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- 🏠 The billionaires are back again
Gm.
Some fascinating poll results from Friday. Let's get dat bread.
And here's a poll relevant to this edition:
If you were a billionaire, would you start another company? |
FRESH POWDER
Looking at three startups that recently topped up their coffers. Congrats!
STARTUPS
Spotify -> Neko Health
Spotify founder Daniel Ek has already accomplished a lot in his life. Think about it: where would we be without Spotify? Buying songs for a buck a piece on iTunes? I'd rather be sent to the sunken place.
Now, Ek has his sights set on another industry. An industry even larger than music:
Neko Health
The new startup is called Neko Health, and the product is AI-powered body scans.
Yep, another AI-powered startup. But Neko isn't your average ChatGPT knockoff.
According to Neko, these body scans use 360-degree body scanners equipped with over 70 sensors that can detect and measure the growth of birthmarks, rashes, and age spots, as well as abnormalities in heart function, blood pressure, and pulse.
Looking Ahead
Neko is the latest in a long line of AI-powered health tech startups. Turns out people really believe our future robot overlords can keep us healthy.
If Neko is anywhere near as successful as Spotify, then I guess we'll all be lining up for AI body scans in the near future.
APPS
The TikTok of Text
Instagram founders Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger left Facebook in 2018.
Now, they're starting an app called Artifact, a personalized news feed that uses Machine Learning (ML) to predict what blogs you'll enjoy and will soon let you discuss your articles with your friends.
Think of it as the TikTok of text — although some may call it Google Reader 2.0 or even Twitter 2.0. The app is still in public beta with signups here.
So this is cool and all, but:
We need a TikTok of Chipotle
Systrom is a big fan of ML.
"What I saw was that every time we use ML to improve the consumer experience, things got really good really quickly."
What else should we use ML on to improve the experience?
Chipotle should build an app that records your post-burrito bathroom time and picks your best personalized burrito for you next time.
Google Calendar should build a FitBit plug-in that syncs your heart rate and meetings and then use ML to tell you which employees give you the biggest headaches.
Motion Software that tracks how much time you spend in each room of your house and then tells you how many rooms to get in your next house.
QUICK HITS
Seed Round
Stat: 573,000: The number of jobs added in January. Nothing makes sense anymore.
Story we're watching: Google has been revealed as the mystery $300M investor in Anthropic, an AI startup and competitor to OpenAI. Considering that OpenAI's largest backer is Google competitor Microsoft, quite the battle appears to be brewing here.
Rabbit hole: Controlling Your Own Destiny (Kyle Harrison)
WHAT ELSE IS GOING ON
Elon won the "Tweet" case.
Sports Illustrated is now using AI to help generate content.
The cure for blindness is growing ever closer.
A more expensive iPhone "Ultra" could be coming in 2024.
MONDAY MUSIC
I listened to 2Pac's Me Against The World for the first time in a couple years.
Talk about feeling hype.
LAYOFFS TRACKER
Notable layoffs this week
Built: 36 people (8%)
Surmodics: 58 people (13%)
Protocol Labs: 89 people (21%)
FOUNDERS CORNER
The best resources we came across this weekend that will help you become a better founder, builder, or investor.
🙉 Why are startups posting memes and how the heck are TikTokers starting VC funds? Just because it's monkey business doesn't mean it can't be big-money business.
🐝 Starting a newsletter? Sign up for Beehiiv for the best analytics and team.
🧘🏻 Check out the Moment of Zen podcast with founders Erik Torenberg, Antonio Garcia Martinez, and Dan Romero. This pod with Replit founder Amjad Masad was 🔥.
IRL
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