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FRESH POWDER

Looking at three funds that recently topped up their coffers.

GUEST POST

Turbulence by Jeff Becker

This is a guest piece from Jeff Becker, a General Partner at Antler. Turbulence was originally posted on Jeff's newsletter Monday Morning Meeting. Subscribe here.

TLDR: Long-term problems with long-term people.

Everyone is talking about FTX, and while the turbulent tech moments these past few years should have made us more accustomed to the craziness, somehow I think it made us even more myopic.

Here are some things worth revisiting:

• When we first started working from home, everyone was up in arms. Now no one wants to go back

• When Clubhouse took off, we thought social media was changing forever

• When NFT’s went mainstream and Bored Apes minted millionaires we thought the future of art, access, and utility had arrived

• When we printed obscene amounts of debt to buoy the economy, and everyone was feeling rich, very few took the long-term view on what that would really mean

• When Elizabeth Holmes finally went on trial, we assumed there would be greater accountability and diligence going forward

• Now, we’ve got companies creating fake coins to bolster balance sheet value, and the money flowing to all kinds of interesting places…

But what’s the point of laying this out?

It’s to remind people that the long-term view is the hard one, but the right one. If we go back, I’ve written about why the move to remote work would ultimately be hybrid regardless of the near-term swings. We covered why Clubhouse was fundamentally interesting and where the flaws were too, before the air was let out of the balloon. We went deep on NFT’s to talk about utility and access, likening the more surface level use cases to gambling. I even opposed the enormity of the debt printing, in favor of short-term (personal) pain in the stock market, and going as far as to share that sentiment in emails to Earhoox customers on why—even though it would never happen—that taking PPP loans should be reserved for those truly in need.

Fundamentally, we need to avoid the urge to make a quick buck. I mean sure, play the $1.9B Powerball on Jackpocket (disclosure: I’m an investor), like I did. But we’re talking about gambling tens of dollars there, not tens of billions of dollars like the government and the largest investors in the valley. Like the metaverse for example—the only advancement in civilization that has accrued more investment than the metaverse is the moon landing. And that’s why we wrote about equal and opposite reactions—investing in the real world to balance investments in the digital one.

As interest rates continue to rise, we’re going to see a reprioritization of asset classes, and it’s going to be harder for VC’s, particularly emerging managers, to raise from investors. That’s why we need to look at a 5-10 year arc—probably even longer. We need to focus on fundamentals, and step-changes in technology, not follow bandwagon opinions—at least not with any outsized allocations. That’s why we also need to return to investing in people—the right kinds of people—the ones who focus on long-term problems, leveraging first principles, and optimize for the future over the present.

That is to say, everything finds equilibrium eventually, and as the pendulum swings, it’s important to ask ourselves about the counterforce. To me, right now, it’s interoperability, AI/ML, quantum, longevity (also here), blockchain & cryptography (specifically zero-knowledge proofs & DeFi), personal data, and incentive alignment. Each of these areas have fundamental use cases that stand to better humanity and improve our collective abilities to live better lives and solve the world’s most pressing problems. We won’t make billions overnight, but those overnight wins have proven to be false idols anyway.

See you Monday.

SUSTAINABILITY

eVTOLs Hit The Skies

Over the millennium’s, humanity has devised multiple different ways to travel. 

Whether it be walking, riding a horse, peddling a bike, taking a train, driving a car, or catching an uber, there is no shortage of ways to get around. 

But, all of those methods are so yesterday. How cool would it be to dodge traffic and awkward uber conversations and catch an air taxi instead? 

That is the future that electric vehicle takeoff and landing aircraft (eVTOLs) are building.

The Midnight 

The leader in the race to the skies is Archer and the newly unveiled Midnight eVTOL aircraft. Which looks pretty freaking dope. 

As it is an eVTOL, it is fully powered by electricity. With a payload capacity of over 1,000 pounds, Midnight can take one pilot and four passengers on 20-mile back-to-back trips interspersed with 10-minute charging sessions, and it does so 1000 times quieter than a traditional helicopter and with no single point of failure. 

Midnight is currently hoping to be certified by late 2024 for a 2025 release, with its initial route being from Manhattan to New Jersey. 

If you’ve ever tried to drive from New Jersey to NYC, you know how badly this is needed.

The Next Evolution of Travel?

Traffic in major cities is reaching unbearable levels. Besides being a major pain in the ass, it is also quite bad for the environment. The problem is bad enough that NYC is considering a congestion tax to make people not want to drive. 

Electric cars fix the environmental part, but it doesn’t fix the pain in the ass part.

Electric aircraft, however, do fix both problems. There’s a hell of a lot more sky than road. 

Yes, it’s still super early, and it will likely be ridiculously expensive to start.

However, if eVTOLs can scale, they are perfectly suited to play a key role in the next evolution of transportation. 

Avoid traffic, save the environment, and travel in style?

QUICK HITS

Seed Round

Stat: $56 billion: the value of Elon’s payment package at Tesla. If you think that’s a bit much, you’re not alone, as Tesla shareholder Richard J. Tornetta is suing Elon over his “excessive” compensation. 

Story we're watching: The FDA has finally approved lab-grown meat. After trying it, former vegan Sam Bankman-Fried has now become the #1 patron of his local BBQ joint.

Rabbit hole: Effective Altruism and Its Future (eigenrobot)

WHAT ELSE IS GOING ON

• Cornell-built robots are being deployed to help modernize the grape and wine industries. Viva la vino!

• Google Maps now has a live view AR feature in select cities. I've already gotten honked at by 6 cab drivers this week.

• A new study definitively showed that American internet access sucks.

• Amazon may be laying off 10,000 people, that didn't stop them from hosting a Steve Aoki concert in an Amazon warehouse. Jobs are temporary, your blurry video of that EDM concert you saw freshman year of college is forever.

GUESSTIMATE

Z-library, the pirated library of the internet, was shut down and the founders were arrested in Argentina. How many books do you think were on there?

FUNDRAISING FRIDAY

Everyone's favorite VC-backed city-building company made a big announcement. Think pitching a SaaS startup to investor is hard? Try a city.

LAYOFFS TRACKER

Notable layoffs this week:

Yotpo: 70 people (9%)

Hopin: 120 people (17%)

Roku: 200 people (7%)

Morning Brew: 14%

FOUNDERS CORNER

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

🧠 Leigh Honeywell gives her ADHD Founders Toolbox (and includes a great reference to Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance).

📕 I'm such a book nerd that Readwise gave me a free-for-60-days link to give friends. You can turn your Kindle highlights into flashcards and sync them to Notion, Roam, etc.

😂 Founders deserve to laugh (even in a bear market). Satirist Eli Grober tells us where he was every time he heard who Pete Davidson was dating.

GUESSTIMATE ANSWER

Over 11,000,000 books. Still less than Balaji reads per year.