The law touches every corner of the business world. Virtually everything that companies do—sales, purchases, partnerships, mergers, reorganizations—they do via legally enforceable contracts. Innovation would grind to a halt without a well-developed body of intellectual property law. Day to day, whether we recognize it or not, each of us operates against the backdrop of our legal regime and the implicit possibility of litigation.
A schism lies at the heart of the field of artificial intelligence. Since its inception, the field has been defined by an intellectual tug-of-war between two opposing philosophies: connectionism and symbolism. These two camps have deeply divergent visions as to how to "solve" intelligence, with differing research agendas and sometimes bitter relations.
No asset is more prized in today's digital economy than data. It has become widespread to the point of cliche to refer to data as "the new oil." As one recent Economist headline put it, data is "the world's most valuable resource."
Johnson & Johnson has announced the acquisition of Auris Health for up to $5.75 billion consisting of approximately $3.4 billion in cash plus additional contingent payments of up to $2.35 billion upon reaching certain predetermined milestones.
Over the course of thirty years as a General Partner at Highland Capital Partners, I’ve had the privilege to attend more than 5,000 introductory meetings with startups.
I love what I do. Every day I spend time with fascinating, enterprising entrepreneurs building businesses, changing industries, and creating social value. I wouldn’t trade that for anything. Like many people, my path into venture capital was untraditional, and I would not have it any other way.
