Tesla Rebuffed Uber Partnership on Self-Driving Cars in 2016Uber Technologies Inc. Chief Executive Officer Travis Kalanick rang up Tesla Inc. CEO Elon Musk last year to propose a partnership on self-driving cars, according to an upcoming book. The discussion came after Apple Inc. invested $1 billion in Didi Chuxing, then a fierce competitor of Uber in China. Kalanick pitched Musk on teaming up against Apple, according to Wild Ride, a book by Fortune magazine’s Adam Lashinsky scheduled for release next week. [ Bloomberg ] The BMW Hot Lap Pitch — TrailerThe MMC Ventures AI Investment Framework: 17 success factors for the age of AIArtificial intelligence — specifically, machine learning (ML) — is a powerful ‘enabling technology’ that represents a paradigm shift in software capability. (New to AI? Read our Primer and UK Market Map). But how do we, as investors, evaluate early stage software companies that put ML at the heart of their value proposition? Below, we introduce our ML Investment Framework. Our Framework captures 17 success factors for early stage ML companies. Because sizeable returns stem from a company’s potential for value creation, effective value realisation, and defensibility, we group the success factors into these three categories. [ Medium ] Enrico Fermi and the future of venture capitalEnrico Fermi tore a large sheet of paper into small pieces and dropped them. A few seconds later, the pieces were blown a short distance in midair and landed some eight feet away. Fermi paced the distance, then consulted a chart he prepared earlier. Based on the corresponding data, he told the people around him that the shockwave that hit the air to blast the papers out was from a force of roughly about 10 kilotons of TNT exploding. [ Tech Crunch ] What’s Happening with MeI worked at Twitter for about six years. In that time, the service grew from zero people to hundreds of millions of people. Jack was the original CEO and when he returned I was very happy. There’s something about the personality of a company that comes from the folks who start it. There’s a special feeling they bring with them. Jack coming back was a big step forward. And now, it’s my turn—I’m returning to full time work at Twitter starting in a couple of weeks! How this came about is kind of a crazy story but, it’s happening. [ Medium ] Musk Cousin Lyndon Rive, Former SolarCity CEO, to Leave TeslaLyndon Rive, the former chief executive officer of SolarCity and first cousin of Tesla Inc.CEO Elon Musk, will leave the electric automaker next month, saying he plans to start another venture. Tesla acquired SolarCity in November for $2 billion, creating a company with more than 30,000 employees that focuses on sustainable energy and transportation. Rive’s departure comes as Tesla prepares to launch the Model 3, its more affordable electric sedan, in July. Palo Alto, California-based Tesla has several products in the pipeline, including a solar roof that Musk first unveiled last fall. [ Bloomberg ] One of the tech industry’s loudest watchdogs is getting a boost from Hillary ClintonOne of the most aggressive, vocal antagonists to Silicon Valley’s tech giants has received a big boost from a rather unexpected source: Former Democratic presidential contender Hillary Clinton. On Monday, Clinton revealed her plans for Onward Together, a new nonprofit that seeks to provide more financial ammunition to Democratic candidates and causes. Among the first organizations she plans to back is Color of Change, a liberal-leaning civil rights outfit that has consistently challenged the likes of Google, Microsoft and Uber on everything from their hiring practices to their work with President Donald Trump. [ Re/Code ] FCC commissioner: ‘Net neutrality is doomed if we’re silent’Onstage at TechCrunch Disrupt NY, FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn urged the public to continue voicing their support for a free and open internet. “Net neutrality is doomed if we’re silent,” she said. Many have questioned the future of net neutrality under Trump-appointed FCC Chairman Ajit Pai. The Republican-controlled commission has made its intentions known to strip away regulations surrounding net neutrality and privacy that were put in place by former FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler. [ Tech Crunch ] Mark Zuckerberg’s birthday photo shows the 20 Facebookers you should know not named Mark ZuckerbergFacebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg celebrated his 33rd birthday on Sunday, and on Monday his executive team surprised him with a special birthday cake shaped like pieces of meat. That is kinda fun, and bizarre, but even more interesting is the fact that Zuckerberg shared to his Facebook page this photo that includes nearly all of Facebook’s highest-ranking executives in the same place at the same time. [ Re/Code ] Ex-Google Ventures CEO Maris Raises $150 Million Venture Fund
As the founding chief of Google Ventures, Bill Maris had experience with nearly every aspect of venture capital except for one: convincing a group of investors to give him money. After months of on-again, off-again conversations with potential backers, his new firm Section 32 has finally completed its first fund with about $150 million. Maris has no partners in the venture, though he anticipates hiring someone in the next year. [ Bloomberg ] Sheryl Sandberg on how having her self-confidence shattered made her a better leaderIn Lean In, Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook’s chief operating officer, implored women to bring their whole selves to work, not just their public and professional selves. If this was tough advice to take from one of the world’s most successful women, it was just as hard for Sandberg to live up to her own standard. When Dave, her husband, tragically died two years ago, Sandberg was suddenly utterly vulnerable, prone to tears at any moment, and bereft of the public self-confidence she had spent a lifetime building. “I did not think I could do my job,” she said. [ QZ ] AngelList just launched full-fledged venture fundsAccording to AngelList, the startup funding and recruiting platform, the number of companies being minted continues to far exceed the number of funds that can support them at the Series A and even the seed stage. Meanwhile, angel investors don’t necessarily have enough capital, particularly those who may be respected operators but haven’t yet enjoyed a major liquidity event yet, meaning their wealth continues to be tied up in their companies. [ Tech Crunch ] KPMG’s High Growth Ventures group partners with Taronga Ventures to develop real estate startupsKPMG Australia’s new High Growth Ventures practice has announced a strategic alliance with Taronga Ventures, focused on developing opportunities for Taronga’s RealTech Venture Fund. With Savills in 2016 estimating the combined value of the global real estate sector to be US$217 trillion, Taronga Ventures was founded last year by Jonathan Hannam, formerly head of capital at developer Mirvac, and Avi Naidu, founder of Aura Funds Management, to focus on tech developments in the sector. [ Startup Daily ] An Uncertain Future: New Entrants In The Food Delivery Space Decline As Existing Startups StruggleFood delivery startups originally became popular among VC investors in the early 2010s, with many large players such as Blue Apron ($2B valuation) quickly reaching high valuations, thus encouraging more new competitors to enter the market. However, as competition has increased and startups have struggled to find a financially viable business model, the challenges of food delivery have become more apparent to investors and activity in the space has begun to cool. IPOs, Leaving Money On The Table, And Get Off My LawnTL;DR: After Snap and Twilio’s dramatic repricing, can we stop carping about IPOs leaving money on the table? The current earnings cycle has repriced two bellwether Internet companies: Snap and Twilio. The two firms are very different. Twilio is a respected back-end tool used by a cadre of familiar companies to reach consumers. Snap is a social company dabbling in mobile hardware. But the first quarter’s tallying up was rough on each. [ CrunchBase ] WeWork’s Adam Neumann on how to hit $1B in revenue with a careful balanceWeWork, which is said to be raising as much as $4 billion at a valuation of more than $20 billion, is still on its way to hitting $1 billion in annual revenue this year — though CEO Adam Neumann said at TechCrunch Disrupt NY 2017 that it’s not quite as simple as betting big on enterprise deals. Neumann said that enterprise deals, which would help handle office space for larger groups of employees, now account for 30 percent of the company’s new business.[ Tech Crunch ] 4 Reasons Why Biz Stone’s Return Probably Can’t Help TwitterTwitter’s stock is at the highest it’s been in six months thanks to a bit of big news this afternoon: Cofounder Biz Stone is returning to Twitter after a six-year hiatus. In a post on Medium–yet another company he helped start–Stone explained that his role would be “to guide the company culture, that energy, that feeling.” (Sure!) [ Fast Company ] 8VC Raises $256.75m Toward $400M Co-Investment Fund8VC, a San Francisco, CA-based venture capital firm, raised $256.75m toward a $400m co-investment fund. According to a filing with the SEC, 26 backers have invested in 8VC Co-Invest Fund I, L.P. Founded by Joe Lonsdale and also led by Drew Oetting, Alex Kolicich, Jake Medwell, Kimmy Scotti, and Alex Moore, 8VC invests in companies enabling industry transformation in such areas as finance, government, energy, education, business processes, smart enterprises, healthcare, and consumer. [ Finsmes ] There’s no shame in a $100M startupThe era of unicorn startups has created a distorted view of entrepreneurial success. All the talk about billion-dollar exits has inflated the numbers that define a win. Starting and selling a company for $100 million dollars is an outlier event in terms of pure entrepreneurial probability, but such outcomes are viewed as well short of success in many corners of today’s startup world. [ Tech Crunch ] London-based VC Notion Capital has announced a new $80 million startup fundNotion Capital, a London-based venture capital firm that backs startups across Europe, has announced a new $80 million (£60 million) startup fund that will be used to back later stage companies. Notion has raised 55% of this fund so far, according to TechCrunch. The VC, which focuses on backing enterprise software and cloud companies, also announced on Tuesday the final closing of a $140 million (£107 million) venture fund to back early stage startups. Prezi makes its first acquisition, snaps up Latvian data visualization startup Infogram |