A Short Note 💌

Alohomora's (Almost) Two Year Update

Dear Readers,

As Alohomora approaches its two year anniversary, I wanted to convey my gratitude to all of you.

Thank you for subscribing, supporting, sharing, and engaging with everything I’ve written in the last two years! 💕

True to its name, Alohomora (the unlocking charm in Harry Potter), unlocks trends and *magical* insights for me, and for many of you. This newsletter also serves as a mechanism for me to organize and share learnings, and is a tool to satiate my Intellectual Curiosity. Sometimes, my learnings and curiosities align with areas I’m looking to invest in (via the scout program I take part in). I also advise early-stage companies, so I use this newsletter to get smart on areas I care about and seek companies in.

I also use Alohomora to make friends! I started Alohomora early in the pandemic, and it has been a fantastic vehicle to connect with a range of folks from around the world. I’d been thinking of starting a blog, and was inspired to start by Andrew Chen’s blog post, 10 years of professional blogging - what I’ve learned. In the post, he writes:

Writing is the most scalable professional networking activity – stay home, don’t go to events/conferences, and just put ideas down.

I kept coming back to that quote, and finally decided to start writing. It’s been both more challenging, and more fulfilling, than I anticipated.

Without further ado, I’m making a few changes to Alohomora so it better serves you, my readers, and so it is a more effective tool for me to explore new technologies, build relationships, and identify mission-driven founders. In the future, I’ll categorize the type of newsletter through a tighter content strategy. I’ll occasionally share theses or lists of companies in the areas I’m investing in or thinking about, and will generally share more on my investment strategy. Lastly, I’m beginning a referral program and brand discovery section in Alohomora to enhance the reader experience.  

1. Content strategy: Going forward, posts will be 🪄 guides (tactical resources like Operator Resources), 💡 theses (breakdowns of promising fields or companies, like The Promise of GovTech), or 💭 musings (my observations, like People Who Interview People). See the graphic below for more details. 

2. Investment strategy: As mentioned, I’m currently scout investing, advising, and may begin angel investing too. Because I have a full-time job outside of investing, I only have the bandwidth to invest in areas I care deeply about, and can effectively diligence. Currently, those areas are: infrastructure, AI / ML, and GovTech / Civic Tech. See the graphic in the Investment strategy section below for more details. Investment strategy is really a subset of content strategy for the purposes of Alohomora - if a newsletter is in the 💡 thesis category, it is likely tied to my investment strategy.

3. Reader experience: I want to make this newsletter valuable to my readers. Recently, I spent time understanding and segmenting Alohomora’s audience. You are a group of ✨ amazing and accomplished ✨ people who come to Alohomora from a range of backgrounds. The majority of readers are in VC, academia, and startups; some readers are talented athletes, consultants, writers, and more.

   When Alohomora lands in your inbox, I want it to evoke excitement! To this end, I’m adding a brand discovery component, and a referral program with fun rewards! (: See the bottom of this newsletter for more details. 

Content Strategy

Future essays will fall into one of the three buckets below, and emojis (🪄💡💭) in the title of future essays will indicate which bucket essays fall into.

➕ Find clickable visuals here. 

Investment Strategy

Many of you know I was previously a full-time investor. I’m currently working at a startup, but continue to invest - mostly through Costanoa Ventures’ scout program. I also advise early-stage companies. Find specific themes for investing and advising below. These themes are subject to change - I may partner with a company radically different than what’s outlined below (I do love a good consumer product) - but the areas below are my core competencies. If you are an investor or a startup in one of these areas, reach out!

Reader Experience

Brand Discovery

Many of you are here to learn about new brands, passions, and people. To that end, I will experiment with highlighting initiatives aligned with the missions and interests of Alohomora’s esteemed readers. If you want to be a brand partner, reach out! I’d love to chat with you. More to come on this. 

Referrals 

I’d like to grow Alohomora! Invite your friends to earn rewards (stickers and books)! Hit the invite your friends button below to get started.

Thank you for reading Alohomora!