Mikal Khoso

Hey I’m Mikal Khoso

I’m a global citizen and have lived in 9 cities in 8 countries across 4 continents.

Professionally I’ve spent time as a startup founder, venture capitalist and early startup employee.

As a venture capitalist I have invested over over 20+ startups worth over $10+ billion today.

As a startup operator I’ve been part of the founding team (employee #6) of an edtech company and was COO of a design studio with over 45 employees.

Lastly I’m an avid writer and write Emergent, a newsletter about the fastest-growing businesses in emerging markets. I also used to write Trajectory, where I followed my curiousity and analyzed emerging technology trends.

My writing has been referenced by Axios, Techcrunch, Deloitte, Law.com and 15+ universities

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My Writings

  • Global Money Laundering Part II

    The FinCEN files has quickly swelled into a news story globally with new revelations coming thick and fast – with everyone from Michael Flynn to the Tokyo Olympics now caught up in the scandal. But the FinCEN files – while rich in information – pale in comparison with the 2016 Panama Papers leaks. The Panama Papers involved the leaking of 2.6 terabytes…

  • Global Money Laundering Part I

    Global Money Laundering Part I

    The NY Times story shedding light on the mystery of US President Donald Trump’s tax returns has brought the issue of tax evasion and money laundering back into the limelight in recent weeks. According the NY Times, the President has avoided paying Federal income taxes in 10 of the 15 years preceding his election. Perhaps more politically…

  • Deglobalization

    One of the largest and most significant aftershocks of the Covid-19 pandemic of 2020 will be felt in the manufacturing sector globally. The pandemic is set to accelerate the global trend towards deglobalization. A range of factors had begun to change the pattern of global production and global supply-chains ahead of 2020, such as rising wages in…

  • The Access Act of 2019

    “Governments of the Industrial World, you weary giants of flesh and steel, I come from Cyberspace, the new home of Mind. On behalf of the future, I ask you of the past to leave us alone. You are not welcome among us. You have no sovereignty where we gather.” – John Barlow, founding member of Electronic…

  • B2B Rental Models

    B2B Rental Models

    The rise of the “rental economy” has been a topic of extensive conversation in the press recently. A range of startups that allow consumers to rent instead of own assets have matured and consumers are increasingly choosing to rent things instead of buy – from furniture to ice cream machines. What’s been lost in the coverage is…

  • The November Standoff

    In November 2020 amid a raging global pandemic the United States will hold its 59th presidential election. The result will either see incumbent Donald J. Trump reelected or see challenger and former Vice President Joe Biden become the 46th President of the United States. The 2020 election will bring many firsts but what will likely go down…

  • The COVID-19 Vaccine Race

    The Covid-19 pandemic continues to run rampant globally with over 22m confirmed cases and nearly 800,000 deaths globally. Many countries that successfully fought off a first wave – particularly in Europe – are seeing spikes that threaten to become a full-blown, uncontrolled second wave of infection. Social distancing, lockdowns and limits on public events have…

  • The Small Business Nightmare

    The Covid-19 pandemic has turned the world upside in a matter of weeks. Over a third of the world population is under lockdown, economies are in freefall and the disease continues to spread. The size and scale of this disruption is unlike anything we have seen in decades, and the depth, severity and speed of…

  • The Covid-19 Pandemic

    This is a truly extraordinary moment in history. Thanks to a global pandemic for the first time ever the world is demobilizing and shutting down societies and economies worldwide. From Asia through Europe and the Americas people are being asked to stay home, businesses are being shut down and people are losing their jobs. This…

  • Trajectory 2019 Year in Review

    Trajectory #1: B2B Rental Models A couple months ago I wrote The Rental Economy, an article about a growing wave of consumer startups I have seen that allow consumers to rent an asset or good as opposed to buy it. The article was picked up by Axios in their coverage of the issue as part of a surge…

  • The Future of LA Tech: Manufacturing, not Media

    The Future of LA Tech: Manufacturing, not Media

    The city of Los Angeles has long been the global capital of film. Hollywood’s storytelling power is unmatched, and its movies have influenced cultures far and wide. But LA has a deeply diversified economy beyond Hollywood and most recently the city has rapidly emerged as a hub for technology companies. This rapid rise has a…

  • Short-Termism in Capitalism and A New Social Contract for Shareholders

    Short-Termism in Capitalism and A New Social Contract for Shareholders

    “Modern capitalism is plagued by short-termism and myopia.” “Shareholders are king and everyone else gets left behind.” “The public markets hurt companies more than help them.”  This is the popular narrative today and to some extent it is true. It is true that modern capitalism does present numerous challenges for public companies. Quarterly reporting cycles…

  • The Power of Float-Based Business Models

    The Power of Float-Based Business Models

    Markets have been core to commerce since the first day humans began transacting. In the last 10 years some of the biggest tech companies that have been created have been marketplaces intermediating new and old markets. Amazon has intermediated the market between buyers and SMB sellers of goods. Uber has intermediated the market between riders…

  • The Rental Economy

    The Rental Economy

    This article was originally published in The Startup. One of the determining characteristics of any economy is who owns what assets. Different economic systems (capitalism, socialism, communism) differ primarily based on who owns and who rents capital assets. Ownership of assets shifts and evolves over time thanks to technological disruption, economies of scale and shifting…

  • Death by a Thousand Cuts in SAAS

    Death by a Thousand Cuts in SAAS

    This article was originally published in The Startup. If you are a business today you are faced with a dizzying array of SAAS tools across all your core business functions: accounting, marketing, sales, payroll, recordkeeping — the list goes on. While every tool that is adopted brings benefits (time saved, better visibility etc) each tool also comes…