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Gm.
The world cup was yesterday?
Sorry I didn't realize.
I was too busy scrolling through Elon's tweets and mentions all day.
FRESH POWDER
Looking at three funds that recently topped up their coffers.
WHAT IS HAPPENING?!?!
Ok, if you thought Twitter was going crazy, then wait until you hear what happened yesterday. It's insane. Here's the semi-chronological breakdown.
@TwitterSupport announces that all accounts posting links to Instagram, Facebook, Mastodon, Truth Social, Tribel, Nostr, and Post will be suspended. Twitter erupts.
Y Combinator founder Paul Graham says enough is enough and tweets that his Mastodon link is on his website. Paul Graham, who is Silicon Valley royalty in the words of Reddit founder Alexis Ohanian, was suspended from Twitter.
Elon apologizes and says there will be no more major decisions without a vote. Elon said Paul's account will be restored shortly. He also says that accounts will only be suspended if their *primary* purpose is to promote competitors. No free promo.
Elon starts a poll asking if he should step down from Twitter. With 10 hours left, 4 million people have voted and it's currently 57% YES and 43% NO.
MIT research scientist and podcast host Lex Fridman offers to be Twitter CEO for no salary. Elon says, "you must really like pain" and that there's one condition: he must invest his life savings into Twitter which has been burning money. Lex says he's in and that "we'll turn things around".
Elon says that "No one wants the job who can actually keep Twitter alive. There is no successor". Ouch Lex.
Ok, all sounds like a normal day on Elon-Twitter until that last one.
If I took anything away from today's insanity, it's the fact that you need to own your audience. Twitter can go away at any point, you need to build an email list ASAP.
Otherwise you'll be freaking out every time a new Twitter rumor hits.
— Jason Levin (@iamjasonlevin)
META
Carmack Leaves Meta
A tough year for Meta’s metaverse division just got even tougher.
That is because video game and virtual reality OG John Carmack has resigned from his role as consulting CTO at Meta.
The Resignation
Carmack joined Meta in 2014 after Oculus, the VR headset company he was CTO of, was acquired by the Zuck death star. Considering that he was well-regarded after successful stints with the classic video games Doom and Quake, this was deemed a big get for Meta.
As Carmack admits in his resignation post, he did some good work with Meta, as the Quest 2 headset is “almost exactly what I wanted to see from the beginning” and “a good product”.
The problem, and the reason for his resignation, is Meta’s efficiency.
According to Carmack, as a “systems optimization person”, he just can’t stand seeing Meta operate “at half the effectiveness that would make me happy” anymore.
So, instead of fighting a losing fight at Meta, he’s locking in on his artificial general intelligence startup Keen Technologies.
A Tough Year
Carmack’s resignation is the latest bad news in Meta’s nightmare 2022.
11,000 employees laid off, its first-ever mass layoff.
$9.4 billion in losses through Q3 for Meta’s metaverse division.
Stock price is down 63%.
Widespread doubts about the metaverse strategy.
Unfavorable Apple App Store guidelines.
And now, Carmack is leaving.
Let’s see how Meta responds in 2023.
— Stephen Flanders (@SteveFlanders22)
QUICK HITS
Seed Round
Stat: Shein has some fresh competition, as fashion tech startup Virgio has raised $37 million to sell Gen Z and Millenials drippy, affordable, and sustainable clothes.
Story we're watching: Frontier just facilitated $11M of carbon removal purchases on behalf of Stripe and Shopify. Many believe that carbon removal is critical to achieving climate goals, so hopefully we see more purchases like these.
Rabbithole: Readwise's Reader app (Readwise)
WHAT ELSE IS GOING ON
An internal study slammed Amazon for its stressful work environment.
Scientists may have found the first two “Water Worlds”.
Riot Games, creator of League of Legends, said SBF hurt their image and are suing to cancel their sponsorship deal. Maybe if SBF was actually good at League, this wouldn't be happening...
Trump NFTs are absolutely mooning in price, currently worth .43 ETH a pop ($516).
MONDAY MUSIC
Artist: girl in red (Spotify)
Album: GO:OD AM by Mac Miller (Spotify)
Song: Anti-Hero by Lil Wayne (Spotify)
LAYOFFS TRACKER
Notable layoffs this week
Headspace: 50 people (4%)
SonderMind: 50 people (15%)
BigCommerce: 176 people (13%)
FOUNDERS CORNER
The best resources we came across this weekend that will help you become a better founder, builder, or investor.
🚗 Adventure Capitalist by Jim Rogers: the true story of an investor who drove through 130 countries in a bright yellow Mercedes convertible. Epic and insightful.
🐦 I bought this 23 Twitter hook templates set a few months ago. Enjoy for free.
📬 I finally figured out how to send recurring emails in Gmail!!!