Does Even Mark Zuckerberg Know What Facebook Is?Mark Zuckerberg had just returned from paternity leave, and he wanted to talk about Facebook, democracy, and elections and to define what he felt his creation owed the world in exchange for its hegemony. A few weeks earlier, in early September, the company’s chief security officer had admitted that Facebook had sold $100,000 worth of ads on its platform to Russian-government-linked trolls who intended to influence the American political process. Now, in a statement broadcast live on Facebook on September 21 and subsequently posted to his profile page, Zuckerberg pledged to increase the resources of Facebook’s security and election-integrity teams and to work “proactively to strengthen the democratic process.” [ NY Mag ] Indonesia's First Billion-Dollar Startup Looks to Expand Abroad
Go-Jek, Indonesia’s first billion-dollar startup, is looking to expand its ride-hailing services to three to four countries in Southeast Asia, escalating its rivalry with Grab and Uber Technologies Inc. Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer Nadiem Makarim didn’t specify the countries or services that Go-Jek will target, but said in an interview they will be places with a large population and where cash rules, hinting that Go-Jek’s digital payment service will be a key part of its push into new markets. [ Bloomberg ] Afore Capital Launches With $47M To Invest In Startups At A Hot New Stage Called 'Pre-seed'When seed funds get too big for young startups, Gaurav Jain and Anamatira Banerji think they can help. “We’ve each invested in a number of companies, and one thing we kept coming back to was that seed funds were telling founders they were too early,” says Banerji. With larger fund sizes, seed investors weren’t supporting companies that were just one or two founders and a prototype without sales or clear market demand. [ Forbes ] Shake Shack Founder Danny Meyer Has Raised a $220 Million Private Equity FundShake Shack founder Danny Meyer is getting into the private equity business. The New York restaurateur has raised $220 million in the fund, called Enlightened Hospitality Investments LP, according to The Wall Street Journal. The fund was set up in July of last year, and will invest in companies beyond the restaurant industry that share Meyer’s “employee-centric focus.” Meyer told the WSJ that he saw the fund as “an opportunity to step out of the restaurant” world. [ Fortune ] The hottest startups in HelsinkiAfter a lean few years following Nokia's decline and economic recession, Finland's capital is feeling confident. "The maturity of the scene has developed," says Miki Kuusi, co-founder and CEO of food-delivery startup Wolt. How 20 big-name VCs in the US are investing at Series A and B [datagraphic]Andreessen Horowitz. Accel. Kleiner Perkins. Why did Ellen Pao lose her gender discrimination lawsuit? ‘People were not ready’In 2015, when investor Ellen Pao lost her $16 million gender discrimination lawsuit against the venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, it seemed like a major defeat for women in tech seeking more inclusion, with some VCs privately deciding to higher fewer women as a result. On the latest episode of Recode Decode, hosted by Kara Swisher, Pao said the lawsuit nevertheless started a conversation about systemic bias in Silicon Valley, giving others the courage to report their own experiences. Pao recently released a book about the court battle and its aftermath, “Reset: My Fight for Inclusion and Lasting Change.” [ Recode ] An executive who helped create Bumble started an app to help women find mom friendsIn a desperate attempt to meet other mothers, Ivana Mannel Googled "how to make mom friends in Dallas." She didn't have any family or friends with kids of their own in her area, and was desperate to find someone to relate to. What she found on the other end of her search was Peanut, an app that links up mothers with other compatible moms in the same area. Now, she says she goes on the app everyday to exchange messages with other moms. One of her "matches" is teaching her French, and another how to make Sushi. "I have people who understand what it’s like to be a mother and they’re there to help. It’s so amazing and simply an enormous relief because I know I am not alone." she said. [ Business Insider ] Change is hard, even in Silicon ValleyCash Is More Important Than Your MotherUnderstanding Ethereum, Bitcoin’s Virtual CousinBitcoin has many cousins and competitors. None have grown more popular than Ethereum, a global computer network with its own virtual currency, called Ether. What is Ethereal? Ethereum is a global computing network operating according to rules defined by Ethereum software. Those rules allow the Ethereum network to be programmed to complete certain types of computing tasks, with every computer on the network completing the task in parallel to ensure it is done correctly. Generally the tasks involve money. The creator of Ethereum, Vitalik Buterin, has likened it to a global smartphone that can be programmed to operate according to the apps built on top of it. The apps are called Dapps because they are run by a decentralized network of computers. [ NY Times ] |