To miracles shaping humanity.
Since the beginning of time, humanity has progressed based on stories. Stories become history. They inspire, motivate, and make us imagine, create and invent. Stories move us, and begin movements.
Parable is a venture capital firm that partners with technology founders building generational companies: parables-in-the-making.
Anne is a solo GP complemented by relationships across the old and new guard of Silicon Valley, as well as industry insiders in power centers around the world. Prior to Parable, she invested in legendary consumer technology companies at a16z, including Whatnot, Kindred and Cider. She's had a front row seat to the founder journey, supporting her husband in building Amplitude (NASDAQ: AMPL) from 0 to IPO.
Odysseus and the Sirens. In Homer’s Odyssey, Odysseus must sail past the Sirens—creatures whose enchanting songs lure sailors to their doom—in order to ultimately return home from the Trojan War. Aware of the danger, Odysseus has his crew plug their ears with beeswax and orders himself tied to the mast, instructing them not to release him no matter how much he begs. As they pass, Odysseus is captivated by the Sirens’ voices and struggles to break free, but his crew keeps him bound, saving the ship from destruction.
Steve Jobs on beauty: “When you’re a carpenter making a beautiful chest of drawers, you’re not going to use a piece of plywood on the back, even though it faces the wall. You’ll know it’s there, so you’re going to use a beautiful piece of wood. For you to sleep well at night, the aesthetic, the quality, has to be carried all the way through.”
Fun fact, did you know… plants develop with remarkable flexibility because, unlike animals, they can’t move—they must adapt to whatever environment they’re rooted in. Without a defined structure, whether they grow deeper roots or a taller stem depends on the balance of chemical signals from other parts of the plant and the “wood wide web”, as well as in response to light, temperature, nutrients, and signals from other plants. A striking example: after the 1986 Chernobyl disaster, while radiation devastated animal and human life, many plants adapted and even thrived in the contaminated zone.
David and Goliath. David, a young shepherd, defeated a giant warrior Goliath with a single stone from his sling. David wasn’t a soldier—he was a shepherd with a sling. When faced with Goliath, he refused the king’s armor, knowing it didn’t fit him. Instead, he trusted his own tools and superpowers. While others thought to match strength with strength, David leaned into what made him different. Leveraging his distinctiveness to full potential—his precision, his perspective, his confidence—was what brought the giant down.
The Origins of St. Petersburg. Russia had no navy. Peter the Great, the Russian Tsar, aimed to modernize and Westernize Russia. St. Petersburg was envisioned as a strategic port and a symbol of Russia's entry into European affairs. In 1697, Peter the Great disguised himself as a laborer and traveled through Europe, working in shipyards to learn the craft firsthand. He returned home, built Russia’s first navy, and founded St. Petersburg, a city facing the sea—turning Russia into a maritime power and a leading empire of Europe.
Maya Lin and the Vietnam Veteran’s Memorial. At age 21, Maya Lin was an undergraduate student at Yale when a class project was to submit concepts as part of a competition to design the Vietnam Veteran’s Memorial. Her professor gave her concept a B, telling her it was too unconventional. Undeterred, Maya submitted it to the national competition anyway. Out of over 1,400 entries (including an entry from her professor!), Maya’s was chosen—a minimalist black granite wall etched with the names of fallen soldiers.
