The Ledger
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O'Sullivan: Connected, AI-enabled hardware will replace all physical devices within 20-30 years
“So hardware would need to be cloud connected, would need to have AI built into it, and would need to basically replace all existing physical devices over time. And so that was a megatrend. It would take 2030 years for that to fully play out.”
O'Sullivan: SOSV is world's most active investor in life sciences and hardware
“We're the world's most active investor in life sciences and hardware and also just generally we would rank as
Perhaps the world's third most active seed investor.
And I think we make a top 10 in the world's most active Series A investors as well.”
O'Sullivan: 70% of IndieBio startups raise follow-on rounds vs 30% in software
“I'd say only 70%
Of our companies actually make it past that first stage.
That is the number that we've been getting out of the indie bio program, for example, which is still higher than a lot of the software programs, which are more in the 30% range.”
O'Sullivan: Easier to turn scientists into entrepreneurs than business people into scientists
“I think it's much easier to train a scientist to be an entrepreneur than it is to train a business guy to be a scientist.”
SOSV was the sole VC backer of BitMEX, rivaling NASDAQ's profitability
“We were the only venture company to have backed them, and then they became profitable very quickly after exiting our program. They were as profitable as NASDAQ was for a couple of years in there.”
O'Sullivan: MapInfo invented digital street mapping on computers
“So MapInfo created the industry of street mapping on computers. So if you type an address into a computer, whether it's your smartphone or on your PC, and you see a street map, that's what we invented.”
O'Sullivan: Idealab's Bill Gross is the precursor to all accelerator programs
“Not the hedge fund Bill Gross, the other Bill Gross, the Idealab Bill Gross from Pasadena, who is really the precursor for all accelerator programs.”
O'Sullivan: Chinaccelerator was the first startup accelerator in Asia
“And so I started China Accelerator, which was the first accelerator program in Asia.”
O'Sullivan: HAX is the world's first hardware startup accelerator
“So that's the world's first hardware accelerator, a physical device accelerator built on the theme that if you're going to create new physical devices, they need to be cloud connected.”
Founders obsessed with fundraising often unjustly expect constant up rounds
“If a founder was to spend the majority of their time trying to chase investment rather than improving their business, I think that is a crime. It's often, by the way, the same people who expect that every next round is going to be an up round, despite not meet…”
SOSV receives 8,000 applications annually, backing 130 startups with up to $500K
“So we are getting 8000 applications per year. That's a lot considering the specialties that we are in. And we select about a 130 of those companies a year for investment. And our typical investment package is at least a quarter of a million dollars and more of…”
O'Sullivan: SOSV secured two $25M state sponsorships in NY and NJ
“We recently got two twenty-five million dollar sponsorships.
One for the IndieBio New York program, multi-year sponsorship, and then a twenty-five million dollar for the Hacks USA, both from the states, one from the state of New Jersey, one from the state of N…”