🌱 Good News in Healthcare: A Reminder to Look for the Light

We live in a world where it’s easy—almost automatic—to see everything through dark-colored glasses.
Healthcare, unfortunately, doesn’t escape that lens.

In the United States, the overturning of Roe v. Wade has placed women’s reproductive rights and overall health at risk. Life expectancy has declined for the first time in decades. Structural cracks have widened post-pandemic.
The headlines are often, and understandably, grim.

And yet...
If we look a little closer, we see another story quietly unfolding. A story of hope, innovation, and real progress in human health.

🌿 Psychedelics Are Redefining Mental Health Treatment

One of the most transformative trends in healthcare today is the renewed exploration of psychedelics for mental health.
What was once dismissed as fringe is now entering mainstream clinical research, with promising results for conditions like PTSD, depression, anxiety, and addiction.

I wrote about this evolution in my past newsletters:

• Investing in the Future of Health

• Investment Opportunity: Inner State and the Psychedelic Renaissance

From MAPS’s phase 3 trials with MDMA for PTSD, to the FDA granting breakthrough therapy designations for psilocybin-based treatments, the mental health landscape is being reimagined—and it’s happening faster than many realize.

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🔬 Early Detection Technologies Are Saving Lives

Cancer remains one of humanity’s greatest challenges. But recent advances in early detection are changing outcomes dramatically.
Liquid biopsy technologies, multi-cancer early detection (MCED) tests, and next-generation imaging are pushing diagnostics earlier—giving patients a real fighting chance.

I explored this in The Future of Early Cancer Detection.
When disease is caught earlier, treatments are less invasive, survival rates improve, and costs drop for healthcare systems.
This isn’t speculative hope—it’s happening now.

🧬 Reimagining Aging: Not Just Longer Life, But Better Life

Aging is no longer seen as an unchangeable fate. Breakthroughs in cellular reprogramming, senescence targeting, and metabolic interventions are giving rise to a future where aging could be treated—and even reversed.

In The Future of Aging: Can We Reverse the Clock?, I shared how science is moving beyond lifespan extension toward improving healthspan—the number of years we live with vitality and purpose.

This could reshape everything from personal wellbeing to healthcare economics.

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💪 The Evolving Landscape of Women's Health

It’s easy to forget how recent some foundational changes in women's healthcare actually are.

• Only about a decade ago did regulations formally require the inclusion of women in clinical trials, ensuring research finally reflected half the population. Around the same time, the FDA established the Office of Women’s Health, marking a critical step toward addressing gender-specific needs in healthcare policy and innovation.

• Today, we see greater representation across clinical research, diagnosis standards, treatment plans, and even pain management protocols—although we know the journey toward full equity is still ongoing.

• The world of beauty and skincare has also broadened. Products now account for a diversity of skin tones and needs that were largely ignored just 20 years ago—a sign of a more inclusive, better-informed industry.

• We are also witnessing the dismantling of stigmas around menopause, periods, postpartum mental health, and more. Topics once hidden in silence are increasingly brought to the forefront, reshaping how society, medicine, and policy approach women’s wellbeing.

• And perhaps just as importantly: strength training for women has gone mainstream. Building muscle and resilience is no longer viewed through outdated gender stereotypes but recognized as a vital pillar of lifelong health and vitality.

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🤖 AI and Preventive Health: A New Era of Proactive Care

Generative AI and predictive health models are revolutionizing not just how we treat disease, but how we prevent it.
Instead of waiting for illness to manifest, new AI tools are helping clinicians spot risks earlier and intervene sooner—moving healthcare from reactive to proactive.

I covered these advances in How Generative AI and Preventive Health Are Shaping the Future.
From predicting chronic disease risk to optimizing preventive care plans, AI is making healthcare smarter, faster, and ultimately more humane.

🧠 Humanistic, Tech-Enabled Care Is Gaining Ground

Finally, there’s a quiet revolution in how healthcare is delivered.
It’s not just about more technology—it’s about human-centered technology.
AI-driven diagnostics, remote monitoring, predictive analytics—all designed to empower clinicians and patients, not replace them.

I reflected on this shift in Reimagining Health: A Call for Humanistic Innovation.
Healthcare is slowly, but surely, becoming more personalized, more accessible, and more compassionate.

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🌟 The World We Are Building

Yes, there is darkness. But there is also light—bright, urgent, undeniable.

We are standing at the edge of profound transformation in healthcare:
one where mental health is destigmatized, deadly diseases are caught earlier, women’s health is better represented, aging is reimagined, and humanity—not bureaucracy—sits at the center of innovation.

Let’s not lose sight of that.
Because the world we focus on is the world we help create.

Peggy Van de Plassche is a seasoned advisor with over 20 years of experience in financial services, healthcare, and technology. She specializes in guiding boards and C-suite executives through transformational change, leveraging technology and capital allocation to drive growth and innovation. A founding board member of Invest in Canada, Peggy also brings unique expertise in navigating complex issues and fostering public-private partnerships—key elements in shaping the Future of Business. Her skill set includes strategic leadership, capital allocation, transaction advisory, technology integration, and governance. Notable clients include BMO, CI Financial, HOOPP, OMERS, GreenShield Canada, Nicola Wealth, and Power Financial. For more information, visit peggyvandeplassche.com.

#HealthcareInnovation #PsychedelicTherapy #EarlyDetection #LongevityScience #WomensHealth #HumanisticHealthcare #FutureOfHealth #HealthcareTransformation #PositiveTrends #Wellbeing #StrengthForWomen

🚨 Through the Trump Prism: Why “Business as Usual” Is a Dangerous Illusion

Since December, I’ve had a series of surreal conversations with global investors—across North America and Europe. Each time, I ask a simple question:

“How are you adapting your investment thesis or business model to reflect the new Trump administration?”

The answer, more often than not?

“It doesn’t change anything.”

Really? Nothing?

This unwavering stance—expressed with confidence and even pride—has left me perplexed. I understand the instinct. There’s comfort in declaring yourself above the chaos. There’s even a kind of nationalistic defiance in pretending politics don’t matter to capital. But there’s a dangerous gap between the world as we wish it were and the world as it actually is.

And right now, the gap is widening.

📉 This Is Not Noise—It’s Policy

Since the inauguration, we’ve seen a tangible shift in U.S. economic policy that is already rippling through global business:

• Buy America initiatives are gaining traction—not just rhetoric, but procurement directives affecting defense, infrastructure, and energy sectors.

• Tariffs are being proposed or imposed in critical sectors: automotive, steel, semiconductors, agriculture, and pharma.

• The S&P 500 has dropped over 12% since January, at one point erasing nearly $5 trillion in market cap.

• Federal spending priorities have been reshaped, with budget cuts hitting public services and regulation-heavy industries—while defense, border infrastructure, and fossil fuels receive tailwinds.

To claim none of this impacts investment strategy or business operations is not only naïve—it signals a lack of strategic awareness.

💸 Even in Private Markets, Uncertainty Is Contagious

Private markets don’t operate in a vacuum. When macro signals shift, pricing becomes harder—on both the buy and sell side.

Volatility, even if not directly market-traded, disrupts sentiment, widens bid-ask spreads, delays exits, and introduces doubt into underwriting.

And here’s the kicker: redemptions are rising. In 2023 alone, U.S. private market funds saw an average 25% increase in redemption requests compared to the prior year. Investors want liquidity—but how are you returning capital in an environment where exits are slowing, valuations are compressed, and leverage is less accessible?

Add to that: allocators are rethinking their forward capital plans. For those not repatriating capital back to the U.S., they’re shifting away from perceived “policy risk zones” and toward asset classes or geographies that feel more insulated from nationalist crosswinds.

🔄 Resistance Is Futile. Adaptation Isn’t.

Some institutional investors are responding. They’re reallocating into policy-aligned sectors—domestic infrastructure, automation, critical minerals, AI-defense hybrids.

But behind closed doors, many still resist. They’re hoping the winds will die down. That the pendulum will swing back.

But hope isn’t a strategy. And pretending the storm isn’t real won’t keep your ship afloat.

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🧭 What Strategic Adaptation Looks Like

So, what does adaptation mean right now?

✅ Trump-proof your investments. This starts with value creation at the core—by stress-testing business models, rethinking go-to-market strategies, and repositioning for policy resilience, not just product-market fit.

✅ Reprice geopolitical and policy risk. Stress-test exposure to U.S.-centric regulatory volatility.
✅ Stay liquid and flexible. Build optionality in fund terms and deal structures.
✅ Rethink timing and targets. A great asset at the wrong moment is still a bad outcome.
✅ Diversify new capital flow away from U.S. single-policy exposure—toward sectors and markets less subject to whiplash governance.

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This isn’t about politics. It’s about performance.

If your current strategy assumes nothing has changed, then I’d argue—everything has already changed for you. You just haven’t seen it yet.

Peggy Van de Plassche is a seasoned advisor with over 20 years of experience in financial services, healthcare, and technology. She specializes in guiding boards and C-suite executives through transformational change, leveraging technology and capital allocation to drive growth and innovation. A founding board member of Invest in Canada, Peggy also brings unique expertise in navigating complex issues and fostering public-private partnerships—key elements in shaping the Future of Business. Her skill set includes strategic leadership, capital allocation, transaction advisory, technology integration, and governance. Notable clients include BMO, CI Financial, HOOPP, OMERS, GreenShield Canada, Nicola Wealth, and Power Financial. For more information, visit peggyvandeplassche.com.

#InvestmentStrategy #TrumpAdministration #PrivateMarkets #CapitalAllocation #MacroeconomicRisk #GeopoliticalVolatility #BuyAmerica #Redemptions #PrivateEquity #RealAssets #PolicyRisk #Resilience

🌀Are You Too One Encounter Away from Greatness?

We tend to speak of success as if it's self-made—an isolated force of will or talent. But sometimes, it's a conversation. A connection. A quiet, decisive nudge in the right direction.

I was reminded of that last week while listening to Tim Whiten, the brilliant Toronto-based artist whose work has long blurred the line between matter and meaning. I first discovered him through Olga Korper Gallery—and after hearing him speak, I found myself even more drawn to the person behind the pieces.

What unfolded was more than an artist talk. It was a meditation on mentorship, the nature of consciousness, and the mysterious ways lives intertwine to shape what we call art—and who we become in the process.

🌀 One Encounter Away: Tim Whiten, Olga Korper, and the Echoes of Influence

I first discovered Tim Whiten a few years ago through Olga Korper Gallery—a place I’ve always considered more sanctuary than showroom. I admired his work then. I admire it even more now, after hearing him speak.

Whiten’s current exhibition, “A Little Bit of Light” at the Art Gallery of Ontario, showcases over five decades of exploration—spiritual, intellectual, and human. Glass, crystal, bone, cotton, leather—his materials are metaphors. His work isn’t meant to be explained, but experienced. The result is art that feels less like a product and more like a presence.

And yet, as profound as the art is, what struck me most was the story behind it.

🔍 The Power of One Person

During the talk, Whiten mentioned several people who shaped his path. His mother, who insisted on learning as a way of being. Oscar Oppenheimer, a philosopher-psychologist who guided his thinking. But one name echoed loudest: Olga Korper.

He said it plainly: “Without Olga, who would I be?”

Would someone else have played her role? Would he have found another way? Maybe. But maybe not in the same way, or with the same reach. It’s a reminder that a single person—an advocate, a curator, a friend—can shift the course of a life.

This isn’t just a story about mentorship. It’s about presence. About how one moment, one encounter, can widen a door that changes everything.

🧠 A Philosopher’s Hand, A Psychologist’s Heart

Tim Whiten’s background is in philosophy and psychology, and you feel it in every part of his work.

His art doesn’t answer questions. It invites them. It resists categorization—sometimes even the label “art.” What he creates is a form of human investigation: part ritual, part reflection.

He once said that “experience precedes language.” And so, when you engage with his installations—glass that becomes metaphor, cobalt that seems to guard—you’re not just observing. You’re participating.

🔮 From Darkness to Light

Across the exhibition, recurring motifs of transition—dense to transparent, darkness to light—mirror Whiten’s own spiritual evolution. These aren’t just sculptures or symbols. They’re allegories, as he put it, of a path that is always unfolding.

You might see something different each time you look. That’s by design. Multiple interpretations. Multiple entry points. Self-discovery as a living process.

Tim Whiten reminds us of the things we forget in our optimized, outcome-obsessed world:
👉 Learning is the student’s responsibility.
👉 The work holds no answers, only questions.
👉 The body is a vessel pointing to what can’t be seen.
👉 And one person—one gallerist, one mentor, one moment—can leave an indelible mark.

It’s a little bit of light. And a lot of truth.

The exhibition “Tim Whiten: A Little Bit of Light” is on now at the Art Gallery of Ontario, in partnership with the Gershon Iskowitz Foundation.

#ContemporaryArt #OlgaKorperGallery #ArtGalleryOfOntario #SelfDiscovery #ArtAsExperience

Peggy Van de Plassche is a seasoned advisor with over 20 years of experience in financial services, healthcare, and technology. She specializes in guiding boards and C-suite executives through transformational change, leveraging technology and capital allocation to drive growth and innovation. A founding board member of Invest in Canada, Peggy also brings unique expertise in navigating complex issues and fostering public-private partnerships—key elements in shaping the Future of Business. Her skill set includes strategic leadership, capital allocation, transaction advisory, technology integration, and governance. Notable clients include BMO, CI Financial, HOOPP, OMERS, GreenShield Canada, Nicola Wealth, and Power Financial. For more information, visit peggyvandeplassche.com.

🧠 Navigating Conspiracy in the Digital Age: Between Critical Thinking and Certainty

A couple of weeks ago, I attended an insightful (and subtly provocative) event hosted by the French Consulate on conspiracy theories in the digital age, moderated by Radio-Canada’s Gabrielle Sabourin, featuring Rudy Reichstadt, founder of Conspiracy Watch. Students from the Université de l’Ontario Français also shared perspectives shaped by their immersion in digital culture.

As someone who works at the intersection of technology, behavioral insight, and strategic communication, I came away with two impressions:

1. The danger posed by disinformation is real—and accelerating.

2. The battle against it risks becoming dogmatic in its own right.

📈 From Fringe to Feed: How Conspiracies Gain Momentum

Rudy offered a compelling historical lens. The 9/11 attacks marked a turning point, where fringe conspiracy narratives—once confined to the political extremes—began influencing broader populations. Months after the attacks, alternative versions emerged. Years later, their impact was still spreading.

In response, he launched Conspiracy Watch, driven by a personal concern dating back to his teenage years around Holocaust denialism. That worry has evolved with the times, extending to pandemic skepticism, anti-vaccine movements, climate change denial, and geopolitical conspiracies.

A key insight: conspiracies no longer die. They persist. Rudy described them as “zombie ideas”, kept alive by digital permanence and algorithmic amplification.

And there’s data to back that up:

• 7 out of 10 YouTube videos watched are algorithm-driven

• More than 100,000 years’ worth of YouTube videos are watched daily

• Half of all content shared on X (formerly Twitter) hasn’t even been read

• A 2016 study showed seniors were the most likely to share fake news on Facebook

These platforms reward the sensational, not the factual.

🧪 Why Conspiracies Resonate: Simplicity, Certainty, Community

Rudy broke down the psychological ingredients of a conspiracy theory:

• There’s always a scapegoat

• There’s always uncertainty (“we’ll never know what really happened”)

• And there’s often a rejection of reality, replaced with emotional conviction

This helps explain why conspiracies feel empowering: they offer certainty in a world full of doubt, complexity, and moral ambiguity. They provide a sense of control and, perhaps most powerfully, a sense of belonging.

As he put it: “The conspiracy mindset isn’t always about fascination—it can also be rooted in fear, anger, or a refusal to accept powerlessness.”

And while Rudy was persuasive, I couldn’t help but notice a hint of intellectual rigidity in his own approach—particularly in how confidently he claimed to identify “real experts” and how firmly he dismissed alternative interpretations. It made me reflect on the fine line between healthy skepticism and intellectual dogma.

⚠️ Enter Brandolini’s Law: The Disinformation Asymmetry

One of the most important frameworks shared during the discussion was Brandolini’s Law:

“The amount of energy needed to refute bullshit is an order of magnitude greater than to produce it.”

And it shows. It’s exponentially easier—and cheaper—to create false narratives than to verify accurate ones. A true, verified piece of information requires time, resources, expertise. A conspiracy meme, on the other hand? Seconds.

This asymmetry is the crux of the disinformation crisis.

Add to that the sheer scale of content (YouTube, Telegram, X) and the collapse of editorial gatekeeping, and it’s easy to see why trust in media, institutions, and even truth itself is eroding.

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🛡️ Is There a Solution?

Rudy emphasized education, critical thinking, and quality journalism. He also advocated for platform accountability—noting that Telegram’s founder was detained in France amid a child exploitation investigation, yet many still view the platform as an untouchable pillar of free speech.

Other actionable insights:

• Signal misinformation on platforms when detected

• Compare opposing channels, even if they contradict your beliefs

• Understand how real conspiracies have actually unfolded—they rarely look like the theories

• Slow down—speed is the enemy of accuracy, and clickbait doesn’t equal credibility

Importantly, Rudy made space for constructive doubt. “It’s not about refusing to question authority,” he said, “It’s about recognizing when doubt becomes a substitute for evidence.”

A line I really appreciated.

🔄 Final Reflection: When Debunking Becomes Dogma

While I valued Rudy’s urgency and depth, I also walked away wondering: What happens when the fight against disinformation becomes inflexible itself? His ability to call out misinformation is sharp—but it sometimes came with a certainty that made me pause.

What if, in our effort to combat false narratives, we become less open to complexity and nuance?

That’s the paradox of our era: we need clarity without oversimplification, and confidence without certainty. We need to protect truth while still questioning power.

Let’s not lose sight of that balance.

Peggy Van de Plassche is a seasoned advisor with over 20 years of experience in financial services, healthcare, and technology. She specializes in guiding boards and C-suite executives through transformational change, leveraging technology and capital allocation to drive growth and innovation. A founding board member of Invest in Canada, Peggy also brings unique expertise in navigating complex issues and fostering public-private partnerships—key elements in shaping the Future of Business. Her skill set includes strategic leadership, capital allocation, transaction advisory, technology integration, and governance. Notable clients include BMO, CI Financial, HOOPP, OMERS, GreenShield Canada, Nicola Wealth, and Power Financial. For more information, visit peggyvandeplassche.com.

🤖 FOLLOW THE SIGNALS, NOT THE NOISE

Last week, I had the pleasure of attending an insightful panel hosted by Introduction Capital, led by the ever-impressive Karen Azlen, on The Role of AI in Startups and Venture Capital. The session, moderated by Kathryn Wortsman (Amplify Capital), featured a sharp and candid conversation with Eva Lau (Two Small Fish Ventures), Matt Cohen (Ripple Ventures), and Peter Shi (Maverix Private Equity).

As someone deeply involved in innovation and capital deployment, this conversation reinforced how artificial intelligence is not just reshaping how companies operate—it’s redefining the fundamentals of venture capital, entrepreneurship, and business building.

🧠 AI ISN’T NEW—BUT THE ACCELERATION IS UNDENIABLE

AI has long been part of the toolkit in sectors like banking and media. Wattpad was using AI in 2012 to analyze millions of data points. Financial institutions have leaned on AI models for credit scoring and fraud detection for decades. But today’s shift isn’t about the tools—it’s about the speed of deployment, the ubiquity of applications, and the expectations from both customers and investors.

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⚙️ AI AS INFRASTRUCTURE: IT’S ABOUT OUTCOMES, NOT ALGORITHMS

What resonated deeply was the notion that AI is no longer something we “use”—it’s becoming something we expect. Think customer service platforms that use AI to mine a company’s entire knowledge base for instant answers. Or municipal services like 311 and 911, where AI triage can save time, money, and lives. For example, 911 calls cost ~$50 each, yet 50% are non-urgent. AI can help route them more effectively.

In sectors like legal, AI is already proving transformational—assessing the likelihood of success in personal injury or workplace claims, which number in the hundreds of thousands daily. These insights are key to unlocking legal financing. Process automation is the foundation, but predictive insights are where real value emerges.

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💼 THE EVOLUTION OF VENTURE CAPITAL IN AN AI-DRIVEN WORLD

AI is changing how VCs operate just as much as the companies they fund. What used to be a 1-in-10 bet is now a 1-in-5,000 longshot. With generative AI tools enabling faster prototyping, investor diligence is being compressed and automated. Sourcing, due diligence, portfolio monitoring—entire VC workflows can now be partially or fully AI-powered.

But with so many new entrants building in AI, a familiar challenge returns: how do you spot the signal in the noise?
Key factors include:

• Is the problem real, and is the timing right?

• Does the company have IP defensibility beyond being an API wrapper?

• Are the unit economics and go-to-market strategy robust enough to survive scaling?

Some funds, like EQT's Motherbrain, are investing heavily in internal AI to augment their investment strategy. Meanwhile, the real edge may no longer lie in proprietary tech—but in controlling customer relationships and distribution channels.

🔄 BLURRING LINES BETWEEN VENTURE CAPITAL AND PRIVATE EQUITY

As AI startups mature, the distinction between VC and PE is fading. Traditional BPO services (like insurance claims processing) are being replicated by nimble, AI-powered startups. These new entrants need to meet enterprise-grade expectations—on compliance, security, and data privacy—to win contracts. VCs are operating more like PE firms with a platform mindset, while PE firms are adopting earlier-stage tech strategies. It’s a convergence fueled by the democratization of software and the race to own sticky, recurring revenue models.

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🔭 EMERGING TRENDS SHAPING THE FUTURE OF AI IN BUSINESS

Some of the most exciting developments discussed:

• Edge computing is becoming vital—on-prem AI is seeing a resurgence for privacy and cost control.

• Generative SEO is transforming how we think about websites—replacing static pages with dynamic, AI-optimized content.

• AI in manufacturing is moving from aspirational to operational, using predictive analytics and real-time optimization.

• AI-designed chips (ASICs) are reducing the time and cost to create powerful hardware optimized for machine learning.

• In the near future, we may not call it “AI” anymore—it will simply be how modern businesses operate.

⚠️ AI RISKS AND THE URGENT NEED FOR TRUST

No conversation about AI is complete without addressing risks. From hallucinations in LLMs to misinformation campaigns in elections (Slovakia was cited as a recent case), the stakes are rising. As AI becomes more powerful, so do the bad actors trying to manipulate it. Responsible AI, data integrity, and social engineering safeguards aren’t optional—they’re essential to building trust in this next era.

🧭 FINAL THOUGHTS

What I appreciated most from this panel was the grounded, thoughtful tone. It was not about AI hype—it was about economic reality, strategic focus, and long-term defensibility. In a world where tech is increasingly commoditized, success will hinge on solving real problems with real urgency—and building businesses that can withstand the next wave of disruption.

Many thanks again to Karen Azlen and Introduction Capital for convening such a rich and relevant conversation. It was a timely reminder that while AI is accelerating everything, the fundamentals still apply: timing, team, traction, and trust.

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Peggy Van de Plassche is a seasoned advisor with over 20 years of experience in financial services, healthcare, and technology. She specializes in guiding boards and C-suite executives through transformational change, leveraging technology and capital allocation to drive growth and innovation. A founding board member of Invest in Canada, Peggy also brings unique expertise in navigating complex issues and fostering public-private partnerships—key elements in shaping the Future of Business. Her skill set includes strategic leadership, capital allocation, transaction advisory, technology integration, and governance. Notable clients include BMO, CI Financial, HOOPP, OMERS, GreenShield Canada, Nicola Wealth, and Power Financial. For more information, visit peggyvandeplassche.com.

🧙The Illusion of "Follow Your Bliss"

Most of us have heard the expression “Follow Your Bliss.” And if you are on the personal development bandwagon, you know it without a doubt.

I have been thinking quite a bit about this common idiom and how most of us have understood and acted (or not) on it.

It usually goes like this: you have an artistic passion (it can also be a sport or entrepreneurship), and inspired by the “Follow Your Bliss” philosophy, you decide to make a career out of this passion. Sometimes this happens early in life, sometimes later; sometimes it is advice received as a child or a mentee.

To justify that choice, path examples are given of successful artists, soccer players, content creators, tech entrepreneurs who bet on themselves and followed their bliss with tremendous success (and supposed happiness).

Energized by these examples, you decide to focus full-time on pottery; after all, with social media, Etsy, and WFH, how difficult could it be to make a solid income from your passion?!! And then troubles usually follow shortly after. Whether studies or corporate jobs are abandoned (or not started), savings are dipped into—and usually all of the above—the upheaval has started.

In the first part of the process, you are usually excited and make a lot of wrong decisions in naively following your blissful path: wrong allocation of capital, time, and energy summarize most of the mistakes made.

After a while, probably not too long, you start wondering what it is that you are doing wrong… You should be well on your way to success by now… You have followed all the social media trainings, you are a master at pottery, you have launched your own online course and community, diversified your portfolio of activities as recommended by the gurus of the new economy, and even registered for a mastermind for potters. Maybe you are not visualizing your success well enough, sending the wrong messages to the universe. You can’t really put your finger on it, but the bottom line is: tremendous inputs, very limited outputs… and your bank account is not giving very encouraging signs. You really don’t get it—others seem to have it totally under control based on their Instagram. Confusion and frustration settle in, finally that freaking pottery sucks and now you are in debt (or have severely dipped into your retirement/education savings).

You wonder what went wrong—you did follow your bliss, how is it that it is not working?!

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🤯What went wrong

The idea for this newsletter came from my own observations, reflections, and a recent discussion with one of my high school friends whose 8-year-old daughter is very artistic. Visibly, the little girl absolutely loves to dance, recite poetry, act in plays, and so on. After telling me that, my girlfriend (who studied at the same B-School I did) started going on with the “Follow Your Bliss” mantra, saying that if her daughter loves dancing, she will find a way to make a living out of it.

For context, my friend burned out from her corporate job last year and has since been following multiple trainings—from hypnosis to pottery—trying to find her own bliss. So there is definitely some projection happening here.

And here is the exact moment things can go terribly wrong.

This idea that “Follow Your Bliss” means: 1) an easy path, 2) success is guaranteed, 3) your bliss needs to be your full-time career / what pays your bills.

There is so much to say about this freelancer / portfolio of activities craziness that usually comes with the “Follow Your Bliss” approach. Mainly, that most people are not sustaining themselves financially. Not just because it takes time and investment to see traction, but because most of these businesses are not financially viable in the first place. And yes, some people—maybe more talented, maybe more hard-working, maybe who got in at the right time, maybe less ethical (🧌The Top 10 Bad and Ugly Truths about Being an Entrepreneur)—have been able to be a success at this particular endeavor, but this is rare. And I would still ask them to show me their financials, hourly rate, and genealogy tree.

Case in point: I was reading W magazine last night. The article was about “Nine emerging models, musicians, and actors who are carving out their own niches.” As I was glancing through the text, something recurring caught my eye: their “ancestry.” From Sting to Nicole Kidman and Luc Besson, more than half of the “emerging talent” showcased were the scions of pretty powerful and famous people in their own fields. So yes, of course, if your mom is Nicole Kidman or your dad is Sting, “Follow Your Bliss” full-time and make a career out of it is an amazing philosophy! However, for my friend and her daughter, I don’t think so.

If you are curious and want to learn more on the topic of becoming an artist (but really, same-same for any independent endeavors), I recommend a wonderful book: Good Artists from The White Pube, a British collective—yes, it is a play on the name The White Cube. It recounts, in a very dramatized way, the path of an artist graduating from art school and their “Hero’s Journey” to become an artist. My main takeaways: 1) you need to already be wealthy to be a successful full-time artist, 2) being an artist doesn’t mean it has to be your main occupation, nor financially sustain you. Also, the size of the student loans—C$140K for one of the authors out of Central Saint Martins—seems pretty impossible to cover mathematically with a beginner artist income (which is probably $0). So from the get-go, an unsustainable value proposition.

The book went on to explain how artists have to pay not only for their own materials and studio—they also have to cover the exhibition costs (considering that most young and not-so-young artists are not represented by galleries) and marketing-related expenses (and so on). When represented by a gallery, 30–50% of the listed price goes to the gallery. And no, artists don’t make a living by directly selling their pieces through social media. Not many people actually see financial success via social media (💡3 Marketing Truths from Starting a Platform From the Ground Up).

This reminded me very much of my experience as an author, where (unless you are already successful) you pick up most of the costs but share the profits.

The big challenge with the “Follow Your Bliss” approach is that your passion very quickly becomes less exciting when it now has to be your main source of income and you have to produce. An artist is usually dependent on the whims of the buyers (when one is lucky to have buyers). Whether the gallerist (who also needs to make a living, actually) requests a certain size of pieces in order to move more inventory—yes, a giant fresco is nice but difficult to place—or a sponsor requests a specific color theme, in addition to a specific size and theme, the creative process is more curtailed than one thinks. A similar dynamic will apply if you are a musician, a writer, an actor, etc…

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💵The Opportunity Cost

The opportunity cost is the other side of the “Follow Your Bliss” equation: what didn’t you learn, earn, do as you were pursuing this passion of yours? This calculation can quickly lead to tremendous monetary amounts (and regrets). Whether a young adult was channeled into the wrong studies, a recent grad into the wrong career, a mid-career professional into entrepreneurship—these choices can end up being very costly, and not just financially. Of course, there will always be people for whom it worked out, but unfortunately this simple extrapolation of a tiny sample forgets that these successful people tend to be the rare exceptions, not the rule. These people have also usually made tremendous sacrifices and taken tremendous risks to get where they are (do not minimize the importance of timing and luck either). And, as demonstrated in the W article, they can also have had a very strong head start. I also want to put the emphasis again on social media success: it has nothing to do, most of the time, with financial reality.

I was chatting with one of my friends who did this corporate-to-entrepreneurship shift a few years ago and who gladly came back into corporate after several years of not-so-exciting daily tasks as an entrepreneur. It is challenging for someone who has been working for large organizations at a senior level to find intellectual stimulation and impact in an early-stage venture. A lot of the work is actually quite mundane, as being solo or in a small team means doing everything from picking the color of that last social media post, to doing the taxes, to booking the client meetings, to selling and executing, and so on.

You might be thinking that this is different when one starts a tech startup. I would say not really, actually. Most of these companies go belly-up too—the difference is that they do so after having raised external capital. Many of these entrepreneurs took on a lot of personal debt, often remortgaging their house (if not selling it) to get their business off the ground. It is difficult to run two parallel realities at the same time, but I have no doubt that some of these entrepreneurs (even those whose companies might still be operating after a decade) still left a lot of money (and hair) on the table had they gone the corporate route.

Last but not least, these endeavors—artists, content creators, soccer players, entrepreneurs—can be very lonely (and competitive). One will need a very strong supportive network and community around them in order to keep that sense of connection and also keep learning. It is easy to become quite isolated when you “Follow Your Bliss.”

↪️ Bottom Line

It is not about becoming an accountant from a place of fear for the future, but it is about being realistic with how economics work. Most “Follow Your Bliss” endeavors are not economically viable, especially when weighing the success/failure probabilities. At the end of the day, you still need to pay your rent at some point (unless you are blessed with generational wealth, and then none of that applies to you!).

So find a career you enjoy enough, and be an artist / entrepreneur / soccer player during the weekends, the vacations, after work. Kids have tons of after-school programs—why would it have to be different for adults?

Peggy Van de Plassche is a seasoned advisor with over 20 years of experience in financial services, healthcare, and technology. She specializes in guiding boards and C-suite executives through transformational change, leveraging technology and capital allocation to drive growth and innovation. A founding board member of Invest in Canada, Peggy also brings unique expertise in navigating complex issues and fostering public-private partnerships—key elements in shaping the Future of Business. Her skill set includes strategic leadership, capital allocation, transaction advisory, technology integration, and governance. Notable clients include BMO, CI Financial, HOOPP, OMERS, GreenShield Canada, Nicola Wealth, and Power Financial. For more information, visit peggyvandeplassche.com.

👩‍💼Why I Don't Let My Identity Dictate My Beliefs (And Why That Matters Now More Than Ever)

🗳️ Why I’m Not Running for Office (And Probably Never Will)

I’ve often been asked, "Why don’t you run for public office?" It’s flattering, of course. But the honest answer is: I struggle with the expectation to follow the party line.

Political affiliation today feels a bit like subscribing to a bundled package—one that doesn’t let you swap out the parts that don’t work for you. You buy into one position, and suddenly, you’re expected to take a stand on 10 others. Even if some don’t sit right.

Personally, I prefer the tasting menu.

🍽️ A Taste for Independent Thinking

Some parties have compelling ideas on some issues. Others have better solutions elsewhere. My brain doesn’t work in binaries. And more importantly, neither does the world.

This is why I’ve always worked best in environments that value independent thinking over allegiance. It’s why, as a leader, I surround myself with people who don’t always agree with me. And it’s why I’ve never made a habit of being a yes-woman.

One of my earliest mentors, a boss at CGI, told me something that’s stayed with me for decades:

“If an employee always has the same opinion as their boss, one of them is redundant—and it’s not the boss.”

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💡 Innovation Needs Friction

That ethos has shaped my entire professional life. And it’s one reason I’m passionate about innovation: it doesn’t emerge from consensus. It comes from friction. From diversity of thought. From respectfully challenging assumptions and, yes, disagreeing.

This is what made Janan Ganesh’s recent Financial Times piece resonate so deeply. Reflecting on Danish politics, he noted that the country doesn’t fit neatly into left/right categories. Denmark is liberal and capitalist. It’s pro-welfare and pro-market. It’s compassionate but pragmatic. It doesn’t bundle beliefs—it thinks issue by issue.

🇩🇰 The Danish (and Refreshing) Approach

This “case-by-case” thinking might sound slow or inconvenient, but in many ways, it’s the mark of a mature democracy. And of an independent mind.

Contrast that with what Ganesh calls the "Vibes Theory of Politics": choose your tribe, and inherit the whole belief package. If you know someone’s stance on Gaza, you probably know their views on climate, lockdowns, DEI, and a half dozen unrelated topics. Not because they thought each through, but because it comes with the jersey.

🧠 Tribalism Is Not Clarity

In an age of hyper-alignment, nuance is often mistaken for inconsistency. Or worse—disloyalty. But as Ganesh writes, the real tragedy is that this tribalism masquerades as clarity. When in fact, it’s efficiency at the cost of critical thinking.

This matters beyond politics. It’s just as relevant inside organizations, on boards, and in leadership teams. Groupthink isn’t just intellectually lazy—it’s dangerous. And in high-stakes environments, it leads to blind spots, risk, and missed opportunity.

💬 The Courage to Disagree

We don’t need more consensus. We need more courage—the kind that allows people to say, “I agree with you on this. I don’t on that.” And to still remain part of the conversation.

That’s not contrarianism. It’s integrity.

And maybe, just maybe, the real leadership we need isn’t about finding the right tribe. It’s about having the right spine.

With nuance,
Peggy

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Peggy Van de Plassche is a seasoned advisor with over 20 years of experience in financial services, healthcare, and technology. She specializes in guiding boards and C-suite executives through transformational change, leveraging technology and capital allocation to drive growth and innovation. A founding board member of Invest in Canada, Peggy also brings unique expertise in navigating complex issues and fostering public-private partnerships—key elements in shaping the Future of Business. Her skill set includes strategic leadership, capital allocation, transaction advisory, technology integration, and governance. Notable clients include BMO, CI Financial, HOOPP, OMERS, GreenShield Canada, Nicola Wealth, and Power Financial. For more information, visit peggyvandeplassche.com.

🤑Silicon Valley & Washington: A History of Power, Wealth, and Selective Memory

Last week, I had the pleasure of attending “U.S. Politics and Big Tech Power: Past, Present, and Future,” hosted by the Innovation Policy Lab at the University of Toronto’s Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy.

The conversation—led by Margaret O’Mara (University of Washington) and Tom Kemeny (Munk School)—took us deep into the origin story of Silicon Valley, its relationship with Washington, and the consequences of that alignment (and misalignment) today.

It also surfaced an uncomfortable but essential question:

How did Big Tech become so dominant—economically, politically, even philosophically—while convincing itself it stands apart from the institutions that built it?

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🛠️ Built by Government, Branded as Rebellion

Silicon Valley has always told a story of garage-born innovation, lone genius, and private ingenuity. But the historical record is less romantic—and far more entangled with the state.

• In the 1940s, HP thrived on Pentagon defense contracts.

• Fairchild Semiconductor—the original startup—built the chip industry off NASA space contracts.

• The internet itself was a Pentagon invention, not a startup story. Please note the debate between my dear friend Ruth Woolmer and I who are each rooting for a different origin story. Read hers & mine.

• In the 1980s, Steve Jobs lobbied Congress to bring Macs into classrooms.

• The 2023 SVB bailout was just the latest reminder: when the system falters, tech turns to the state.

From infrastructure to procurement to regulation, the U.S. government has been fundamental to Silicon Valley’s rise.

And yet, many of these same companies have built their brands—and worldviews—on anti-government sentiment:
“Government is broken. We move fast. They slow us down.”

The result is a kind of cognitive dissonance:
An industry that thrives on public infrastructure and political access, while promoting a philosophy of radical individualism and free-market absolutism.

🤖 Techno-Libertarianism, from Counterculture to Corporate

In the post-Vietnam era, a new ethos took hold in the Valley:
small government, big tools for individual empowerment.

This worldview shaped the Whole Earth Catalog, the personal computing movement, and eventually, techno-libertarianism:

• Steve Jobs described the computer as “a bicycle for the mind.”

• John Perry Barlow’s “Declaration of the Independence of Cyberspace” cast governments as obsolete.

• Many tech founders saw Washington not as a partner, but as the establishment to be disrupted.

This philosophy celebrated hyper-individualism, decentralization, and the idea that innovation should be unshackled from bureaucracy.

But as tech companies grew—and as their political power increased—those values became increasingly inconvenient.

🏛️ The Long History of Lobbying

Despite the rhetoric, Big Tech has never stayed out of politics.

• In the 1980s, as Japan challenged U.S. tech dominance, Silicon Valley lobbied Reagan for 100% tariffs.

• Steve Jobs campaigned in D.C. to shape education policy.

• Obama held fireside chats with Zuckerberg. His administration became a revolving door with the Valley.

• And in 2025, for the first time, tech billionaires wrote $1M+ checks to the presidential inauguration committee.

This isn’t new. It’s just more visible now.

Today, tech CEOs are not just company leaders—they’re political actors, policy influencers, and in some cases, philosopher-kings of a new digital order.

⚠️ What Happens When Tech Questions Democracy?

A lot of the most provocative moments in the event came from the audience—noting the growing distance between tech’s philosophical leanings and democratic ideals.

Some tech leaders now flirt with “dark enlightenment”—a belief system that questions democracy itself. Think:

• No elections

• No consensus-building

• A CEO-led governance model for society

• A suspicion that democratic institutions are too slow, too compromised, or simply obsolete

The implications are chilling. And yet they echo in corners of the industry.

In AI. In crypto. In space.

Platforms like OpenAI, Blue Origin, and SpaceX are now shaping global trajectories—but often without public input or democratic guardrails.

💸 Supersizing of Power & Wealth

The concentration of wealth in tech is unprecedented:

• In 2020, Bezos and Musk alone gained $200B+ in net worth, more than the GDP of 139 countries.

• Tech CEOs have reached celebrity-political hybrid status—with massive social and geopolitical influence.

• Antitrust enforcement remains underused, despite having mechanisms in place.

SVB’s collapse and government bailout was a perfect case study:
Socialize the risks, privatize the rewards. And all under the banner of “disruption.”

We’ve entered a moment where tech is not just an industry. It’s a parallel governance structure—but with fewer checks and balances.

🧭 What Now?

Tech likes to position itself as building “the future.” But whose future, and who gets a say?

As we navigate this next chapter of AI, digital platforms, and space colonization, we have to ask:

• Can democracy keep up with the pace—and scale—of tech?

• Can we rein in monopolies and still innovate?

• What’s the right relationship between public policy and private power?

Because at the end of the day:
Democracy isn’t a bug in the system. It’s the operating system.

Let’s remember that—and build accordingly.

Would love to hear your thoughts.
👉 Where do you see the relationship between Big Tech and government going from here?

#bigtech #democracy #publicpolicy #AI #innovation #siliconvalley #techpower #geopolitics #ethicsintech

Peggy Van de Plassche is a seasoned advisor with over 20 years of experience in financial services, healthcare, and technology. She specializes in guiding boards and C-suite executives through transformational change, leveraging technology and capital allocation to drive growth and innovation. A founding board member of Invest in Canada, Peggy also brings unique expertise in navigating complex issues and fostering public-private partnerships—key elements in shaping the Future of Business. Her skill set includes strategic leadership, capital allocation, transaction advisory, technology integration, and governance. Notable clients include BMO, CI Financial, HOOPP, OMERS, GreenShield Canada, Nicola Wealth, and Power Financial. For more information, visit peggyvandeplassche.com.