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We invested in Oculus after we saw a demo of the new prototype. For me, it was up there with the first time I saw Apple II, Mac, the web, Google, iPhone etc.

• adventured 13y ago
  At first I glanced over the "new" in there. Now I'm jealous.
• flyinglizard 13y ago
  I have no doubt about Oculus - I just wonder how the startup landscape will look if your model proves successful and other large VCs begin implementing it, instead of their more traditional returns model. Being that only the largest, most successful funds can partake in this huge money game, this may significantly reduce the overall market capital available for Series A investment and create an even narrower funnel.
  • deleted 13y ago
    [deleted]
  • pmarca 13y ago
    I'd argue you're actually seeing the emergence of a "new series A"/"first money in" investor category. Often angel investors who raise seed funds or small venture funds fit in this category. These include (but not limited to) Mike Maples/Floodgate, Aydin Senkut/Felicis, Hunter Walk/Homebrew, Aileen Lee/Cowboy, Michael Deering/Harrison, and several others. Also see Heavybit for a recent category-specific innovation. Also Union Square, Foundry, Upfront (Mark Suster) do a lot of this. I think there may be more high quality investors at the early Series A tier than ever before, but many of them are new.
• hershel 13y ago
  What about potential negative side effects[1] of VR ? Some of them are quite serious(depersonalization and derealization which are pretty serious mental illnesses). Combining those side effects with the probably addictive nature of VR should be done with caution. Is there any thought given to this issue before massively marketing this technology to the public ? [1]http://www.quora.com/Oculus-Rift/Virtual-Reality-Oculus-Rift-side-effects-of-extended-use http://www.quora.com/Oculus-Rift/Virtual-Reality-Oculus-Rift...
  • widdershins 13y ago
    Ha ha ha ha, of course not! This is venture capital, not freaking moral philosophy. If it's addictive, good, we'll make more money.
  • Cthulhu_ 13y ago
    Erm, addictive nature of VR? What about the addictive nature of video games themselves? The Quora article there describes a kind of escapism; perhaps more immersive than video games already are, but tbh I don't think there will be that big of a difference in the end.
    • hershel 13y ago
      I edited my question : the addictive nature of VR combined with potential mental illnesses.
  • coffeemug 13y ago
    Asking innovators to exercise caution because they might exacerbate the hikikomori phenomenon is like asking defense attorneys to exercise caution because they might exacerbate the rates of criminal activity. In both cases, that's not what these people do. There are obvious ethical lines, but it's not like these guys are building viruses in a petri dish.
    • hershel 13y ago
      >> but it's not like these guys are building viruses in a petri dish. Why compare them to one of the most extreme things humans can do ? Why not compare them to the food industry(under some regulation , and there's a debate if should have more) And Doctors (a single doctor can harm dozens/hundreds of people max , while an innovator can hurt million)?
  • ctdonath 13y ago
    This has been a continuous refrain from neo-Luddites regarding information technology well before I started noticing it near 40 years ago. Yes, VR is more immersive, depersonalizing, and derealizing ... but I don't think it will prove much worse than large-screen high-res video games, or even textual social media, are now. Those prone to the implied problems are already getting their "fix". Heck, TV sucks up near 40 hours each week from the majority - and that was reached with grainy 720x400 resolution media with few options for interaction. VR provides diminishing returns for information addiction.