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Day: March 16, 2023

As the Crisis Deepens

by Keith Teare
This post is by Keith Teare from That Was The Week

A reminder for new readers. That Was The Week collects the best writing on critical issues in tech, startups, and venture capital. I select the articles because they are of interest. The selections often include things I disagree with. The articles are only snippets. Click on the headline to go to the original. I express my point of view in my editorial and the weekly video.

Content this week from @AlphaSignalAI, @kleinerperkins, @thegeneralistco, @theinformation, @htaneja, @om, @mslopatto, @geneteare, @reidhoffman @garrytan, @techcrunch, @wsj

Contents

Editorial

Essays of the Week

Video of the Week

  • The BBC visits CYBERIA Café

News of the Week

Startup of the Week

Banking Madness: A before and after analysis of Silicon Valley Bank’s collapse, plus what really…

by MPD
This post is by MPD from @MPD - Medium

Banking Madness: A before and after analysis of Silicon Valley Bank’s collapse, plus what really happened with Silvergate

In the past week three prominent banks closed their doors. On this week’s episode we break down what’s happening.

Links:

Listen via your preferred platform here.

*DISCLAIMER*

Interplay Family Office LLC (“Interplay”) is registered as an investment adviser with U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). Registration of an investment adviser does not imply any level of skill or training. Information about the qualifications and business practices of Interplay is available on the SEC’s website at www.adviserinfo.sec.gov._ Interplay only transacts business in states where it is properly registered or is excluded or exempted from registration requirements. Offering of asset management services through Interplay is pursuant to an investment advisory agreement. The views expressed in this podcast/vodcast are subject to change based on market and other conditions. The podcast/vodcast may contain certain statements that may be deemed forward looking statements. Please note that any such statements are not guarantees of any future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those projected. Any projections, market outlooks, or estimates are based upon certain assumptions and should not be construed as indicative of actual events that will occur. Information communicated during the podcast/vodcast does not involve the rendering of personalized investment advice but is limited to the dissemination of general market information. A professional adviser (Read more...)

Impromptu: Amplifying Our Humanity Through AI

by Greylock Partners
This post is by Greylock Partners from Greymatter

Audio version of the introduction to Greylock general partner Reid Hoffman’s latest book, entitled “Impromptu: Amplifying Humanity Through AI."

Impromptu was co-written by Hoffman and ChatGPT-4, OpenAI’s latest and most powerful large language model. The book aims to serve as a sort of “travelog” of Hoffman’s experience with GPT-4, as he explores the tool’s strengths and limitations. Through hundreds of prompts, Hoffman and GPT-4 discuss the potential advantages and drawbacks of AI, argue about human nature, conceive original sci fi plots, and even try to make a few jokes. As AI is quickly advancing, Hoffman hopes his book can serve as a guide to encourage people to learn more about the technology, consider how we might use it, and ponder the complex questions about how our choices might play out in the future. You can read the text of this chapter here: https://greylock.com/greymatter/amplifying-humanity-through-ai/ ‎

Impromptu is now available:

As a free PDF:

https://lnkd.in/eZSsGYgB

 On Kindle:

https://lnkd.in/eUE2ukM3 

Leading Through Crisis: 96 hours after the fall of SVB

by Brad Feld
This post is by Brad Feld from Brad Feld

On Tuesday, David Cohen (Techstars co-founder/chair) and I did an AMA for Techstars founders about the SVB crisis. The team at Techstars turned it into a podcast for our Give First series.

The teaser from the podcast follows:

The fall of SVB will go down in history as one of those ‘where were you when …’ moments. For David Cohen, he was sitting at a sporting event when his phone began buzzing incessantly. For Brad Feld, he was couch shopping with his wife.

Feld is no stranger to crises and his instincts kicked in quickly.

“I shifted into problem-solving mode,” says Feld.

But then, almost as quickly, the government stepped in and money began flowing. Crisis averted. It was time to reflect.

Listen as Feld and Cohen share insight into what they saw in the VC and startup community, how communication made all the difference and how many came together to support each other.

They also tackle the looming question weighing heavy on founders’ minds: how will this affect the future of startups.

As for the couch? Tune in to find out.

The post Leading Through Crisis: 96 hours after the fall of SVB appeared first on Brad Feld.

Member Spotlight: PROOF

by smaloney@nvca.org

For this deep dive, we spoke to John Backus, Managing Partner at PROOF.

John Backus, Managing Partner at PROOF

Tell us about your firm.  What makes it different:

PROOF stands for the Pro Rata Opportunity Fund.  LPs think of us as an opportunity fund on steroids.  Why?  Because we are able to invest in many of the best venture-funded companies in the ecosystem.  How?  We source our deals from hundreds of seed and early-stage venture funds.  When their best companies are raising an early growth round (we generally invest in B rounds) we will write the check that they are entitled to write, through their pro-rata right, and we will give them 10 of our 20 points of carry on a deal carry basis.   This provides a terrific alignment of interests.  The early investor makes more money on their best companies.  They stay in the board room longer.  And we can build a “greatest hits” portfolio of many of the best VC-backed businesses.

What defines your portfolio?

Our portfolio is designed to reflect the broad VC investing landscape.  PROOF gives our LPs exposure to almost all of the industries and trends that VCs are investing in during a 3-year investment period.  Enterprise, consumer, AI, fintech, healthcare, space – we do it all (except for biotech.)  We are also building a very different looking VC portfolio.  HBS professor Josh Lerner proved the 80/20 rule in venture – where 80% of the return from a VC fund comes from (Read more...)

Thursday Tweets — "Residents hope the next sister city comes with a Google search"

by Unknown



Political analysts have been making the same mistake with DeSantis they did with Walker, assuming that the air of inevitability shown in the safe and protected phase of the campaign will hold up when the bullets start to fly. As we've been pointing out since at least August, DeSantis is a weak politician. The unprecedented build up he's gotten from the conservative (and often the mainstream) press failed to hide just how devoid of charisma and personality he is.  His likeliest path to the nomination was to stake out a position to the right of Trump (particularly with the anti-vaxxers), then hope that disease, death, or imprisonment would take out his rival, leaving him to fill the vacuum with his personal void.

Now that the battle is heating up, you can see the oracles start backing away from the next-big-thing narrative, perhaps thinking of how earlier predictions turned out.