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
My Writings
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LA: The Fastest Growing Tech Ecosytem in the United States
This post was originally published in Hacker Noon. Los Angeles has long held national and global mindshare as the beating heart of American cinema, music and style. Hollywood alone is a powerhouse that has spread American culture globally. But LA is more than just a media hub and increasingly, it is fast becoming a hub…
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The Chinese Imperialist System in the Asian Century
This post was originally published in the Northeastern University Political Review. Almost two decades into the 21st century we’re beginning to see a period of dramatic global political and economic uncertainty occurring concurrently with China’s steady and dramatic rise to superpower status. This will be an Asian century. In fact, it will be a Chinese…
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ICOs and Token Rights: The Need for Governance
This post was originally published in Hacker Noon. Capitalism and Investing The unique, historical innovation of Capitalism has been its take on ownership of capital. Capitalism is built on a system of property rights that allows capital to be accumulated, owned and deployed by individuals or corporations for profit. This combination of capital, property rights…
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Helpful VC Readings
As I’ve transitioned into working in VC in the last year I’ve had to learn many things that are new to me. I’ve been a reader my whole life, and learn extremely well by reading. I think it still remains the best way to consume a large amount of information effectively over time, despite the…
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Three Views on the CryptoBubble
This article was originally published on Cryptocurrency Hub. Blockchain and cryptocurrencies have had a tremendous year in the media. The technology that was for a long time confined to the backwaters of tech has exploded into the public sphere in style. Dozens if not hundreds of Blockchain companies have been founded in recent months. Governments…
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Tokens Are Equity
2017 has been a good year for all things Blockchain. It’s a talking point in every major stakeholder in society — from governments to businesses and everyone in-between. While there are diverse applications for Blockchain, the application most people are familiar with are cryptocurrencies. In the past year numerous currencies have debuted through what has come to be known…
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Relevance, Not Volume
Funnel is a popular word in the world of tech. You can “funnelize” everything these days. Everyone has a sales funnel, a customer funnel, a talent funnel and so on. But I think we’ve failed to appreciate how the dynamics of funnels have changed dramatically in the past 10 years. Funnels have long existed but…
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How to Start a Startup at Northeastern
Ever since its founding in 1898, Northeastern has been an unorthodox, experimental university highlighted by its acclaimed and hugely popular cooperative education model. In the world of entrepreneurship, Northeastern has continued this flare for the unorthodox and the unique and has built a complex, rich and high-paced entrepreneurial ecosystem. Today, there are over 270 active…
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Micromoments in Conversational Commerce
This post was originally published in Chatbots Magazine. There are few industries as large, as exciting and as crucial to the economy as ecommerce. By 2020 ecommerce will be a $4 trillion dollar industry. While ecommerce is filled with giant companies, few have had the influence on ecommerce and customer acquisition that Google has. The Google…
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Conversational Intermediation & Chatbots
This post was originaly published in Chatbots Magazine. Language technology is all the rage across the world of innovation these days. Conversational interfaces, machine translation, natural lanuage understanding, chatbots — the buzzwords abound. The hype is not undeserved either. Truly interactive, powerful conversational interfaces could fundamentally change our relationship with technology by intermediating our every interaction with technology in…
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Abstraction & Substraction
Abstraction & Substraction The world is more complex, interconnected and interdependent than ever before. Information is flowing in all directions at an unprecedented scale and as individuals we are increasingly on the receiving end of more information, from more mediums and in more formats than ever before. This is a growing problem and it can…
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The Populist Revolt
It is now abundantly clear that the Western world is in the midst of an expansive, multifaceted populist revolt. The ideological, institutional and cultural achievements of the Left in recent decades are now at risk of implosion. The return of the right to the political discourse in force and uncertainty around security and economics are…
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Economic Democracy in the Startup Age
With the collapse of communism and the crumbling of the Soviet Bloc in 1991 the triumph of liberal capitalism seemed complete. The liberalization of countries of the former Soviet Bloc, and of economies worldwide saw an explosion of trade coinciding with a period of profound economic growth from the late 1980s to mid-2000s. Capitalism seemed…
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The Doctrine of Three
We often remark quixotically that life is chaotic, random and uncertain. We talk of how one should appreciate every moment because one can never know when your last day will be. We observe how you shouldn’t expect to have a plan and follow it to the letter in life because, well, life happens. At some…
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Circa 1930: The Neoliberal Retreat
As the chorus of Neoliberalism quietens, the world enters a period of uncertainty and tension similar to the decade before WWII. Since the end of WWII with the victory of the Allies (Britain, the US and Russia), democracy and free market economics have made a stunning joint advance worldwide. Together, these policies form the core…