Trends in the Gig Economy + Work in the Metaverse
Welcome back to the Great North Ventures newsletter! We talk about labor trends this month, with some original research from Branch and some Metaverse updates. First the pandemic, now inflation is driving growth of the gig economy. According to a Pew Research Center survey, as of Aug 29th, 2021, 16% of Americans had earned money via an online gig platform. Specifically, driving […]
Insights for founders from a data guru, + FactoryFix raises a Series A!
Welcome back to the Great North Ventures newsletter! We have some great funding news, insights for founders and investors from our partners, and a former Yahoo and Disney exec on our podcast, Una Fox! FactoryFix has raised a $10M Series A. The company has grown it’s revenue by over 400% in the past year, and expanded […]
Start With a Mobile App, Not a Website
From my vantage point as a venture capitalist evaluating hundreds of early-stage startups annually, I’ve become puzzled why the vast majority of founders I come across are still choosing to develop their initial Minimum Viable Products (MVPs) via a website versus a native, mobile app. The data suggests they should not be. According to eMarketer, […]
The Rise of Rapid Consumer Detection Technologies: A 2022 Outlook
At Great North Ventures, we are excited to support entrepreneurs seeking to make the world healthier and safer. The rise of rapid, simple, point-of-use detection technologies promises just that.
Venture studio startup jobs + advice for founders from founders
Welcome back to the Great North Ventures newsletter! This month we have advice for founders featured in our latest podcast episode. In the latest episode of “Execution is King” we feature the best advice for founders, recorded live at our 2021 Annual Event. What is the Great North Annual Event? Every year, we gather investors, founders, […]
Newsletter: Do you fit our investing themes?
Welcome back to the Great North Ventures newsletter! (Sign up here!) This month we have some advice for founders as well as an open call for funding applications. In the latest episode of “Execution is King” we talk with Jonathan Treble of PrintWithMe. Jonathan talks about his path from Wharton to Grubhub to CEO/founder, and shares […]
Unlocking the Potential of Anonymized Commercial Real Estate (CRE) Data
Commercial real-estate (CRE), a $12 trillion industry, has been slow to use new technologies and data that can boost economic returns. During a recent Quarterly Spotlight event held by Great North Ventures, Tony Lesicka, CEO and Founder of Coverlease, and Pradip Madan, Managing Partner at Great North Ventures, discussed opportunities in CRE available from better […]
Founders or Investors: These are the top 5 signs a startup will succeed
As a tech founder and investor, I have spent a lot of time thinking about why some startups scale and why others fail. You have to when your livelihood is riding on whether or not you can execute. And when you’re putting other peoples’ money on the line, knowing what to do and being able […]
How Founders Spend Big Exit $$$, Flywheel, and St. Thomas: Innovation sans Full-Time MBA
Welcome back to the Great North Labs newsletter! With so many great startups getting acquired or going IPO lately, one wonders: What do founders do when they score these big windfalls? How Do Founders Spend Their Cash? Rob Weber was curious, so he asked other successful founders from the region about their post-exit strategies. Do […]
How the University of Minnesota is Embracing Startup Culture, EmpowerU, and MEDA $1M Challenge Winners
Welcome to our first newsletter of 2021! In our look back on the past year in our last newsletter, we talked about resilient startups, the pandemic, and capacity building. We reflected on our own efforts, and then we started thinking about the startup ecosystem as a whole. We’ve talked extensively about nonprofit organizations that support startups (and our support of […]