Friedberg says traditional financial firms ruin tech acquisitions when they try to integrate them, creating an innovator's dilemma.
“And if they try and do that, then they step in and they try and run a tech company and the whole thing gets ruined and falls apart as we've seen in M and A over and over again in many different So it is this kind of classic innovator dilemma moment that we're seeing in financial services”
Friedberg argues ninety-nine percent of business value comes from execution, not the original invention or idea.
“99% of the value, unfortunately, comes from that business building exercise because that's where the scrum happens. Right.”
Friedberg explains people avoid big ideas because complexity breeds fear of higher failure probability.
“And, you know, complexity breeds fear because it breeds a higher chance of failure. You know, you have to get each of these things right for something to work.”
Friedberg argues complexity breeds fear of failure, explaining why people pursue smaller ideas requiring fewer things to go right.
“Well, there's I don't know about, using the term thinker, but I think that the, the big concepts are scary because there's so many things that have to go right to get them to work.”
Friedberg argues that capital diffusion into small software projects prevents concentration on transformative breakthroughs like semiconductors.
“And you could probably make 50,000,000 in return. That's a nice little 10 bagger. Great. Let's do that.”
Friedberg argues ag tech is innovating successfully despite poor VC returns from over-investment.
“that doesn't mean that ag tech isn't innovating and that we aren't improving productivity and bringing value to farmers and improving the quality of our food systems.”
Friedberg argues agtech is innovating despite poor investor returns, distinguishing between VC performance and farmer value creation.
“Everyone views the ag tech market negatively because the returns for the ag tech investor class isn't there. But that doesn't mean that ag tech isn't innovating and that we aren't improving productivity”
Friedberg notes US farms still use 100-year-old Russet Burbank variety, requiring football-field-sized warehouses for storage.
“we've still been farming Russet Burbank in The US for a hundred plus years. That's a hundred year old variety.”
Friedberg describes successfully turning off DNA reduction in sex cells to preserve complete genomes in crops.
“The idea was we could turn off the process that causes the fusion, the reduction of the DNA, and have it have all the DNA. And so we did this. It started to work.”
Friedberg says boosted breeding enables true seed propagation in crops that currently rely on vegetative propagation.
“So it unlocks a significant yield gain and it creates new opportunities for creating seed products in markets where it doesn't exist.”
Friedberg argues ag tech delivers real innovation and farmer value despite poor VC returns in the sector.
“But that doesn't mean that ag tech isn't innovating, and that we aren't improving productivity and bringing value to farmers and improving the quality of our food systems.”
Friedberg argues ag tech delivers real innovation and value despite poor VC returns in the sector.
“But that doesn't mean that ag tech isn't innovating and that we aren't improving productivity and bringing value to farmers and improving the quality of our food systems.”
Friedberg argues ag tech is innovating successfully despite poor VC returns, separating farmer value from investor outcomes.
“I think that the ag market is going through a lot of fantastic innovation cycles right now. Everyone views the ag tech market negatively because the returns for the ag tech investor class isn't there.”
Friedberg argues salaried employees avoid failure to keep jobs, making it hard to create a culture of creative destruction.
“Most people in most enterprises that aren't owner operators don't want to fail. They want to keep their job. They want to move up the ladder by being repeatedly successful.”