EIEIO...Mission 100 Preview
By: Michael Moe, CFA, Brent Peus, Owen Ritz, Catherine Merrick
“The two most important days are the day you’re born and the day you learn why.” – Mark Twain
“You can’t use an Old Map for a New World.” – Albert Einstein
“You find Meaning through Learning and Purpose through Work.” – Michael Moe
Introducing the Mission 100
We’re one week closer to the inaugural SMU+GSV Mission Summit, coming to Dallas, TX on May 22 – 24. We are extremely excited to gather leaders to promote powerful ideas to help accelerate the “Mission Movement”…Changing the World for Good!
At the event, we’re announcing the GSV Mission 100, a list of the 100 fastest-growing and most transformative mission corporations in the world.
There is a growing tidal wave of businesses that combine purpose and profits which we are calling the “Mission Movement.” We believe the truly great businesses of tomorrow will have the ambition of a for-profit and the heart of a non-profit.
These businesses span different sectors and stages, but the common thread is that they embody what it means to be a Mission Corporation: combining purpose and profits to become a truly transformative business with scalable and sustainable impact.
This is not an exercise in virtue signaling or compromising returns for the sake of doing social good. Instead, these companies are optimizing returns by optimizing impact.
The companies with the greatest impact will have the greatest returns. They’ll also be the best places to work, attract the best talent, and make the most positive change on their communities and the World.
As a sneak peek ahead of the Mission 100 release at the Summit, we’ve handpicked 20 featured companies that will be the “Stars of Tomorrow” of the Mission Movement.
To see the full list, sign up for the SMU+GSV Mission Summit on May 22nd-24th in Dallas, Texas.
Here’s 20 of the Mission 100 to show you the kind of companies that we’ll be featuring. We’d love to get your feedback on who should join them on the final list!
2U: Eliminating the back row in education and helping universities thrive in the digital age.
Angel Studios: Building a home for stories that amplify light.
Athletic Brewing: Crafting delicious non-alcoholic beer you can enjoy anytime and anywhere, with no worries and no hangovers.
Black Rifle Coffee Company: A veteran-founded and operated company striving to help other service-members successfully transition from the military into entrepreneurship.
Bombas: Donating a pair of socks to homeless shelters for every pair of socks sold.
Cost Plus Drugs: Providing safe, affordable medicine or medication with transparent low prices.
Coursera: Creating a world where anyone, anywhere has the power to transform their lives through learning.
Flock Safety: Developing a public safety operating system that helps cities, businesses, schools, and law enforcement in thousands of communities work together to stop crime, protect privacy, and mitigate bias.
Guild: Unlocking opportunity for America’s workforce by helping millions of Americans gain the skills and support they need to grow in their careers.
Helion Energy: Developing a clean and abundant source of energy through its nuclear fusion technology.
HundredX: Sourcing honest feedback from everyday consumers to help companies make key competitive decisions and support cause-based organizations.
Kate Farms: Offering healthy plant-based shakes and formulas for children and adults with chronic health conditions.
Liquid Death: Making people laugh and get more of them to drink more water more often, all while helping to kill plastic pollution.
Monarch Tractor: Revolutionizing agriculture by developing electric, autonomous, and data-driven farming technology.
Retro Biosciences: Adding 10 years to healthy human lifespan.
Saildrone: Using autonomous vehicles to collect ocean data at scale for conservation, mapping, and maritime security applications.
Shared-X: Lifting thousands of farmers out of poverty by deploying advanced farming techniques on highly productive land to close the agricultural yield gap.
UpSmith: Building the next generation of skilled workers while training them 4-6x faster than traditional methods.
Whoop: Improving human health and performance through its wearable technology and data analytics platform.
Zipline: Using drone technology to facilitate deliveries of medical supplies, food, and goods at 7x the speed of traditional automobile delivery.
Market Performance
The Dow closed the week up 0.9%, the S & P 500 up 0.9%, and the NASDAQ up 1.3%.
While the SaaS stalwarts began earnings season, “Food-As-A Service” companies had an even stronger quarter, with Chipotle, Carlsberg, PepsiCo, and McDonald’s all reporting double-digit Q1 revenue growth.
In Tech World, Microsoft’s proposed deal to acquire Activision was blocked by the UK antitrust regulator. Snap stock shot down over 20% on its first quarterly decrease in revenue since going public, while Meta soared on a revenue and earnings beat. Zuck shared that time spent on Instagram has grown more than 24% since the company launched Reels.
Next week will be another busy one, as earnings season continues with reports from Starbucks, Uber, Apple, AMD and more. Berkshire Hathaway will host its annual shareholders’ meeting in Omaha next Saturday, while the FOMC will meet on Tuesday and Wednesday, likely announcing the Fed’s final rate hike of the current tightening cycle.
Need to Know
Investing is about finding a few great ideas in a career…and venture is no different. Doug Clinton of Deepwater Asset Management offers a great overview of what it means to “swing for the fences.”
READ: Everything I’ve Learned About Venture in 500 Words | Deepwater Asset Management
While most college students learn about “investing” by day trading on Robinhood, Tom Gayner has developed a different training program for students at Virginia and Delaware State.
READ: Picking a Stock for the Year 2048
A picture is worth a thousand words…especially in a presentation.
READ: How to present
The status quo for attracting and retaining top talent for the past fifty years has been to find high-IQ generalists. In a world where AI raises the bar for everyone, will the pendulum swing back to a world that’s run by linchpins?
READ: Explaining tech's notion of talent scarcity
8VC Managing Partner Joe Lonsdale explains how he would emphasize accountability and competition to improve the way the US public sector functions. He stresses the need for innovation in sectors such as education, healthcare, criminal justice, and defense.
LISTEN: Podcast: How Joe Lonsdale would Fix the Public Sector
Large-scale abandonment of traditional standards has caused American military recruitment to appeal to more selfish motives, exposing itself to the risk of attracting recruits who lack loyalty to the organization and its higher values.
READ: The Free Press: What Your Country Can Do For You
Think that all of your wants are original and unique to you? Think again. Our desires are often mere imitations of those of the models in our life – both good and bad.
READ: Book: Wanting: The Power of Mimetic Desire in Everyday Life
GSV’s Four I’s of Investor Sentiment
GSV tracks four primary indicators of investor sentiment: inflows and outflows of mutual funds and ETFs, IPO activity, interest rates, and inflation. Here’s how these four signals performed last week:
#1: Inflows and Outflows for Mutual Funds & ETFs
Source: Yardeni
#2: IPO Market
There are signs that the IPO winter is beginning to thaw. SoftBank’s Arm registered confidentially this week for a US IPO, while J&J is listing its consumer health business Kenvue in New York next week, hoping to raise over $3.5 billion at a $40 billion valuation.
Source: Renaissance Capital
#3: Interest Rates
The expectation is that the Fed will raise interest rates by 25 basis points in May, bringing the benchmark interest rate to the highest level since 2006. A consensus is emerging that the May rate hike could be the last one for 2023.
Source: Reuters
#4: Inflation
The Personal Consumption Expenditures price index rose 4.2% for the 12 months ended in March, down from an upwardly revised 5.1% in February. 88% of economists say that inflation will likely keep decelerating this year.
Source: Bloomberg
Looking Up
A few stories to brighten your Sunday…
Moderna, Merck Show Progress Toward Cancer Vaccines - WSJ
Big Tech Carnage? Great News for Startups and Small Businesses
Chart of the Week
Chuckle of the Week
History doesn’t rhyme…it repeats exactly.
EIEIO…Fast Facts
Entrepreneurship: -74% – decrease in Series C funding from Q1 2022 to Q1 2023 (Source)
Innovation: 6% – percent of active startups on AngelList that raised a round or exited in 1Q23, the lowest rate ever recorded in their dataset (Source)
Education: 80% – percent of US colleges that no longer rely on the SAT/ACT for admissions (Source)
Impact: 3.8 billion – number of people using at least one Meta app on a monthly basis (Source)
Opportunity: $100,500 – median household income for Indian-Americans (Source)
Connecting the Dots & EIEIO…
Old MacDonald had a farm, EIEIO. New MacDonald has a Startup…. EIEIO: Entrepreneurship, Innovation, Education, Impact and Opportunity. Accordingly, we focus on these key areas of the future.
One of the core goals of GSV is to connect the dots around EIEIO and provide perspective on where things are going and why. If you like this, please forward to your friends. Onward!
Make Your Dash Count!
-MM