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Tag: Bedrock Capital

  • Even Just on the Medical Side, There’s Big Business in Pot

    Even Just on the Medical Side, There’s Big Business in Pot

    There’s a big business to be built even just on the medical side of legal marijuana says legendary technology investor Geoff Lewis. Lewis was an early investor in Tilray which recently had a hugely successful IPO of which he was pleasantly surprised.

    Lewis thinks the worldwide trend is toward recreational legalization of marijuana and that bodes well for Tilray. “I think quite honestly the US is behind other countries on that score,” says Lewis. “So TBD here, but around the world, the trend is very much toward recreational legalization.”

    Geoff Lewis, the founder of Bedrock Capital and an early tech investor in many companies including Tilray, the global leader in legal marijuana, Lewis recently discussed the recent Tilray IPO and the future of legal pot around the world on CNBC:

    I Didn’t Think the Tilray Founders Actually Used the Product

    One of the reasons I invested in Tilray, via Privateer Holdings, the creators of Tilray back in 2014, was that I didn’t think the founders actually used the product. I spent a lot of time trying to diligence whether I thought the team was actually using it and they weren’t.

    The reason I cared is not that I have anything societally against it, but it was illegal at the time. The company was based at the time in Washington State where it was not legal.

    At this point, I do think the trend has really dramatically shifted from back when we invested in Tilray in 2014 and it’s now obviously a publicly traded company. It’s a big win and we’re really lucky to have been able to back those founders early on. But there were only a few countries in the world where there was a medically legal framework and now there are over 30 countries.

    There’s Big Business to be Built on Just the Medical Side

    We didn’t know the IPO was going to be as successful as it was, that was a pleasant surprise. I would say that we did believe that regulation ultimately follows what society wants. We felt back in 2014 when we made the investment that most people in most countries believe it should at least be medically legal and the regulations were very expected.

    There’s big business to be built just on the medical side. I do strongly believe the trend is toward recreational legalization. This is certainly true in many of the Western European countries and South America. I think quite honestly the US is behind other countries on that score. So TBD here, but around the world, the trend is very much toward recreational legalization.

  • Blockchain the Technology is Overhyped, but Not Bitcoin

    Blockchain the Technology is Overhyped, but Not Bitcoin

    If you’re not very confident in global stability you should be long on Bitcoin says tech mogul Geoff Lewis. He says blockchain the technology continues to be somewhat overhyped, but at this point, he thinks bitcoins are probably relatively underhyped.

    Geoff Lewis, the founder of Bedrock Capital and an early tech investor in many companies including Lyft, recently discussed the future of Bitcoin and more on CNBC:

    Blockchain the Technology is Overhyped

    With blockchain, you’ve got to distinguish between blockchain the technology and then the currencies themselves. Blockchain the technology continues to be somewhat overhyped.

    There just are lots of scalability challenges to be figured out there. On the currency side, I would say at this time last year it’s extraordinarily overhyped.

    Bitcoins Are Probably Relatively Underhyped

    I remember around this time last year I had an electrician in my house and he was telling me about how to become a Bitcoin millionaire. Bitcoin was around $20,000 and he was a Bitcoin multi-millionaire. At this point, I think bitcoins are probably relatively underhyped.

    If you think a year ago versus today, I personally have less confidence in global governments, less confidence that we’re going to be in a stable long-term global future. If you’re not very confident in global stability you should be long on Bitcoin.

    Top image is screenshot from Bitcoin.org video.

  • You Haven’t Seen a Mass Social Media User Revolt

    You Haven’t Seen a Mass Social Media User Revolt

    The social media space is pretty ripe for disruption says tech investor Geoff Lewis. Lewis likes to invest against the grain, what he calls counter-narrative, and is actively looking at startups in that sector. Lewis says that there has been a lot of noise from regulators but that users are still using social media products. He says that thus far you haven’t seen any sort of mass user revolt.

    Geoff Lewis, the founder of Bedrock Capital and an early tech investor in many companies including Lyft, recently discussed the future of social media and more on CNBC:

    You Haven’t Seen a Mass Social Media User Revolt

    The social media space is pretty ripe for disruption. There’s always this trade-off between privacy and communications and so we want as users and consumers to be able to communicate with our friends and to be connected, but we also want our privacy.

    Then there’s this question of does the privacy thing ever get shifted too far to a point where people revolt? Thus far you haven’t seen any sort of mass user revolt. A lot of the noise has been in the markets with regulators, but the users are still using the product.

    It’s a Narrative Violation to Invest in Social Media

    I actually think it’s a narrative violation to be doing things in social media today as a start-up and what we’re focused on at Bedrock is investing in these companies that are counter-narrative. So I think the idea of investing in a social media business today, especially early stage as a venture capitalist, is very unfashionable.

    So it’s something that we’d be very up for and have been looking at some new companies in that sector.


  • The Best Companies Have Very Bright Futures

    The Best Companies Have Very Bright Futures

    The best companies have very bright futures says tech investor Geoff Lewis. He says that the way he always thinks about private company valuations is as a discount on the future versus a premium on the past. Lewis says that the future is bright for Lyft because only half a percent of the rides in the US today are shared rides so there is a lot of room to grow.

    Geoff Lewis, the founder of Bedrock Capital and an early tech investor in many companies including Lyft, recently discussed the future of Lyft, social media, Bitcoin, and more on CNBC:

    The Best Companies Have Very Bright Futures

    The way that I always think about these private company valuations is as a discount on the future versus a premium on the past. I learned this from Peter Thiel who I worked with for many years. The best companies have very bright futures.

    If you think about Lyft, for example, only half a percent of the rides in the US today are shared rides. The entire remainder of rides in the US are normal rides. So there’s a lot of room for a company like Lyft in the US alone to grow if they can even capture two percent of rides in the US.

    There Are Some Dogs that are Going to Go Out This Year

    I think there’s a pretty bright future for the good tech companies. Quite honestly, there are some dogs that are going to go out this year and they’re not going to do well. But ultimately, the great thing about technology is the macro tends to matter less in the long term for the really enduring tech companies.

    You want to find these businesses that have these really durable revenue models that are going to be able to grow for many years going forward. It’s a hard hard thing to figure out.

    The Trend for 2019 is the End of Trends

    I’m personally very interested in new approaches to financing education and new approaches actually getting an education. I really do think the university and the college system is very broke and there are new financial instruments out there that can really help folks through education. We have some exciting stuff that we’ve been working that we will be talking about in 2019.

    Beyond that, I’d say the trend for 2019 is the end of trends. We’ve gone through so many hype cycles in technology and I really think we’re in an environment where we just have to find one-of-a-kind things that don’t fit into any easy to categorize categories. I think that makes the job of being an investor a lot harder.