A wild year. Here’s some thoughts:
On living
- Writing is fun. More people should write in public.
- Relationships are so important, and having a supportive partner that builds you up emotionally is the most important thing you can have for your self-worth, self-esteem, etc.
- Yoga is so underrated. Try it, and you’d be surprised how connected your entire body is.
- Don’t mess with that “peptide stack.” You’re not diabetic, stop injecting yourself with insulin. It’s a waste of money and worst case it’s gonna mess up your body.
- Chronic pain sucks, a lot.
- Moving to a new country is absolutely worth it; for example, the “strength of weak ties” from network studies.
- Indian and Chinese food in London so far has been disappointing, especially for the price. I think I’ve been spoiled growing up in/near NYC and SF for almost all my life. Aaha and Ho-Sai-Gai reign supreme. IYKYK.
On networks & philanthropy
- Help others and connect people to each other, because a useful network is an active network. The world gets little out of you having a secret “black book” of people all to yourself.
- There are interesting networks of powerful, influential, and well-resourced people (beyond San Francisco) that are more accessible than you think.
- If Tom Kalil gets ghosted by philanthropists, it’s okay that I do, too.
- Everyone’s worked with Tom.
- Turning a billionaire into a philanthropist, or finding people that are able to do it, is an incredibly high-return activity worth a minimum +5yr investment.
On science funding & innovation
- This was the year of ARPAs. ARIA, JST, and now there are several conversations in countries across Europe and Asia for more ARPA-style agencies to help solve their economic problems.
- I’m personally very excited to see how both ARIA and ARPA-H will change with the new CEO.
- When will ARIA’s military brother, “DARIA” (Defense), be created? Maybe never, but never say never, especially if the war in Ukraine keeps evolving. Perhaps ARPAs in central Europe are now just a question of when.
- We still need more alternative science funding and innovation models.
- We still need way more micro/fast-grants, especially in women’s health.
On biotech & drug discovery
- Non-model species—mammals, micro-organisms, extremophiles, and plants—are all still massively underrated.
- We still need many more new therapeutic modalities (e.g., drugs that switch “on/off” in situ with ease).
- What will it take to abstract biology beyond DNA, proteins, cells, organs, and ultimately, the bench? How can we bring biology from writing in raw Lisp to vibe-coding in VS Code?
- Angel investing more frequently has unfortunately made me much more selective and pessimistic about much of the new drug discovery biotechs, even though I’m still very bullish and still invest exclusively in biotech. Catch me IRL sometime and happy to go into this.
On tech, markets & San Francisco
- There’s more TV, gaming, and social media content that exists now than can ever be consumed. So I don’t feel so bad not finishing most TV series or games I try for 10–20 minutes.
- Prediction markets are strange, but they’re useful tools (e.g., Good Judgement Project) and ultimately, I think this sort of retail gambling investing will change how the US market works, similar to how the Chinese market works already.
- The future is being built in San Francisco. Observing the innovation system in London, I now see just how much the world falls behind in speed, and how much SF is idolised. It can sometimes be a bit much though, I must say.
- Rizz & Tizz is still one of the funniest (and very SF-accurate) investment philosophies from a VC I’ve heard in a while.
- The (beginning of the) merge might happen in 2026. Always bet on Sumner.
On the world
- One of humanity’s greatest challenges is to keep feeding itself, and yet I still see so much food going to waste every day. If developed countries have only recently obtained high food optionality, can we bring ourselves back to intentionality?
- The United States’ self-sabotage on immigration and scientific investment is a massive, potentially decade-defining (hopefully not century-defining), moment for the rest of the world to lead technological innovation and progress.
- Zohran Mamdani’s NY mayoral win is more symbolic of a deeply fractured, dangerously slippery slope downwards than people, especially those that voted for him, realise.
On women’s health
- Endometriosis is still an incredibly fascinating and maybe the most important disease that will help us understand all our diseases.
- We still need way more deeptech startups specifically around the uterus, ovaries, and the diseases that affect the female body when those organs fail.
- We still need way more uterine-ovarian straight-shots that hunt for three broad categories of drugs: menstrual cramp reduction, uterine/ovarian disease (e.g., Endo) treatment, and menopause delay/prevention—collectively representing more than $3 trillion in annual global economic burden. Who besides Ashley, Leah, and Morgan, are building this?