_Unit Testing: Episode 1
Artificial Intelligence, Psychedelics & Consciousness
Welcome to Startup ROI! I’m Kyle O'Brien, an early stage deep tech investor — alongsideRand Hindi— and community builder based in Paris, France. I write what I see. These days, it’s mostly explorations into various categories of interest including:
The Future of Computing
Blockchain Infrastructure (Privacy & Encryption)
Frontier Health
I enjoy taking complex topics and reducing them into accessible articles and top-notch memes. I also throw bangin’ dinner parties for cool people in tech and venture.
You may have seen some shameless self-promotion on LinkedIn regarding the new content series I’m releasing with Rand. Every day I have the fortune of meeting with incredible entrepreneurs, bold researchers and savvy investors working on building the future they want to see. Through this series, I hope to bring a cross-section of these discussions into your world.
Our very first live stream was held earlier this week on the topic of Artificial Intelligence, Psychedelics & Consciousness. You can watch the full discussion here. We were lucky enough to be joined by Samantha Tabone (Partner, Empath VC) and Dillan DiNardo (Founder & CEO, Mindstate Design Labs).
Engaging, multi-disciplinary conversations are critical for understanding the growing complexity of our technical landscape. As such, I plan to keep inviting top-tier guests to join me for discussions on topics ranging from the future of computing to encryption & privacy to the frontiers of healthcare.
We’re calling the series: _Unit Testing
Unit tests are typically automated tests written and run by software developers to ensure that a section of an application (known as the "unit") meets its design and behaves as intended. In procedural programming, a unit could be an entire module, but it is more commonly an individual function or procedure. In object-oriented programming, a unit is often an entire interface, such as a class, or an individual method. By writing tests first for the smallest testable units, then the compound behaviors between those, one can build up comprehensive tests for complex applications.
I have no doubt that most of my audience is familiar with the term “unit test.” For my non-technical readers, the above definition just about sums it up. With code, it’s important to drill down to the very fundamental units of a program to validate it works in isolation. I like to extrapolate this philosophy to my investment strategy. Unit testing is first principles thinking in action: break down complexity into its most basic elements and build back up from there.
When evaluating potential investments, I often try to hit “bedrock” — working backwards from the product or service down to the technical fundamentals that combine to make a project scientifically and commercially feasible. In deep tech investing, this is particularly important. This process takes place in calls with founders, discussions with fellow investors and academics and through independent research I conduct in my spare time. The objective for this series is to open source these “unit tests” to expand the dialogue beyond the confines of our tiny corner of the VC ecosystem!
Subscribe to our brand new YouTube channel for real-time updates. We’re also sharing clips & updates from our LinkedIn Page and Twitter Handle.
Here’s a short video to get you started: How Does one Get AI, High?