20VC: Bryan Johnson @ OS Fund & Braintree on Investing In The Operating Systems Of Life & Why VC Should All Be Open Source
The Twenty Minute VC (20VC): Venture Capital | Startup Funding | The Pitch
The Twenty Minute VC
4.4 • 637 Ratings
🗓️ 25 January 2016
⏱️ 18 minutes
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Summary
Bryan Johnson is an entrepreneur and investor. He is the founder of OS Fund and Braintree, the latter of which was bought by eBay in 2013 for $800 million in cash. Bryan launched OS Fund in 2014 with $100 million of his personal capital to support inventors and scientists who aim to benefit humanity. His investments include endeavors to extend healthy human life to 100+ (Human Longevity), replicate the human visual cortex (Vicarious), mine an asteroid (Planetary Resources), reinvent transportation (Matternet), and reimagine food (Hampton Creek), among others.
1.) How Bryan made his start in the world of tech and how he has come to the OS fund today?
2.) What was the pivotal moment in Bryan's career? When was the turning point? What was was the hardest part of the entrepreneurial journey and how did Bryan conquer it?
3.) What is the main motivation behind the OS fund? Which areas does Bryan most want to solve and where does he see significant market opportunities?
4.) Does the longevity of return to Bryan's exits concern him? Most investments exit with 10 years, human lifespan startups take a little longer! What sort of time frame does Bryan have in mind when investing in these companies?
5.) What does Bryan really perceive synthetic biology to mean? Are we seeing improvements in this sector?
6.) The OS Fund have recently released a white paper detailing extensively their process for investing? Why did Bryan decide on this open source style of investing?
7.) What would Bryan like to see more of? Where does Bryan see a lot of people investing that he thinks is a mistake?
Bryan's Fave Book:
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hello and welcome to the 20 minute VC with your host, Harry Stebbings, and we have another incredibly special week on the show for you. |
| 0:07.4 | Some amazing guests lined up. |
| 0:09.5 | Kicking it off for us today is a personal hero of mine, having heard his amazing story on the Tim Ferriss show. |
| 0:15.2 | I felt I had to have him on the 20 minute VC. |
| 0:18.1 | The only trouble is, is he a founder or is he an investor? I'll leave that |
| 0:22.0 | one for you to decide. But joining me today is Brian Johnson, the founder of OS Fund and Brain Tree, |
| 0:28.2 | the latter of which which was bought by eBay in 2013 for $800 million in cash. Brian launched OS |
| 0:35.6 | fund following that in 2014 with $100 million of his personal capital, |
| 0:41.0 | to support inventors and scientists who aim to benefit humanity by rewriting the operating |
| 0:46.6 | systems of life. In other words, he fuels real-world mad scientists. His investments include |
| 0:53.3 | endeavours to cure age-related diseases and extend |
| 0:56.5 | healthy human life to 100 plus years with human longevity. He plans to replicate the human |
| 1:02.5 | visual cortex using artificial intelligence with vicarious, and he even wants to mine asteroids |
| 1:09.4 | with planetary resources. But before we dive into the show |
| 1:13.0 | today with Brian, I want to hear what you think of the show. What do you like? What don't you like? |
| 1:18.5 | So send all your feedback to Harry at the 20 minute VC.com, all in letters. And I'd also like to say a |
| 1:25.1 | special thank you to Mattermark for providing all the data for today's show. |
| 1:29.3 | So awesome. And if you're like me, always looking for more startup and VC articles, then do sign up to the daily curated Mattermark Daily by the legend that is Nick Frost, who can be found on Twitter at Thinker. |
| 1:42.2 | But without further ado, it's time to welcome the man himself. |
| 1:45.8 | Therefore, I'm thrilled to introduce Brian Johnson, founder at OS Fund and Brain Tree. |
| 1:55.7 | You have now arrived at your destination. |
| 2:00.2 | Brian, I'm so excited to have you on the show. |
... |
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