StartupDigest Reading List: AI Wars, Ripple’s Win, and SaaS Trends

Weekly newsletter on technology, startups, and venture capital.

Techstars Startup Digest Startups & Tech

Weekly newsletter on technology, startups, and venture capital.

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Written by Chris McCann, General Partner @ Race Capital. More about me.

📖 Interesting Reads

  • The AI wars are heating up between two of the largest data companies in the world, Databricks and Snowflake. Expected more focus on AI within the enterprise via the Lakehouse. 
  • A huge decision in the Web3 world in Ripple’s case against the SEC about XRP being a security or not. The ruling deemed XRP to not be a security but their sales to institutional investors being security sales, a bit of a nuanced case but an overall win for the ecosystem.
  • Despite all of their shortcomings, Facebook has an incredibly strong moat in social and has increased the engagement of its user base since it was founded, and has a higher DAU/MAU ratio than its early days. 
  • A contrarian take on the AI hype cycle, covering ideas such as: open source models will not win, large incumbent tech companies will not be the primary winners, and only a small number of new startups will win this new market.
  • A playbook/guide on how to do great work (in any field) by Paul Graham. 
  • A look into how AI companies are currently generating revenue and the business models behind AI startups.
  • Report on the latest SaaS trends. A few interesting tidbits include: Average SaaS spend per employee is ~$10K, and the average department uses 87 SaaS apps.

🔥 Startup Jobs


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