Eric Feng from Kleiner Perkins shares interesting data and graphs about how the VC business has changed over the past 15 years. | learn more
Category: tech, startups, internet
Japanese construction robot demonstrates the future of building.
“A new video from AIST shows a prototype robot designed to work on construction sites in situations where there is a shortage of human workers. The robot in undeniably slow but also strikingly accurate, suggesting a future where humanoid robots could replace even more human jobs.” | learn more
China’s big hack.
You may have seen some headlines about China managing to slip extra chips onto servers operated by Apple, Amazon and other US tech companies. This is a link to the Bloomberg piece with the original reporting that’s worth a read. It reinforces my view that internet security is a myth. | learn more
50 big companies that started with little or no money.
Never forget that it does not require VC funding to build a great business! In fact, most great businesses did not raise money from venture capitalists. | learn more
Video: Andrew Ng on the state of artificial intelligence.
This is a 30-minute talk by Stanford Professor (and former chief scientist at Baidu) Andrew Ng breaking down the state of AI and it’s excellent. The beginning is going to be redundant for those who have been paying attention to AI, but I suggest watching the whole thing because he has a great flow throughout the presentation and he moves quickly. | learn more
Amazon: to the moon!
Amazon is developing new space and satellite services. You’ll probably see me share more about space startups and technology over time as I grow more interested in the possibilities unlocked by lower launch prices. If you’re interested in the topic, reach out so we can talk about it! | learn more
Mobile Planet, a visual report.
This report should be required reading for everyone involved in web or mobile product development. It’s visual, data-rich, and paints a vivid picture of the landscape of mobile usage. |learn more
Atari cofounder’s son brings back retro arcades with Polycade.
“As destinies go, Tyler Bushnell has a good one. The son of Atari cofounder Nolan Bushnell wants to bring back retro arcades, and he has cofounded a company to do that, Polycade.” | learn more
The story of NotPetya, the most devastating cyberattack in history.
Wired writes about the interesting story of a virus that crippled ports, paralyzed corporations, and froze government agencies around the world. | learn more
Uber’s bundles.
Ben Thompson of Stratechery discusses how he looks at Uber’s business in the context of bundles: transportation as a service, uber eats, and self-driving cars. | learn more
Who needs democracy when you have data?
MIT Technology Review tackles the fascinating subject of how China governs using data, AI and internet surveillance. | learn more
Biohacking startup landscape.
Sam Betesh compiled a list of startups in the “biohacking” ecosystem, along with commentary on each one. I learned of some new companies and concepts thanks to this post! One of the most interesting fringe areas for me is microbiome analysis, but the collection method is still a bit too weird for me. | learn more
Man jailed in Italy for writing fake TripAdvisor review.
He was sentenced to 9 months in prison and an €8k fine. TripAdvisor sees this as a “landmark ruling for the Internet.” | learn more
Profile of Spotify and its founder Daniel Ek.
“How CEO Daniel Ek plans to beat Apple, Amazon, and Google at the music game.” | learn more
Inside the business of dog cloning.
This is an eye-opening read, and one that reminds me that humans are on the cusp of major change in our capabilities. “At a South Korean laboratory, a once-disgraced doctor is replicating hundreds of deceased pets for the rich and famous. It’s made for more than a few questions of bioethics.” | learn more
How Uber Eats became a hit business.
The Information offers a free sample of their usually-paid articles, and its great! This is a thoroughly written piece sharing the story of how Uber Eats went from struggles to success. | learn more
Using AI to fix Wikipedia’s gender problem.
Men are disproportionately represented on Wikipedia – only 18% of biographies are of women. So, software company Primer built a tool that helps serve up bios of relevant women (focused on women in science) for Wikipedia’s editors to vet and publish. | learn more
Why “Uber for X” startups failed.
VC Andrew Chen analyzes why most of the marketplace startups billed as “Uber for X market” have failed. Spot on! | learn more
Path dependence and AI.
Rob May of Talla questions the impact of path-dependence in machine learning models. Humans definitely approach ideas differently depending on what they learned before – should machines? | learn more
Automating industry with cobots.
“Robots in factories have historically been unwieldy, dangerous, and confined to large industrial settings. But now, smaller, cheaper collaborative robots are overcoming traditional challenges in the robotics industry, paving the way for ubiquitous robot technology that gets us much closer to our Jetsons-like future.” | learn more
The websites of 35 unicorn startups before they made it big.
“Would you have seen these websites from Uber, Airbnb, and others and predicted they would one day be billion-dollar companies?” | learn more
a16z bio fund invests in Ciitizen.
Vijay Pande explains their investment thesis in Ciitizen, “a platform that helps patients securely collect and share their personal health data.” The startup looks to address one of the biggest underlying issues in healthcare: the structural lack of transparency when it comes to data. | learn more
How to hack a neural network.
One of the only YouTube channels I subscribe to is called Two Minute Papers. They create short video synopses of AI-related papers in scientific journals. This particular video is a worthwhile way to spend a couple minuets. | learn more
China and the race for AI dominance.
Here’s an interesting perspective from Wired UK that’s heavy on quotes from Kai-Fu Lee, one of the most famous technologists in China (he’s been an exec at Apple, Microsoft and Google). The author thinks China will win the global race. I think the jury’s still out. | learn more
Jason Calacanis warns founders to fasten seat belts.
This is reminiscent of the famed Sequoia RIP good times deck from 2008. Jason sent this email to 250+ founders he’s invested in basically warning them to get ready for “an event” in the markets. He’s not alone: KKR predicted a recession is imminent within 24 months back in early 2018. | learn more