Taylor Davidson

Bio:

VC at kbs+p Ventures. Professional photographer. Loves projects.

• Title: Senior Associate, kbs+p Ventures
• Age: 34
• Location: SoHo
• Contact: @tdavidson, taylordavidson.com

As the Senior Associate at kbs+p and a professional photographer, how do you manage your time between these two different professions?

Let's be clear: I'm passionate about both, but kbs+p Ventures is my priority. Photography is only a part-time profession now, and I'm quite happy with that. I enjoy shooting when I get the opportunity, but at kbs+p I get to work with great people on great problems. That's an opportunity deserving of my time, passion, and focus.

Your personal photography “focuses on landscapes and cityscapes and explores how humans create, shape, and live in their environment.” Why are you drawn to these particular subjects?

I'm an observer. My eye is drawn to small moments in big spaces. My instinct is to look at the big picture and find the small moments to capture and communicate the key insight, the "one thing" that draws our eye and mind back again and again. And there's no greater source of material than people and our environment; how we create, shape and live in our world is a continual source of new moments to observe, as long as we're looking and paying attention.

And not to force the metaphor, but it's not that different from business. Big, wide-open spaces are fun to observe, but its the small moments and details that make them memorable. Big economic macro trends are fun to look at and easy to debate, but it's the micro details and decisions that matter.

You’re such an avid traveller that you have even written the guide How to Pack for a Nomadic Life. If you could choose anywhere of all the places you have been, where would you settle down after retiring?

I wrote extensively about how to live as a nomad during a period in my life when that's what I was doing and that's what I was learning. One of the most important lessons I learned during this period is that "people trump places". Places create the potential for great experiences, but people make them happen.

Where I want to live is the last thing on my mind at the moment, because I know that where I live in retirement is far less important than what I'll be doing, what I'll be learning, and who I'll be with.