Littlebits

The modern computer science education movement, commonly referred to as Computer Science for All or #CSforALL , has been gaining momentum nationwide since 2004 and is poised to be the most significant upgrade to the US education system in history. History is recorded and codified through the journalism, social media, and public policy, and tends to emphasize the voices of those already in the public eye. Moreover, we know that media frequently amplifies the loudest voice in the room, and often misses the contributions of those without social capital and power, including women and minorities. Recent films like Hidden Figures and The Computers show this phenomenon by documenting the lost history of women’s contributions to engineering and technology fields. ...

We’ve been investors in littleBits since 2013 . Last night, littleBits was featured as an example in the 60 Minutes segment on Closing the Gender Gap in the Tech Industry . Among other things, I’m especially proud of Ayah Bdeir’s leadership on this issue over the years. There are two great interview segments with her that discuss (1) To increase girls in tech, focus on ages 8-12 and (2) The importance of teaching girls to fail. ...

Watch the following one minute video and ponder whether or not you were that kid (or have one of those kids.) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ImEj53XTebk&feature=youtu.be I was totally that kid. But, most of it was in my mind, which I why I ended up being a software version of that kid. About the only machine I played with was my Apple ][ because it was a computer. I hated the lawnmower, never worked on cars, was afraid of the Cuisinart we had (and all the sharp blades), ignored power tools, and stayed away from anything that plugged into an electrical socket on the wall. ...

I’ve been consistently public, for almost a decade, about my belief that we should significantly change our approach to immigration in the US, especially for entrepreneurs. As one of the original advocates of the Startup Visa , I continue to be bummed out that our government can’t seem to figure out why this is important or doing anything productive around it. But, I’ve been appalled the past few days, as Amy and I spend time in Germany, to watch the Trump immigration enforcement that separates children from their parents and detain the children in separate locations. While we had a joyful anniversary yesterday , I felt a bitter emotional undercurrent that upset me. ...

Welcome to Force Friday, one of my favorite days of the year. I still fondly remember watching Star Wars with my dad when I was 11. As I walked out of the theater, I asked him if we could buy another ticket right then and watch it again. He denied me that night, but we went and saw it again a few days later. Sphero just released two new droids, R2-D2 and BB-9E , which now rounds out the family that includes BB-8 and the Force Band (so you can control the droids with the Force). ...

littleBits just shipped their newest product – the littleBits Code Kit . If you have a kid, this product is for you (and them). littleBits Code Kit leverages kids love of games to learn to code. It uses Google Blockly which has rapidly become a popular visual editor. My favorite line from a teacher so far is that littleBits Code Kit is “better than recess”, citing a situation where students would rather stay in the classroom and invent with Code Kit instead of going out to recess. ...

This morning littleBits released their Space Kit . I’ve been on the board of littleBits since last year and am just in awe of what the team, led by Ayah Bdeir, is cranking out. Ayah is an example of an amazing female entrepreneur and CEO. I first met her via Joanne Wilson who wrote about here here . I hope to work with her for a long time. Seeing the launch inspired me to go dig up a list of resourced for girls learning to code. Ever since I first got involved in National Center for Women & Information Technology , I’ve been deep in the problem of underrepresentation of women in computer science and entrepreneurship. Lucy Sanders, the CEO of NWCIT, has taught me a huge amount about this and I’ve worked closely with her as chair of the organization to try to make a difference around this issue. ...

We recently invested in littleBits . It’s another of our investments that traces its roots to the MIT Media Lab. It’s also another investment we are making with our friends from True Ventures . It’s another one that mixes hardware and software in a delightful way that is part of our human computer interaction theme . And yet another investment in New York. But it’s the first company we’ve invested in that did a promotional video for their product (the Synth Kit ) with Reggie Watts. ...