Joshua Context Kauffman

co-founder in stealth

We founded Wisdom.vc to challenge the conventions of traditional venture capital. By breaking those conventions we can expand the range of companies that are worthy of investment, and build a shared culture of collaboration that is transparent and constructive. Wisdom actively looks to apply and adapt emerging technologies to pressing social needs, human augmentation, and planetary health. We've become significant investors in early stage companies in AI, personal finance, functional medicine, e-commerce, cannabis, the Microbiome and Crypto/Blockchain. We invest pre-team and beyond with investments starting at $500k+

I connect insights from across the many disciplines I've studied and practiced. Having lived in over 30 countries, I cast a deeply personal and fresh new light on the world's pressing challenges and transformative opportunities. As a recognized emcee, moderator and facilitator, my gift is in bringing clarity and direction to complex and spontaneous dialogue. I've steered multi-day conversations on subjects as far-ranging as brain-science, the design of a museum, and desert ecologies. I've led nearly 100 unconferences of up to 1000 people on subjects like foreign policy, financial technology, entrepreneurship, and regional and national development. Having been in the middle of many diverse conversations, I know how to maximize group insight and human connection. Some venues I've lectured and facilitated at include: Harvard, Stanford, MIT, UCSD, GE, The World Bank, The OECD, Intel, McKinsey, Deloitte, The National Bank of Iceland, The Danish Foreign Ministry, The Massachusetts Technology Council, The Institute for the Future, the Aspen Institute, O'reilly's foocamp and etech, and BMW.

A community of investors, founders, and advisors supporting early stage efforts around brain, mind, mental health, and related themes. www.braingels.org

I’m on stage contextualising and introducing the diverse voices of our speakers into a coherent event for a 1000 person audience.

Proud to be an investor in Sunday in Brooklyn, rated best brunch in NYC. Sunday in Brooklyn has become a neighborhood stalwart, hosting baby showers and corporate parties, and sharing with the world an addictive agrarian cuisine that's soulful and intelligent.

Ground Effect was an animist investment studio that evolved and expanded into the operating Naia Trust. We backed ventures that enable terrestrial life to realize its fullest generativity. Our creative studio intervened to shape a worldview of deepened relationships with planetary life. We helped expand ecological identities and question what qualifies as an acceptable use of capital when reconciling human prosperity with a thriving, living world. www.groundeffect.io

I work with the Kinetech collective of scientists, engineers and artists to create compelling cultural events that blend emerging technology, performance and visual art.

I am a member of the Gates Foundation funded Aspen Institute Dialogue on the Public Library. I was commissioned by the Aspen Institute to author a publicly-distributed briefing document serving to introduce and structure the ongoing strategic dialogues on the future of the American public library.

I am a member of GE's international network of innovators, who convene to surface and discuss the implications of world-changing innovations and the process of brining them forth.

Soko is a captivating lifestyle brand and profitable fast-growing venture-backed supply chain innovation company. They are upending international trade by empowering industrious artisan entrepreneurs in emerging economies to connect directly to global demand. More than 3000 people actively produce on the Soko platform, increasing their income by an average factor of 5.

Instructed in design criticism and theory related to urbanism, infrastructure, transportation and landscape.

I founded a boutique design consultancy whose mission is to amplify the potential in human networks in emerging markets. Clients/partners included Columbia University’s Earth Institute, Tufts University Institute for Global Leadership, the University of Nairobi, and Sesame Workshop. Projects sites included Kenya, India, Afghanistan and the United States.

Founded a pioneering consultancy that helped clients apply self-tracking and personal data to areas including wellness, health, fitness, and personal improvement.

I am a founding team member and principal collaborator and advisor in the pioneering Quantified Self movement. The Quantified Self is the first and pre-eminent global organization committed to helping people improve themselves while getting insight to actionalize their personal data.

Spearheaded pioneering projects in challenging locales, including a peer-to-peer communication system in Cuba, social and civic media in Egypt and Iran, 3D printed shoe company, design interventions and education ranging from China to Botswana.

I founded a global strategy and design consultancy that specialized in innovation, design research and foresight/futurism.