Welcome to Startups Weekly. subscription here Get it in your inbox every Friday.
Hello, delicious human being. Have you looked at yourself in the mirror and given yourself a high five today? no? Well, here’s your chance!
I’ve spent two productive weeks on the site. I’ve been exasperated by founders’ failure to consider sustainability in their startup pitches. I looked at a few thousand floors and realized that less than 1% of them mention environmental concerns, a fact I find deeply troubling. I argue that startup founders, unlike individuals at large companies, are in a unique position to embed values like sustainability into the fabric of their companies. Be better.
While I was talking to a founder last week about how bad their market fit was, I then thought: Damn, it’s no wonder most of my startups haven’t been that successful: I It did not have much compatibility with the institutional market. It made a lot of sense, and I concluded that, well, maybe I don’t have what it takes to be a founder.
My last rant was in the wake of the whole Sam Altman/OpenAI shenanigans, where he apparently “wasn’t cooperating” with the board. These are companies that talk about information suppression – which is a very bad thing when it comes to the executive group and board of directors. In short: No, you can’t lie on your board.
With your regular rants about the Pilgrim – and given that it was a turkey feast last week, so I was in a meat coma that I couldn’t write Startups Weekly last week – we have two Weeks of startup news to keep you up to date. Let’s go to it. . .
The car goes fromme? Not so fast.
Image credits: Spencer Platt/Getty Images
Look, I’m all for saving lives, but the government’s recommendation to make Intelligent Speed Assist (ISA) standard on new vehicles is a gross overreach. It is my God-given right as an American to drive 70 mph in a 65 mph zone, and I’m especially angry at the suggestion that they would use GPS and cameras in the car to limit your speed to the speed limit. I’m all for road safety and everything, but. . . Come here. It doesn’t seem like it would be very useful in the grand scheme of things: a lot of fatal accidents happen well within speed limits because idiots are fiddling with their phones, and the number of uninsured and unlicensed drivers on the roads (not to mention the huge number of piles of completely junk Which wanders the streets) is much more dangerous than speeding.
Although this recommendation is rooted in the noble intention of reducing traffic deaths, it ignites a discussion that extends beyond road safety, veering wildly toward the fundamental values of personal freedom, trust in government, and the evolving relationship between technology and our daily lives.
Well, at least there are still motorcycles, I guess.
In other news going to the Vroom (or Swoosh in the case of EVs):
CEO who fires himself: In a surprising turn of events reminiscent of a driverless car taking an unexpected turn, Kyle Vogt, the visionary behind Cruise’s journey from modest startup to powerhouse General Motors, has decided to leave his position as CEO.
The “Buy Now” button just got more serious: As for Amazon, which was once a modest bookstore, it is now moving into the automotive market, in partnership with Hyundai to start selling cars online.
Didn’t see that coming: In a turn of events that even self-driving cars did not anticipate, a Florida judge found that Tesla, under Elon Musk, knew about flaws in its Autopilot system, yet continued to let it wander the road. Public use route.
So what’s the whole Sam Altman thing?
![Sam Altman, Satya Nadella and Ilya Sutskever in an illustrative collage](https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Sam-Altman-OpenAI-Nadella.jpg)
Image credits: Darryl Etherington with files from Getty under license
In a world of artificial intelligence that resembles a high-tech soap opera, Sam Altman, former CEO of OpenAI, finds himself thrown into a flurry of drama and intrigue. The story begins with Altman’s firing by OpenAI’s board of directors, a move that sent shockwaves throughout the organization, leading to the resignation of co-founder Greg Brockman and three senior researchers. As the conspiracy intensified, Microsoft, a major investor in OpenAI, gained a seat at the table, albeit as a non-voting observer, indicating the growing influence of larger technology entities in the field of AI.
The story took a buzz-worthy turn when OpenAI and Altman reached an “agreement in principle” for his big return as CEO, reshuffling the board with notable names like Brett Taylor and Larry Summers. This eventful journey has not been without its share of corporate drama and power plays, including failed negotiations, merger attempts with rival AI company Anthropic, and a mass employee threat to quit, all of which underscore the high stakes and intense emotions that drive the AI industry. . In this story of AI ambition, the only certainty is uncertainty, as the future of an industry superstar hangs in the balance. Kyle has a great summary of what happened, with a link to all of TechCrunch’s coverage and analysis. It’s worth reading, because. . . woweee.
Overall, we still don’t truly I know what happened behind closed doors, but one memorable scene from HBO’s The Wire sticks with me: If you come to the King, you better not miss it (NSFW). I can’t remember a time when a CEO was fired from the company he founded, and then he ended up shaking up the entire board and reinstating him.
Mark my words: This OpenAI saga is an Aaron Sorkin/David Fincher/Jesse Eisenberg collaboration movie waiting to happen.
Other AI news in the past two weeks:
Hey Siri, take a break: Move over, Siri, there’s a new voice in town! Learn how to turn your iPhone’s action button into a ChatGPT-powered assistant ready to outwit, chat, and outwit.
Is this correct?: In a dramatic plot worthy of a tech noir, Apple and Google have overtaken AI-powered app ChatGPT for the title of app of the year. This makes sense – it’s competing with core aspects of both companies’ businesses – rather than crowning AllTrails and Imprint as apps of the year.
Do you want chips with that?: Elon Musk’s Neuralink company has added a cool $43 million to its coffers, proving that when it comes to financing, some companies can really think outside the skull.
The lows and lows of Silicon Valley
![A vintage-looking groove box from Teenage Engineering, $300, with large gray and orange buttons.](https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/te.jpeg)
Vintage Groove Box from Teenage Engineering, $300. Image credits: Teenage engineering
Welcome to this week’s edition of “Silicon Valley Scandals Weekly” — your one-stop-shop for all the incredible tales of tech giants falling from their digital thrones. This week we present an interesting slice of the schadenfreude pie, featuring none other than Mike Rotenberg, Silicon Valley’s latest “disgraced sweetheart.” Cooney’s story reads as a cautionary tale for aspiring venture capitalists, with Rottenberg joining the ranks of Elizabeth Holmes and the infamous Sam Bankman-Fried, with convictions on a staggering 21 counts of fraud and money laundering.
The Rothenberg saga is the stuff of excitement! From his dazzling days as a self-proclaimed Olympic athlete turned Harvard MBA graduate, to his astonishing rise as the party king of the Bay Area, he’s a man who’s had it all. . . Until he did that. His journey from the glittering heights of venture capital to the bleak depths of legal trouble is a testament to the old adage: What goes up must come down.
Goose Silicon Valley Muar:
Ctrl + Alt + Defeat: In the wake of a crippling ransomware attack, leading insurer Fidelity National Financial faced a disaster that left its customers in a spiral of confusion and panic, with their digital lifelines severed and their financial transactions in limbo.
Be elegant, AWS: In an era where tech giants are jockeying to dominate the generative AI landscape, AWS’s keynote sounded less like wise leadership and more like a satirical carnival. Frederick wrote that AWS CEO Adam Selipski took cheap shots at competitors, exposing AWS’s weaknesses more than its strengths.
Keeping it fresh in hardware land: Well, I love Teenage Engineering, and I share Harry’s enthusiasm: The startup’s latest innovation makes it extremely difficult for us not to get into a flow situation — a rare feat in today’s technology landscape.
Top reads on TechCrunch over the past two weeks
Bail: Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway, known for its Midas touch, has suffered a rare stumble, exiting its investment in Indian fintech giant Paytm with a 40% capital write-down.
Let me explain this to you: In a world where “reply men” lurk around every digital corner, Mastodon’s latest features emerge like a superhero, offering a shield against unwanted chatter.
Dropping Jira for landing: Soaring into the project management arena, challenging the Goliath of Jira with its open source innovations. This distinguished newcomer aims to revolutionize how software teams manage projects.
Bring the big guns: Skilled AI experts are as rare as macOS kernel panic, so startups are turning to an innovative solution: the partial AI adjuster.
So you’re saying there is a way: Google admitted in court that Spotify was navigating the Play Store without paying its usual entry fees, thanks to a hush-hush agreement.