When I asked Po Bronson whether people know him more from his past as an author or by his current gig as a venture capitalist, I was surprised by his answer (though I probably shouldn’t have been).
“Everybody comes to me as Po Bronson, the author,” he told me on this week’s Spoon podcast.
Ok, sure, he was one of the go-to writers documenting the first Internet boom and later became a NY Times best-selling author of career advice and parenting books. Still, I figured that by now, almost two decades after the dotcom crash and with Bronson leading one of the food tech industry’s most well-known early-stage funds, things might have changed.
Apparently not.
“I had a call about a year and a half ago, and someone said, ‘I saw your name on the Zoom invite – Are there two Po Bronsons in the world?’ She’s like, ‘I’ve read your books.’ She nearly started crying.”
I’ve read his books as well, and while I didn’t start crying, I did have a great time talking with Po about what the heck is going on in the world of alternative protein. We talked about the struggles of companies like Beyond, how he thinks they will shake out going forward, and what he’s excited about in future food and beyond.
So what gets Bronson excited nowadays? In short, proteins that aren’t necessarily at the ‘center of the plate.’
“We have companies like Voyage Foods and California Cultured, doing chocolate and doing coffee and doing peanut butter more sustainably. There are so many products in the stores that we can reinvent and do better.”
Po had many other great insights, so you’ll want to listen to the full podcast by clicking below or finding it on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.
And, if you want to meet Po in person, he’ll be speaking at The Spoon’s Food Tech Conference at CES!
