The Phone is Dead Long Live New Gadgets That Change How We Connect
Jon Callaghan believes smartphones may soon be outdated, as new devices emerge to transform human-computer interaction.
San Francisco: Jon Callaghan is a co-founder of True Ventures, a venture capital firm. He thinks we won’t use smartphones like we do now in five years. In ten, we might not use them at all.
This idea is important for True Ventures, which has invested in many successful companies. They have about 4 billion dollars in their funds. Unlike other firms, True works quietly, building strong relationships with founders instead of promoting themselves loudly.
Callaghan shares that True Ventures has had 63 successful exits and seven companies going public. Many of these successes come from founders returning to work with True again. Callaghan believes that how we interact with technology is about to change, especially with all the hype surrounding AI now.
He says, “We’re not going to be using iPhones in 10 years.” He thinks smartphones aren’t a good way for us to communicate with smart technology. “They’re inefficient,” he explains, “and disrupt our daily lives.”
True Ventures is searching for new ways for us to connect with technology, like the company’s latest project called Sandbar. This is a special ring you wear on your finger that helps you capture your ideas using your voice. Callaghan believes it’s not just another gadget—it focuses on something we need that we don’t have right now.
The ring connects to an app and uses AI to help us organize our thoughts. Callaghan thinks it could change how we connect with information. He notes that the team behind Sandbar has an exciting vision that matches his own. They used to work on advanced tech for neural interfaces.
True Ventures aims to invest in behaviors enabled by new technology, not just gadgets. Callaghan believes that while many startups are getting huge amounts of money quickly, True prefers to stick to its original strategy of making smaller, focused investments early on.
Even though there are many capital-intensive projects now, Callaghan sees great opportunities ahead, especially in the design of new applications that can change our behaviors. He thinks we are moving to a new way of interacting with technology, and True Ventures is ready to support this shift.
Callaghan claims that looking for new ideas can feel scary since you might be called crazy. But he believes that being early on a new idea is crucial. With the smartphone market growing slowly, new devices like smartwatches and rings are gaining popularity. True Ventures is betting on these emerging trends.