore, mankind is waiting for better days to come. But the truth hurts, after Covid 19, we are experiencing the accelerating global crisis from climate change, global grain shortage, Russia’s war on Ukraine, and, inside the United States: inflation, mass shootings, to name a few.
Just look at all the headlines, it’s fair to infer that something has broken. That sense of chaos can be challenging to square with longer-term statistics indicating that, on many levels, the globe is generally getting better off.
And the moment it comes to the climax of the movie, some pioneers are pouring their effort to fill up these fragments. As the light is on, we are seeing 8VC craving conceptual gaps in the world to fix. The capital aims to repair broken industries and government, inculcating classical virtues, prioritizing families, and enabling a free and prosperous society where everyone can thrive.
Rising from the ashes, the story of this capital firm is getting closer to the spotlight where we can understand better its growth trajectory that’s stuffed with ups and downs. Let’s read on
American Optimist Craving for Conceptual Gaps in The World
The coach never plays but takes an important role in shaping his team and puts out a strategy for long-term growth. Having been in the industry for a long time, the founder of 8VC Joe Lonsdale acknowledged the core of a successful ecosystem.
Joseph Todd Lonsdale V, better known as Joe Lonsdale, was born in Fremont, California. Lonsdale, who was brought up in his mother’s Jewish faith, attended Fremont’s Mission San Hose High School.
The capital firm founder got a strong foundation from his family, his parents left him not only the legacy of love, but also a good mindset. Lonsdale demonstrated how his parents could inspire him with extraordinary values that result in an excellent work ethic, morals, and fulfilling career.
Lonsdale enrolled in Stanford University to study Computer Science. Along with studying macroeconomics and financial markets, he was the chief editor of the student publication The Stanford Review.
While attending Stanford, Joe Lonsdale started his career as an intern at PayPal. After finishing his education, he collaborated on different projects with Peter Thiel, the co-founder of PayPal. From 2002 until 2009, during which time the fund’s assets under management increased to $8 billion, he served as an executive at Clarium Capital.
With his experience in the initial days, 8VC founder co-founded Palantir Technologies in 2004, whose system enables human analysts to discover data from a wide variety of sources. Besides, Lonsdale co-founded Jason Mirra in 2009 to give family offices, private central banks, and Registered Investment Advisers (RIAs) visibility into client portfolios. The platform oversaw assets with a $1.8 trillion value in 2016.
When this man was ready with the venture market setting, he co-founded the venture capital firm Formation 8 in 2011, and it was one of the most successful backers in the industry before disbanding in 2015.
Right after the separation, the Silicon Valley tycoon founded 8VC, with a larger group of partners, many being his colleagues from Formation 8. The fund invests in technologically oriented businesses like Asana, LoadDocs, uBiome, and Common. It has contributed to Lonsdale’s wealth in addition to other sources.
Apart from his professional career, Lonsdale seems to be very active on social media. At moments, Lonsdale has captivated as much attention to himself as his portfolio companies. He gained notoriety and raised a few eyebrows early on in the previous year as a result of his tweets about “woke” tech diversity. He has also been involved in a high-profile litigation brought by a former Stanford student that was ultimately dismissed, as well as a breakup with prior investing partners.
In light of obviously presented chaotic aspects, it is hard to stay positive in a world shattered by widening gaps. In such a messy setting, an American Optimist see puzzles that need to be solved. He approaches issues with an upbeat perspective, believing that every issue can be solved creatively.
That belief is the tenet of his approach in investing which also means how he appreciates disruptive solutions that could fix the world, fosters ideas until it’s good enough to seamless fill up on the industry fragmental surface.
At the Side of Disruptive Fixers in This Broken World
Lonsdale highlighted why he began investing, saying that as the creator of Palantir, a multi-billion dollar worldwide software firm best recognized for its work in military and finance, he attracted a lot of excellent people.
As many of the most talented left to build new companies as is normal in the tech world, he would continue to mentor and advise them. He would give advice on how to acquire particular talents, connect with certain sectors, and generate money.
Lonsdale’s initial intentions of assisting individuals around him evolved into 8VC, a venture finance company that is continually on the lookout for conceptual flaws in society.
Lonsdale explained how he and his firm look towards filling these gaps by harnessing top talent in these industries to create value and ultimately make the world better. That may sound pie in the sky, but it works.
8VC appears to believe the technologists and entrepreneurs of our era are in a situation to have a more widespread, big impact on the planet than any group in any previous generations — and that the capital firm has an ethical responsibility to recognize and act on these talents’ power.
Joe Lonsdale and his flagship understand the power of technology and business to enable greater wealth. Shared by Joe Lonsdale, “We believe in progress, and in markets, and in creating opportunity for all.”
At 8VC, the management team architects and mentors the next generation of representatives who are brave and strong enough to fix what is broken, facing massive challenges and opportunities to transform industries, such as AI, genomic engineering, advanced manufacturing, and new business models.
The organization is dedicated to producing top-tier profits by supporting exceptional individuals and taking on the most pressing issues.
Over the years, 8VC has made investments encompassing a range of sectors such as logistics, life sciences, healthcare, IT infrastructure, government and defense, financial services, consumer and enterprise. It has made about 500 investments overall, according to PitchBook. Asana, Blend, Flexport, hims and hers, Mammoth Biosciences, Elon Musk’s The Boring Company, Qualia, and Wish are a few of its portfolio firms.
When it comes to the pitching process, the classic scenario for the fund is to invest in rounds with 5-6 participants. Obviously, startups are often financed by Y Combinator, Thrive Capital, Sway Ventures. The fund’s significant sponsors for the same round of funding are SV Angel, Lightspeed Venture Partners, and Great Oaks Venture Capital. Founders Fund, Menlo Ventures, and Emergence typically acquire funding in the subsequent rounds.
Compared to the other firms, 8VC works with lead investments that are 25 percentage points lower on average. Deals between $10 and $50 million are typical things for funds.
According to the real fund outcomes, this VC commits to exits 13 percentage points more frequently than other companies. 2018 saw the most activity for the fund. 2019 saw a greater number of fund departures. The fund consistently participates in 25–48 transactions per year. When 8VC makes an investment, the typical startup value ranges between $500 million and $1 billion.
The capital firm has no particular favorite among a number of founders of portfolio startups. In case when startup counts 5+ of the founder, the possibility for it to get the investment is low. For fund there is a match between the location of its establishment and the land of its numerous investments – United States.
We should specifically mention Guardant Health, Flexport, and Oscar Health Insurance Co. among the fund’s many startups with a public portfolio. In recent years, the capital is setting its focus to the next thriving fund investment areas, such as Biotechnology, SaaS. In addition, a startup must be at least four to five years old in order to get funding from this giant.
Having a strong base since the inception of his career, Joe Lonsdale and his talented team appeared as “top chefs”, they know how to combine all the ingredients to make good “food”. In the investing context, the core value and long-term growth strategy have created a harmony that drives the firm big returns.
Great Core Value Drives a Stream of Abundance
As an active investment firm, 8VC has made 408 investments in a variety of industries. On March 6, 2023, they made their most recent investment in Chaos, a business that had raised $70M.
The capital firm has also made 81 diversity investments. The most recent diversity investment made by 8VC was in the $19.1 million business Oula Health on January 12, 2023. 8VC has experienced 31 exits over its history, including numerous well-known ones including Asana, Hims & Hers, and Joby Aviation.
These exits have empowered 8VC to realize significant returns on its investments and demonstrate the firm’s ability to identify and support successful companies. The firm’s investment strategy appears to be successful despite the fact that investment results can be unpredictable.
8VC invests in a variety of firms, including Asana, the workplace software company created by Dustin Moskovitz of Facebook, and Anduril, the startup started by Palmer Lucky that is erecting a virtual border wall.
The organization has a number of investments in health-related businesses, such as the home-care startup Honor, the men’s health company Hims, and the health insurance venture Oscar.
Some of 8VC’s noteworthy investments include the healthcare startups Vida Health, Benchling, and Color Genomics, the agricultural technology company Pivot Bio, and the fintech firm Affirm. It is clear from the fact that several of these businesses have gone on to experience considerable development and success that 8VC has made some smart investments.
In addition, 8VC’s early investment in the biotech startup Synthego, which makes tools for gene editing, has given the company a return on investment of over 100 times.
With an impressive track record, 8VC has already celebrated these achievements. Even so, as the world is getting more broken, the noise keeps distracting people from doing their jobs. In that chaos, 8VC saw new gaps that keep appearing in our world, they wished to fix it. This is the driving force behind its new enhancement that aims to boost the repair process.
Unwavering Effort to Seal the Lacunae in The Chaos Setting
On March 1, 2023, 8VC announced the launch of its fifth fund, which has raised $880 million in new capital. The firm plans to use this capital to support and partner with entrepreneurs at all stages of their journey, from early-stage startups to more established companies looking to grow and scale their businesses.
Despite the development of the venture capital world over the last decade, there are still many big problems that remain unanswered, and innovative people from all over the planet are inspired to address them through technology.
8VC’s mission to “fix a broken world” stays consistent, and the firm is dedicated to partnering with founders who share this vision and are passionate about using technology to make a positive impact on society.
Lonsdale’s post about the new fund struck a philosophical tone. “There are huge challenges facing our civilization, to be sure, and challenges to entrepreneurship as well,” he wrote.
He added, “but as entrepreneurs, broken things present opportunities. And when we look deeper, we see amazing transformations taking place all around us.”
“AI is transforming the world inside and outside of computers; genomic engineering and new scientific knowledge are transforming the world of cells; advanced manufacturing is transforming the world of machines; new business models, incentives and innovation are transforming how we receive our healthcare. These are a few of our frontiers,” the CEO shared.
The company is still bullish about society’s adaptability but acknowledges the need to deal with increasing dysfunction as well as unaccountable bureaucracy and oligopolies.
The company is still bullish about society’s adaptability but acknowledges the need to deal with increasing dysfunction as well as unaccountable bureaucracy and oligopolies. In order to transform industries, produce world-class returns, and build a more robust, creative, and dynamic future for all of us, 8VC develops and mentors the next generation of leaders.
In conclusion, 8VC’s fifth fund release strengthens its dedication to its mission to fix a broken world by supporting and partnering with business owners at every stage of their journey and building solutions to address big problems and explore the vast uncharted wilderness.
Bottom lines
Little over ten years have passed since 8VC started making its very first investments. Since then, the venture industry has changed significantly, with new company models, macroeconomic presumptions, and innovative locations and industries emerging.
But some “classic” headaches stay the same. There are still significant issues that need to be resolved, and brave individuals from all corners of the globe are motivated to leverage technology to do so. That’s why the firm still has a lot of things to do since the world is more fragile than ever.
