March 16, 2026 — Venture capitalist Antonio Gracias is championing a new framework for evaluating startups, one built for a world he sees as increasingly volatile. The founder of Valor Equity Partners has coined the term “proentropic” to describe companies engineered to survive and even benefit from systemic chaos.
A Physics Concept Applied to Business
Gracias introduced the concept during a recent industry summit. The term derives from physics, where entropy measures disorder in a system. The second law of thermodynamics states this disorder naturally increases over time.
“We are looking at businesses that are really good at predicting that future state and figuring out where to go,” Gracias said. He argued that true resilience requires designing for uncertainty from the outset.
He cited his firm’s portfolio company, SpaceX, as a prime example. The aerospace manufacturer’s strategy accounts for extreme scenarios, allowing it to adapt when geopolitical or technological landscapes shift unexpectedly.
Building for a Disordered World
Gracias traces his thinking on systemic fragility to observations made over a decade ago. He noted that around 2013, he began anticipating a global shift in power structures driven by deglobalization and rapid technological change.
He believes the world’s trajectory toward greater complexity and disorder has accelerated since the late 20th century. Expanding human populations and transformative technologies contribute to this state, he suggested.
“It’s not just that they’re in a market today [that] they think works, but [they’ve] baked into their strategy and their people a way of thinking about the world that’s probabilistic,” Gracias explained. This mindset prepares organizations for sudden, disruptive change.
Moral Courage and Technological Optimism
The current economic climate demands more than just shrewd strategy, according to the investor. “We’re going into a period now in the economy where if you really want to build a better world, you’re going to have to have moral courage,” Gracias stated.
He pointed to the intersection of climate, energy, and hardware as a critical domain. Tesla, another Valor investment, exemplifies how integrated software and hardware can create powerful solutions without excessive computational demands.
Gracias also pushed back against predominant narratives surrounding artificial intelligence. He acknowledged widespread fears about job losses and social unrest but declared them misguided.
“I think this is not true. I’m going to work really hard in the next five to ten years to make it not true,” he said. He framed the coming decade as a decisive period where collective action will determine a utopian or dystopian outcome.
Democratizing Entrepreneurship
A key to a positive future, Gracias argued, lies in democratizing tools for creation. He anticipates that advancing low-code and no-code platforms will enable more people to launch companies.
This broadening of the entrepreneurial base could unlock unprecedented levels of productivity and innovation. “Who knows what they will build,” Gracias mused, highlighting the potential for unexpected solutions to emerge from a larger pool of founders.
The proentropic concept moves beyond simple durability. It describes entities that gain strength from instability, turning potential threats into advantages. For venture investors like Gracias, identifying these adaptive qualities is becoming a central part of the thesis for backing companies built to last.
For more information on Valor Equity Partners and its portfolio, visit the firm’s official website. Market data and analysis on startup trends can be found through sources like CB Insights.
This article was produced with AI assistance and reviewed by our editorial team for accuracy and quality.
