Silicon Valley Is Sneaking Models Into This Year’s Holiday Parties“Ambiance and atmosphere models” contractually obligated to pretend they’re party guests are in record demand from local agencies. An 82-Year-Old VC Makes a Splash With Young StartupsThe lobby of Manhattan’s Crosby Street Hotel, with its industrial chic and just-so designer furniture, is very 2017. Alan Patricof, with his loose-fitting suits and mop of gray hair, is very 1967. But on a cloudy recent morning, as the high-ceilinged room buzzes with bankers on the hunt for media deals at a conference, Patricof fits right in. As he wends his way through the hotel restaurant, the 82-year-old exchanges warm hellos and swaps media gossip with well-heeled movers and shakers. People who don’t know him notice him; people who do treat him like The Man. And after he joins me at a small table and orders tea, Patricof drops a hint about just how long he’s enjoyed that status. “New York magazine is celebrating its 50th anniversary next week,” he points out. “I’ll be one of two people attending who was there when it opened.” [ Fortune ] 'I HAD TO CLEAN UP UNDERWEAR': CAN STARTUP ‘BRO CULTURE’ BE REFORMED?Months after a sexual harassment lawsuit plagued virtual reality startup UploadVR, there are lingering questions about the company's leadership. What happened at UploadVR has left the virtual reality community divided. The founders told CNN Tech they’ve made changes, brought in new executives and established an HR structure. But women who used to work at the startup say the company hasn't gone far enough in creating a positive environment for women. [ CNN Money ] A Chinese billionaire has quietly become one of the biggest seed investors in Silicon ValleyEveryone wants a piece of Silicon Valley. Few can get it. If you’re just a new venture investor arriving in Silicon Valley, it’s a long climb to the top. It’s even steeper if you’re an institutional investors from overseas. None of that stopped Chinese magnate Shan Xiangshuang from creating the largest seed fund in Silicon Valley in just three years. The billionaire chairman of private-equity firm CSC Group set up Hone Capital in 2015, backed by $115 million and an unusual mandate for such a large fund: invest in hundreds of quality early-stage startups as fast as possible. [ QZ ] It all started 16 months ago with an avocado. (This is California, after all.) This particular avocado was set on a boardroom table in Pinterest’s San Francisco headquarters. Surrounded by half a dozen colleagues, Albert Pereta approached the fruit and carefully aimed his phone. The creative director from Pinterest was testing the company’s latest invention, a feature called Lens, which–if it performed correctly–would not only identify the
fruit but also search through billions of photos that had been uploaded to the service for the past seven years to find similar images. Making Physical Retail as Easy as Opening an Online Store - Ali Kriegsman and Alana BranstonProceed With CautionMore than three-quarters of female tech founders, or 78 percent, have either been sexually harassed or have known someone who’s been sexually harassed in the workplace, according to a new survey of tech founders by seed-stage venture firm First Round Capital. About half of male founders — 48 percent — have had the same experience. The survey provides context for a slew of sexual harassment incidents in tech that have come to light in recent months. Like this one, this one and this one. And the story is far from over. [ Re/Code ] US-founded fintech Credible raises $67 million in ASX listingUS startup Credible, which helps consumers find and compare personal and student loans and credit cards, is raising $67 million (US$50 million) as it lists on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) today. The largest tech IPO of the year locally, the listing will value the company at over $300 million. The startup was founded in 2012 by Australian Stephen Dash, formerly of JP Morgan, who came up with the idea because he was taken aback by the amount of student debt in the US. Credible first launched with a student loan refinancing platform, then launching a marketplace for new student loans, personal loans, and in August of this year a credit cards marketplace. With the startup having raised US$24 million in VC funding to date, with a US$10 million Series B round coming this past past January, Dash said the company looked to the ASX because it believes it will provide more flexibility to pursue new opportunities. [ Startup Daily ] Top VC deals: Baidu invests in electric vehicles, Gilead buys cancer-fighting start-upE11: "Angel": Urban.us Shaun Abrahamson Stonly Baptiste solve for cities: climate, housing, transpoChina's 'sexy cyborg' took on Silicon Valley bro culture — and won"Raising Capital for the Startup Venture"Koch Brothers Teaming Up With Silicon Valley |