Welcome to Startups Weekly, a nuanced version of this week’s startup news and trends by Senior Reporter and co-host of Equity Natasha Mascarenhas. To receive this in your inbox, subscribe here.
Maybe it’s the fact that “Succession” is coming back next week, or maybe it’s the fact that Silicon Valley just experienced its first banking crisis, but I want to talk about the line of decline in startups.
As I write in my last:
Silicon Valley Bank is a good reminder that start-ups, often entrenched in the world of risk and ruin, sometimes forget to think about the obvious: single points of failure. But just as it makes sense to trust a community-friendly bank, it makes sense to trust just one person to drive your business to success. Now that we’ve seen that the former doesn’t really work, maybe it’s time to rethink the latter.
For my full take on the new concern founders should be thinking about, read: “Banking Isn’t the Only ‘Single Point of Failure’ Entrepreneurs Should Be Rethinking.”
To learn more, read about the cryptocurrency corner, my latest snapshot of founder sentiment, the impact on black founders, and this timeline of everything that’s unfolded so far. This is where the coverage of SVB ends in order for the writer of this newsletter to keep her sanity and remember that there is a world outside the banking trenches.
In the rest of this newsletter, we will go into the news that was hidden this week and GPT-4. As always, you can follow me on Twitter either instagram to continue the conversation. You can also send me tips at [email protected] or at Signal at +1 925 271 0912. No pitches please.
GPT-4 did not write this
At Equity this week, Alex and I talk about the above, but more interestingly, the future of AI. We talked about the impact of technology on smart people writing books, the context, and the general technological exuberance. We need it, and I’m not just saying that because I live a stone’s throw from Cerebral Valley.
Here’s why it’s the most important thing: GPT-4 was released this week by the team behind OpenAI. Our own Kyle Wiggers reports: “GPT-4 can generate text and accept image and text input, an improvement over GPT-3.5, its predecessor, which only accepted text, and works at ‘human level’ at various benchmarks. academics and professionals. For example, GPT-4 passes a mock bar exam with a score in the top 10% of test takers; in contrast, the GPT-3.5 score was around the bottom 10%.” Companies like Stripe, Duolingo, and Khan Academy were among its beta testers.
Image Credits: Microsoft
News that were buried
When there is an obvious zeitgeist, the news is often buried, both intentionally and unintentionally. As a result, over the past week there has been a lot of news that deserves more attention, both good and bad. The list includes Launch House winding down existing operations and layoffs, as well as Klaviyo and Course Hero making company-wide layoffs for the first time.
Here’s what I missed the most by sharing my two cents:
Image Credits: MirageC (Opens in a new window) / Fake Images
Etcetera etcetera.
- Remembrance Saturday: If you missed Startups Weekly last week, check out my latest issue here: “Brand Risk So Skewed in VC.”
- Let’s stay on campus? TechCrunch is coming to Boston on April 20. I’ll be there with my favorite colleagues to interview top experts in a one-day founders’ summit. Reserve your pass ASAP! Speakers include Techstars’ Kerty Levy, Construct Capital’s Dayna Grayson and NFX’s James Currier.
- big shout out to all the sources who spoke to me, off the record and off the record, last week to help me understand Silicon Valley’s first real banking crisis. There is more to learn and many questions ahead, so keep the confidence and advice.
- Programming note: If you’re reading this in a browser, get it in your inbox too! Subscribe here and share it with your friends.
Spotted on TechCrunch
Google warns users to take steps to protect against remotely exploitable flaws in popular Android phones
At Virgin Orbit, it should never have come to a staff leave
Pornhub owner MindGeek sold to a private equity firm
Anonymous Sidechat App Chooses Its Rival Yik Yak… And Users Aren’t Happy
Spotted on TechCrunch+
Dear Sophie, How can I return to the United States as a founder?
How To Introduce Myself: 7 Investors Discuss What They Are Looking For In March 2023
Zero-Based Budget: A Proven Framework for Expanding the Runway
Product-led growth is fueling a wave of sales tool startups
Silicon Valley has been through a grueling stretch, and that’s saying a lot given that COVID-19 remains an ongoing pandemic and the recession continues to present obstacles. If you’ve made it to the end, thank you, but also, take a nap. We will be here on Monday. You deserve a break. I’ll probably have some sweeter words about how technology came together during a time of immense stress, but for now, sleep.
Chat soon and let me know if you’d like to live tweet “Succession” with me next week.
