Your Window Into the Innovation Economy

What does it mean to be T-shaped in a venture-driven, entrepreneurial team? In this video, Keaton Nankivil breaks it down. He explains how the best team members balance broad curiosity with deep focus — like switching between a spotlight and a laser. At AV, if you’ve got a strong point of view that aligns with the mission, you’re encouraged to chase it. But success comes from knowing where to direct your energy — whether it’s a market, theme, or community. It’s all about owning your focus and driving impact.

At Alumni Ventures, we invest in the builders shaping the next generation of transformative technology. When we first evaluated Cohere, we weren’t just looking at growth metrics — we were examining a differentiated approach in one of the most competitive markets in tech. This is the story of why we backed a company that’s quietly become one of the fastest-growing names in AI.

In 1928, Sir Alexander Fleming returned from vacation to find that a petri dish of Staphylococcus cultures had been contaminated — an accident that led to the discovery of penicillin. Ninety years later, in 2018, Japanese scientists accidentally altered an enzyme and found it could break down plastic significantly faster. What connects these seemingly unrelated moments isn’t meticulous adherence to the scientific method. These “happy accidents” weren’t born from controlled, procedural experimentation. Instead, they reflect how scientific breakthroughs often emerge from veering off course, driven not by protocol, but by the curiosity, intuition, and creativity that define human discovery.

As AI and automation dominate tech headlines, a powerful countertrend is emerging: a growing demand for real-world, human-first experiences. Alumni Ventures’ Sports & Humans First Syndication Club backs entrepreneurs building platforms that foster community, identity, and embodied connection  —  not as a rejection of technology, but as its highest purpose. From wellness and skill-sharing to sports and third spaces, this fund invests in scalable, culture-driven solutions that enhance what makes us uniquely human.

Why the most disruptive AI startups aren’t selling tools to organizations — they’re replacing them.

WATCH NOW: An exclusive conversation with Alumni Venture’s Strategic Tech Fund and Matt White, Co-Founder of Multitude Insights