Startup Stash - Boop! Dogs and Almost Humans 🐾

Here are two examples of the multiple startups in the novice industry.

• Fluent Pet's Get Started Kit was one of the first startups to get into this industry. Its battery-operated buttons, designed by cognitive scientists, are well-proven by Bunny, a canine who has amassed hundreds of thousands of social media followers. 
• Then there’s another startup Galpara's LED Voice Recorder Buttons that glow with LED light when pressed. This feature can be especially helpful for pets who are hard of hearing.

What are the implications? 

By pressing buttons onto which a word or sound has been recorded, a dog can learn to "speak" in simple phrases like "play" and "outside." Give them enough buttons and they can communicate their thoughts on almost everything. 🐾

Psychologists and speech therapists believe that while in the initial stages dog buttons can be used for basic communication, over time, more abstract concepts such as emotions and judgements could be taught to animals.

Businesses in China are paying big bucks for virtual employees. Despite the large population and cheap labour availability, some Chinese firms are keen on hiring virtual people. 🪆

Buyers include financial services companies, local tourism boards and state media.

In fact, Tech company Baidu said the number of virtual people projects it’s worked on for clients has doubled since 2021, with a wide price range of as little as $2,800 to a whopping $14,300 per year. Startup Well-Link Technologies also announced in late 2022 that it has been developing models of a virtual person in a joint venture with Haixi Media.

And Beijing city announced in August a plan to build up the municipal virtual people industry into one valued at more than 50 billion yuan by 2025.

Why the interest in fake humans? 

For one, they are immune to negative press or criticism. Brands in China have been looking for alternative spokespeople after many celebrities recently ran into negative press about tax evasion or personal scandals. 

Then there are customer oriented brands that prefer virtual humans whose sentiments and egos cannot be hurt by customer criticism and aggression. 

Some Stats: 

• Launched in 2012, virtual singer Luo Tianyi has nearly 3 million fans and even performed at the Winter Olympics opening ceremony in Beijing last year. 👨‍🎤
• According to a survey published by Kantar this fall, at least 36% of consumers had watched a virtual influencer perform in the last year, while 21% had watched a virtual person host an event or broadcast the news.
• In 2023, 45% of advertisers said they might sponsor a virtual influencer’s performance.

Since his Twitter acquisition, Elon Musk has been waging war on the tech industry's prevailing culture. He slashed the company's workforce in half, got rid of perks like free lunches and home internet, and warned those who remained that they would be working "long hours of high intensity." 

Musk's path sparked an immediate outcry. 😡

But there's one group, that has been cheering Musk on from the sidelines: Founders whose own companies grew too quickly during the tech boom. Musk’s moves are inspiring founders who are making tough decisions in the recent economic downturn. 

In interviews with Insider, founders and investors acknowledged privately and anonymously that they are looking to Twitter as a case study of efficiency. One Twitter user even pointed out emails that employees have been receiving at startups. 

Reasons? 

During the pandemic, startups came under heaps of pressure from investors to grow quickly. And as resignations were high, founders started an arms race of perks and high salaries to attract top talent. Then came the crash in 2022. As private markets dried up, venture capital slowed and startups started seeing down rounds. Suddenly, startups were rushing to cut costs and stretch their budgets. But how should they do that without facing ire? 

Enter Elon Musk. The guy who took all the public wrath while founders did exactly the same thing as Musk did, only with a bit lower intensity. ⚡