Why Data-Driven VC Isn’t Dead
It’s Just Growing Up🐣
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Hi there!
In February this year, Lawrence Lundy-Bryan from Lunar VC published a thought-provoking piece “data driven vc is over” here, describing how access to private market data, modern tools, and the democratization of research have commoditized the identification of hot investment opportunities.
More than 4y after my initial post “The Future of VC: Augmenting Humans with AI”, my predictions (see extract below) seem to prove right and investors like Lawrence come to realize that it’s the data-driven aspect that surfaces and points you to the deal, but the human aspect and art of making adverse decisions and winning competitive deals.
While my 2020 predictions and Lawrence’ realization seem to be perfectly in synch, I disagree that “data-driven VC is dead because it’s a commodity”. The trend is directionally right, but reality of many investment firms is still legacy processes and cultural blockers that prevent a digital transformation, as shown in the Data Driven VC Landscapes 2023 & 2024, and soon reconfirmed via the 2025 edition. Stay tuned, publication in 2 weeks ;)
Given that so many of you shared Lawrence’ article and asked for my take, here it is. My nuanced view why data-driven VC is not dead, but just growing up👇