- Noted
- Posts
- Introducing Noted
What is Noted?
A quick throwback to Clubhouse: Remember how fun it was to join or just listen in on conversations with people who shared the same interests as you? There was debate, discussion, satire, arguments — it was truly a unique experience that captured the attention of many people in the tech and VC ecosystem. We are young, curious investors and operators who have struggled to find a similarly collaborative format for writing. So we created Noted.
Noted is a small writing group consisting of young investors, founders, operators, and tech enthusiasts. We think of it as a book club, but for writing. Specifically, writing about the things we geek out about most within tech, startups and venture capital.
To start, we will target one to two posts per month written in a collaborative form, in which a handful of us will discuss our own takes on key events, trends and sectors impacting the tech ecosystem. To anchor the discussion, each article will feature a guest “anchor author” (e.g., a writer, investor, founder, well-respected enthusiast, etc.) who will introduce a particular topic. From there, a small group of us will react to the anchor author and provide our own takes on said matter.
Given our diversity of backgrounds and career paths, we’ll offer a range of Gen Z perspectives and an opportunity to get a range of takes on the biggest tech news today.
And with that — welcome to Noted: a ~tech~ book club, but for writing.
Why Did We Create Noted?
As avid readers, we noticed an inherent lack of collaboration in writing about tech and venture writing, especially compared to audio mediums covering the same topics (e.g., podcasts). Noted’s collaborative format provides a new, younger take on the saturated single-author format seen in most VC and tech enthusiast-led blogs today — many of which feature only one perspective and really only inflame confirmation bias in readers.
While we don’t plan to strictly debate amongst each other, we want to enable an enhanced level of dissent, discussion and intellectual honesty compared to the single-author blogs.
Additionally, writing long-form content can be daunting for people our age. We’re young and new to the scene, but we’re also full of opinions. Noted’s collaborative approach allows us to jump into content creation together and will act as a merry-go-round of sorts: only a few of us will contribute to posts at a time, and we’re always looking for more perspectives. If you’re a young techie, operator, investor or nerd and want your voice heard (or rather, read) we may have opportunities for you to join the discussion down the road.
Who is Part of Noted?
Again, we’re a motley crew of young tech geeks. While you’ll only see a handful of us featured in each post, you’ll inevitably get to hear all of our thoughts and arguments. Read below to get to know us better.
[From left to right] Top Row: Ben Grosse, Alex Chung, Christian Jambora, Olivia Pittard. Bottom Row: Luke Aschenbrand, Tamar Vidra, Tyler Lasicki, Akira Dunham
I work at... Tribeca Venture Partners as an investor. I graduated from UCONN in May of 2022, where I was the GP at Hillside Ventures (student-run venture fund).
I graduated from... The University of Connecticut where I ran track (I was a decathlete so I did 10 events) and helped build and run Hillside Ventures.
I grew up in... Wayzata, Minnesota, just west of Minneapolis (go Vikings)
I geek out about... commerce transformation, learning about consumer psychology, the history of venture and investing in general, and anything related to the NBA, Minnesota sports, and UCONN basketball
In my free time, you can find me... hooping at one of NYCs many basketball courts, surfing (when I'm not in NYC), and drinking an alarming amount of coffee (Dunkin > Starbucks)
I work at... Decibel, Cisco’s new early-stage fund dedicated to investing in Seed - Early Series B enterprise tech start-ups in infrastructure, open source, technical stacks, AI / ML, and cybersecurity. I currently support the team on both business development and investing efforts.
I graduated from... The University of Chicago, where I was a Philosophy Major, and later from Chicago Booth for my MBA, where I was the recipient of both the Hyde Park Angels Venture Capital Award and the Chicago Booth Community Award.
I grew up in... New York City! (I know where to get the best slice of pizza in NYC).
I geek out about… data, anything pertaining to the Creator Economy (especially in the context of generating new economic and labor opportunities), ecommerce enablement and supply chains, and tech-enabled solutions for industries that have been notoriously slow in digital adoption.
In my free time, you can find me... organizing dinners with seemingly random groups of people who end up getting along really well, hanging out with my dog, Soju, playing squash or tennis, or needlepointing pillows and trays for my friends.
I work at... Tribeca Venture Partners, a multistage NYC-based VC where I am on the investment team. Before this, I worked as a private equity investor at Siris Capital and as an investment banker at Morgan Stanley.
I graduated from... Middlebury College, where I studied economics and ran the school newspaper.
I grew up in... a few states, since my dad was in the military, but Maryland is home!
I geek out about... care economies, clean tech, ed tech, supply chains, ecommerce and consumer tech
In my free time, you can find me... flexing my sous chef training and rolling pasta in my tiny Chelsea apartment
I work at…Amplify.LA, a pre-seed firm backing technical and product-obsessed founders.
I graduated from…St. John's College in Annapolis where I spent 4 years reading and writing about what really old—and super dead—people did and discovered. I double majored in Philosophy and the History of Math and Science, and double-minored in linguistics and comparative literature.
I grew up in…Denver, CO.
I geek out about…Black holes…and Modernizing logistics, bringing new age tech to unsexy (and ideally dirty) industries, and thinking about what commerce looks like in a world where "shopping carts" can increasingly be anywhere. Plus, I'm a poli-sci nerd (*recovering debate-kid*) with way too love for constitutional law and American history.
In my free time, you can find me…reading, at the climbing gym, on a trail, or in my kitchen.
I work at... Newchip Accelerator, an industry and geo-agnostic accelerator helping founders get fundraised. I'm on the Investor Relations Team connecting founders and investors and run a team of four to maintain excellent relationships in the VC space.
I graduated from... Princeton University, where I was a philosophy major, entrepreneurship and theater minor, and on the football and chess team! I won two Ivy League Championships as an offensive lineman in my time there.
I grew up in... Scottsdale, Arizona! I still reside in Scottsdale, but am splitting time between Austin and Scottsdale. Originally, I was born in White Plains, NY, but raised in Scottsdale and Phoenix, AZ.
I geek out about... sports, nature, and art. I spend lots of time taking photos, painting, writing, and being as creative as possible. I'm a die-hard Yankees fan and so is the rest of my family. Golf is my favorite hobby; in fact, I recently broke 70 for the first time! Hiking is another activity I love doing, especially in the winters when the weather is nicer.
I geek out about... sports, nature, and art. I spend lots of time taking photos, painting, writing, and being as creative as possible. I'm a die-hard Yankees fan and so is the rest of my family. Golf is my favorite hobby; in fact, I recently broke 70 for the first time! Hiking is another activity I love doing, especially in the winters when the weather is nicer.
In my free time, you can find me... in nature, playing sports, or doing art
I work at.. Red Sea Ventures as an investment analyst.
I graduated from... Columbia University and juggled my full course load in political science with my commitments to way too many intramural sports teams
I grew up in... New Jersey!
I geek out about... consumer health, e-commerce enablement, edtech, familytech, and women's health as well as board games, F1, thai food, and everything NYC
In my free time, you can find me... losing track of time while chatting with my friends
I work at… Coasters, an early stage startup in the alcohol ecommerce space and I lead product and ops.
I graduated from… Uconn (with Akira and Ben) and was a manager of our public equities focused student managed fund, led the insurtech group at Hillside ventures, our student ran VC fund, wrote my thesis on alternative ways startups can raise $$ + played club basketball
I grew up in… Stamford, CT
I geek out about…. Business building, biographies, loose leaf tea, and ramen
In my free time, you can find me…. Exploring New York, writing a newsletter on antiquated industries ripe for disruption, playing basketball, rock climbing, running or skiing.
I work at... Connecticut Innovations, an early-stage investment firm focusing on Connecticut startups. Before this, I worked as a transportation planner at AECOM.
I graduated from... UConn, where I got my B.S. in Civil Engineering and M.S. in Transportation & Urban Engineering
I grew up in... Old Greenwich, CT
I geek out about... non-intermittent renewable energy, geopolitics, UConn Basketball + New York Rangers, new urbanism, bitcoin, and hiking
In my free time, you can find me... reading about energy and geopolitics, going to house/techno concerts, skiing/hiking, or spending time with friends
Final Remarks From Ben
Above all, we are excited to share content in a way that may connect with many of you in a way that other written content may not. In the coming weeks we will publish our first couple pieces recapping 2022 and previewing 2023, which may include a couple twists on the typical recap and prediction pieces you may be used to.
We hope our audience will challenge us in our discussions and we encourage community engagement and contributions. Learning is at the core of what we hope to achieve, and we want to be able to effectively give and take with our readers. Comments, questions, suggestions or angry rants can be sent to our email at [email protected].
Cheers!