Welcome to Startups Weekly, a nuanced take on 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.
It’s hard to be proactive after the tide has already turned. However, that is what we are seeing happening in the world of solo GPs, where investors, learning of the change in risk appetite among institutional investors, are extending fundraising deadlines, cutting investment vehicle targets or planning to exit the company entirely. Some have learned this the hard way, while others, like Sahil Lavingia, are telling LPs to literally cancel their checks if they feel guilty investing in VC as the market falters and interest rates rise. .
It’s a shift from the fund-of-fund mindset that felt commonplace last year, in which investment firms handed out checks to experimental early-stage investors to reduce risk and even direct the first checks to a generation of startups. Now the idea of backing just one seems a harder sell, depending on the institution you’re talking to.
For my full take on this growing tension within the corporate world, read my TC+ column: “Are Solo GPs Screwed?”
I know some of us are still reeling from the SVB mess, which is still unfolding. My hope with this article is to offer nuance on how the market moves from here for a very specific subset of check writers. In other words, yes, there is a dark and sad cloud that is now more visible than before. But umbrellas exist. In some place.
In the rest of this newsletter, we’ll talk about AI, icons, and demo days. 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.
It’s never GM; it’s only AI
Now that I apparently live in Cerebral Valley, it’s pretty easy to find investors, founders, or my great friends in the middle of a passionate conversation about AI. Heck, we even streamed ChatGPT trying to explain SVB during wine night, recently.
Despite the hyperactive news scene, thanks to ChatGPT plugins, Google input, and Canva magic, the best article I read all week came from our very own Devin Coldeway. In this analysis, Coldeway published a head-to-head comparison of the top generative AI tools, asking them to create everything from a phishing email to code.
Here’s what you should know: In the world of AI, the compound effect is almost impossible to encapsulate. Technology continues to outdo itself, and the breakthrough should only be celebrated with a hopeful grain of salt. But see for yourself if you don’t believe me!
Image Credits: Andriy Onufryenko (Opens in a new window) / Fake Images
Heard on the day of the Techstars demo
I went to an in-person demo day for the first time since 2019 this week, courtesy of 500 Global. There was a special, no-nonsense energy in the room, in part because, as 500 CEO Christine Tsai put it, the 19 companies are sharing their vision for the future “around one of Silicon Valley’s darkest settings.” More to come on specific learnings, but next I thought I’d bullet point some of the data I heard while in the accelerator launch session.
- “I find it very revealing to compare the growth of your revenue with the growth of your team. I personally don’t like companies with a lot of operations, I definitely want to see more investment in R&D and products. [teams]”, Cindy BI, Partner at CapitalX.
- “We are officially teenagers,” Tsai said on Accelerator’s 13th birthday.
- “When you think of a brand, you probably think of something like Nike. But for Generation Z, some of the most important brands are people,” Meghan Russell, Founder and CEO of Detoure.
- “We know how to make the exits,” Peter Wachira, Tripitaca’s chief executive, later adding: “We know how to get things done.”
Image Credits: ContemporAd / Getty Images
One of Venture’s most iconic duos wants to talk to you
I posted a podcast interview with Kapor Capital’s Freada Kapor Klein and Mitch Kapor, the entrepreneurial investor couple behind the top-tier impact investing team. The duo recently published a book, so we talked about it, their choice to stop investing, and the legacy they continue to build.
Here is a key moment of the podcast: “It’s also worth noting that, in the early days, there were a couple of people, white males, who were thinking of working with us and they decided we weren’t going to make enough money, so they went elsewhere. So I hope they’re kicking themselves and I hope they learned something,” Kapor Klein said.
- I was on comedian Alexis Gay’s podcast, Non-technical, earlier this month to talk about everything that is not my daily work. Come for the croissant hate; Stay for the devil’s advocate advocacy.
- Also, listen to Found, a podcast about the stories behind startups. This week, the team published an interview with the brains behind “a genetics startup looking to revive extinct species to help with environmental conservation efforts.” Jaw = drop.
Image Credits: clark studio
Etcetera etcetera.
Spotted on TechCrunch
Startup says kelp rushing toward Florida has silver lining
Hivemapper is 1 million kilometers closer to the goal of beating Google Maps
Twitter to remove ‘legacy’ blue checks on April 1
China reminds US it can and will kill a forced sale of TikTok
Spotted on TechCrunch+
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Talk soon,
