Sam Altman Is an IdiotIt’s not news that Sam Altman likes to say controversial things. The 32-year-old president of the very successful startup incubator Y Combinator attracted disdain for supporting Peter Thiel even after the billionaire’s donations to Donald Trump’s presidential campaign won widespread criticism. Now, Altman is pitching an idea pulled straight from the White House’s talking points: Political correctness is bad for America. This is an idiotic point of view, often put forth by idiots who struggle with the challenges of progress. Sam Altman is one of those idiots. “SILICON VALLEY HAS ITS OWN UNIQUE KIND OF HARASSMENT”: WILL TECHNOLOGY HAVE ITS #METOO MOMENT? A couple of years ago, a friend was attempting to raise money for her new start-up in Silicon Valley when something unusual and more than a little unnerving happened. Given the fact that she had plenty of experience in both the start-up world and private equity, and held numerous degrees from some of the top higher learning institutions in the county, we all assumed that she would get more than a fair hearing along the Monopoly-board trip down Sand Hill Road, the nexus of the venture-capital industry in Menlo Park. But my friend, who just happens to be a woman, was stunned by her general reception. Not only did some of the V.C.s not take her seriously, she told me, but others behaved in ways that were truly shocking. She relayed one particular pitch that stuck with me. She was outlining her company to a seasoned investor who expressed intense interest and suggested that they continue the conversation over dinner. She was thrilled with what she perceived as his genuine curiosity in her business, and agreed to the meal. Then, halfway through dinner, she recalled, the V.C. started to shuffle his chair closer and closer to hers. Then, she said his hand began to move closer to her, too. Nervous and uncomfortable, she asked what he was doing. As far as he was concerned, she relayed to me, they were on a date and he was simply doing what men like him did on dates: making a move. [ HIVE ] Growth Office Hours: Round 2SoftBank is looking to invest up to $300 million in Wag, the dog-walking appSoftBank has been in talks to invest as much as $300 million in the dog-walking app Wag, according to people familiar with the conversations. It’s a concrete example of how SoftBank is transforming financing in tech. Wag was originally looking to raise $100 million in this latest round, the sources tell Recode, but it ballooned to the $300 million neighborhood when SoftBank expressed interest. One person said Wag had already received an investment offer from a top venture capital firm on the $100 million round before SoftBank came in. The startup had already raised $40 million just eight months ago — an investment the company said would allow it to expand into new cities. It’s unclear why the company would need to raise so much more money less than a year after a previous fundraising round. [ Re/Code ] SILICON VALLEY'S IMMORTALISTS WILL HELP US ALL STAY HEALTHYIN EARLY 1954, Pope Pius XII summoned a venerable Swiss quack named Paul Niehans to the papal retreat at Castel Gandolfo. The pontiff was nauseated with gastritis, fatigued by his 77 years, and loath to meet his maker. So he had Niehans administer an antiaging treatment called cell therapy, which would become sought after by midcentury celebrities, artists, and politicians. Fetal cells were taken from a pregnant sheep and injected into the scrawny pope. Over time, Pius received a series of shots. The Holy Patient felt rejuvenated; Niehans was appointed to the Pontifical Academy of Sciences in thanks. But if the treatments worked at all, it wasn’t for long: Pius died four years later. [ WIRED ] SOME EX-EMPLOYEES PLAN TO WRESTLE PETER THIEL FOR THE GHOST OF GAWKER PASTIf you navigate to Gawker.com today, the first thing that pops up is the last story to be memorialized in its blog archives from its final day of publication, August 22, 2016. Appropriately written by its founder Nick Denton, “How Things Work” is an epitaph for an era of blogging that ceased to be when wrestler Hulk Hogan, née Terry Bollea, with the clandestine financial backing of billionaire investor Peter Thiel,successfully sued Gawker out of existence. (Some of its sister sites were sold to Univision.) Thiel posed as a sort of super-rich Robin Hood, protecting the rights of public figures who lacked adequate means. “If you’re a single-digit millionaire like Hulk Hogan, you have no effective access to our legal system,” he said last fall at an event he headlined at the National Press Club. [ HIVE ] Erik Huggers is stepping down as CEO of VevoVevo, the music video service backed by major record labels, just announced that its CEO Erik Huggers is departing. Huggers previously worked at the BBC, at Verizon (which owns TechCrunch) and elsewhere. He joined Vevo in 2015. Under his leadership, Vevo was working to become less reliant on YouTube (which was its major syndication partner) by developing more apps and products like the Watch Party chat feature. The company was also working on a subscription service, although Huggers said earlier this year that those plans had been delayed in favor of international expansion. [ TechCrunch ] Inside.com's 2017 Year in ReviewShervin Pishevar quits his VC firm over sex misconduct allegationsSilicon Valley billionaire Shervin Pishevar, slammed by a half-dozen sexual misconduct allegations, has resigned from his venture capital firm. Pishevar, an early Uber backer, will no longer be a part of Sherpa Capital as he looks to pursue lawsuits against those he says are trying to defame him, he said in a statement. “I refuse to allow my enemies to drag my Sherpa family into their fight with me,” Pishevar said. “That is why I have decided on my own accord to end my association with Sherpa Capital, effective immediately. [ NY Post ] Live-streaming app Spotlite raises $10 million from Sequoia Capital China to help singers make moneyDescribed to me as “American Idol meets musical.ly,” startup Spotlite recently raised more than $10 million from Sequoia Capital China and BlueRun Ventures. The plan is to use the funding to build out the product, make key hires and expand its marketing and advertising efforts. Spotlite is a direct-to-fan music platform for artists who want to make money and have direct access to their fans, Spotlite founders Ke Tang and Jason Ma told TechCrunch. The app combines video, live streaming, messaging technology and gifting to establish a business model that enables aspiring artists to make money. [ TechCrunch ] Google AI Researcher Accused of Sexual HarassmentSexual harassment accusations have hit another corner of the tech industry, with allegations involving prominent artificial intelligence researchers, including one at Google, a leader in the field. Data scientist Kristian Lum wrote in a blog this week that a man she called "S" grabbed her inappropriately at an industry conference in 2010 and said he took advantage of another woman she didn’t identify on separate occasions. Two people who were told about the conduct from two alleged victims told Bloomberg the man is Steven Scott, a senior researcher at Google. Lum also wrote that a well-respected academic touched her inappropriately on the leg at the same conference and later sent her innuendo-laced messages. The man was later identified as Bradley Carlin, an expert in biostatistics, by people familiar with the alleged conduct. The allegations were widely discussed on social media, drawing supportive comments and similar stories from researchers in academia and leading tech companies, including Alphabet Inc.’s Google and Microsoft Corp. Eric Horvitz, a Microsoft research director, called Lum’s post a "powerful and important report." "I’d love to tell my side of the story, but I’m afraid you’ll need to get it from press@google.com," Scott wrote in an email, referring to Google’s public relations department. "Google is investigating the matter," Gina Scigliano, a company spokeswoman, said. Scott has been suspended from Google as of Friday, according to a person familiar with the matter. [ BloomBerg ] Ticketbooth founders reject multimillion dollar acquisition offer, launch complementary new startupPortugal Tech Startup Helps Consumers Fight Cyber Crime |