Playground Global's Peter Barrett on investing in deep tech, what makes a good deep tech founder, and the difference between the improbable and impossible

Follow me @samirkaji for my thoughts on the venture market, with a focus on the continued evolution of the VC landscape.This week I’m excited to bring you my conversation with Peter Barrett, Co-Founder and General Partner of Playground Global, a firm that has raised over $800MM to invest in deeply technical and transformative technologies. Founded in 2015, the firm has invested in companies like eero, Canvas Technologies, and Owl Labs, among many others.This week’s show was a bit of a departure from our normal episodes that are more focused on firm and fund management, as I was really excited to talk to Peter about new technologies and investing in these types of hard science companies. About Peter Barrett:Peter has been writing code since he was a teenager, and at 19, his first security program caught the attention of the NSA. He went on to create the first widely used video codec in the early-90s, he built the world’s most popular IPTV platform at Microsoft, worked on cloud intelligence for automotive at CloudCar, and now is pioneering quantum and optical computing, robotics, and artificial intelligence at Playground. He holds over 100 patents.Our sponsors:At Brex, we build financial software and services to help startups scale faster. We understand that founders need to focus on building, not banking. So we’ve reimagined traditional financial systems to enable greater speed and productivity — no matter where founders and their teams are working.We offer a smart corporate card, business account, and mobile app that are easy to use from day one. No manuals needed here. Within minutes, you can deposit funds, send free wires and ACH worldwide, separate investor funds from operating expenses, earn great rewards, automate expenses, and more. Everything we do at Brex is to help founders spend less time managing expenses and reporting on your runway — and more time building your business.Get started at brex.com/ventureSydecar is on a mission to enable anyone to be a capital allocator by creating tools built specifically for today’s venture investor. Their powerful software removes the headache of organizing private investments — so that you can focus on making deals, not spreadsheets.Whether you’re syndicating your first or fiftieth deal, Sydecar acts as your silent operating partner, handling all back-office functions in a single place. Sydecar always has your back, so that you never have to worry about chasing subscription docs, lost wires, or late K-1s.Visit our website to learn more and join the waitlist for Sydecar’s limited beta. In this episode we discuss:02:57 He Peter got his start and what lead him to become an investor03:52 Gaps he saw in the venture model that he wanted to address with his own firm05:48 How Peter thinks about mitigating risk when investing in hard science and deep tech startups09:02 How the pandemic has changed his due diligence process11:36 Initial check size versus follow-on in the deep tech space14:07 The difference between improbable and impossible and what makes a great company for Playground Global17:19 Common traits amongst successful deep tech founders19:37 How Peter uses his deep technical knowledge as an asset for his founders22:20 The argument that the computing revolution and the industrial revolutions still haven’t happened25:37 Limiters that are inhibiting true science innovation in startups28:24 Area to invest in where capital will be most transformational31:44 The definition of meaningful AI35:58 Finding and working with LPs that are comfortable investing in the deep tech space37:54 How Covid changed his deal-flow and why more investors are looking for meaningful transformation in technology40:03 The most transformative career advice Peter has receivedI’d love to know what you took away from this conversation with Peter. Follow me @SamirKaji and give me your insights and questions with the hashtag #ventureunlocked. If you’d like to be considered as a guest or have someone you’d like to hear from (GP or LP), drop me a direct message on Twitter.Podcast Production support provided by Agent Bee Agency This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit ventureunlocked.substack.com