The Y Startup Index Fund, Better Politics and Ventilation
Your weekly 5 things from the mind of Miles Lasater
Happy Saturday! Here are your 5 things from the mind of Miles for this week.
Y Startup Index Fund. We are starting a new organization in the Yale entrepreneurship scene. The Y Startup Index Fund connects Yale alum founders and investors. Each angel invests $25k per year and becomes a member of the community supporting Yale alum founders. The index will provide a low-diligence $25k investment to startups with a fulltime Yale alum founder. Let me know if you are interested.
Andrew Yang. Open Primaries. Rank Choice Voting. Human-Centered Capitalism. Fact-Based Governance. Effective and Modern Government. If you like the sound of these things, check out the Forward Party. I had Andrew Yang on my podcast this week to discuss the new political party, what it's like to start a political campaign and the need for more founders.
Political Violence. One of the things we discussed on the podcast was the risk of more political violence in the US. What’s your estimate of the risk level? How do we reduce it? Does talking about it make it more likely?
Lafayette an Abolitionist. Speaking of political violence, I’m just finishing a biography of Lafayette. What a full and intense life he led! One thing to notice is how he took big risks which paid off for him. Was he better at understanding risk than others? Did he disregard risk? Or was he lucky over and over? Another thread of interest is his willingness to push US leaders on slavery. That means George Washington and other early political leaders had at least one comrade-in arms close to them advocating for abolitionism. What if they had listened?
Clean Indoor Air. In the 19th century we realized we need clean drinking water and started making the necessary investments. In the 20th century, we realized we need clean outdoor air and started making the necessary investments. In the 21st century, we realized that we need clean indoor air. It’s time to start making the necessary investments for ventilation improvements.
Until next week,
Miles