Gm. Still can't get over the fact that Adam Neumann is using the name "Goddess Nature Token" unironically for his new startup.

Say what you will about the man...he can sell a vision.

FRESH POWDER

Looking at three funds that recently topped up their coffers.

FINTECH

Layoffs, loans, and losses

The layoff bug that has affected seemingly every high growth startup has now bitten one-click checkout company, Bolt. On Wednesday, CEO Maju Kuruvilla confirmed that the company laid off 185 employees representing about one-third of its workforce.

Layoffs are always extremely tough, but the repercussions for some Bolt employees may extend beyond just losing their job.

Some ill-timed loans

Back in February, Bolt gave employees the opportunity to buy out their stock options early by borrowing money from the company.

The idea behind offering loans is to reduce the sting of capital gains taxes by granting employees the option to own their shares for longer. Longer ownership time = less capital gains taxes once exercised.

But for it to make sense for a Bolt employee to take on a loan to buy out their options, the value of the stock needs to continue to rise. If it doesn’t, they could be on the hook for a loan worth more than their shares.

• Even worse, the loans that Bolt granted have a stipulation that states if an employee stops working for Bolt, the loan must be repaid within 90 days. That means there is the possibility that some employees were laid off, then hit with a bill from their old employer.

For what it’s worth, a Bolt spokesperson told Axios that only a “single digit” number of employees who were laid off took out loans. She also said that the aggregate amount was below $200,000 so it doesn’t seem like any employee faced a worst-case scenario.

Bottom line: Bolt is not the only startup to offer similar types of loans. They were relatively popular back during the dotcom boom of the ‘90s which is why the industry as a whole has soured on them. “Several dotcom-era vets warned today's entrepreneurs that these loans were a bad idea, particularly given that the unicorn herd was almost certain to be thinned,” Dan Primack writes for Axios. “They were right.”

STARTUP TO WATCH

Humble Bee copies nature’s homework

Sometimes a startup comes across our radar that is too absurd—and cool—to not write about. Introducing Humble Bee Bio, a New Zealand-based company that just raised $3.2 million as part of its Series A.

A Series A that’s all about bees

For the last few years, the company has been studying Australian masked bees, a type of bee that creates a unique nesting material for its larvae.

• The material has plastic-like properties including resistance to acids, bases, and hot temperatures. Crucially, it’s also biodegradable.

Humble Bee has been digging through the DNA of masked bees to see if it can identify the exact genes and proteins that create the plastic-y material. If it can extract the right genetic code, it hopes to use it as a blueprint to synthesize it it in a lab.

Bottom line: Humble Bee is still in the proof of concept phase, so keep a good handle on your horses. But as far as synthetic bee plastic companies go…it’s definitely generating some buzz.

QUICK HITS

Seed Round

Stat: Despite the alarm bells ringing across the startup world, Tiger Global, Insight Partners, and a16z have all led more funding rounds from January to May 2022 than the same period in 2021. Based on a Crunchbase report, it’s mainly crossover funds (which have been getting demolished in the public markets) that are slowing down private investments.

Story we’re watching: Making semiconductors is expensive and time consuming despite being more in demand than ever. So researchers from around the industry are teaming up to create a semiconductor metaverse. Nicknamed the "semiverse," the idea is to enable greater collaboration between chipmakers by enabling them to all use the same “virtual lab” to test new ideas. We know, we know…you were still getting used to the metaverse, but the burgeoning semiverse has potentially massive real world ripple effects. Namely, cheaper and better chips.

Rabbit hole: Find out the dinosaurs that lived in your hometown (Dinosaur Pictures).

WHAT ELSE IS GOING ON

• Broadcom is acquiring VMware for a whopping $61 billion, making it one of the biggest acquisitions in tech history.

• OnlyFans founder Tim Stokley is launching an NFT startup called Zoop.

• A group of Twitter investors are suing Elon Musk, alleging that he manipulated the stock with his Tweets for his own benefit.

• Ripple is expected to explore an IPO after SEC lawsuit ends

GUESSTIMATE

If Snap had accepted Facebook’s acquisition offer back in 2013 for $3 billion, but had taken it all in FB stock, what would that be worth today?

A. $1 billion

B. $10 billion

C. $12 billion

D. $120 billion

For context, Snap is worth ~$24 billion right now.

NEWS FROM THE HOUSE

What do Instagram, Uber, and Airbnb all have in common?

They were all launched during the last economic downturn circa 2008.

If you want to learn how to build the next great company when times get tough, sign up for our “Building in Bear Market” sprint course. It features:

• speakers from a16z and Sequoia Capital

• 4 live sessions

• 100% free

FUNDRAISING FRIDAY

A solid system for finding and securing potential investors.

FOUNDERS CORNER

The best resources we came across this week that will help you become a better founder, builder, or investor.

🚀 10 tactics to grow a bootstrapped startup

🏛️ A go-to-market strategy explaining the importance of niche for marketplace startups

🃏 Eight pitch decks used by crypto companies to raise millions

GUESSTIMATE ANSWER

B. When Facebook offered to acquire Snap for $3 billion in November 2013 its share price was ~$48. Its share price is $192 as of market close yesterday, meaning the stock has 4x in that time and Snap’s fantasy all stock deal would be worth $12 billion.