Zach Ware

Boston

Last week I was traveling in Boston to spend time with two of our portfolio startups.

I spend a fair amount of time with Ministry of Supply. It’s one of our key investments but more than that, I always feel smarter after a day with their team so I jump at the chance to work with them.

In technical VC jargon I’m officially an advisor and last week attended a quarterly board meeting. The way Gihan runs a board meeting is inspiring.

Much of the company’s actions stem from frameworks taught to MBAs with just the right dose of skepticism. Basically they think in business-speak but blend it with just enough reality to make it useful. That’s a rarity in strategic thought.

Dragon Innovation

I also spent a few hours getting my mind blown by Dragon Innovation in Cambridge. If you’ve purchased a startup-made physical product with electronic components, there’s a high probability they were the behind-the-scenes maestros who made it happen. They are the Foxconn-tamers and simply really cool people. I’ll be joining them for a trip to China this fall to learn about manufacturing first-hand.

Side note: if you’re making a physical product, check out their open source standard bill of materials. It will make your life 1000 times easier.

First published on July 26, 2016