Messages
2/3/2024
7 : 44
Meta shoots the moon, Joe Rogan's big deal, and the people buying Apple's $3,500 headset
View in browser Top News Investors apparently liked Meta's numbers and its plan to issue quarterly dividends. Today, its stock soared 20%, the biggest single-session increase in market value ever.
2/2/2024
7 : 44
Overrated CEOs, Border collies herding ducks, and VCs Elad Gil and Sarah Guo on the risks and rewards of funding AI
View in browser Top News On its earnings call, Meta reported that profits had tripled and said that it is now offering investors a dividend. The news caused the company's shares to soar 14%. Less
2/1/2024
7 : 14
Zuck's apology, a research paper on IPO shenanigans, and 23andMe's fall from almost $6 billion to near nothingness
View in browser Top News At a Senate hearing today about protecting chilren who are online, Meta cofounder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg apologized to the families of children who had suffered abuse on
1/31/2024
6 : 14
A look at the Apple Vision Pro, Peter Thiel's all-drug Olympics, and a new lawsuit questions Snapchat's design
View in browser Top News A Delaware judge has rejected the $55.8 billion pay package Elon Musk received from Tesla in 2018 that made him the world's richest man. Is the AI bloom off the rose?
1/30/2024
6 : 14
Amazon drops iRobot, another crypto Ponzi scheme, and how much Super Bowl tix cost this year
View in browser Top News In the face of EU opposition, Amazon has dropped its plan to acquire iRobot, leading the maker of the Roomba to lay off 350 people or 31% of its staff. CEO Colin Angle is also
1/27/2024
6 : 34
Generative AI smartphones are coming, Flexport plans a layoff, and a big wheel drops plans for a big fund
View in browser Weekend! Top News More rumors about Elon Musk's xAI, which launched the foul-mouthed chatbot Grok last month. Reportedly, the startup is in talks to raise up to $6 billion at a $20
1/26/2024
9 : 4
The Defense Department gives startups the cold shoulder, Cerebras plots an IPO, and Salesforce stages another layoff
View in browser Top News Shares of IBM soared 13% today to a 10-year high thanks to strong demand for its AI services, which are expected to increase 2024 revenue by 4-6%. Meanwhile, Tesla's stock
1/25/2024
9 : 34
Buyout offers at Tiger Global, Ring cordons off the police, and Worldcoin's "orbs" are getting an Apple-like makeover
View in browser Thank you SO MUCH to everyone who came out to tonight's StrictlyVC event in San Francisco. We had such a blast with the 200 or so of you in attendance. Sincere apologies for the
1/24/2024
8 : 14
Apple postpones car plans again, Connie Chan backs out of a16z, and giant robot babies hit the runway
View in browser Steel yourselves, local readers. Looks like another atmospheric river is headed toward California next week. Bloomberg calls it a "plume of moisture." Top News Apple has
1/23/2024
7 : 54
Palantir's growth slows, Elon Musk's atonement tour, and the ritziest zip code in the U.S. (is not in California)
View in browser Today was long.:) Top News The WSJ is reporting that growth at Palantir is slowing due to government agencies doing more comparison shopping. LoanDepot has revealed that hackers stole
1/20/2024
7 : 4
Sam Altman's Next Big Thing, a new EV startup from the founder of Lordstown Motors, and 401Ks hit the motherlode
View in browser Ah, Friday! We're so excited to be seeing a bunch of you next week at our sold-out San Francisco event.:) Two quick items in the meantime. First, we have great news about our second
1/19/2024
6 : 14
Amazon's iRobot deal is in danger, a Donkey Kong dispute is resolved, and the real cost of those Old Skool Vans
View in browser Top News According to a report in the WSJ, the EU is gearing up to block Amazon's planned acquisition of iRobot, which makes the Roomba robot vacuum cleaner. After the report came
1/18/2024
9 : 14
Secondary shops scramble, Harvard visits the Bay Area, and a look at how AI is decoding the animal kingdom 🐘🐘🐘
View in browser Top News Epic Games' battle with Apple continues. Epic is now contesting Apple's move to charge commissions on purchases made outside of apps despite a court's ruling that
1/17/2024
8 : 34
Pet roosters, Fancy founders, and Shein becomes entangled with China's top cybersecurity watchdog
View in browser Welcome back to what proved a comparatively slow news day (we are not complaining). Top News The Supreme Court has refused to hear Apple's appeal of a lower court's ruling that
1/13/2024
7 : 54
Instagram layoffs, rodent invasions, and Artifact is history 📖
View in browser Gah, we love Fridays. Before you go(!), we have news about our StrictlyVC LA event on February 29: Meredith Whittaker, the president of messaging app Signal, who has some very specific
1/12/2024
9 : 34
A Humane layoff, a compromised SEC account, a see-through TV, and more!
View in browser Top News No, the SEC has not yet approved a spot Bitcoin ETF. It turns out the agency's X account was hacked. The EU is considering whether it should launch a probe into whether
1/12/2024
9 : 15
Who stands to get rich from the new Bitcoin ETFs that the SEC just approved, and more!
View in browser Top News To the surprise of almost no one, the SEC officially approved 11 spot Bitcoin ETFs today, one day after a hacked message announcing the move appeared on the agency's
1/12/2024
9 : 4
Hertz backs away from EVs, Circle closes in on an IPO, and BlackRock gives Byju's a buzzcut
View in browser Top News For a few hours today, Microsoft unseated Apple as the world's most valuable public company, but Apple ended the day once again on top. Microsoft's stock surge has been
1/9/2024
7 : 24
Carta backs down, OpenAI says "no deal," and saying goodbye to bad dates
View in browser We're back after a brief, two-week hiatus. Did you miss us? (You did a little bit.) We have news! First, we're thrilled to say that AI investor Sarah Guo of Conviction Capital
12/23/2023
6 : 54
OpenAI is reportedly in the market to raise another round at a $100 billion+ valuation
View in browser Happy Holidays, dear readers! We're pulling the plug on the newsletter for a couple of weeks as happens every year, but we're wishing you and yours every happiness as we sail