Let’s go Outside 🏞

Lee Valley VeloPark on the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park © Kintsugi (Ad)ventures

Back to nature, just human nature
Getting on back to
I think I’m done with the sofa
I think I’m done with the hall
I think I’m done with the kitchen table, baby

Let’s go outside (let’s go outside)
In the sunshine
I know you want to, but you can’t say yes
Let’s go outside (let’s go outside)
In the moonshine
Take me to the places that I love best

– “Outside” by George Michael (born Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou; 25 June 1963–25 December 2016)

I’m going to try something new and publicly post about my investment thesis on Medium for my latest syndicate deal in Outside.

The place where there’s always a friend to hang out with [https://outside.so/]

I’ve been waiting patiently for this one to show up on my radar…

Even after 70+ investments I get excited talking to founders visions of the future. I have to write down my thoughts to sanity check my thinking against the real world but I am over the moon about what Blake and Ryan are building.

This will be my 6ᵗʰ syndicated deal as Kintsugi (Ad)ventures. I typically invest between £5,000 and £10,000 personally and very lucky to have a number of backers who trust my judgement and allow me to 5–10X this figure into a £25,000 to £100,000 investment.

Let’s set the scene and start with the problem…

Let’s not dig up the past with Cambridge Analytica, PRISM, Donald Trump (Send In The Clowns, anyone?), Brexit and all that surveillance and behavioural targeted political messaging made possible by social media. If your interested in the topic I recommend you read Christopher Wylie’s book Mindf*ck: Cambridge Analytica and the Plot to Break America by Random House.

This all fits into a larger picture of a society obsessed with technology and smartphones.

I know I am personally, it is literally a battle each and every day. I love my smartphone and the superpowers it gives me but I often dream about taking a hammer to it and getting my actual Life back.

I am a technophile. I have a PhD in Computer Science, I queued up at the Apple Store on Regent’s Street to get the iPhone 3, at Walmart in Ithaca in the snow to get the Nintendo Switch and some video games store in High Wycombe to get the SEGA Dreamcast on launch day back in the 00s. All in the early hours of the morning in awful weather simply to be the first to play some new video game or be the first of my group of friends to have a new tech gadget.

That was a while ago but I love technology, I see it as a tool to solve humanities ills and problems better than humans have managed at any prior point in history.

As the event horizon of technology expands surely we should be living happier, healthier and fuller lives… Right?

Yet, by my observation we are categorically not.

I have challenges with insomnia. Apart from too much coffee a large part of this is driven by using a phone or laptop or smart home devices all waking hours of the day and at times late into the night.

Most likely I spend too much time “doom-scrolling” on Facebook (is it called Meta now?), Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn when I should be playing with my kids, exercising at the gym or generally making better use of the limited time we have on this pale blue dot called Earth.

So let’s talk about the solution and about Outside…

“The Anti-Metaverse” — The place where there’s always a friend to hang out with [https://outside.so/]

First off. Check out the website and download the app.

Outside is building…

The Anti-Metaverse — The place where there’s always a friend to hang out with.

The place where there’s always a friend to hang out with. That sounds pretty damn cool, right?

This is an “anti-metaverse” play, helping friends new and old make real connections and not waste their best years on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and God forbid, TikTok.

The co-founders Blake and Ryan met at Cuvva, a fast growing mobile-first insurance fintech, and have the ability to iterate and ship product very fast.

I am all in on this thesis.

Facebook, Instagram and TikTok all those companies who’s entire business model is to extract our time in return for advertising dollars.

I am sure it was never their intention starting out but founders of these behemoths like Mark Zuckerberg, Kevin Systrom and Zhang Yiming may even know deep down they helped create a three headed monster. A Cerberus of social media.

In Greek mythology, Cerberus often referred to as the hound of Hades, is a multi-headed dog that guards the gates of the Underworld © Wikimedia Commons

The entire business model of these companies is to keep us locked away scrolling on smartphones and not doing what actually makes us happy. Being outside in the real world connecting with the rest of humanity through shared experiences.

Blake from Outside recommended a recent book that depicts this issue well called Stolen Focus: Why You Can’t Pay Attention by Johann Hari.

A mythological monster that currently counts over a third of the global population in its vast user base. That is more people than any nation state! Think about that… That’s scary!

No wonder we get a liar, a cheater and masochist like Trump as President of the United States. Or everyone over the age of 40 voting for Brexit because they are terrified of change and immigration. Or a host of mob like mentality percolating the internet and spilling over into the real world with awful consequences.

I want people to look up from the smartphone, close the laptop and go out and have fun with their friends, even random strangers they don’t know yet… Talk to each others, share your problems, fear, dreams and aspirations.

That’s why I am investing in Outside because it helps everyone break out of the technology trap and get back to living their Life.

That’s all for now folks.

For now enjoy the sunshine and listen to George doing what he did best…

Wham!

George Michael — Outside (Official Video) c. 2006 [Courtesy of Sony BMG Music UK]

p.s., If you want to know more feel free to reach out and say hello@kintsugi.vc or via Twitter.