News
No more Eat out to Help Out: Today is the final day of Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s subsidised government meal incentive that has given consumers half price dining through the month of August. The scheme has proved so successful that many restaurants are continuing to put on the schemes into September, despite the rescinding of government support. And Deliveroo is extending the offer to the home, offering discounted deliveries to those of us who’d rather avoid the crowds. As if you didn’t need a reminder of how deep VC pockets go. Link
Elon’s Neuralink Demo: In a webcast demo broadcast live on Friday morning, Elon Musk finally revealed details around Neuralink, his clandestine microchip brain implant project. A coin sized computer chip would be inserted into the skull via incision (as demonstrated on a young pig named Gertrude). The interface would then allow those with neurological conditions to control phones or computers with their mind. He argues that such chips could help combat degenerative conditions like dementia, Parkinson’s and spinal cord injuries, but the project throws up a whole heap of moral dilemmas. Never one to shy from controversy, Elon admitted that the long term aim of the project was to usher in an era of what he described as “superhuman cognition.” Regardless of how novel any of the neuroscience is, Neuralink reinforces Elon’s commercial talent. By identifying niche tech that is well established in its industry, presenting it to the public as net new innovation, he can build traction and a then a profitable business around it. As his past successes testify, it’s a wildly successful tactic. You can read more about Neuralink here.
Short Read
Y-Combinator Demo-Day: This week also saw famed Silicon Valley accelerator YC’s second demo-day of 2020, showcasing the first virtual cohort of 198 startups. By now a fundraising machine, the accelerator this year had 25 fintechs, making up 13% of the total. You can find a breakdown of all of them here, courtesy of fintech guru Simon Taylor.
Long Read
The Rags to Riches story of Barbara Corcoran: A self-made millionaire, she’s best known for her role on Shark Tank, the US “Dragons’ Den.” But what you won’t know, is her rollercoaster journey building New York’s largest real estate brokerage. It’s a true lesson in finding opportunity from nowhere, and includes a great anecdote about luring Trump into advertising her brokerage by playing to his ego. You can read the story here, and can read her amusing refusal to Shark Tank producer Mark Burnett’s initial audition rejection of her below. Subject line: Still Swimming.
Interesting Things
Thiel fellowship billionaire: Each year, the Thiel fellowship gives $100k to 25 kids to drop out of college and start a company. A Thiel Fellow, 25 year old Austin Russell, just sold a self-driving car startup he started at age 18 for $3.4bn. Insane - Link.
World Chess Controversy: Sunday saw the final of the International Chess Olympiad between Russia & India. Held online for the first time due to Coronavirus, in a cruel twist of fate the match ended in a tie as two Indian players lost internet connection in the final moments. Link
Bezos hits $200bn: This week Jeff Bezos was reported to become the first person ever to surpass $200bn net worth as Amazon’s share price surged further. In response, protesters gathered outside his Washington home to erect a guillotine in protest over employee wages. Link.
IPOs and Single Letter Tickers: As Unity (U) this week finalised its IPO filing, the VR & AR company swooped in to take 1 of the final 3 single-letter tickers on the New York Stock Exchange, leaving only P and N. Link.
Boris and the revenge of the school librarian: A crafty school librarian this week seized a golden opportunity to have a pop at the PM in front of the nation as he gave a speech at an East Midlands primary school. The bookshelf behind him had been cleverly arranged to reveal childrens’ titles with unflattering associations for any political leader. They included The Twits, Betrayed, The Resistance, and Guards, Guards, a Terry Pratchett novel about a secret brotherhood set up to overthrow a corrupt politican. Genius. Link, and picture:
Google’s own engineers admitted that the company ‘confuses users’ on privacy settings that are now the subject of a lawsuit: Link. If you aren’t already, I’d recommend switching your search engine to Duck Duck Go.
Black owned homes in the US are devalued an average of 23%: A mixed race family had their home appraised for $330k, removed all black family photos/culture items & had only the white dad home. The new appraisal: $465k. Link.