July 18, 2025 • 53 mins
In this episode, Bridget Duru from Rethink Education discusses her career path and the importance of inclusion in venture capital. She addresses current challenges within the education system and Rethink Capital Partners' mission and market dynamics. The conversation delves into AI's impact on education, hiring processes, and the innovations driving proficiency in the sector. Bridget highlights new job creation in the "Orchestrator Age" and the significance of workforce development and life skills education. She explores the care economy and AI's societal role, including AI companions' personalization and associated criticisms. The episode concludes with investment insights and mentorship advice.
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Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
Yeah.
(00:00):
So definitely, there's so much that we do notlearn in school that we should learn in school.
Financial literacy is one big topic.
People don't really understand credit.
They don't understand debt.
They don't understand investing.
They don't like, even just, the base the I'mnot I don't even call them basic terms because
the terms are complex, you know, but they don'tunderstand the term terminology.
(00:23):
So if you get a credit card, you have this longlike, this, like, multi page piece, like, paper
that explains everything.
You might not even need the terms to understandthat.
And so I think financial literacy is somethingthat really is missing in schools.
Think
Welcome to the investor, a podcast where I,Joel Palafinkel, your host, dives deep into the
(00:45):
minds of the world's most influentialinstitutional investors.
In each episode, we sit down with an investorto hear about their journeys and how global
markets are driving capital allocation.
So join us on this journey as we explore theseinsights.
Alright.
So really excited about this episode.
(01:06):
I'm here with Bridget Duru.
She's an investor in early stage educationtech, workforce tech, life skills.
When we talk about life skills, we're talkingabout health equity, financial inclusion.
So innovation around those sectors as a vicepresident at Rethink Rethink Education.
She's focused on pipeline and deal sourcing andthesis development.
(01:26):
Currently targeting, it looks like you'retargeting more of the life skills investments,
which I think is really important when you'rein high school and college.
A lot of times you don't learn those types oflife skills and then obviously having a really
strong background, leading due diligence,working in private equity in the education
space back when she was at E and Y Parthenon.
(01:48):
So really excited to go really deep, Bridget.
Why don't you kinda I know I did a very briefoverview, but we'll love to kinda have you
start out talking about maybe your early life.
Where did you grow up?
Where did you, you know, go to school?
And what did you think you were going to do incollege?
And what did you end up being surprised about?
And then maybe we can take it from there, interms of, you know, just learnings from your
(02:12):
career?
Yeah, definitely.
So I'd say ten years ago, I didn't know whatventure capital was.
So definitely wasn't saying I wanted to be aventure capitalist when I was younger.
I'm actually from the DC area.
I was born in DC lived there for the first fewyears of my life and then moved to the suburbs
in Maryland.
And just being in the DC area, I was very, verysocial impact minded.
(02:36):
And so thought that I would have a career inpolitics or nonprofits.
That was kind of what I knew.
That was what I thought at that time was thebest way to make change.
And so I was able to kind of explore thatearlier in my career, I actually went to a high
school where we didn't have classes onWednesdays.
(02:57):
And so on Wednesdays, we would do what wascalled co curriculum.
So freshman year, we do things like rockclimbing, learning with financial literacy,
speech, things like that.
Sophomore year, we would do community service.
So I worked at Special Olympics.
And then junior year, it's really cool.
Every junior works on Capitol Hill.
(03:18):
And then senior year, we would interimeveryone.
And so that was really formative and reallyassessing whether the career I thought I wanted
is one that I actually would pursue.
So my junior year, I was able to work for NancyPelosi.
It was
a really interesting, informative experience.
Being on Capitol Hill every Wednesday, going tobriefings, writing
memos, coming out with their press conferences.
(03:41):
And then my senior year, I worked for AmnestyInternational in their government relations
office.
Mhmm.
And then afterwards, I was able to work atstate department as well in the global women's
issues office.
And
Sure.
I ended up majoring in political science andgender studies in college.
Went to Brighton.
But those experiences, I think, turned me offfrom politics a bit.
(04:03):
Just because working in government, obviously,know how slow and bureaucratic things are.
And then when I started studying politicalscience in college, I just learned how big of a
role campaign finance plays.
And so I thought that it's really hard to dowhat's best for your constituents if the needs
of your constituents aren't in line with theneeds of the people who donate to your campaign
(04:25):
in order to run a successful campaign you needdonations.
And often those come from corporations and so Ithink I kind of was thinking like, okay, is
this actually the best way to make changeseffective?
Does the system is the system aligning theincentives of the people who actually need
these representatives to work for them andvouch for them?
(04:46):
Mhmm.
And so I think I got a bit turned off frompolitics, which I'm glad that I did learn
early.
Yeah.
And then while I was in college and actually,when I worked at state department, I my one of
my managers had a meeting with the head ofcorporate social responsibility at Guggenheim
Partners Investment Bank.
(05:07):
And just in my head, I didn't really thinkcorporations were good for the world.
And so I was interested to learn about kind ofher role and what she did.
And there were some aspects of it that wasfocused on the employee engagement in the
community.
But they also had what they called a networkfor social innovation, where they were
investing in both for profit and nonprofitcompanies that were just like helping people.
(05:31):
It could be like helping people access collegeor different things.
And so that was kind of my first experience ofseeing like, okay, you can invest in companies,
they can be for profit and they can do good.
They also were a big partner of a fellowshipcalled Echoing Green, which is a social
enterprise kind of accelerator.
And I think there I was able to see like, wow,there's so many ideas that can actually be for
(05:54):
profit be more scalable, not be dependent ondonor dollars, but also have a positive impact
on the world.
And so I think that really changed myworldview.
After I interned at Guggenheim Partners, I wentback to Brown, I learned a little bit about
venture capital and actually joined Brown'sventure capital inclusion lab.
(06:15):
So we were looking at why women get lessfunding than men and doing some research.
I was interviewing women founders, interviewingVCs.
I thought it was really interesting because Ido think VC does have the ability to make lots
of positive change.
Not saying that negative things won't aren'tfunded or that there aren't negative
externalities, but I just thought that it wasan interesting way.
(06:38):
And if you get capital in the hands of peoplewho really care and who do wanna make a
difference, both investors and founders, thenit's like a way to make change actually way
more quickly than, policy.
And so that's where I was started becominginterested in VC.
After that, I started my career at Parthenon.
So we mostly do due diligence, for privateequity funds that are buying or selling
(07:01):
companies.
I did work in education, consumer, a little bitof health care and financial services.
So that was kind of like three week sprints,like, looking at the market, looking at
expansion opportunities, looking at competitivelens landscape and really decide like, thinking
about whether or not it was a good investmentor really just assessing the company.
And so that was really interesting.
And I really liked that I was able to get smarton different like, subsectors of markets really
(07:26):
quickly.
And it was really interesting, but because it'sdue diligence, you're really working with one
company for three weeks and then moving on.
And there's no continuity or there's not reallya way to see, like, at least, like, you can see
publicly, but, like, how the company's doingafterwards.
There aren't really ways to support them.
And I knew I was always interested in VC and sodecided to kind of try to pursue that.
(07:51):
A lot of people from my firm would go intoprivate equity or venture capital.
And so I had a friend who works in educationVC.
I thought I would be interested in maybe socialimpact VC education consumer or something along
those lines.
And she introduced me to another friend whojust saw this job posting and sent it to me.
(08:13):
So I think it was a little bit of
a different time back when I joined VC.
Sure.
I just applied.
I didn't really know anyone on the team, andI've been here for three and a half years.
What do you think are the biggest problemsright now with education as a whole?
Then would love to kind of go a little deeperin like maybe sub areas of education.
(08:34):
Yeah.
So I think education in general has it's justevery learner is different, right?
Every learner is also at different stages.
So if you have a class of second graders, andthey're all at different reading levels, and
your teacher, and there's one of you and 30students, it's just kind of impossible to be
able to meet the needs of every student, makesure that everyone's on track.
(08:56):
And so I think the student teacher ratio is oneissue.
Education systems are also super rigid.
So you have to sit in the classroom, payattention for hours, like, obviously, most
adults can't pay attention for that long untilbeing forced to sit still.
And also, not everyone learns in the same way.
And so you might like being able, some peoplemight be better at practicing, some people
(09:21):
might be auditory learners, or just studentsare different.
Everyone has different learning needs in theschool, just kind of just due to resource
constraints, just forces one way of learning.
And so I think that is like a big issue.
The US obviously, a lot of people are have lowliteracy rates.
(09:43):
So even if you go through school, like it, ifyou don't know how to read, it's really unless
someone can, like, identify that pick you outand really give you like personal tutoring,
it's really hard to get back on track.
And so like, those issues actually just likecompound as you grow older.
So I think those are some issues with educationin general.
(10:04):
And then obviously, we have the Trumpadministration that's trying to dismantle the
Department of Education, make a lot of changesthere.
So I think the education system already had alot of problems.
And then now this current administration, Ithink they're just they're just more funding
pretty much.
Yeah.
Yeah.
What like my my provocative question is like,why do you think like we don't learn, you know,
(10:30):
because you're focusing in this area, right?
Personal skills, like, you know, I mean, Ilearned the concept of like balancing a
checkbook, like back when I was a child when wehad checks, you know, and I didn't learn that
in school, but, I would see my mom, like,literally manually balancing a checkbook.
But that would have been pretty interesting toknow before I went to college, you know, or,
like, learn how to manage my finances.
(10:52):
So I feel like are there are there skills thatyou think or modules specifically that are
missing in different areas?
And if so, like, are the kind of the big ones?
I mean, I'm assuming just because this justcomes close to art, just kind of learning
personal finance, like how to think aboutsaving your money.
And some of that is, like, borderline financialplanning, but it probably would have helped a
(11:16):
lot of kids, you know, fall victim to, like,credit credit card debt issues in college.
But beyond that, I guess any other high levelinsights in terms of just education gaps?
And then maybe the second piece to thatquestion is maybe some companies that are
innovating and solving those problems.
(11:37):
Yeah.
So definitely, there's so much that we do notlearn in school that we should learn in school.
Financial literacy is one big topic.
People don't really understand credit.
They don't understand debt.
They don't understand investing.
They don't like, even just, the base the I'mnot I don't even call them basic terms because
the terms are complex, you know, but they don'tunderstand the term terminology.
(12:00):
So if you get a credit card, you have this longlike this, like, multi page piece, like, paper
that explains everything.
You might not even know the terms to understandthat.
And so I think financial literacy is somethingthat really is missing in schools.
Think it's just like in terms of, like, if isthat the priority of the school district and do
they have a budget for that?
And then also like for healthcare, I thinkhealth navigation is something that's really
(12:23):
confusing for Americans.
We have a very complex healthcare system.
Most Americans don't understand basic termslike co pays, co insurances, deductibles.
And so if you get health insurance, you haveall these different options.
You don't even know the terms to really assess.
You don't know how
to think
about how much you might pay.
(12:46):
You don't maybe understood how to assess yourhealth and like how often you go to the doctor
and what conditions you might have with thosecompanies.
And so I don't know that I think schools shouldteach it, but I'm not sure like a product in
schools.
And I don't just don't know if there's a budgetfor that and if it's prioritized.
But I do think, like, we think a lot aboutembedded learning.
(13:07):
And so if you have products that people arealready using and you can embed education into
it, I think that's a core theme in life skills.
So we looked at a company, for example, that isa credit card for people who are under banked.
And in order to increase your credit limit, youactually have to take financial literacy
(13:28):
courses.
And so things like that are really interestingor, just ways that you can it might not be an
education company when you look at it highlevel, but when you dig deeper, like if there
are ways that you are educating consumers, likehow to navigate the both, think the healthcare
and financial systems are really key placesthat affect our lives and people just don't
(13:50):
understand how to navigate.
And then also, it's like the way you learn thisis just by people around you.
And so people who grow up and grow up moresocio economically advantage, their parents
will teach them how to balance a checkbook orinvest or might even have already started
investing for them when they were younger.
Their parents will you can call your parentswhen you're at work and trying to figure out
(14:11):
which health plan to choose, and they'll helpyou make a good decision.
So without those networks of that usually areattached to privilege, then it just makes it
much harder and just kind of draws likedivisions in The US even more in terms of like
access and ability to succeed in life.
(14:33):
No, that's really helpful.
I mean, I'd love to also, if you don't mindBridget, maybe taking a step back and going
over the mission of Rethink Education.
I know there's a couple of different verticalsthat you support.
I mean, it looks almost like you you guys havekind of this multipronged franchise with
different areas.
You know, looks like you guys are focusing onreal estate, also venture capital, a couple
(14:55):
other areas as well.
So would love to and, you know, you got RethinkFood, Rethink Impact.
So we'd love to kinda maybe learn a little moreabout the organization and and then maybe the
second level below that is kinda like how youguys are thinking about the different focus
areas and and and then maybe going deeper interms of, like, what your what your investment
(15:16):
thesis has been over the last couple of yearsand how that's been constantly refined with
with things that are happening in the market.
Yes, everything education is part of RethinkCapital Partners, which is our parent company.
Rethink Capital Partners has five differentinvesting vehicles.
So there are three venture funds and two realestate funds.
The real estate funds are focused on healthcareand affordable housing.
(15:39):
It's where you think healthcare, we thinkcommunity and then there are three venture
funds.
One is Rethink Education where I work.
We invest in EdTech workforce and life skills.
Rethink Food is investing in food andsustainability more broadly.
And then Rethink Impact is investing in womenfounders who are using technology to improve
(16:00):
the world.
So we're an Impact Fund in general, we careabout the people we're serving, we care about
the efficacy of the companies we're investingin and that they're improving the lives of
people.
But we have separate LPs, although like someare shared, and then we have separate
investments, although like, we have some sharedinvestments with Rethink Impact.
And so we kind of share like back office, andthat's our company.
(16:23):
And then we the funds operate a little bitindependently, but we just can lean on each
other for back office and also any learnings interms of like, leave invested in this company.
What do you think?
What do you think about this market?
Sure.
Yeah, because some of those might flow intoeach other too, right?
I mean,
if you're thinking about impact, you know,obviously education can help with impact.
(16:45):
And also, obviously, food probably may flowinto impact in some instances as well.
And then kind of with your focus on education,what has been your what have been some
learnings over the last couple of years and howhave those learnings evolved, which is kind of
new technology?
Now we have a lot of AI technology, so maybethere's some more macro opportunities with
(17:07):
education as well.
Yeah, so our fund, we're investing in EdTechworkforce, and we taught life skills, health
equity, financial inclusion.
I think the I started in VC in like 2022.
And so kind of like the tail end of everythingbeing super overvalued.
And so I think one thing I learned when Istarted was that, like, you'll have times when
(17:32):
your sector is really hot, and you'll have lotsof generalists coming in, getting really
excited about products.
Obviously, people are really excited abouteducation in 2020 and 2021 because of the
pandemic and there was a lot of onlinelearning.
And so there's a lot of technology that you caninvest in.
But a lot of journalists who haven't beeninvesting in education for a while might make
(17:55):
certain assumptions that might not hold to betrue.
And so like, what I saw was a lot of companieswere super overvalued in 2020 and 2021.
And like, if you're not understanding the TAMof education, like if you're selling to school
districts, like the TAM is different than ifyou're selling a B2B software product.
And so I think one learning I've had is justlike, sticking to what you know, and your
(18:19):
expertise and not really kind of getting intothe hype that like, they're just like not
buying into hype cycles and knowing what youknow, and trusting that.
So I think that actually led to a lot ofcompanies being way overvalued, and then they
weren't able to grow into the valuation.
And I think this happening for a lot of, like,companies, like AI companies.
(18:39):
Obviously, most companies are an AI companyright now.
But, like, in general, thinking about themarket you're investing in and always focusing
on the TAM and what the next opportunities areand not being kind of just, like, distracted by
people who might have less knowledge or lessexperience or less time investing in the
sector.
Because obviously, lot of companies wereovervalued.
(19:00):
They couldn't go into their valuation andending up either dying or raising down rents
just leads to a lot of issues.
And so I think that's one thing I've learned.
Yeah, I think we're like, I think investorskind of make
the same mistakes over and over againsometimes, because they are so like, influenced
by hype.
(19:21):
I think, obviously, AI brings a lot ofinnovation to education, it just kind of upends
the system a bit because, and I didn't mentionthis, but something that is also an issue with
education is that it's very like memorizationfocus.
So like, I know this fact, can I repeat thisfact?
(19:41):
And that's not really it's not focused oncritical thinking, like being able to, like,
dissect arguments, being able to see, like,what is true, what's not.
And so I think, like, the education systemshould I don't know, like, if it will or how
quick it can happen, but, like, should shiftfrom actually being focused on memorization or
can you do this prob this problem to, like,actually thinking about critical thinking
(20:06):
skills and problem solving.
And, like, you see this now, like a lot ofstudents using ChatGPT to write their essays.
And so writing is important and you should
teach
students how to write.
But if we can use ChatGPT and it can writebetter than us and it can make the tone of my
email better, then it's like, okay, obviouslywriting is important, but what else do we need
to teach students?
(20:26):
Do we need to just like a change in the skillsthat schools need to focus on.
Because if a lot can be automated and you don'tactually have to do this in the long term and
students can just cheat and it's really hardfor for people to detect whether actually, it's
not that hard to detect, I think, whether AI isused.
I think they say if you have the two dashes inyour writing, definitely use AI, but it's just
(20:52):
hard to if everyone's using it, it'soverwhelming for a teacher.
Like, what what do you do?
And so we need to think rethink how we assessstudents.
We need to rethink the skills that we areactually teaching and enforcing are.
I would say too, know, you said this earlier,it's like people learn differently, but we're
(21:15):
by default standardizing it, right?
Have we call it standardized tests.
So what do you do usually for thesestandardized tests is you memorize a bunch of
practice, tests, right?
When you're studying for the SATs, do thousandsand thousands of practice questions.
But in reality, in the workforce, it'scollaborative.
I mean, I remember I was at a large, you know,Fortune 500 company as an employee, you know,
(21:40):
early in my career, and we retained thisconsulting firm.
And this consulting firm did a really good job.
They actually took our business and spent timewith us and figured out our biggest challenges.
Then they built these actual simulations.
We did an off-site, but I feel like that'sreally where the work happens.
I'm assuming you talked about differentdepartments supporting each other.
(22:03):
There's obviously a back office.
Half of the workforce is built on collaborationand communication skills.
A lot of times people ruin relationshipspersonally and professionally, usually because
of bad communication.
So I feel like if there's educationalplatforms, obviously critical and academic
(22:27):
skills are important, but how do you actuallytalk to somebody or send an email thoughtfully
to actually get the message across?
I feel like there's huge gaps in corporateorganizations just with that specific skill set
or that ability.
And I think that's a complaint that a lot ofpeople are having about Gen Z.
And that also plays into privilege, like if youhave parents who have corporate jobs and can
(22:50):
tell you this is how you send an email oryou've watched them send emails growing up,
then you kind of have those soft skills.
But if your parents didn't come from thatbackground, and you're entering corporate
America, it's just harder and way more tolearn.
So yeah, those skills should definitely betaught in school.
I know that's I don't know if it's going to bea venture scalable company that teaches them or
(23:13):
not, but something definitely needs to change.
And also, like we're seeing a lot in terms ofit being harder to get entry level jobs.
And so what differentiates people, I think,just going to be like the ability to
communicate those soft skills, and then alsobeing more AI native and being able to help
(23:34):
organizations actually increase theirefficiency with AI, I think are things that
will differentiate people as they enter the jobmarket.
Because something that we're really thinkingabout is like, okay.
If AI can do the work of our first year, likelaw grad or just like first entry level talent,
(23:55):
then like, what is the corporation's incentiveto actually hire that that entry level talent,
you know, and of course, you need people togrow, but the number of people who will be
hired will decrease.
And so we're thinking about like, can maybewhat what are areas where AI can't replace
people?
So that's skilled trades, health care where youactually need people on the ground Mhmm.
(24:17):
Giving care or fixing your h your HVAC system.
So, yeah, lots of changes.
And I think it's gonna be a combination of VCdollars.
I think you need to see the government alsoplaying a part and actually ensuring that
people are able to keep jobs and are able toflourish in life.
(24:39):
No, I totally agree.
One thing that's kind of interesting and wouldlove your take because you're much closer to
this, I think years ago, this was years agotoo.
But when you're interviewing, you're hiringtalent, It's a scheduling nightmare because,
you know, if you bring somebody in for sevenhours to do the interview, you know, a lot of
(25:00):
times those interviews are in person.
Even if it's on Zoom, there's a lot ofcoordination because you gotta make sure that
all those people are there.
But thought it was pretty innovative.
I mean, was a technology that could just prettymuch automate the same interview questions.
Because a lot times when you interview someone,you ask them the same things.
Tell me about yourself.
Tell me about, some things that you did notablyin your in your life.
(25:21):
And a lot of times when people are doing thoseinterviews, they have those questions already
written down on, a notepad, and they're askingthose key questions.
There may be some situational questions orfollow-up questions to double click on
something that a candidate mentions.
But I feel like now with AI, there'scirculatory questions that can kinda come in
that could probably simulate a real person.
(25:42):
So if you could have 10,000 people apply andthere's that same interview process with kinda
this virtual avatar or like an AI clone ofyourself that that pretty much asks the same
questions.
I'm wondering if if that's already a crowdedmarket, Bridget, in terms of, like, just, you
know, augmenting the workforce to be able tointerview candidates more at scale.
(26:07):
But then also I feel like there's a trainingopportunity where people could do mock
interviews for multiple industries.
Right?
They could do a bunch of like mock VCinterviews with like a virtual Bridget pretty
much where where they can get that practice andget a score, to know how proficient they are,
where like it's pretty close to likedetermining if they're a good candidate or not.
(26:29):
And they can practice with that until theyreceive a certain level of proficiency.
Because right now, I mean, still to this date,you know, if you want to do mock interviews,
what do you do?
You go on Google and you like look up aquestion bank and you, you know, read those
questions.
So I know there's other mediums, but I don'tknow what your reaction is to kinda improving
(26:50):
interview prep and then just kinda maybeaugmenting orgs or if you've already seen, you
know, tons of companies doing that and if it'sif it's crowded.
Yeah.
There's definitely a lot of companies even,like, before, I guess, proliferation of Gen AI
that would do video interviews.
So, like, there's a company called HireVue.
(27:10):
They give it's not a person, but they wouldjust give you questions and then you record
yourself doing it.
I did one of those before and
I think it's a little bit awkward.
Do you get like don't know.
Yeah.
It's weird too because maybe if you mess up,can't can you go back
Yeah.
Maybe read
also think it's more natural to talk to aperson, right?
(27:31):
You're getting kind of feedback either throughtheir, like, facial expressions or things like
that.
We're just talking to yourself is a little bitawkward.
I'm not sure, like, the capabilities in theback end in terms of, if there's some how
they're summarizing it and what they're givingto the employer if they're doing some type of
assessment.
But I do think there is like, like with AI,like now people can like apply to way more
(27:51):
jobs, right?
Because you can just generate cover letterspretty easily.
You can like tailor your resume more easilyjust using chat GPT or specific platforms that
do that.
And so I think for jobs, you're to see you'reseeing way more applicants.
And so then you have the hiring manager whoasked us sort through all these applications,
(28:14):
and they don't really, they can't.
And so they might be using AI in the back end.
So it's like AI talking to AI.
But I think, like, when you were thinking abouthiring, you think about like biases and how to
training the models to make sure they're notbiased.
That being said, like humans are super biased.
Like, I think in general, you're not people arehiring people that they like, and that they
(28:37):
think fit their culture.
Like I've seen this.
Just like being involved in hiring processes, Ithink, in general, like human nature is to just
like hire people who you just think fit in orwho were similar to you.
And so there could be like, a opportunity forit to actually maybe democratize this a little
(28:58):
bit more if they are trained in the right way.
Mhmm.
So, yeah, I I think that is definitely anopportunity.
But I do think AI just making it easier toapply to jobs and just a little bit more
overwhelming.
So I think also, like, I think there's somepeople who might not fit job descriptions
(29:19):
perfectly, but could still be like a good fitand could learn.
And I think it's harder for those people to getthrough if you have bunch of applications and
the resumes there isn't everyone else's resumesmight show that they fit this job description
perfectly, then it's kind of harder.
Just harder to apply to jobs nowadays.
Yeah.
So, you know, I have a little bit of insight.
Know, when I did my PhD, I built a medicalsimulation.
(29:44):
So it's pretty much like a video game trainingon a medical case.
So there's an actual case exam that you have todo when you're studying for your I think it's
like your clinical skills exam in med school.
And what I found, was crazy.
So people have, you know, just based on data,people feel more comfortable talking to like a
(30:04):
dinosaur versus like a real person.
So there's a lot of weird nuances, which ispeople's level of comfort and like anxiety that
they have when they're interacting withsomebody, of like how you and I are doing.
But people's guard gets down.
They feel not judged when it's actuallynonhuman too.
So I feel like nonhuman avatar looking peoplemight also be beneficial for some people too,
(30:30):
right?
Your point, everyone learns differently.
That's kind of interesting too.
Curious to look at the data.
Yeah.
Depends on the person.
Also, like, Gen Z, for example, I think they'rea little bit more scared of talking to people.
Like, I think, like, if you guys just wantedGen Z to, pick up the phone and make a call,
they might get anxious as opposed and, like,are just kind of used, like, texting.
(30:54):
So it really depends on the person.
Yeah, you might have to do the whole interviewon text with like a Gen Z probably, you know,
there's so Yeah.
No, that's interesting.
What are some other Let's talk about the futurekind of, you know, because obviously you have
to think about this, right?
And you have to think about big markets.
So what what do you think is gonna be reallyinnovative in the future of education that is
(31:16):
probably still a few years ahead?
Yeah, I think if we think about I guess I'mgonna think about the workforce.
And like, I think it's going to be a lot of reI don't know if it's innovative, but I think
it's necessary just like reskilling people, Ithink making people more comfortable with AI
(31:37):
making helping them use AI, like if there's aneduce.
So I think like, there are all these educe AIplatforms that you're supposed to use and like,
increase your efficiency.
But sometimes people might be overwhelmed bythe options.
They might not know which ones to choose.
And so if they were kind of just like I talkedto one company that was pretty early, but it
(31:57):
would kind of create a tutorial for, like, eachlike, let's say, hey, this is my job.
These these are the tasks I do.
What AI tool should I be using and, like, helpme understand them and get smart on them.
So I feel like that kind of, like, training tobecome more proficient in AI is
Yeah.
Really important, especially as you see a lotof CEOs saying, like, you're not using AI,
(32:19):
we're gonna fire you and things like that.
Obviously, that's well, I
think it's gonna be in my correct me if I'mwrong, Bridget, but do you feel like AI will be
the next version of Microsoft Office?
So like, obviously, you know, like back in theday, right, people would people put on their
skills like, you know, proficient in MicrosoftWord and and PowerPoint.
So do you feel like, you know, just ChatGPTwill be kind of like, hey, proficient in
(32:41):
ChatGPT and, you know, doing these specific AItools, you know, alongside kind of like
Microsoft and Excel and Word?
Yeah, definitely.
I think that is probably gonna be like a littlebit more like specific than ChatGPT depending
on, like, what your industry is.
Like, I would assume that you would need to beproficient in the tools that are most
(33:06):
beneficial to your daily tasks.
But yeah, I think ChatGPT would probably tablestakes.
And then it's like, okay, what do you use?
How does it increase your efficiency?
Because I think like, in general, for everyone,every job, like, there is a lot of concern
about displacement of people, which I also amsuper concerned about.
But if you want to take a more positive view,like, there's so much every day that I can't do
(33:30):
and that I don't have the bandwidth to do.
And it's like, how can AI help me do more in myjob and even be more productive?
I think that's like the more positive view thatit's just like unlocking more productivity.
I also think that like, if companies candecrease costs and increase their profit, and
they don't need everyone, they're going to dothat.
So it's a worry as well.
(33:52):
So I feel like this age right now that we'rein, we're like in the orchestrator age, Right?
So you still have to kind of be anorchestrator.
So like if you obviously, if you want to tailoryour resume, you have to kind of like guide
ChatGPT in terms of how to do it.
It's like, hey, take these bullets and tailorthem.
But I think the scary part could be later downthe line where, like, there is an there is an
(34:12):
agent that actually does the orchestration,they're they're managing a technical road map,
and they're actually reporting and givingupdates.
And I don't see that too far away.
You know, when you kind of ask a prompt forChatGPT, it already is thinking three, four
steps ahead of you where it'll give you aresponse, but then it may actually put
together, a graphic and a chart for you.
(34:34):
And it's doing Excel now as well.
So you can actually put together, like, a fullfinancial model.
So I think now, like all you have isessentially senior leadership where you're
developing culture.
But I think maybe there'll be a future whereyou're developing the culture of like a bunch
of agents at some point.
Yeah.
And I think there also just be like, new jobscreated.
(34:56):
And I'm still trying to figure out what thosejobs are.
But I think in most technological revolutionslike you, it's like some things like are no
longer necessary and some jobs aren'tnecessary, but there will be new jobs.
So I think it's just like facilitating thetransition and making sure that people aren't
left behind.
Yeah.
Yeah.
(35:16):
I think and I think that's where educationalplatforms could continue to play a role.
Like, you know, there's no blacksmith anymore,right?
So now there's machines that manufacture stuff.
Those people probably have to seek new work.
I believe with, you know, robo taxis, know,Uber drivers aren't going to be around anymore,
but maybe there's opportunities for them tokind of join a product role at like a robo taxi
(35:39):
company.
So I think definitely they'll have to be newroles and like those people will have to have
some on ramps to to, to upscale.
I forgot the name of the company, but there wasa pretty interesting company that, like, helped
people get jobs in health care, like in like,you know, phlebotomy jobs or, like, jobs where
you where you're kind of like, you know,getting those essential worker, jobs.
(36:03):
So I think that's there's also opportunity todo good by doing good.
Right?
You can grow your business and have a, reallyhealthy company that's profitable and and
growing every year, but then it's alsoproviding some impact.
It feels like that's kinda what you guys arelooking for as well.
Right?
The venture scale with also the impact, whichusually is not typically, like, correlated
(36:23):
together, But but I feel like that's you know,the the firms like you guys that can kinda do
both and kinda get the outsized returns plusimpact.
That's kind of a a win win.
Yeah.
I think the company you're thinking of is stepfull.
Right?
Mhmm.
Yep.
Yeah.
It is.
Yeah.
I think, like, the way we think about it is,like, we're generally investing in companies
(36:44):
where, like, a school district is a payer onthe education side while a corporation is a
payer.
And so technically, like, as a company scales,they're reaching more people, they're educating
more people, they're giving more people skills.
And so revenue growth is actually correlatedwith impact.
And so that's where we're usually trying tofind companies solve both.
(37:05):
And there are a good amount that do, I
just think.
In general, another thing I've learned is
that corporations aren't necessarily rationalactors.
So most companies that are selling startupsthat are selling to corporations are always
showing kind of a return on investment ROImetric.
But like if I have my budget and my budget isthe one that's purchasing this software or this
(37:29):
education product, but it's actually savingmoney on someone else's budget, like I'm not
necessarily incentivized to do that or am Inecessarily going to get the credit for it?
So I think in general, another thing that I'velearned is just that most corporations aren't
rational actors.
So even if something makes a lot of sense, theymight not do it just because their incentives
(37:50):
don't align.
So I think a lot of it is just figuring out,like, which companies, which models, which
products, like, align incentives and actuallymake sense for people to adopt.
Could we double click a little more on areasthat you're seeing that are exciting and kind
(38:12):
of the workforce, and life skills?
So, you know, I I know we kinda have somesubsectors of health equity and financial
inclusion, but what are some areas that you'reexcited about in those sectors?
Yeah, so I think the care economy is somethingthat's super exciting.
Yeah,
by 02/1930, twenty percent of people in The USwill be aged 65 and older.
(38:35):
And so those people are aging and then alsothey're living longer, life expectancy has
increased and also like managing health relatedissues as they age.
And so there are lots of opportunities there.
Like a lot of people want to age in place.
And I think like, especially as you have morediverse as the older population is becoming
(39:02):
more diverse, I think they're in certaincultures, it's kind of stigmatized to go to
nursing homes.
And so thinking about what technology can be inthe home to allow people to age in their home
as opposed to leaving their home and going tonursing home.
There's been a couple startups that are workingon compensating caregivers.
So a of people have to quit their jobs to carefor a loved one who's sick or old.
(39:30):
And that's obviously work that's notcompensated.
So there are a couple of states where you canactually be paid to become a caregiver for your
loved one.
And so I think that's a really interestingmodel And also kind of helps with a lot of
maybe like displacement of jobs due to AI.
These are jobs that you need a human sickcurrently.
Like, that's just kind of like, there's noreplacement for that.
(39:51):
And so that's really interesting.
We're also looking at neurodivergence.
There's been an increase in the percentage ofpeople who either self identify or have been
diagnosed with neurodivergence.
So really thinking about how we can supportthose people in school districts, how we can
support them in the workplace is interesting tous.
(40:13):
And financial inclusion, which is kind ofthinking about like embedded learning.
So I mentioned like financial literacy as partof it, really helping people who don't have
access to, like, the education of how to reallybe, like, financially stable.
And I think the embedded learning piece isreally important because if you think about it,
if you are just, like, try like, jugglingmultiple jobs, you have kids, like, you don't
(40:37):
really have time to go and, like, take a classon investing.
So, like, how do you bring that to, like, whereyou are every day?
Like, let's say if you're like, a good exampleof the company that requires you to take
financial literacy classes to increase yourcredit limit.
If you need if you need extra credit limit,like, have to do this.
Right?
(40:57):
So just like kind of ways where it's easy, it'sembedded, it's short, people understand it.
Also, like, thinking about accessibility, ifyou look if you think about literacy rates in
The US, you might need to have videos or someaudio because if you're having complex terms
and people have lower literacy rates, then theymight not understand.
(41:18):
So just thinking about different modalities aswell.
No, that's really helpful.
What's your reaction to the Tesla robot and howthat's going to possibly play into the care
economy?
Do you feel that people will eventually adopt?
Look, I feel with the robotaxis and I thinkthey launched in Austin and cheaper.
(41:49):
Yeah, they're like a couple of dollars.
Couple what?
I think they're like less than $5 maybe.
Yeah.
So I mean, I feel like behavior will changewhen Look, at the end of the day, you know, if
the robotaxi is out in production and it's it'sat the highest level of accuracy, there is a
(42:11):
term for like autonomy autonomous driving.
Feel like it's a level three or whatever it isof of fully self driven fidelity and autonomy.
So at that point, know, there's some may saylike, you know, it's just as risky to actually
ride in a real human being driving a taxiversus like a robot, right?
(42:34):
I mean, you're making turns and you'resituationally aware when things happen on the
road.
But like when you start throwing in the factthat it's, you know, maybe a couple dollars to
maybe half the price of like a regular Uber,there's more motivation actually to use a
robotaxi.
And then from an entrepreneurial standpoint, Ithink there's opportunities.
(42:57):
People are buying homes and flipping them tocreate wealth.
You know, people can buy fleets of taxis.
Right?
So at that point, there's gonna be a fidelitylevel where people are just like, okay, with
robots driving cars.
You know, we've had a few openings and andlaunches of, like, the the Tesla robot.
Right?
So where do you feel what's your reaction tothat when it comes to care in the future where
(43:23):
there know, people can, like, purchase purchasea robot can maybe even be a companion if you're
unfortunately a widow.
And obviously it's doing all the tasks in thehouse and possibly even being a caretaker.
How deep tech do you guys go?
I guess, do you guys look at robotics as wellas We part of your typically don't do
(43:48):
hardware.
I the Tesla robotaxi is actually way less safethan the Weimar one.
I think that's just the underlying technology.
And so I think when it launched in Austin,which is a really limited launch, I think they
were saying it was driving on the opposite sideof the road, and they were like, issues.
(44:12):
So I think Tesla's a long way to go.
I think it's
still long way to go.
Yeah, but I think Waymo is obviously ahead ofit and super successful, like in California.
I think that the studies have showed that Ithink Wayne was actually safer than I I am not,
like, completely sure, but I think it's alittle bit safer than human drivers.
(44:34):
And I think I was into a podcast with someonesaying, like, I'd rather be with a robot than
like the creepy originator.
Think it was like,
woman's safety.
That's like another thing.
Yeah.
In terms of doing household chores, I thinkthere's probably like a little a couple of
years until their robot is doing it justbecause there is like so many like different
(44:59):
things that you have to like program like whereis my Windex?
You have to get it like there's it's sospecific to a house that I'm not sure how far
we have until we get to using that a lot.
But I do think in terms of care for adults, Ithink people in general do what a human I think
(45:21):
they like human connection is obviously likewhat humans thrive on.
And so I think in general, like, I think it's along time until people trust robot to watch
their parent.
I have some AI companions, I think also thosethere's a little bit of risk there.
(45:43):
Just to make sure that those companions don'tsay things that might lead people to do
dangerous things.
Like I think there's there've been a fewlawsuits on that.
So I think it's just pretty risky right now.
If it's trained, even if it's trained pathway,things can always go wrong.
But there is a lot of potential for that tolike at least solve loneliness, for example.
(46:10):
Like during the pandemic, I was doing a lot ofphone banking for the election.
And there were some people that I was phonebanking.
And they just wanted to talk on the phone forlike an hour.
And it's just because they're by themselves.
They were isolated in the pandemic.
I don't think that's even unique to thepandemic.
I think a lot of older adults are justisolated.
(46:30):
And so like, if you can give them an AIcompanion, it doesn't have to be necessarily a
robot, but someone they can talk to.
I also think maybe older adults might like,think kids might adopt it at a higher rate than
older adults because you you just assume thatolder adults don't like to adopt technology as
quickly and they might think it's weird.
(46:51):
But if you can give them a campaign, I feellike it's and it's safe.
It's responsible.
I think that it's because people are reallylonely.
I just remember this one woman who was tellingme about how her husband died and her daughter
was out of the country and she had no one totalk to.
And I it's think a real issue.
I think loneliness is one of the top issues forolder adults.
(47:13):
And so if there are ways, I just think it hasto be really tested and really safe to make
sure that the positives outweigh the negatives.
No, I think to your point too, everyone hasunique needs, right?
So there was when I was studying mydissertation, I was working for the DoD.
(47:34):
So we saw a lot of studies with people thatwent through PTSD and especially elderly
people.
They wanted a companion and this kind of goesback to my research.
I mean, you don't necessarily need a human likecompanion.
So there was something that was like it waslike a like a stuffed animal.
(47:54):
I think it looked like a kitten or somethinglike that, but, like, it just kept on talking
and talking and talking.
And sometimes maybe elderly people like tolisten and just have some activity going on.
I think there's loneliness also because whenpeople get older, their parents are getting
older, it ends up becoming a burden.
(48:14):
You're stressed out about taking care of yourkids, Then you're also stressed out about, you
know, obviously your parents' health and theircare.
So it's not only just the parents, but it's thekids underneath them that are now eventually
going to be assuming responsibility.
So you're always stressed out about, you know,making sure that they're alright.
(48:35):
And you may not always have the time to callthem.
Right?
So if there's something that can kinda serve asa companion, that could be interesting, a
companion that's just always talking andtelling stories and stuff, maybe the person
likes to listen.
But on the flip side, I was laughing with mywife a couple years ago because there's, like,
a newer version of the Terminator, where Arnoldyou know, Arnold Schwarzenegger is, you know,
(48:59):
60 years old or something.
It's like kind of the end of the movie and Ithink he's got a girlfriend or something.
She's like, he's great because he doesn't talkand he doesn't say anything to me and he just
does the dishes and does all the chores.
And he's a really great listener, and ourrelationship is really great.
So that was pretty funny too, where sometimes,you know, half the again, communication, you
(49:23):
know, half the time when people, havechallenges is maybe some type of thing that
somebody else said that didn't, that didn't hitthe right way.
So it kinda creates some communication issues.
So I feel like there's companions that can justcontinue talking and saying things that can
kinda be great for people to like to listen.
(49:44):
But then there's some people that just keeptheir mouth shut, as a companion that is great
for people too, you know, because people justwanna be heard at some point.
It's true.
But also, think, like, there is some criticismof chat gbt because it was overly, like, like,
you're like, oh, I'm thinking of
doing this, like, should I do it?
And I just like very, like, positive andaffirmative.
And I think
(50:05):
they're saying like, there's also the issuewhere it's like, yeah, if you're
saying crazy things that might not be the best,like, you do kind
of a balance and someone to do to check you,which I think is also the beauty in human
connections where people aren't just going toagree with you all the time.
But Yeah.
I I read nothing is perfect.
But
Yeah.
(50:25):
And I think maybe personalizing it or adjustingto that too or reacting.
I don't know, just understanding who thatperson is and maybe would you say the
personalization kind of might help a littlebit?
Yeah, definitely.
Dynamically?
Yeah.
Maybe your family member can also personalizeit like, oh, my mom always says this.
(50:46):
We like a corrector.
So like not only the user personalizing it, but
more of their community personalizing it aswell, especially this person who's often alone.
Yeah.
No, I totally agree.
Well, I know we're up at time.
So Bridget, you know, maybe one piece of advicethat you'd give to us maybe from a mentor or
(51:07):
from your careers in terms of maybe being abetter investor or just kind of being a better
professional, I guess, that you'd like to sharewith us as a piece of wisdom?
The thing that's really important being aninvestor is being able to change your opinion.
So I think like, often we use ourselves aslike, like our experiences are what inform our
(51:30):
investments.
And so like, you're investing into a newcategory, like, oh, like, I like even Hermes,
like, probably wouldn't use a robot that doesthe chores.
And so like, that's stupid.
I'm not gonna invest in that.
But like, you are not everyone.
And so I think just like always being willingto hear other perspectives and change your
mind, and have and, like, change your mind onand challenge your assumptions, I think, can
(51:55):
help you really pick the best winners.
And so I think that's probably the biggestthing is just, like, not using yourself as the
average human because investors are not averagehuman.
Really just doing research to see what the,like, customers of that product are saying and
would want, I think is really important asalong with like, just investing in
(52:19):
relationships both with other investors fordeal flow as well as potential customers and
always just kind of thinking of your foundersand of other investors and being as helpful to
them so that you you remain top of mind andthat they're helpful to you.
Yeah.
No, that's really helpful.
I think what you're saying is, even if youwouldn't use the product, it could still be a
(52:39):
good investment based on the data, based on themarket.
Then on the flip side, it could just be a passfor you because it's just a horrible
investment, but you might still be a good youmight buy it and use it as a customer too.
So I think that's pretty interesting to thinkabout.
But anyways, Richard, this was amazing.
Really enjoyed learning a lot and thank you foryour time.
(53:03):
I think this was really helpful for thecommunity to kind of learn about what it takes
to be an investor and then also kind of doinggood by doing good.
Right?
Investing in great businesses that are greatinvestments, but then also ensuring that they
provide impact.
Yeah, thanks so much for the time.
This was a great conversation, so I reallyappreciate it.
(53:25):
Yeah, absolutely.
Well, hey, Bridget, thanks a lot.
Thanks a lot and have a great rest of the weekand we'll catch up soon.
You too.
Thanks.
Bye.
Take care.
Bye.
Yeah.
(00:00):
So definitely, there's so much that we do notlearn in school that we should learn in school.
Financial literacy is one big topic.
People don't really understand credit.
They don't understand debt.
They don't understand investing.
They don't like, even just, the base the I'mnot I don't even call them basic terms because
the terms are complex, you know, but they don'tunderstand the term terminology.
(00:23):
So if you get a credit card, you have this longlike, this, like, multi page piece, like, paper
that explains everything.
You might not even need the terms to understandthat.
And so I think financial literacy is somethingthat really is missing in schools.
Think
Welcome to the investor, a podcast where I,Joel Palafinkel, your host, dives deep into the
(00:45):
minds of the world's most influentialinstitutional investors.
In each episode, we sit down with an investorto hear about their journeys and how global
markets are driving capital allocation.
So join us on this journey as we explore theseinsights.
Alright.
So really excited about this episode.
(01:06):
I'm here with Bridget Duru.
She's an investor in early stage educationtech, workforce tech, life skills.
When we talk about life skills, we're talkingabout health equity, financial inclusion.
So innovation around those sectors as a vicepresident at Rethink Rethink Education.
She's focused on pipeline and deal sourcing andthesis development.
(01:26):
Currently targeting, it looks like you'retargeting more of the life skills investments,
which I think is really important when you'rein high school and college.
A lot of times you don't learn those types oflife skills and then obviously having a really
strong background, leading due diligence,working in private equity in the education
space back when she was at E and Y Parthenon.
(01:48):
So really excited to go really deep, Bridget.
Why don't you kinda I know I did a very briefoverview, but we'll love to kinda have you
start out talking about maybe your early life.
Where did you grow up?
Where did you, you know, go to school?
And what did you think you were going to do incollege?
And what did you end up being surprised about?
And then maybe we can take it from there, interms of, you know, just learnings from your
(02:12):
career?
Yeah, definitely.
So I'd say ten years ago, I didn't know whatventure capital was.
So definitely wasn't saying I wanted to be aventure capitalist when I was younger.
I'm actually from the DC area.
I was born in DC lived there for the first fewyears of my life and then moved to the suburbs
in Maryland.
And just being in the DC area, I was very, verysocial impact minded.
(02:36):
And so thought that I would have a career inpolitics or nonprofits.
That was kind of what I knew.
That was what I thought at that time was thebest way to make change.
And so I was able to kind of explore thatearlier in my career, I actually went to a high
school where we didn't have classes onWednesdays.
(02:57):
And so on Wednesdays, we would do what wascalled co curriculum.
So freshman year, we do things like rockclimbing, learning with financial literacy,
speech, things like that.
Sophomore year, we would do community service.
So I worked at Special Olympics.
And then junior year, it's really cool.
Every junior works on Capitol Hill.
(03:18):
And then senior year, we would interimeveryone.
And so that was really formative and reallyassessing whether the career I thought I wanted
is one that I actually would pursue.
So my junior year, I was able to work for NancyPelosi.
It was
a really interesting, informative experience.
Being on Capitol Hill every Wednesday, going tobriefings, writing
memos, coming out with their press conferences.
(03:41):
And then my senior year, I worked for AmnestyInternational in their government relations
office.
Mhmm.
And then afterwards, I was able to work atstate department as well in the global women's
issues office.
And
Sure.
I ended up majoring in political science andgender studies in college.
Went to Brighton.
But those experiences, I think, turned me offfrom politics a bit.
(04:03):
Just because working in government, obviously,know how slow and bureaucratic things are.
And then when I started studying politicalscience in college, I just learned how big of a
role campaign finance plays.
And so I thought that it's really hard to dowhat's best for your constituents if the needs
of your constituents aren't in line with theneeds of the people who donate to your campaign
(04:25):
in order to run a successful campaign you needdonations.
And often those come from corporations and so Ithink I kind of was thinking like, okay, is
this actually the best way to make changeseffective?
Does the system is the system aligning theincentives of the people who actually need
these representatives to work for them andvouch for them?
(04:46):
Mhmm.
And so I think I got a bit turned off frompolitics, which I'm glad that I did learn
early.
Yeah.
And then while I was in college and actually,when I worked at state department, I my one of
my managers had a meeting with the head ofcorporate social responsibility at Guggenheim
Partners Investment Bank.
(05:07):
And just in my head, I didn't really thinkcorporations were good for the world.
And so I was interested to learn about kind ofher role and what she did.
And there were some aspects of it that wasfocused on the employee engagement in the
community.
But they also had what they called a networkfor social innovation, where they were
investing in both for profit and nonprofitcompanies that were just like helping people.
(05:31):
It could be like helping people access collegeor different things.
And so that was kind of my first experience ofseeing like, okay, you can invest in companies,
they can be for profit and they can do good.
They also were a big partner of a fellowshipcalled Echoing Green, which is a social
enterprise kind of accelerator.
And I think there I was able to see like, wow,there's so many ideas that can actually be for
(05:54):
profit be more scalable, not be dependent ondonor dollars, but also have a positive impact
on the world.
And so I think that really changed myworldview.
After I interned at Guggenheim Partners, I wentback to Brown, I learned a little bit about
venture capital and actually joined Brown'sventure capital inclusion lab.
(06:15):
So we were looking at why women get lessfunding than men and doing some research.
I was interviewing women founders, interviewingVCs.
I thought it was really interesting because Ido think VC does have the ability to make lots
of positive change.
Not saying that negative things won't aren'tfunded or that there aren't negative
externalities, but I just thought that it wasan interesting way.
(06:38):
And if you get capital in the hands of peoplewho really care and who do wanna make a
difference, both investors and founders, thenit's like a way to make change actually way
more quickly than, policy.
And so that's where I was started becominginterested in VC.
After that, I started my career at Parthenon.
So we mostly do due diligence, for privateequity funds that are buying or selling
(07:01):
companies.
I did work in education, consumer, a little bitof health care and financial services.
So that was kind of like three week sprints,like, looking at the market, looking at
expansion opportunities, looking at competitivelens landscape and really decide like, thinking
about whether or not it was a good investmentor really just assessing the company.
And so that was really interesting.
And I really liked that I was able to get smarton different like, subsectors of markets really
(07:26):
quickly.
And it was really interesting, but because it'sdue diligence, you're really working with one
company for three weeks and then moving on.
And there's no continuity or there's not reallya way to see, like, at least, like, you can see
publicly, but, like, how the company's doingafterwards.
There aren't really ways to support them.
And I knew I was always interested in VC and sodecided to kind of try to pursue that.
(07:51):
A lot of people from my firm would go intoprivate equity or venture capital.
And so I had a friend who works in educationVC.
I thought I would be interested in maybe socialimpact VC education consumer or something along
those lines.
And she introduced me to another friend whojust saw this job posting and sent it to me.
(08:13):
So I think it was a little bit of
a different time back when I joined VC.
Sure.
I just applied.
I didn't really know anyone on the team, andI've been here for three and a half years.
What do you think are the biggest problemsright now with education as a whole?
Then would love to kind of go a little deeperin like maybe sub areas of education.
(08:34):
Yeah.
So I think education in general has it's justevery learner is different, right?
Every learner is also at different stages.
So if you have a class of second graders, andthey're all at different reading levels, and
your teacher, and there's one of you and 30students, it's just kind of impossible to be
able to meet the needs of every student, makesure that everyone's on track.
(08:56):
And so I think the student teacher ratio is oneissue.
Education systems are also super rigid.
So you have to sit in the classroom, payattention for hours, like, obviously, most
adults can't pay attention for that long untilbeing forced to sit still.
And also, not everyone learns in the same way.
And so you might like being able, some peoplemight be better at practicing, some people
(09:21):
might be auditory learners, or just studentsare different.
Everyone has different learning needs in theschool, just kind of just due to resource
constraints, just forces one way of learning.
And so I think that is like a big issue.
The US obviously, a lot of people are have lowliteracy rates.
(09:43):
So even if you go through school, like it, ifyou don't know how to read, it's really unless
someone can, like, identify that pick you outand really give you like personal tutoring,
it's really hard to get back on track.
And so like, those issues actually just likecompound as you grow older.
So I think those are some issues with educationin general.
(10:04):
And then obviously, we have the Trumpadministration that's trying to dismantle the
Department of Education, make a lot of changesthere.
So I think the education system already had alot of problems.
And then now this current administration, Ithink they're just they're just more funding
pretty much.
Yeah.
Yeah.
What like my my provocative question is like,why do you think like we don't learn, you know,
(10:30):
because you're focusing in this area, right?
Personal skills, like, you know, I mean, Ilearned the concept of like balancing a
checkbook, like back when I was a child when wehad checks, you know, and I didn't learn that
in school, but, I would see my mom, like,literally manually balancing a checkbook.
But that would have been pretty interesting toknow before I went to college, you know, or,
like, learn how to manage my finances.
(10:52):
So I feel like are there are there skills thatyou think or modules specifically that are
missing in different areas?
And if so, like, are the kind of the big ones?
I mean, I'm assuming just because this justcomes close to art, just kind of learning
personal finance, like how to think aboutsaving your money.
And some of that is, like, borderline financialplanning, but it probably would have helped a
(11:16):
lot of kids, you know, fall victim to, like,credit credit card debt issues in college.
But beyond that, I guess any other high levelinsights in terms of just education gaps?
And then maybe the second piece to thatquestion is maybe some companies that are
innovating and solving those problems.
(11:37):
Yeah.
So definitely, there's so much that we do notlearn in school that we should learn in school.
Financial literacy is one big topic.
People don't really understand credit.
They don't understand debt.
They don't understand investing.
They don't like, even just, the base the I'mnot I don't even call them basic terms because
the terms are complex, you know, but they don'tunderstand the term terminology.
(12:00):
So if you get a credit card, you have this longlike this, like, multi page piece, like, paper
that explains everything.
You might not even know the terms to understandthat.
And so I think financial literacy is somethingthat really is missing in schools.
Think it's just like in terms of, like, if isthat the priority of the school district and do
they have a budget for that?
And then also like for healthcare, I thinkhealth navigation is something that's really
(12:23):
confusing for Americans.
We have a very complex healthcare system.
Most Americans don't understand basic termslike co pays, co insurances, deductibles.
And so if you get health insurance, you haveall these different options.
You don't even know the terms to really assess.
You don't know how
to think
about how much you might pay.
(12:46):
You don't maybe understood how to assess yourhealth and like how often you go to the doctor
and what conditions you might have with thosecompanies.
And so I don't know that I think schools shouldteach it, but I'm not sure like a product in
schools.
And I don't just don't know if there's a budgetfor that and if it's prioritized.
But I do think, like, we think a lot aboutembedded learning.
(13:07):
And so if you have products that people arealready using and you can embed education into
it, I think that's a core theme in life skills.
So we looked at a company, for example, that isa credit card for people who are under banked.
And in order to increase your credit limit, youactually have to take financial literacy
(13:28):
courses.
And so things like that are really interestingor, just ways that you can it might not be an
education company when you look at it highlevel, but when you dig deeper, like if there
are ways that you are educating consumers, likehow to navigate the both, think the healthcare
and financial systems are really key placesthat affect our lives and people just don't
(13:50):
understand how to navigate.
And then also, it's like the way you learn thisis just by people around you.
And so people who grow up and grow up moresocio economically advantage, their parents
will teach them how to balance a checkbook orinvest or might even have already started
investing for them when they were younger.
Their parents will you can call your parentswhen you're at work and trying to figure out
(14:11):
which health plan to choose, and they'll helpyou make a good decision.
So without those networks of that usually areattached to privilege, then it just makes it
much harder and just kind of draws likedivisions in The US even more in terms of like
access and ability to succeed in life.
(14:33):
No, that's really helpful.
I mean, I'd love to also, if you don't mindBridget, maybe taking a step back and going
over the mission of Rethink Education.
I know there's a couple of different verticalsthat you support.
I mean, it looks almost like you you guys havekind of this multipronged franchise with
different areas.
You know, looks like you guys are focusing onreal estate, also venture capital, a couple
(14:55):
other areas as well.
So would love to and, you know, you got RethinkFood, Rethink Impact.
So we'd love to kinda maybe learn a little moreabout the organization and and then maybe the
second level below that is kinda like how youguys are thinking about the different focus
areas and and and then maybe going deeper interms of, like, what your what your investment
(15:16):
thesis has been over the last couple of yearsand how that's been constantly refined with
with things that are happening in the market.
Yes, everything education is part of RethinkCapital Partners, which is our parent company.
Rethink Capital Partners has five differentinvesting vehicles.
So there are three venture funds and two realestate funds.
The real estate funds are focused on healthcareand affordable housing.
(15:39):
It's where you think healthcare, we thinkcommunity and then there are three venture
funds.
One is Rethink Education where I work.
We invest in EdTech workforce and life skills.
Rethink Food is investing in food andsustainability more broadly.
And then Rethink Impact is investing in womenfounders who are using technology to improve
(16:00):
the world.
So we're an Impact Fund in general, we careabout the people we're serving, we care about
the efficacy of the companies we're investingin and that they're improving the lives of
people.
But we have separate LPs, although like someare shared, and then we have separate
investments, although like, we have some sharedinvestments with Rethink Impact.
And so we kind of share like back office, andthat's our company.
(16:23):
And then we the funds operate a little bitindependently, but we just can lean on each
other for back office and also any learnings interms of like, leave invested in this company.
What do you think?
What do you think about this market?
Sure.
Yeah, because some of those might flow intoeach other too, right?
I mean,
if you're thinking about impact, you know,obviously education can help with impact.
(16:45):
And also, obviously, food probably may flowinto impact in some instances as well.
And then kind of with your focus on education,what has been your what have been some
learnings over the last couple of years and howhave those learnings evolved, which is kind of
new technology?
Now we have a lot of AI technology, so maybethere's some more macro opportunities with
(17:07):
education as well.
Yeah, so our fund, we're investing in EdTechworkforce, and we taught life skills, health
equity, financial inclusion.
I think the I started in VC in like 2022.
And so kind of like the tail end of everythingbeing super overvalued.
And so I think one thing I learned when Istarted was that, like, you'll have times when
(17:32):
your sector is really hot, and you'll have lotsof generalists coming in, getting really
excited about products.
Obviously, people are really excited abouteducation in 2020 and 2021 because of the
pandemic and there was a lot of onlinelearning.
And so there's a lot of technology that you caninvest in.
But a lot of journalists who haven't beeninvesting in education for a while might make
(17:55):
certain assumptions that might not hold to betrue.
And so like, what I saw was a lot of companieswere super overvalued in 2020 and 2021.
And like, if you're not understanding the TAMof education, like if you're selling to school
districts, like the TAM is different than ifyou're selling a B2B software product.
And so I think one learning I've had is justlike, sticking to what you know, and your
(18:19):
expertise and not really kind of getting intothe hype that like, they're just like not
buying into hype cycles and knowing what youknow, and trusting that.
So I think that actually led to a lot ofcompanies being way overvalued, and then they
weren't able to grow into the valuation.
And I think this happening for a lot of, like,companies, like AI companies.
(18:39):
Obviously, most companies are an AI companyright now.
But, like, in general, thinking about themarket you're investing in and always focusing
on the TAM and what the next opportunities areand not being kind of just, like, distracted by
people who might have less knowledge or lessexperience or less time investing in the
sector.
Because obviously, lot of companies wereovervalued.
(19:00):
They couldn't go into their valuation andending up either dying or raising down rents
just leads to a lot of issues.
And so I think that's one thing I've learned.
Yeah, I think we're like, I think investorskind of make
the same mistakes over and over againsometimes, because they are so like, influenced
by hype.
(19:21):
I think, obviously, AI brings a lot ofinnovation to education, it just kind of upends
the system a bit because, and I didn't mentionthis, but something that is also an issue with
education is that it's very like memorizationfocus.
So like, I know this fact, can I repeat thisfact?
(19:41):
And that's not really it's not focused oncritical thinking, like being able to, like,
dissect arguments, being able to see, like,what is true, what's not.
And so I think, like, the education systemshould I don't know, like, if it will or how
quick it can happen, but, like, should shiftfrom actually being focused on memorization or
can you do this prob this problem to, like,actually thinking about critical thinking
(20:06):
skills and problem solving.
And, like, you see this now, like a lot ofstudents using ChatGPT to write their essays.
And so writing is important and you should
teach
students how to write.
But if we can use ChatGPT and it can writebetter than us and it can make the tone of my
email better, then it's like, okay, obviouslywriting is important, but what else do we need
to teach students?
(20:26):
Do we need to just like a change in the skillsthat schools need to focus on.
Because if a lot can be automated and you don'tactually have to do this in the long term and
students can just cheat and it's really hardfor for people to detect whether actually, it's
not that hard to detect, I think, whether AI isused.
I think they say if you have the two dashes inyour writing, definitely use AI, but it's just
(20:52):
hard to if everyone's using it, it'soverwhelming for a teacher.
Like, what what do you do?
And so we need to think rethink how we assessstudents.
We need to rethink the skills that we areactually teaching and enforcing are.
I would say too, know, you said this earlier,it's like people learn differently, but we're
(21:15):
by default standardizing it, right?
Have we call it standardized tests.
So what do you do usually for thesestandardized tests is you memorize a bunch of
practice, tests, right?
When you're studying for the SATs, do thousandsand thousands of practice questions.
But in reality, in the workforce, it'scollaborative.
I mean, I remember I was at a large, you know,Fortune 500 company as an employee, you know,
(21:40):
early in my career, and we retained thisconsulting firm.
And this consulting firm did a really good job.
They actually took our business and spent timewith us and figured out our biggest challenges.
Then they built these actual simulations.
We did an off-site, but I feel like that'sreally where the work happens.
I'm assuming you talked about differentdepartments supporting each other.
(22:03):
There's obviously a back office.
Half of the workforce is built on collaborationand communication skills.
A lot of times people ruin relationshipspersonally and professionally, usually because
of bad communication.
So I feel like if there's educationalplatforms, obviously critical and academic
(22:27):
skills are important, but how do you actuallytalk to somebody or send an email thoughtfully
to actually get the message across?
I feel like there's huge gaps in corporateorganizations just with that specific skill set
or that ability.
And I think that's a complaint that a lot ofpeople are having about Gen Z.
And that also plays into privilege, like if youhave parents who have corporate jobs and can
(22:50):
tell you this is how you send an email oryou've watched them send emails growing up,
then you kind of have those soft skills.
But if your parents didn't come from thatbackground, and you're entering corporate
America, it's just harder and way more tolearn.
So yeah, those skills should definitely betaught in school.
I know that's I don't know if it's going to bea venture scalable company that teaches them or
(23:13):
not, but something definitely needs to change.
And also, like we're seeing a lot in terms ofit being harder to get entry level jobs.
And so what differentiates people, I think,just going to be like the ability to
communicate those soft skills, and then alsobeing more AI native and being able to help
(23:34):
organizations actually increase theirefficiency with AI, I think are things that
will differentiate people as they enter the jobmarket.
Because something that we're really thinkingabout is like, okay.
If AI can do the work of our first year, likelaw grad or just like first entry level talent,
(23:55):
then like, what is the corporation's incentiveto actually hire that that entry level talent,
you know, and of course, you need people togrow, but the number of people who will be
hired will decrease.
And so we're thinking about like, can maybewhat what are areas where AI can't replace
people?
So that's skilled trades, health care where youactually need people on the ground Mhmm.
(24:17):
Giving care or fixing your h your HVAC system.
So, yeah, lots of changes.
And I think it's gonna be a combination of VCdollars.
I think you need to see the government alsoplaying a part and actually ensuring that
people are able to keep jobs and are able toflourish in life.
(24:39):
No, I totally agree.
One thing that's kind of interesting and wouldlove your take because you're much closer to
this, I think years ago, this was years agotoo.
But when you're interviewing, you're hiringtalent, It's a scheduling nightmare because,
you know, if you bring somebody in for sevenhours to do the interview, you know, a lot of
(25:00):
times those interviews are in person.
Even if it's on Zoom, there's a lot ofcoordination because you gotta make sure that
all those people are there.
But thought it was pretty innovative.
I mean, was a technology that could just prettymuch automate the same interview questions.
Because a lot times when you interview someone,you ask them the same things.
Tell me about yourself.
Tell me about, some things that you did notablyin your in your life.
(25:21):
And a lot of times when people are doing thoseinterviews, they have those questions already
written down on, a notepad, and they're askingthose key questions.
There may be some situational questions orfollow-up questions to double click on
something that a candidate mentions.
But I feel like now with AI, there'scirculatory questions that can kinda come in
that could probably simulate a real person.
(25:42):
So if you could have 10,000 people apply andthere's that same interview process with kinda
this virtual avatar or like an AI clone ofyourself that that pretty much asks the same
questions.
I'm wondering if if that's already a crowdedmarket, Bridget, in terms of, like, just, you
know, augmenting the workforce to be able tointerview candidates more at scale.
(26:07):
But then also I feel like there's a trainingopportunity where people could do mock
interviews for multiple industries.
Right?
They could do a bunch of like mock VCinterviews with like a virtual Bridget pretty
much where where they can get that practice andget a score, to know how proficient they are,
where like it's pretty close to likedetermining if they're a good candidate or not.
(26:29):
And they can practice with that until theyreceive a certain level of proficiency.
Because right now, I mean, still to this date,you know, if you want to do mock interviews,
what do you do?
You go on Google and you like look up aquestion bank and you, you know, read those
questions.
So I know there's other mediums, but I don'tknow what your reaction is to kinda improving
(26:50):
interview prep and then just kinda maybeaugmenting orgs or if you've already seen, you
know, tons of companies doing that and if it'sif it's crowded.
Yeah.
There's definitely a lot of companies even,like, before, I guess, proliferation of Gen AI
that would do video interviews.
So, like, there's a company called HireVue.
(27:10):
They give it's not a person, but they wouldjust give you questions and then you record
yourself doing it.
I did one of those before and
I think it's a little bit awkward.
Do you get like don't know.
Yeah.
It's weird too because maybe if you mess up,can't can you go back
Yeah.
Maybe read
also think it's more natural to talk to aperson, right?
(27:31):
You're getting kind of feedback either throughtheir, like, facial expressions or things like
that.
We're just talking to yourself is a little bitawkward.
I'm not sure, like, the capabilities in theback end in terms of, if there's some how
they're summarizing it and what they're givingto the employer if they're doing some type of
assessment.
But I do think there is like, like with AI,like now people can like apply to way more
(27:51):
jobs, right?
Because you can just generate cover letterspretty easily.
You can like tailor your resume more easilyjust using chat GPT or specific platforms that
do that.
And so I think for jobs, you're to see you'reseeing way more applicants.
And so then you have the hiring manager whoasked us sort through all these applications,
(28:14):
and they don't really, they can't.
And so they might be using AI in the back end.
So it's like AI talking to AI.
But I think, like, when you were thinking abouthiring, you think about like biases and how to
training the models to make sure they're notbiased.
That being said, like humans are super biased.
Like, I think in general, you're not people arehiring people that they like, and that they
(28:37):
think fit their culture.
Like I've seen this.
Just like being involved in hiring processes, Ithink, in general, like human nature is to just
like hire people who you just think fit in orwho were similar to you.
And so there could be like, a opportunity forit to actually maybe democratize this a little
(28:58):
bit more if they are trained in the right way.
Mhmm.
So, yeah, I I think that is definitely anopportunity.
But I do think AI just making it easier toapply to jobs and just a little bit more
overwhelming.
So I think also, like, I think there's somepeople who might not fit job descriptions
(29:19):
perfectly, but could still be like a good fitand could learn.
And I think it's harder for those people to getthrough if you have bunch of applications and
the resumes there isn't everyone else's resumesmight show that they fit this job description
perfectly, then it's kind of harder.
Just harder to apply to jobs nowadays.
Yeah.
So, you know, I have a little bit of insight.
Know, when I did my PhD, I built a medicalsimulation.
(29:44):
So it's pretty much like a video game trainingon a medical case.
So there's an actual case exam that you have todo when you're studying for your I think it's
like your clinical skills exam in med school.
And what I found, was crazy.
So people have, you know, just based on data,people feel more comfortable talking to like a
(30:04):
dinosaur versus like a real person.
So there's a lot of weird nuances, which ispeople's level of comfort and like anxiety that
they have when they're interacting withsomebody, of like how you and I are doing.
But people's guard gets down.
They feel not judged when it's actuallynonhuman too.
So I feel like nonhuman avatar looking peoplemight also be beneficial for some people too,
(30:30):
right?
Your point, everyone learns differently.
That's kind of interesting too.
Curious to look at the data.
Yeah.
Depends on the person.
Also, like, Gen Z, for example, I think they'rea little bit more scared of talking to people.
Like, I think, like, if you guys just wantedGen Z to, pick up the phone and make a call,
they might get anxious as opposed and, like,are just kind of used, like, texting.
(30:54):
So it really depends on the person.
Yeah, you might have to do the whole interviewon text with like a Gen Z probably, you know,
there's so Yeah.
No, that's interesting.
What are some other Let's talk about the futurekind of, you know, because obviously you have
to think about this, right?
And you have to think about big markets.
So what what do you think is gonna be reallyinnovative in the future of education that is
(31:16):
probably still a few years ahead?
Yeah, I think if we think about I guess I'mgonna think about the workforce.
And like, I think it's going to be a lot of reI don't know if it's innovative, but I think
it's necessary just like reskilling people, Ithink making people more comfortable with AI
(31:37):
making helping them use AI, like if there's aneduce.
So I think like, there are all these educe AIplatforms that you're supposed to use and like,
increase your efficiency.
But sometimes people might be overwhelmed bythe options.
They might not know which ones to choose.
And so if they were kind of just like I talkedto one company that was pretty early, but it
(31:57):
would kind of create a tutorial for, like, eachlike, let's say, hey, this is my job.
These these are the tasks I do.
What AI tool should I be using and, like, helpme understand them and get smart on them.
So I feel like that kind of, like, training tobecome more proficient in AI is
Yeah.
Really important, especially as you see a lotof CEOs saying, like, you're not using AI,
(32:19):
we're gonna fire you and things like that.
Obviously, that's well, I
think it's gonna be in my correct me if I'mwrong, Bridget, but do you feel like AI will be
the next version of Microsoft Office?
So like, obviously, you know, like back in theday, right, people would people put on their
skills like, you know, proficient in MicrosoftWord and and PowerPoint.
So do you feel like, you know, just ChatGPTwill be kind of like, hey, proficient in
(32:41):
ChatGPT and, you know, doing these specific AItools, you know, alongside kind of like
Microsoft and Excel and Word?
Yeah, definitely.
I think that is probably gonna be like a littlebit more like specific than ChatGPT depending
on, like, what your industry is.
Like, I would assume that you would need to beproficient in the tools that are most
(33:06):
beneficial to your daily tasks.
But yeah, I think ChatGPT would probably tablestakes.
And then it's like, okay, what do you use?
How does it increase your efficiency?
Because I think like, in general, for everyone,every job, like, there is a lot of concern
about displacement of people, which I also amsuper concerned about.
But if you want to take a more positive view,like, there's so much every day that I can't do
(33:30):
and that I don't have the bandwidth to do.
And it's like, how can AI help me do more in myjob and even be more productive?
I think that's like the more positive view thatit's just like unlocking more productivity.
I also think that like, if companies candecrease costs and increase their profit, and
they don't need everyone, they're going to dothat.
So it's a worry as well.
(33:52):
So I feel like this age right now that we'rein, we're like in the orchestrator age, Right?
So you still have to kind of be anorchestrator.
So like if you obviously, if you want to tailoryour resume, you have to kind of like guide
ChatGPT in terms of how to do it.
It's like, hey, take these bullets and tailorthem.
But I think the scary part could be later downthe line where, like, there is an there is an
(34:12):
agent that actually does the orchestration,they're they're managing a technical road map,
and they're actually reporting and givingupdates.
And I don't see that too far away.
You know, when you kind of ask a prompt forChatGPT, it already is thinking three, four
steps ahead of you where it'll give you aresponse, but then it may actually put
together, a graphic and a chart for you.
(34:34):
And it's doing Excel now as well.
So you can actually put together, like, a fullfinancial model.
So I think now, like all you have isessentially senior leadership where you're
developing culture.
But I think maybe there'll be a future whereyou're developing the culture of like a bunch
of agents at some point.
Yeah.
And I think there also just be like, new jobscreated.
(34:56):
And I'm still trying to figure out what thosejobs are.
But I think in most technological revolutionslike you, it's like some things like are no
longer necessary and some jobs aren'tnecessary, but there will be new jobs.
So I think it's just like facilitating thetransition and making sure that people aren't
left behind.
Yeah.
Yeah.
(35:16):
I think and I think that's where educationalplatforms could continue to play a role.
Like, you know, there's no blacksmith anymore,right?
So now there's machines that manufacture stuff.
Those people probably have to seek new work.
I believe with, you know, robo taxis, know,Uber drivers aren't going to be around anymore,
but maybe there's opportunities for them tokind of join a product role at like a robo taxi
(35:39):
company.
So I think definitely they'll have to be newroles and like those people will have to have
some on ramps to to, to upscale.
I forgot the name of the company, but there wasa pretty interesting company that, like, helped
people get jobs in health care, like in like,you know, phlebotomy jobs or, like, jobs where
you where you're kind of like, you know,getting those essential worker, jobs.
(36:03):
So I think that's there's also opportunity todo good by doing good.
Right?
You can grow your business and have a, reallyhealthy company that's profitable and and
growing every year, but then it's alsoproviding some impact.
It feels like that's kinda what you guys arelooking for as well.
Right?
The venture scale with also the impact, whichusually is not typically, like, correlated
(36:23):
together, But but I feel like that's you know,the the firms like you guys that can kinda do
both and kinda get the outsized returns plusimpact.
That's kind of a a win win.
Yeah.
I think the company you're thinking of is stepfull.
Right?
Mhmm.
Yep.
Yeah.
It is.
Yeah.
I think, like, the way we think about it is,like, we're generally investing in companies
(36:44):
where, like, a school district is a payer onthe education side while a corporation is a
payer.
And so technically, like, as a company scales,they're reaching more people, they're educating
more people, they're giving more people skills.
And so revenue growth is actually correlatedwith impact.
And so that's where we're usually trying tofind companies solve both.
(37:05):
And there are a good amount that do, I
just think.
In general, another thing I've learned is
that corporations aren't necessarily rationalactors.
So most companies that are selling startupsthat are selling to corporations are always
showing kind of a return on investment ROImetric.
But like if I have my budget and my budget isthe one that's purchasing this software or this
(37:29):
education product, but it's actually savingmoney on someone else's budget, like I'm not
necessarily incentivized to do that or am Inecessarily going to get the credit for it?
So I think in general, another thing that I'velearned is just that most corporations aren't
rational actors.
So even if something makes a lot of sense, theymight not do it just because their incentives
(37:50):
don't align.
So I think a lot of it is just figuring out,like, which companies, which models, which
products, like, align incentives and actuallymake sense for people to adopt.
Could we double click a little more on areasthat you're seeing that are exciting and kind
(38:12):
of the workforce, and life skills?
So, you know, I I know we kinda have somesubsectors of health equity and financial
inclusion, but what are some areas that you'reexcited about in those sectors?
Yeah, so I think the care economy is somethingthat's super exciting.
Yeah,
by 02/1930, twenty percent of people in The USwill be aged 65 and older.
(38:35):
And so those people are aging and then alsothey're living longer, life expectancy has
increased and also like managing health relatedissues as they age.
And so there are lots of opportunities there.
Like a lot of people want to age in place.
And I think like, especially as you have morediverse as the older population is becoming
(39:02):
more diverse, I think they're in certaincultures, it's kind of stigmatized to go to
nursing homes.
And so thinking about what technology can be inthe home to allow people to age in their home
as opposed to leaving their home and going tonursing home.
There's been a couple startups that are workingon compensating caregivers.
So a of people have to quit their jobs to carefor a loved one who's sick or old.
(39:30):
And that's obviously work that's notcompensated.
So there are a couple of states where you canactually be paid to become a caregiver for your
loved one.
And so I think that's a really interestingmodel And also kind of helps with a lot of
maybe like displacement of jobs due to AI.
These are jobs that you need a human sickcurrently.
Like, that's just kind of like, there's noreplacement for that.
(39:51):
And so that's really interesting.
We're also looking at neurodivergence.
There's been an increase in the percentage ofpeople who either self identify or have been
diagnosed with neurodivergence.
So really thinking about how we can supportthose people in school districts, how we can
support them in the workplace is interesting tous.
(40:13):
And financial inclusion, which is kind ofthinking about like embedded learning.
So I mentioned like financial literacy as partof it, really helping people who don't have
access to, like, the education of how to reallybe, like, financially stable.
And I think the embedded learning piece isreally important because if you think about it,
if you are just, like, try like, jugglingmultiple jobs, you have kids, like, you don't
(40:37):
really have time to go and, like, take a classon investing.
So, like, how do you bring that to, like, whereyou are every day?
Like, let's say if you're like, a good exampleof the company that requires you to take
financial literacy classes to increase yourcredit limit.
If you need if you need extra credit limit,like, have to do this.
Right?
(40:57):
So just like kind of ways where it's easy, it'sembedded, it's short, people understand it.
Also, like, thinking about accessibility, ifyou look if you think about literacy rates in
The US, you might need to have videos or someaudio because if you're having complex terms
and people have lower literacy rates, then theymight not understand.
(41:18):
So just thinking about different modalities aswell.
No, that's really helpful.
What's your reaction to the Tesla robot and howthat's going to possibly play into the care
economy?
Do you feel that people will eventually adopt?
Look, I feel with the robotaxis and I thinkthey launched in Austin and cheaper.
(41:49):
Yeah, they're like a couple of dollars.
Couple what?
I think they're like less than $5 maybe.
Yeah.
So I mean, I feel like behavior will changewhen Look, at the end of the day, you know, if
the robotaxi is out in production and it's it'sat the highest level of accuracy, there is a
(42:11):
term for like autonomy autonomous driving.
Feel like it's a level three or whatever it isof of fully self driven fidelity and autonomy.
So at that point, know, there's some may saylike, you know, it's just as risky to actually
ride in a real human being driving a taxiversus like a robot, right?
(42:34):
I mean, you're making turns and you'resituationally aware when things happen on the
road.
But like when you start throwing in the factthat it's, you know, maybe a couple dollars to
maybe half the price of like a regular Uber,there's more motivation actually to use a
robotaxi.
And then from an entrepreneurial standpoint, Ithink there's opportunities.
(42:57):
People are buying homes and flipping them tocreate wealth.
You know, people can buy fleets of taxis.
Right?
So at that point, there's gonna be a fidelitylevel where people are just like, okay, with
robots driving cars.
You know, we've had a few openings and andlaunches of, like, the the Tesla robot.
Right?
So where do you feel what's your reaction tothat when it comes to care in the future where
(43:23):
there know, people can, like, purchase purchasea robot can maybe even be a companion if you're
unfortunately a widow.
And obviously it's doing all the tasks in thehouse and possibly even being a caretaker.
How deep tech do you guys go?
I guess, do you guys look at robotics as wellas We part of your typically don't do
(43:48):
hardware.
I the Tesla robotaxi is actually way less safethan the Weimar one.
I think that's just the underlying technology.
And so I think when it launched in Austin,which is a really limited launch, I think they
were saying it was driving on the opposite sideof the road, and they were like, issues.
(44:12):
So I think Tesla's a long way to go.
I think it's
still long way to go.
Yeah, but I think Waymo is obviously ahead ofit and super successful, like in California.
I think that the studies have showed that Ithink Wayne was actually safer than I I am not,
like, completely sure, but I think it's alittle bit safer than human drivers.
(44:34):
And I think I was into a podcast with someonesaying, like, I'd rather be with a robot than
like the creepy originator.
Think it was like,
woman's safety.
That's like another thing.
Yeah.
In terms of doing household chores, I thinkthere's probably like a little a couple of
years until their robot is doing it justbecause there is like so many like different
(44:59):
things that you have to like program like whereis my Windex?
You have to get it like there's it's sospecific to a house that I'm not sure how far
we have until we get to using that a lot.
But I do think in terms of care for adults, Ithink people in general do what a human I think
(45:21):
they like human connection is obviously likewhat humans thrive on.
And so I think in general, like, I think it's along time until people trust robot to watch
their parent.
I have some AI companions, I think also thosethere's a little bit of risk there.
(45:43):
Just to make sure that those companions don'tsay things that might lead people to do
dangerous things.
Like I think there's there've been a fewlawsuits on that.
So I think it's just pretty risky right now.
If it's trained, even if it's trained pathway,things can always go wrong.
But there is a lot of potential for that tolike at least solve loneliness, for example.
(46:10):
Like during the pandemic, I was doing a lot ofphone banking for the election.
And there were some people that I was phonebanking.
And they just wanted to talk on the phone forlike an hour.
And it's just because they're by themselves.
They were isolated in the pandemic.
I don't think that's even unique to thepandemic.
I think a lot of older adults are justisolated.
(46:30):
And so like, if you can give them an AIcompanion, it doesn't have to be necessarily a
robot, but someone they can talk to.
I also think maybe older adults might like,think kids might adopt it at a higher rate than
older adults because you you just assume thatolder adults don't like to adopt technology as
quickly and they might think it's weird.
(46:51):
But if you can give them a campaign, I feellike it's and it's safe.
It's responsible.
I think that it's because people are reallylonely.
I just remember this one woman who was tellingme about how her husband died and her daughter
was out of the country and she had no one totalk to.
And I it's think a real issue.
I think loneliness is one of the top issues forolder adults.
(47:13):
And so if there are ways, I just think it hasto be really tested and really safe to make
sure that the positives outweigh the negatives.
No, I think to your point too, everyone hasunique needs, right?
So there was when I was studying mydissertation, I was working for the DoD.
(47:34):
So we saw a lot of studies with people thatwent through PTSD and especially elderly
people.
They wanted a companion and this kind of goesback to my research.
I mean, you don't necessarily need a human likecompanion.
So there was something that was like it waslike a like a stuffed animal.
(47:54):
I think it looked like a kitten or somethinglike that, but, like, it just kept on talking
and talking and talking.
And sometimes maybe elderly people like tolisten and just have some activity going on.
I think there's loneliness also because whenpeople get older, their parents are getting
older, it ends up becoming a burden.
(48:14):
You're stressed out about taking care of yourkids, Then you're also stressed out about, you
know, obviously your parents' health and theircare.
So it's not only just the parents, but it's thekids underneath them that are now eventually
going to be assuming responsibility.
So you're always stressed out about, you know,making sure that they're alright.
(48:35):
And you may not always have the time to callthem.
Right?
So if there's something that can kinda serve asa companion, that could be interesting, a
companion that's just always talking andtelling stories and stuff, maybe the person
likes to listen.
But on the flip side, I was laughing with mywife a couple years ago because there's, like,
a newer version of the Terminator, where Arnoldyou know, Arnold Schwarzenegger is, you know,
(48:59):
60 years old or something.
It's like kind of the end of the movie and Ithink he's got a girlfriend or something.
She's like, he's great because he doesn't talkand he doesn't say anything to me and he just
does the dishes and does all the chores.
And he's a really great listener, and ourrelationship is really great.
So that was pretty funny too, where sometimes,you know, half the again, communication, you
(49:23):
know, half the time when people, havechallenges is maybe some type of thing that
somebody else said that didn't, that didn't hitthe right way.
So it kinda creates some communication issues.
So I feel like there's companions that can justcontinue talking and saying things that can
kinda be great for people to like to listen.
(49:44):
But then there's some people that just keeptheir mouth shut, as a companion that is great
for people too, you know, because people justwanna be heard at some point.
It's true.
But also, think, like, there is some criticismof chat gbt because it was overly, like, like,
you're like, oh, I'm thinking of
doing this, like, should I do it?
And I just like very, like, positive andaffirmative.
And I think
(50:05):
they're saying like, there's also the issuewhere it's like, yeah, if you're
saying crazy things that might not be the best,like, you do kind
of a balance and someone to do to check you,which I think is also the beauty in human
connections where people aren't just going toagree with you all the time.
But Yeah.
I I read nothing is perfect.
But
Yeah.
(50:25):
And I think maybe personalizing it or adjustingto that too or reacting.
I don't know, just understanding who thatperson is and maybe would you say the
personalization kind of might help a littlebit?
Yeah, definitely.
Dynamically?
Yeah.
Maybe your family member can also personalizeit like, oh, my mom always says this.
(50:46):
We like a corrector.
So like not only the user personalizing it, but
more of their community personalizing it aswell, especially this person who's often alone.
Yeah.
No, I totally agree.
Well, I know we're up at time.
So Bridget, you know, maybe one piece of advicethat you'd give to us maybe from a mentor or
(51:07):
from your careers in terms of maybe being abetter investor or just kind of being a better
professional, I guess, that you'd like to sharewith us as a piece of wisdom?
The thing that's really important being aninvestor is being able to change your opinion.
So I think like, often we use ourselves aslike, like our experiences are what inform our
(51:30):
investments.
And so like, you're investing into a newcategory, like, oh, like, I like even Hermes,
like, probably wouldn't use a robot that doesthe chores.
And so like, that's stupid.
I'm not gonna invest in that.
But like, you are not everyone.
And so I think just like always being willingto hear other perspectives and change your
mind, and have and, like, change your mind onand challenge your assumptions, I think, can
(51:55):
help you really pick the best winners.
And so I think that's probably the biggestthing is just, like, not using yourself as the
average human because investors are not averagehuman.
Really just doing research to see what the,like, customers of that product are saying and
would want, I think is really important asalong with like, just investing in
(52:19):
relationships both with other investors fordeal flow as well as potential customers and
always just kind of thinking of your foundersand of other investors and being as helpful to
them so that you you remain top of mind andthat they're helpful to you.
Yeah.
No, that's really helpful.
I think what you're saying is, even if youwouldn't use the product, it could still be a
(52:39):
good investment based on the data, based on themarket.
Then on the flip side, it could just be a passfor you because it's just a horrible
investment, but you might still be a good youmight buy it and use it as a customer too.
So I think that's pretty interesting to thinkabout.
But anyways, Richard, this was amazing.
Really enjoyed learning a lot and thank you foryour time.
(53:03):
I think this was really helpful for thecommunity to kind of learn about what it takes
to be an investor and then also kind of doinggood by doing good.
Right?
Investing in great businesses that are greatinvestments, but then also ensuring that they
provide impact.
Yeah, thanks so much for the time.
This was a great conversation, so I reallyappreciate it.
(53:25):
Yeah, absolutely.
Well, hey, Bridget, thanks a lot.
Thanks a lot and have a great rest of the weekand we'll catch up soon.
You too.
Thanks.
Bye.
Take care.
Bye.
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