“But Arby’s is going in the opposite direction [of plant-based meats]. Rather than invest in such alternatives, the chain has unveiled a product designed to poke fun at fans of meatless meat: a carrot made from turkey.” | learn more
A performance-enhancing pill based on the gut bacteria of elite athletes
“Harvard researchers who founded a company called FitBiomics are now developing a prototype for a supplement that they hope will boost your endurance during a workout. It stems from a four-year study that found a performance-enhancing bacteria in the guts of elite athletes.” | learn more
Tattoos that work as sensors to track blood pH, glucose, and more
Imagine a world where health diagnostics were color-coded and visible on your skin. “A team of scientists in Germany have developed permanent dermal sensors that can be applied as artistic tattoos.” | learn more
The Yale happiness class, distilled
“The most popular class in the history of Yale University was inspired by a paradox: Even when people, conventionally speaking, succeed—get into a top college, make lots of money, or accumulate prestige and accolades—they are often left feeling unsatisfied.” | learn more
The Spanish Prisoner
Ben Hunt of Epsilon Theory uses an interesting analogy to share his view on Libra in the context of Bitcoin. “Mark Zuckerberg is not The Spanish Prisoner. He’s the guy running the con.” | learn more
Buterin proposes Bitcoin Cash integration to scale Ethereum
How interesting! “Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin believes that Bitcoin Cash has the best network to become a temporary scalability solution for Ethereum” | learn more
The United States of crypto
From the Coinbase blog… “[W]e outline findings on the growing interest in cryptocurrencies on the part of Americans, on a state-by-state level.” One key finding: “Currently, 58 percent of Americans say they’ve heard of Bitcoin.” | learn more
The strategic question at seed today
Tom Tunguz shares some data about how yesterday’s series A is today’s seed round. More importantly, there are now a variety of funding formats in between, so entrepreneurs can customize to fit their business. But definitely ignore the names of the fundraises, because they don’t mean much anymore. | learn more
Peak funding may have hit construction tech startups
That may be technically true, but probably driven by a few huge funding rounds last year. Construction still has plenty of room for tech improvement! | learn more
Internet trends 2019
This annual report from venture capital star Mary Meeker came out about a month ago and I finally had time to flip through it this week. If you haven’t yet, it’s worthwhile! | learn more