Investing in Innovation — From Startups to Historical Tech Lessons | DisrupTV Ep. 85

In DisrupTV Episode 85, hosts R "Ray" Wang and Vala Afshar welcome three distinguished guests:

  • Bruce Cleveland – Founding Partner at Wildcat Venture Partners, focusing on early stage venture capital in transformative tech.
  • Leslie Berlin – Historian and author of Troublemakers, project historian at Stanford, who tells the stories of overlooked figures in Silicon Valley’s history. 
  • Steve Wilson – Vice President & Principal Analyst at Constellation Research, bringing perspectives on the industry, market signals, and how historical context shapes what’s next. 

They explore what innovation looks like from both present day venture capital and the historical context, how lessons from past tech breakthroughs inform future investment, and what it takes to spot and scale meaningful innovation.

Key Takeaways

History Matters in Innovation
Leslie Berlin emphasizes that many of today’s “new” challenges have echoes in past tech waves. Understanding past successes and failures gives founders, investors, and technologists better footing.

Investing in the Transformative, Not Just the Incremental
Bruce Cleveland pushes the idea that early-stage venture capital should focus on transformative technologies rather than chasing short-term gains. Taking risk with bold ideas matters. 

Balancing Vision with Practicality
Steve Wilson weighs in on how market trends, customer needs, and execution realities must align with visionary ideas. Innovation isn't only about vision, but about delivering value and solving real problems. 

Spotlight on Undervalued Actors
Berlin’s work in Troublemakers shines light on people historically underrecognized—engineers, folks in operations, early organizers. These roles often lay the foundation for what later industries build on. 

Timing, Market Signals, & Ecosystems
Venture success depends not just on idea + team + funding, but timing, regulatory/permitting environment, ecosystem support, infrastructure, and knowing when a technology is ready for scale.

Final Thoughts

  • Innovation is multifaceted: it’s as much about people, context, stories past and present, as it is about technology. Learning from history provides a guide for future bets.
  • For VCs and founders: taking risks on transformative ideas is essential—but pairing them with deep understanding of market timing, regulatory environments, and infrastructure can make the difference between disruption and disappointment.
  • For anyone building or investing in innovation: spotlight the underrated contributors (engineers, operations, behind-the-scenes folks). Their work often enables the “flashier” parts of innovation.
  • The ecosystem—academic labs, government, policy, culture—plays a huge role. Innovative ideas don’t grow in a vacuum. Recognizing and strengthening that ecosystem is part of the role for investors and policymakers alike.

Related Episodes

 

Business Research Themes

Future of Work, Innovation and Product-led Growth, Tech Optimization

Roles

Chief Executive Officer, Chief Financial Officer, Chief Product Officer, Chief Technology Officer