Girl power, the China VC scramble, hot new crypto hubs, how the Gen Z feels about their boss, a16z opens up shop in London, and...
The global Silicon Valley holds tight, as Vlad fends off the militia, the VCs reamain niggardly, the SEC war on crypto rages on, and AI apps and Apple's Vision Pro VR/AR goggles keep us believing.
Girl power accelerates while the boys are lagging
—There is no difference between the average IQ or cognitive ability of women and men. Yet, Gen Z women are outpacing men across almost every success category, with the gap getting wider.
For many reasons, most significantly because women were the last to have the right to vote in the US, women, by far, have been the class of people that have faced the greatest discrimination. This is why researching and writing this post gave me such joy (with a mix of sadness for the boys). In almost every educational and professional category, women are outpacing men. On the downside of life, men are the runaway leaders. At the current rate, women will comfortably rule the world soon—and we shall all be better for it.
In case you missed last Friday’s feature…
Are the VCs funding the noose with which China will hang us?
—Under pressure from the top dogs in Washington and Beijing, VC power couple Sequoia Capital and Sequoia China broke up. It's now official—The AI Race is on, and so is an emerging Cold War with China.
The Separation of East and West
On June 6th, the venerable Silicon Valley VC fund Sequoia Capital confirmed it was severing all connections with its hugely successful partner Sequoia Capital China. Founded by Neil Shen Nanpeng in 2005, Sequoia China, like its Silicon Valley partner, is the most dominant and successful VC fund in its country. Mr. Shen and the 42 managing directors, partners, and senior executives listed on the Sequoia China site have invested in over 400 projects in China since 2019, including 19 this year in a depressed VC environment. Last year, Sequoia China raised $8.5 billion of fresh capital to pour into tech startups in the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)-controlled country.
Also left on Sequoia's cutting room floor was Sequoia's Indian and Southeast Asian business, led by Shailendra Singh. This severance with India seems more like a case of collateral damage than geopolitics, as Seqoia's partnership with the China fund is what's on the US government's mind. Either way…
The Cryptonite 300 competition—Web3 private VC-back companies worth the bet
—Somewhere between the raw startups and the Unicorns are the blockchain, AI, and metaverse companies pioneering Web3 and offering the best equity investment ROI potential in the global Silicon Valley
Cryptonite tracks private companies in the blockchain, artificial intelligence, and metaverse industries. To kick off the 2023 Top Private Company competition, our team has compiled the following list of nominated companies from top VCs and other industry insiders in the blockchain, artificial intelligence, and metaverse industries.
Did you know?
(Overheard on the streets of the global Silicon Valley—Got any hot tips?)
VC Whispers
After nearly a year of marketing new, multibillion-dollar funds, two highly-rated venture funds, Insight Partners and Tiger Global, failed to reach funding targets. A bloodbath of "down rounds" and insolvencies is expected in 2023.
Defense startup Mach Industries has raised $5.7 million in a seed round led by Sequoia Capital, the first-ever defense tech investment in the venture capital giant's history, says the venerable VC fund. Insiders speculate that this is an attempt to distract the government from Sequoia's China investments.
Davor Hebel, managing partner and head of Europe at Fidelity-backed venture capital firm Eight Roads, says they plan to invest $500 million out of its $11 billion fund in Israeli companies over the next few years. Hebel believes Israel is well-positioned in the generative AI market.AI on the March.
AI on the March
Axel Springer’s German tabloid Bild will cut staff by 20 percent and ramp up its use of AI. Axel's CEO Mathias Döpfner says AI will soon be better at “aggregating information” than humans. Only publishers creating “the best original content,' investigative journalism, and commentary would survive.
Law firm fined $5K for using ChatGPT to write a brief with fake cases and opinions. The lawyer, Steven Schwartz of New York law firm Levidow, Levidow & Oberman, said he had "no idea that ChatGPT was capable of fabricating entire case citations or judicial opinions."
“AI chat and grab” cash tricks are now infiltrating online role-playing games. Because MMOs reward players for completing repetitive tasks, bad actors easily automate scripts to reap in-game rewards at an inhuman pace and sell them for real cash on secondary markets.
"AI chat and grab" cash tricks are now infiltrating online role-playing games. Because MMOs reward players for completing repetitive tasks, bad actors easily automate scripts to reap in-game rewards at an inhuman pace and sell them for real cash on secondary markets.
AI will revolutionize online dating predicts AlgoAI Tech cofounder and CEO Lior Baruch. "Today, dating apps are asking you to subscribe monthly, three months, six months, or one-year subscription," Lior notes, "AI can help you spend less time online and more time dating with a good match."
Block Party
The creation of AI-driven propaganda and malicious content is accelerating with powerful LLMs like ChatGPT and Bard, and it could spin out of control. Blockchain-based "sign-and-trace" systems for content authentication can reliably source and validate authentic content and creator.
As US leaders remain muddled and backward in their view on crypto/blockchain, financial centers in London, Dubai, and Singapore are setting themselves up as crypto hubs. Hong Kong's Securities Commission is now accepting applications for crypto exchanges.
Big Tech goes blockchain: AWS now offers "Managed Blockchain" services, Google offers the "Blockchain Node Engine,' for Web 3 customers, IBM is betting blockchain will power the "IoT" landscape, and Microsoft has rolled out a royalty and content rights blockchain on Xbox, the list goes on...
Follow the Crypto—Keeping one step ahead of The Law
London wants to add 'Crypto Hub' along with its distinction as the world's top foreign exchange marketplace. This month, the cause got a big boost with the $7.6 billion Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) crypto fund opening its first office outside the US and its Crypto Startup School accelerator program.
Top 15 Crypto Hubs 2023—Best Places to Live Freely: (1) Zug, (2) Singapore, (3) London, (4) Seoul, (5) Duba, (6) Abu Dhabi, (7) Wyoming, (8) Silicon Valley, (9) Austin, (10) Berlin, (11) Los Angeles, (12) New York City, (13) Vancouver, (14) Ljubljana, (15) Lisbon. 5 US, 3 Euro, 2 E. Euro, 2 Asia, and 2 Middle East.
As crypto burned stateside, NFT believers partied at Web3-style raves through the night at NFT Lisbon'sextravaganza in Lisbon, Portugal. NFTers don't rely on Binance or Coinbase, so their SEC woes haven't dulled the party.
Into the Metaverse
Virtual reality startups hope the frenzy and anticipation surrounding Apple's decade-in-the-making Vision Pro mixed reality headset, due for release in 2024 starting at $3,499, will boost fundraising in the sector. The visionOS promises to enhance existing apps and inspire VR app startups.
Gen Z prefers playing immersive and social games over traditional TV and streaming services, helping Roblox become a $23 billion metaverse sensation. The platform engages 66 million users daily who are forging 3D memories and forming billions of friendships through chat messages.
The lucky seven top Metaverse coins, according to Fobes: ApeCoin (APE), Internet Computer (ICP). Stacks (STX), Decentraland (MANA), Theta Network (THETA), Axie Infinity (AXS), and The Sandbox (SAND). These coins facilitate commerce and exchange and have market caps of over $500 million.
The Incredible Shrinking Web2
Legacy media companies enter dark times as Netflix rises again. Disney recently laid off 7,000 employees; Warner Bros. Discovery is laying off more employees after cutting thousands of jobs last year to boost free cash flow: all this and a Hollywood writers' strike in the background with no end in sight.
Alibaba cofounder Jack Ma retired from the company in 2019 but was recently back at the company advising the top brass to follow Silicon Valley Web2 behemoths like Facebook, Salesforce, and Amazon and collapse the middle management ranks in what Zuck dubbs as the "Year of Efficiency."
What the Math Says
According to a Denmark study, AI algorithms have a 61% accuracy in analyzing a politician's facial characteristics in photos and predicting their political ideology. The study found that right-wing politicians are likelier to have happy faces, while left-wingers favor neutral expressions.
Genz-Zs feel burdened by the high cost of living, are not sold on 'business," expect more from everyone, and are therefore uncertain about their futures and remain stressed and anxious. Of GenZ remote workers, 77% said they would look for another job if forced to come into the office. So says a Deloitte Study of 22,000 Gen Z from 44 countries.
Entrepreneurial Huddle
Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) will launch its Crypto Startup School accelerator program in the UK in 2024 and will work closely with UK universities to support blockchain development and web3 startups. Thus far, the CSS program has reviewed 8,000 companies, with 26 receiving a16z investments.
From the Streets of The Silicon Valley
Magic Mushrooms. LSD. Ketamine. The Drugs That Power Silicon Valley. Entrepreneurs, including Elon Musk and Sergey Brin, are part of a movement that proponents hope will expand minds, enhance lives and produce business breakthroughs. Will a tab of LSD lead to the next billion-dollar idea?
New Twitter CEO Linda Yaccarino, known for her tight relationship with ad agencies and hard-nosed negotiating tactics, played peacemaker in her first month on the job, paying Google for its cloud services, ending a "high-stakes conflict" between the two companies.
The party’s over for Chinese VCs living it up in Silicon Valley due to the recent U.S. crackdown on China’s tech sector. Chinese investors in Silicon Valley are no longer talking about “going public” or “bringing American technology to China.” They’re talking about transferring money out of China.
An emerging group of former Biden-supporting tech influencers have moved their support to Robert Kennegy, Jr. in 2024. Twitter/Square founder Jack Dorsey has given RFK, Jr. money, somewhat ironically citing the candidate’s criticism of government censorship.
Know Thy Enemy
Beijing has banned global crypto networks on the mainland while developing next-generation monetary technology with greater CCP control. Beijing still plays in the free-wheeling global markets for digital assets through its Hong Kong-based investment operations that play by different rules.
The Chinese spy balloon shot down out of US skies earlier this year was chock-full of US technology, an investigation by defense and intelligence agencies found after examining the debris. The US gear was mixed with Chinese sensors to take spy photos and videos to send back to Beijing.
Prominent pro-Kremlin military bloggers openly question how Putin dealt with the Wagner mercenary group's failed mutiny last week. Many of these bloggers have military knowledge and are embedded with Putin's troops in Ukraine. Putin held a direct meeting with several bloggers on June 13.
Newsweek found that Russia is exploiting loopholes by importing more than 60 percent of the critical components for the weapons they use to fight its war with Ukraine from US companies through China.
Revive Thyself! (or not)
A new study by Nature Scientific Reports confirms physical activity good for bone density. Plenty of calcium and vitamin D help promotes good bone health, too, says the U.S. National Library of Medicine, and “drinking alcohol increases the risk of osteoporosis.”
Alcohol consumption increases the risks of over 60 diseases. According to Oxford Population Health and Peking University, alcohol is estimated to be responsible for about 3 million deaths worldwide yearly. It is increasing in many low- and middle-income countries such as China.
The Japanese 27 million millennials are victims of the country's 'Lost Decade' of low growth and high unemployment. Trapped in dead-end jobs and adamant about never having kids, Japan now has the lowest birth rate in the world.
Flashback
In his eyes: The real world of Peter Gabriel circa 1993
—Flashback Interview with one of the music industry's greatest luminaries articulates the benefits of interactive music and multimedia entertainment at MIT in 1993.
Ever since his days with Genesis, Peter Gabriel recognized the inherent interactivity of the rock medium. During his distinguished career, he has sought to combine his musical talent with technological inspiration to create a universal language. This interview happened in the middle of the 'multimedia' era, when music and video were added to the PC, and was at the dawn of the commercialization of the Internet and the real disruption of the entertainment world that followed.
Current Wisdom
"With the RNA design problem partially solved, the road is now open to fine-tune our molecular designs and construct increasingly intricate and functional RNA nanostructures that can be used for RNA-based medicine or act as RNA regulatory elements to reprogram cells.'
— Ebbe Sloth Andersen, associate professor at iNANO, Aarhus University.