Peter Thiel is being considered to chair Trump’s intelligence advisory boardIn a fairly epic new Vanity Fair profile, the magazine reports that Peter Thiel is the frontrunner to become the chair of the President’s Intelligence Advisory Board (PIAB), a meta intelligence entity that functions independently from the nation’s spy agencies. The makeup of the board has varied over the years; while some presidents stock it with intelligence experts from the private sector, others reward political allies as they might in other appointee positions. Vanity Fair reports that while it sounded like Thiel’s potential role was off the table in August, now the PayPal co-founder is again in talks to take the top post. [ TechCrunch ] E765: Pirate Bay Peter Sunde: P2P revolution, jail, broken democracy, politics, Prez Zuck-#SthlmTechGeneral Catalyst just hired its first female managing director: Holly Maloney McConnellHolly Maloney McConnell has joined the venture firm General Catalyst Partners as a managing director, operating out of its Boston office. McConnell joins the firm from North Bridge Growth Equity, which was rebranded last month as Guidepost Growth Equity. McConnell spent seven years as a principal with the firm; there, she sourced and helped lead numerous investments in software-based companies, including the Austin-based managed WordPress platform WP Engine, along with Spoonflower, a Durham, N.C.-based online community built around fabric and textile design. [ TechCrunch ] The $2.6 billion trade secret: Hearing offers peek at what Uber stands to lose in Waymo trialWith three weeks to go until the explosive Waymo v. Uber trial begins, court-watchers got a peek Wednesday at the hefty price tag Uber could face if it loses. Waymo is seeking $2.6 billion in damages for just one of the nine self-driving car trade secrets it claims Uber misappropriated, lawyers disclosed at a hearing in federal court in San Francisco. It’s a number that underscores the importance of the technology that’s at the heart of the legal battle, as both rivals race to stake their claim in the burgeoning autonomous vehicle market. [ Silicon Valley ] The Education of Ellen PaoThere’s a particular kind of resentment that can fester when a self-described rule follower feels she did everything right only to be thwarted by unwritten rules that feel arbitrary and wrong. In “Reset: My Fight for Inclusion and Lasting Change,” Ellen K. Pao traces a journey of disillusionment that culminated in the lawsuit she brought against her employer, the white-shoe venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, for gender discrimination. Pao lost her case in 2015, after a grueling cross-examination by the other side’s attorney, who presented into evidence a “resentment” chart Pao kept of her colleagues and accused Pao of “never” having “done anything for women.” “I’d been instructed by my lawyers not to respond to comments like that, because it might open me up to more criticism — jurors could find me difficult or aggressive,” Pao writes. “I ended up coming across as distant, even a bit robotic, as I bit my tongue to keep my answers short and noncombative.” [ NY Times ] As Angel Investments Become Restricted, Venture Capital Fills The Void In IndiaLast month, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) formed a committee to examine angel networks in the country. The market regulator shot off notices to over a dozen such networks in the past two months, asking them to provide details on their fundraising process and explain whether they operate within the ambit of the Indian market securities law. Because these platforms connect investors with enterprises for raising capital, SEBI’s concern is that they might be operating in a regulatory grey area by acting like stock exchanges that are akin to public markets. [ Forbes ] Silicon Valley is suffering from an Icarus complexDaedalus, one of the great innovators of Greek Antiquity, is most famous for creating the labyrinth that contained the Taurus of Minos, the Minotaur. But after betraying King Minos, he was himself imprisoned within its walls. Seeking to escape Crete, he invented two pairs of wings that he and his son, Icarus, could use to fly. [ QZ ] Shasta Ventures debuts fund focused on AR/VRVC Continent: Europe’s Top Venture Capital Investors By Country"DISRUPTION" IS HOW SILICON VALLEY EATS ITS YOUNGStop Looking For The Next Silicon Valley: America Is Full Of High-Tech TalentThe Present of ICO Crowdfunding With Investor James SowersA Down Payment With a Catch: You Must Be an Airbnb HostYC wants to let people invest in its startups through the blockchainShe Came to America When She Was 4. Now the Company She Started Makes More Than $100 Million a Year Yahoo’s former VP of Mobile launches YaDoggie, a dog wellness startupVC Kirsten Green talks shop — including responding to criticisms of Bodega |