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vgr's profile
Venkatesh Rao
Venkatesh Rao
Venkatesh Rao
@vgr

Tweets

Venkatesh Rao

@vgr

This is my conversational account. For my work follow @ribbonfarm, @breaking_smart, @artofgig. Tweets are 90% vacuous views, apathetically held. Mediocritopian.

Los Angeles, CA
venkateshrao.com
Joined August 2007

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    1. Venkatesh Rao‏ @vgr 7 Sep 2019
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      A thought that’s been at the back of my mind: technology specifically designed with the poor in mind (as opposed to stuff just getting cheaper as it rides cost curves to commoditization) inevitably ends up being technology designed to keep them poor.

      14 replies 6 retweets 53 likes
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    2. N.S.  🧪‏ @noahsussman 7 Sep 2019
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      Replying to @vgr

      Almost as if the people funding the tech VC firms don't want to help poor people at all 🤔

      1 reply 0 retweets 1 like
      Venkatesh Rao‏ @vgr 7 Sep 2019
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      Replying to @noahsussman

      Most tech “designed for the poor” tends to be by well-intentioned nonprofit or public sector efforts. The private sector stuff tends to be either outright predatory like payday loans, or high-grading driven. VC money rarely directly targets low-income markets.

      7:32 PM - 7 Sep 2019
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      • Made in Cosmos 💫 Maria Górska-Piszek _ CR Chandrasekar David McDougall Billy Smith N.S. 🧪
      3 replies 2 retweets 6 likes
        1. Billy Smith‏ @billy74919063 8 Sep 2019
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          "Insufficiently profitable market niche." Direct quote from one VC i was talking with. He also didn't like the legal-locks i was using to prevent predatory partners from taking over.

          0 replies 0 retweets 3 likes
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        1. Dave Guarino‏ @allafarce 8 Sep 2019
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          Replying to @vgr @noahsussman

          There are certainly opportunities to provide services that are more beneficial for low income users and more profitable than the status quo. These would generally be tech-leveraged but not VC level returns; exploiting new lower cost structures of acquisition and delivery.

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        1. N.S.  🧪‏ @noahsussman 8 Sep 2019
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          There's also the sort of thing the Gates Foundation and other Edtech VCs do in the US, which is to roll out the most aggressive and authoritarian tech solutions to low-income communities. Schools in the poorest communities get the most intrusive tech solutions. ht @audreywatters

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