Phil Morle – Medium

Jul 19

Venture capital’s big bang was the moment scientists became owners

Owners have more momentum than employees. They are driven by pride, agency, intention, hope and fear. When scientists become owners, incredible impact is possible. Venture capital was created to unleash this power It is easy to think of venture capital as a digital-first execution game, but it began in a way that is much closer to our work…

2 min read

Jun 26

The early-stage venture capitalist’s hunt for a ‘win pattern.’

We throw new experiences against a canvas of history to decide whether something is strong or weak, good or bad. In venture capital, we do this all the time. Like junkies, we look for that moment of epiphany. …

2 min read

Jun 24

Big moves don’t happen on Zoom

I love Zoom, but I am tired of it. As I step back into the world, spending time with people over food and taking walks, I am watching big things start to move again. These projects are emerging in ways that did not happen on the Brady Bunch screen I…

1 min read

May 27

Hope in the downturn

Who did you take some hope from today? We’re all talking about the market downturn and adjusting our plans to operate in the new context. Hope is a casualty. And without hope, startup founders struggle. …

1 min read

May 26

A place for investors to send incomplete teams

As deep tech investors, we often see incredible ideas that aren’t ready for an investment. This is much more the norm in deep tech than in other areas of venture capital investing. We regularly meet science teams with no company or commercial ‘packaging’. …

1 min read

May 25

Do investment committees know if an early-stage investment is a good one?

Investing in something early is investing in a whisp of smoke. The patterns are hard to see and constantly moving. How can it be possible to read a description of that smoke on paper and then decide to take a risk on an investment? I’ve been on many investment committees…

2 min read

May 18

More sherpas, fewer gatekeepers for research commercialisation

We can’t play the infinite game with a legion of gatekeepers standing along the road ahead. Most of the funding sources for research commercialisation are grants administered by gatekeepers. These processes have thorough governance processes, and the gatekeepers (I have been one) can defend any decision if challenged. It just…

1 min read

May 18

7 ideas for accelerators including cancelling demo day

What do startup accelerators need to accelerate? We’ve become jaded by some of the cut and paste programs, and I wanted to flush that out in my essay, Do we still need startup accelerators? The generated threads included valuable insights that I encourage you to read on Twitter and LinkedIn. What does an accelerator today need to deliver? …

Venture Capital

2 min read

May 16

Do we still need startup accelerators?

Do we still need startup accelerators? Were they for a point in time that has now passed? I have been designing and running accelerator programs since 2010 and believe they have been a significant contribution to the innovation system we have today. Ten years ago, few people aspired to start…

2 min read

May 5

An invite-only Founder Foundry for the next generation of startup leaders

A common job for us at Main Sequence is finding leaders for the deep tech companies that we are founding or helping spin out of research organisations. These people need to be impossibly experienced — probably as a business leader in a sector (such as the food industry or energy)…

2 min read