Zima Red ep 148: Greg Castle - Funding Emerging Technologies at Anorak Ventures
Primer: Why did Greg Castle invest in Oculus? What is it about AR and VR that intrigues him? In what ways has AI surprised him? Let’s find out in this episode of Zima Red.
Background
Was a founder. Operated a business for 6 years that was unrelated to tech
Got into video games in 2010. Worked for a tools provider that sold to publishers
Built a knowledge base and a network in the video game industry
The company was acquired by Autodesk. Joined their Games Technology Group
Started making angel investments. Oculus, which was one of his investments, became very successful
Started making venture bets and considering it as a career path
It culminated in Anorak Fund 1. Three of the companies that they invested in at the seed stage are worth north of a billion dollars
In 2021, they created Anorak Fund 2
Why Did He Invest In Oculus?
The team is stellar and is building something really unique
It’s not often that you see opportunities that are truly groundbreaking
Most other opportunities are just about synthesizing other ideas and making improvements to existing ways of doing things
“It's exciting because of the business opportunity that is possible by creating and defining a whole new category.”
- Greg Castle
Investing On Market Potential Or The Founding Team?
A bunch of things have to match up
You have to believe in the people who are building it and the direction that they are building towards
In the earliest stage, you are betting on the team to have the drive and the ability to persevere and win
What Is Most Exciting To Him Today?
The ability to capture environments is still in its infancy today
This applies to both business and personal
In business, it is more mature — there are benefits to having your building captured digitally
On the personal side, there is too much friction to make it worthwhile. This will change over time
There are a number of reasons why people need access to 3D models and digital twins: gaming and entertainment, fashion, home, etc.
Sci-Fi Use Cases Of Digital Twins
Digital versions of collectibles he has at his home
There are 3 permutations:
Physical to physical
Digital to physical
Digital to digital
In Web3, there are people who are just out to make a quick buck, but they use a political and philosophical cover for it
There are people who always talk about Web3 for technology’s sake but not the reasons why somebody would use it
Shining Spots Within The Web3 Space
Working with a company that is building a Web3 version of a code repository
Currently, the top code repositories in the world that house widely used software packages are being owned by a corporation
There’s censorship going on in that corporation and it is dangerous to have a corporation own the repository
Wants someone who is responsible even though their intentions are not necessarily aligned with him
Thoughts On Apple Vision Pro
It is a real vote of confidence for the AR space as a whole
Apple is one of the best technology hardware manufacturers in the world
Investors and developers are taking notice
Meta has little competition and has been going along at their own pace
AR And VR: Are They Similar Or Different?
They seem like different products but physically they are the same device
What Will Be The First Viral App For The Vision Pro?
The media has a way of skewing people’s perception
When people get excited about technology, the media jumps on it and uses the headlines to inflate expectations
Ultimately, it does not live up to the hype and it falls into a trough of disillusionment
With the Apple Vision Pro, he is under no illusion that the numbers are not going to be groundbreaking
It is an expensive device that has a very certain use case
Apple will continue to iterate and bring out cheaper and better products
Thoughts On The Current VR Landscape
There will be more entrants in the next 2-5 years
Is VR More For Gaming?
Currently, the Quest Pro is bulky and uncomfortable
It will get less clunky and less difficult to interact with over time
There is a whole bunch of different mediums to interact with tech and VR and head-mounted displays will be one of the many mediums
Will Glasses Replace Cell Phones?
Glasses will not be a fit for everything
When multiple people need to look at a screen, it is hard to do so with a pair of AR glasses
Thinks an add-on device to a mobile phone that provides extra information is a more interesting proposition
Near-Term Implications Of AI That Has Surprised Him
Finding himself going more to ChatGPT rather than Google when he needs a question answered
The ability to analyze things that were previously much more difficult to analyze
It’s interesting to him that OpenAI took the approach of releasing ChatGPT to everyone to let them see its power
When you look deeper, businesses are actually leveraging it for more productive use cases, with fees being incurred
Think that there will be paywalls in the future
What Companies Will Be Defensible In The Age Of AI?
Companies that are building their own proprietary datasets
Have a few companies in their portfolio that are doing that
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