Why "Venture Science" 🔬
How We Take a Scientific Approach to the Art of Venture Capital
Thank you all to everyone who’s joined us over the past few months! We’re over 150 subscribers strong and growing this community of venture scientists rapidly! 🥳
I wanted to take a moment to pause from the constant updates on the state of the markets or SVB, and give all of our new venture scientists some insight onto how this newsletter started.
From Lab to Field
The namesake of this publication comes from my love of science. I studied Chemical Engineering and Physics in college at the University of Illinois. I’ve always had a natural love for science, even working in a research lab to study solar cells.
However, as the long days in the lab drew on, I began to doubt if I was really making a difference. I decided to trade in my lab coat for a hard-hat. Through a global non-proft, I got the opportunity to see what my research could do in the real world.
I travelled to central Ghana 🇬🇠to start a solar energy business for a small rural community.
Over a month in the village of Kpanshegu, I spoke with hundreds of community members on their issues with electricity, built a solar charging station from cinder-blocks and cement, and taught 2 incredible women entrepreneurs how to sell and account for individuals charging their batteries or phones at the solar charging station.
Immediately I saw the power that entrepreneurship had to make an impact on people’s lives.
Children could now charge solar lanterns so they could study at night. Farmers no longer had to travel 4 hours to the nearest city to charge their phones and schedule shipments. Families became healthier as they reduced their reliance on kerosene lamps which caused chronic ocular and respirator issues for the community.
It made a world of difference.
By merging science and business, we are able to make outsized impacts on the world.
Venture Science is another way of trying to merge the two worlds of entrepreneurship and science to make a better impact on people’s lives.
With that all being said, we’ll continue to take a scientific approach to the art of Venture Capital and make this space all the more accessible for all.
Sincerely,
Adeel Afshar