Posts from October 2020

NBA Top Shot Public Launch

Our portfolio company Dapper took the ropes off NBA Top Shot this past week and it is now open to anyone who wants to play this super fun NBA collectibles game.

I wrote about NBA Top Shot in early August and provided access codes to AVC readers who wanted to get in on the beta. So some of you are already playing the game. But now all of you can do so.

I just bought a couple of packs this morning in the new and improved UI and scored a Nikola Jokic jumper (over AD) from the western conference finals.

I love the Joker so I am going to hold onto this one.

This is my pack opening experience from this morning:

I will put some of those cards into the marketplace and sell them. But I am holding onto Jayson Tatum and Joker. I already have a few Kyle Lowry cards so I am probably going to put that one into the marketplace.

I have a few cards that I am not ever letting go of. This Kawhi #1 (out of 1256) is my prized possession:

The #2 of that card is listed for $10k in the marketplace so I think mine is worth even more:

I do have some choice cards listed in the marketplace for sale:

So get into the game and pick them up from me 🙂

Anyway, you all get the idea. NBA Top Shot is a ton of fun and will be a great way for us fans to stay connected to the game during the offseason that seems like it is coming quickly. LeBron and this guy are quite the combination:

#crypto#Sports

Covid Alert NY

I’ve written a bunch about Exposure Alerting and its potential to limit the spread of Covid by alerting people when they have come in contact with someone contagious.

Back in April, Google and Apple came together to create GAEN, a framework for secure and private proximity data sharing on mobile phones.

In July, the Linux Foundation open-sourced two code bases that operate on top of GAEN for public health authorities around the world to build mobile apps with.

And yesterday, NY State launched Covid Alert NY that was built on those open source code bases. Covid Alert NY was built by the NYS Dept. of Health and Tech:NYC (where I am Chairman), along with Google, Apple, Bloomberg Philanthropies, Goldman Sachs, and a coalition of technology and research partners.

Here’s how Covid NY works:

  • Phones that have downloaded the app are assigned a random ID that can be exchanged with other phones via Bluetooth technology.
  • Devices that are within six feet of each other for 10 minutes or longer exchange those random IDs.
  • If a person tests positive and reports it on the app, an alert goes out to those with whom they had close contact alerting them of potential exposure.
  • The app also serves as a resource hub of daily case count numbers and informs users of the steps they can take to prevent further virus spread.

And it’s designed to work by placing privacy first:

  • It uses secure Bluetooth technology, not GPS, that can only detect when two devices are in proximity to each other, not geographic location. It doesn’t collect users’ data on their location or movement.
  • The random ID assigned to your device changes every 15 minutes, and users are not identified to other users, nor is their personal identifiable information shared — not with other users, Google, Apple, or the NYS Department of Health.

I hope that all NYers download Covid Alert NY to their phones and participate in a voluntary network of exposure alerting. This alone will not end the pandemic, but it can slow the spread of the virus by letting people know when they might be contagious and encouraging them to isolate and get tested. Imagine if we had this technology widely deployed back in January and February?

I downloaded Covid Alert NY to my phone this morning and am now participating in this voluntary exposure alerting network. You can join me by downloading Covid Alert NY to your phone:

App Store (for iPhone)

Google Play (for Android)

#Current Affairs#NYC

Sora

My partner Rebecca wrote about our most recent education investment, Sora, on the USV blog today. We have been investing in learning for over a decade at USV and have built a terrific learning portfolio focusing on companies that are providing services direct to the learner (as opposed to selling “ed tech” to institutions).

What we had not done, until now, is backed a company providing an alternative learning “institution.” Sora does that. And so I thought it would be worth talking a bit about that.

Sora is a high school “built for you.” As Rebecca wrote in the USV blog post about Sora:

Through a combination of small social pods, self-directed projects, and student-run organizations, high schoolers shape their academic and extracurricular experience, as well as the governance of the school. Instead of tests and assessments, high schoolers prove what they know by what they can do –  code a video game, wire a miniature greenhouse, or produce a paid ad spot for a company.  Students are encouraged to lean into subjects that speak to them and build a project portfolio in the disciplines where they’re most excited.

and

Over time, Sora students hit all of the traditional curriculum milestones essential for high school graduation, in a more tactile, self-directed manner and without exams as a benchmark of their mastery or creativity. Even in these early days, Sora is wrapping up the final stages of accreditation and is part of the Mastery Transcript Consortium, meaning students graduate with a transcript easily understood by colleges if they choose to pursue that path.  

So if you or your child is/are not having a great high school experience and you want something else, check out Sora. Sora is not free, like your local public high school, but it is very affordable and we hope that it becomes even more affordable over time as it scales into a new, different, and possibly better way for some to go to high school.

#hacking education