Rob Leclerc

Founding partner at AgFunder, a deeptech VC with $300m AUM. Academic background, BA Phil/BSc CS, MSc AI (UCalgary 03), PhD Theoretical & Computational Biology (Yale 09). I write about VC, AI, deeptech, science, and philosophy.

The hottest Substack posts of Rob Leclerc

And their main takeaways

General Theory of Neural Networks

2 HN points • 10 Jul 24
🔬 Science Neural Networks
  1. Universal Activation Networks (UANs) span various systems from gene regulatory networks to artificial neural networks, emphasizing evolvability and generative open-endedness.
  2. Identifying a network's critical topology is crucial as it dictates function, not implementation details, leading to efficient and adaptable systems.
  3. Extreme pruning of networks reveals necessary and sufficient circuit topology, enhancing performance by reducing noise and increasing efficiency.

Is your product a vitamin, pain killer, narcotic, or a religion?

119 implied HN points • 24 Feb 21
💼 Business Investment Market Analysis Entrepreneurship Startups
  1. Investors prefer painkiller products over vitamin products as they cater to immediate needs and have low churn rates.
  2. Narcotic products are addictive and their use tends to increase over time, leading to high customer loyalty and retention.
  3. Products that become like religions appeal to emotional needs, have a strong following, and can be incredibly durable but also risky as they require maintaining high standards.

AgFunder's reading list for new VC analysts & associates

79 implied HN points • 05 Feb 21
💼 Business Venture Capital Investing Entrepreneurship History Resources
  1. Venture capital can be challenging to understand and may take new analysts 6-18 months to fully grasp.
  2. Books, essays, interviews, videos, podcasts, websites, and blogs are great resources for new VC analysts to learn about the industry.
  3. Understanding the history, culture, and frameworks of venture capital is crucial for new VC analysts and associates.

Inflation is here

0 implied HN points • 13 Mar 21
💰 Finance Inflation Economic Impact Mortgages Interest Rates
  1. Inflation is a looming crisis, with unseen impacts in traditional measures like CPI, causing economic and social turmoil.
  2. Low mortgage rates are fueling a housing market frenzy, with limited supply driving prices sky-high, putting pressure on buyers and sellers.
  3. Potential consequences include prolonged generational effects, hyperinflation risks, and exacerbation of wealth inequality between different age groups.
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Introduction to Neurons, Backpropagation and Transformers

0 implied HN points • 10 Jul 24
🕹 Technology Neural Networks Transformers Artificial Intelligence Machine Learning
  1. Neurons process information through reception, transmission, integration, propagation, and communication, illustrating a fundamental understanding of neural dynamics.
  2. Backpropagation is a key algorithm in training neural networks, involving forward pass, error calculation, backward pass, and weight update to optimize network performance.
  3. Artificial neural networks have evolved from single-layer perceptrons to multi-layer perceptrons, showcasing the importance of hierarchical learning and specialized architectures for different tasks.

The Tyranny of Venture Capital Math

0 implied HN points • 11 Mar 21
💼 Business Venture Capital Investments Startups Finance Entrepreneurship
  1. In venture capital, it's crucial to focus on the potential size of outcomes, not just the product or service utility.
  2. To succeed in venture capital, aim for investments with the potential for very large outcomes to make up for inevitable losses.
  3. The "tyranny of venture capital math" highlights that not every good idea is a viable venture capital investment, as each investment must have the potential for significant growth.