LAUNCH Angel Summit: Alfred Lin of Sequoia on mission-driven founders, seed stage strategies, AI Jason interviews industry veteran Alfred Lin. In this intimate fireside chat, Alfred shares insights into the stepping stones of his journey from Venture Frogs, to Zappos, to Sequoia Capital, where he is currently writing checks to some of the most influential startups in Silicon Valley. Alfred spends a large portion of the talk explaining why he focuses on founders who are on a “mission”. He backs his argument with examples of the types of founders and CEOs who make millions, if not billions, of dollars and still choose to continue working because they are on a mission, and that mission goes beyond just making lots and lots of money. Investment strategies from Seed to Series D, the future of venture capital, and the importance of unanimity among partners are all topics covered in detail in this special episode of TWiST. 'No more brilliant jerks' – Arianna Huffington ushers in the new Uber The next Uber CEO will be charged with sweeping up multitudes of corporate sins. In their in-tray will be a daunting array of problems and issues to resolve in the wake of Travis Kalanick’s high profile departure last month. These include rehabilitating the company internally and externally as it recovers from scandals including the sexual harassment investigation, which saw more than 20 people fired in June; video of Kalanick berating an Uber driver; and the company’s recent admission it had underpaid drivers in New York City by millions of dollars. DON’T PANIC, WALL STREET: WHY YOU SHOULDN’T BET AGAINST SNAPCHAT AND EVAN SPIEGELSnap is not going to be the next Facebook. But it could become the next Netflix. And that would be a pretty good deal for investors. [ Vanity Fair ] Redfin goes public, VCs wait anxiously Redfin, an Internet-enabled residential real estate brokerage, has raised $138 million in its IPO. The Seattle-based company priced 9.23 million shares at $15 per share (above $12-$14 range), for a fully-diluted market value of around $1.56 billion. It will trade on the Nasdaq under ticker symbol RDFN. Redfin's venture backers include Greylock (12.4% pre-IPO stake), Madrona Ventures (11.4%), Tiger Global (10.5%), DFJ (10.2%), Vulcan Capital (10%) and T. Rowe Price (7.1%). [ Axios ] How Jony Ive Masterminded Apple’s New HeadquartersON A SUNNY DAY in May, Jonathan Ive—Jony to anyone who knows him—first encounters a completed section of Apple Park, the giant campus in Cupertino, California, that has turned into one of his longest projects as Apple’s chief designer. A section of workspace in the circular, Norman Foster–designed building is finally move-in-ready: sliding-glass doors on the soundproof offices, a giant European white oak collaboration table, adjustable-height desks, and floors with aluminum-covered hinged panels, hiding cables and wires, and... [ WSJ ] Billionaire investor Howard Marks says cryptocurrencies 'aren't real' Howard Marks, billionaire investor and founder of Oaktree Capital Management is adamant about his stance on cryptocurrencies like bitcoin, Ether and others: “They’re not real.” Marks reiterated this three times to clients Wednesday in his latest Oaktree memo. How a female founder who spoke up about sexual harassment in tech thinks venture capitalists can solve the problemIn the past month, a conversation has been raging on the sexual harassment of women in tech. As one of the women who spoke out on the record, I want to focus less on what’s happened, and more on how we move forward from here and drive meaningful change. At the end of the day, our goal is to ensure that women and other underrepresented groups have equal opportunities for funding. [ Business Insider ] These 16 charts illustrate current trends in the US VC industryFor the past couple of quarters, the US venture market has been experiencing a rebound following two years of declining activity. Exits, however, are still tough to find. The number of IPOs is still well below the figures seen in 2014 and 2015, even though five unicorns have gone public so far this year. [ PitchBook ] 6 of the most valuable startups founded by celebritiesPlenty of celebrities have invested in startups—Ashton Kutcher, Jennifer Aniston, Jay Z, Leonardo DiCaprio, to name a few—but several have gone a step further and founded their own companies. Does acting prowess translate into the ability to lead a startup? We’ve looked at a selection of celebrity-founded private companies and gauged their financial health. Perhaps unsurprisingly, most of the startups in question aren’t exactly tech-centric. In fact, it appears celebs tend to gravitate toward the ecommerce and “lifestyle website” realm. [ PitchBook ] PayPal co-founder Luke Nosek leaving Founders Fund, reportedly for SpaceX-focused fundFounders Fund just lost one of its founders. Luke Nosek, known for starting PayPal with Elon Musk, Peter Thiel, Max Levchin and Ken Howery, is off to start something new. Known as a member of the “PayPal Mafia,” Nosek has stayed in contact with Musk as a director of SpaceX, the space exploration company. As Axios first reported, he’s launching an investment firm called Gigafund that will reportedly help Musk’s SpaceX raise capital. It isn’t clear if Nosek played a role in a new $350 million round of funding for SpaceX that was discovered in public filings earlier this week by the Equidate, a marketplace for private company stock. [ Tech Crunch ] Once Google’s youngest employee, this woman just unveiled a new search company that might make Google worriedSearching on Google can often feel like a useless pursuit. Type something into the search box, and millions of results pop up with endless information that can take hours to sort through. San Francisco-based startup Node wants to change that. Led by founder and CEO Falon Fatemi, Node emerged from stealth on Tuesday ready to take on its lofty goal of changing the way we discover information. By using AI to connect you or your business with the right opportunity at the right time, Node wants to "accelerate serendipity" on the web. [ Business Insider ] |