The Misappropriation of Over-intellectualization
$17 Billion was invested to provide you with phone apps to order your food...maybe we could do better?
Over-intellectualizing my personal space
When we experience the world around us, technology permeates even the simplest of tasks and while I believe forward progress at any level is great, I must sit back and wonder if our energy and resources are being directed in the best possible way.
It’s around 7:00 pm on a Wednesday, and after a long day, my wife and I decided it was a good opportunity to outsource dinner. There are usually multiple steps involved in this process: a lot to consider:
What to eat? Tacos, pizza, salads, or quinoa bowls…
Where to order? Chipotle, the new local Chinese-pizza-fusion place, or other trusted local establishments
Who is going to order? In this phase there is a brief discussion on who is busier or in some kind of flow state and can’t possibly stop what they’re doing.
How to order: UberEats, DoorDash, GrubHub, Caviar (upscale DoorDash), or maybe directly on the restaurant’s website
Now, 15-20 minutes have passed. It is 7:30 pm and I have disrupted my “flow” state. However, the key decisions have been made and the process can now enter execution phase. I open my preferred app, (yes, I lost the debate on whose time was more valuable). The first app required a password, which I didn’t save during the rush to place the last order, so I proceeded to the next app. Exiting the first app, I noticed a text message from my daughter, notification of new messages on LinkedIn and my post on Instagram received a Like. There was motion on my Ring camera and the HomeDepot had sent me a 20% off coupon that I had to open, or it would expire! Now, another 15-20 minutes have passed. After all that distraction, another 10 minutes pass. It is now 8:10 pm.
At this point, my wife has not received a shout-out of delivery confirmation and ETA. She is wondering what rabbit hole I’ve fallen into. As I click on all the selection options, confirm the payment option change, due to a potential fraud alert from our bank that disabled the card on file, I hit send on my order…15 minutes have passed. It is now almost 8:30 pm. The food should arrive in about 35-45 minutes. Hopefully.
I confirm the phase has been executed, resolve the fact that I won’t be following the ‘no-eating 4 hours before bed’ rule and settle down to address more emails before dinner arrives – no sense diving into anything too intellectual at this point, I don’t want to interrupt my flow before dinner arrives. While filling the time with some menial work,15 minutes passes before I start checking my app to see where my food is… ‘a watched pot never boils’ used to be a phrase now it’s ‘the watched app doesn’t deliver your food faster’ - seems to be a more relevant philosophy. I address two emails amidst the app monitoring and watching my driver take a more circuitous route than I would in this pursuit. While ‘delivery monitoring’ more notifications interrupt my state and I am distracted away from watching my dinner travel the neighborhood…the Ring app notifies me that someone has approached the front door and I abandon my X response, to retrieve dinner…it’s 9:30 pm.
$17 Billion to facilitate online food ordering and delivery
Interestingly, the food delivery apps I mentioned above received $16,900,000,000* in funding to develop their companies…that’s an unfathomable amount that basically added 2.5 hours to order and receive my food. Maybe there is a little hyperbole in there but, those are the facts on this Wednesday night.
Let’s switch gears here a little. In October of 2019, I was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. I spent the next 18 months going through chemo, radiation, surgery and recovery. Those months and up until now have included, loss of income, increased medical expenses and a huge amount of anxiety for me and my family. Pancreatic cancer is no joke. Most patients diagnosed (71%) die within the first year of diagnosis. Only 13% live past five years and there is no early detection standard protocol that can be followed when a person reaches a certain age like prostate cancer and breast cancer. A deadly disease with no early warning detection other than the symptoms experienced by the patient if they are paying attention and even then, if their doctors are paying attention. Deadly.
Well, I made it past the 5-year mark and so far I am pretty optimistic. The challenges and complexity of this disease have taken so many lives without any major improvement or progress. So, I have decided to take a two-prong approach to helping this problem in any way I can…and I plan to make a difference.
Using the remainder of my time to make a difference
Firstly, I'm the Phoenix Affiliate Chairman for the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network (PanCAN). I am leading the organization of our annual walk to raise awareness and funds for this important cause in April. Although Phoenix is a small market when compared to the rest of the US, I'm actively developing plans to change this and match our population ranking with greater community involvement. This organization was a great resource for me as it gave me hope that I could possibly make it through without dying. The difficult part of this is that I experience the apathy that comes with this approach. I have noticed the rolling eyes of “oh, another walk, or marathon, or ice-bucket challenge”, I know! So cynical, but it’s true. While I strongly believe charity does help drive awareness and progress, there must be another way.
Fundraising alone is not enough. Therefore, over the last quarter, I have been collaborating with a venture capital firm, CANCER FUND. This fund will specifically seek out companies innovating novel therapies, diagnostics, and treatments to improve pancreatic cancer mortality rates. I have always believed that one of the key elements to survive cancer is to have hope. The journey into this world has given me more hope than I have ever felt before. I have been able to review companies that are flush with brilliant scientists, doctors, researchers and businesspeople all striving to make a case and change the course of many cancers, including pancreatic. If private capital can invest almost $17Billion to deliver your dinner, why aren’t we more of us investing even a modest $100 to support cancer innovation? CANCER FUND currently has 9 investments in 7 companies focused on novel innovations derived from cancer research. I'm confident we can be part of the next breakthrough. CANCER FUND is a community-driven impact investment initiative creating opportunities to make a real difference. Here’s my problem: How do I connect the $1.6Billion is funding requests, to significantly improve mortality rates in 3-10 years and generate what I believe to be more than a $3Billion return?
You too can be a venture capitalist
I NEED INVESTORS. The challenge is, when people hear venture capital, they feel disconnected from the possibilities. CANCER FUND is positioning itself to be a true Impact Investment firm. Impact investing is the practice of gathering private capital to generate social or environmental impact alongside financial returns. It enables investors to align their capital with their values and supporting their causes they care about with the potential. Impact investing addresses global challenges across sectors like education, social equity, agriculture, healthcare and more. CANCER FUND is focused on innovations that improve patient outcomes, expand access to care, and reduce treatment costs to patients, survivors and at-risk individuals…while you are required to be an accredited investor, your investment can be as little as $100! We believe meaningful change isn’t reserved for the ultra-wealthy. Each of us has the power to make a real impact and when we come together, our collective influence can drive innovation, influence policies, shape outcomes and push for priorities that reflect our shared values.
Together, we have and can continue to build a community of people supporting early-stage companies that have the potential to positively impact the lives of patients, survivors and previvors as well as all those who are connected to them: family, friends, coworkers etc. Whether you are new to investing or looking to align your portfolio with your values, we would love to welcome you to our community. While venture capital almost always comes with risk, I'm confident we can be part of the next breakthrough in this space. If private capital can invest almost $17Billion to deliver your dinner, would you invest as little as $100 to support the latest novel cancer innovation?
If you would like to talk further about CANCER FUND or PanCAN, (I am working to build a network to grow PanCAN’s presence in Arizona) as your perspective and expertise could be an asset to our communities, with or without investment. Please let me know if you are willing to spend some time discussing. You can reach out to me directly here or contact me via the details below:
Robert Panacci
CF Pancreatic Cancer Community Engagement Director
Schedule a meeting with Robert Panacci
480.678.309
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Thank you for spending some time in this space.