A compendium of what our partners read each week, highlighting macro industry trends, our investment focus areas, and general personal and business strategies.
News About Our Portfolio Companies
· Newswhip CEO on Bloomberg (13:21-19:00)
· Top 6 things millennials are looking for in a job by Prosky
· How Bark helps monitor your child’s activity
· The launch of Tribalist – the best lists, at your fingertips
· Magicube was founded to transform mobile security
· Ambassador recognized by Inc as one of the best places to work
· Forbes contributor Zac Glover used HookIt to analyze the Warriors’ social performance
Industry Trends
· Zelle, the real-time Venmo competitor backed over 30 US banks, arrives this month
· The largest employers in each state; Walmart with 1.5M full time workers (Amazon at 9
with 340K)
· Amazon launches Reload, 2% off debit card purchases
· The origin story of the iPhone + iPhone alone would be 12th largest US public company
· Which companies make the most revenue per employee? + these 50 companies have the biggest stockpiles of cash overseas
· Amazon buys Whole Foods + what it will do + the reach + Amazon’s new patent: Physicial Store Online Shopping Control
· What ideas are trending among tech’s biggest influencers?
· WeWork preps for IPO + Google buys modular homes to address housing crunch
· Hottest industry now: storing all of your stuff
· A deep dive into the world’s oceans
Artificial Intelligences
· New York Times expanding comments through Google’s AI
· Goldman working on automating IPOs
· The mother of all AI projects: Apple’s focus on autonomous systems
· Adopting AI in the enterprise
· Facebook using AI to combat terrorist content problem
· An AI developed its own non-human language
· Vertical AI startups: solving industry specific problems by combining AI and subject matter expertise
· Facebook teaches machines to negotiate with humans
Commerce
· How Glossier uses data to make content and commerce work
· Building direct to consumer brands from Greycroft
· How Casper went from 0 to $500M in 4 years
· The Amazon Walmart showdown explains the modern economy
· The future of brands
· Walmart to buy Bonobos for $310M
Work Platforms
· Rumors about Amazon acquiring Slack for 9B?
· Tradeoffs in gig work
Content and Experiences
· Is ambient technology antithetical to VR?
· Netflix subscribers in US pass cable TV subscribers
· Amazon Prime Live Events + Amazon Ideas List
Blockchain
· Don’t use blockchain tech unless you need to
· Analyzing token sales
· Bancor raises $147M
· Why ethereum is outpacing bitcoin
· The first cryptocurrencies
Health
· The Instagram for doctors
· How did healthcare become such as mess?
Business and Personal Strategy
· Top accelerators in US are YC and AngelPad
· Here’s what top accelerators in North America are funding
· The intense power of a strong company culture
· People like you if you ask them questions
· 7 lessons from 100 failed startups
· In the time you spend on social media each year, you could read 200 books
· The seduction of pessimism
· How to tell if you are a great manager
· The Kauffman Fellows 22nd class