gm gm. Tomorrow is Apple's "Peek Performance" event where it's expected to unveil new versions of the iPhone SE, iPad, and Mac computer. 

New hardware aside, how do we keep letting a $2.6 trillion company get away with lame puns like this?? C'mon Mr. Cook, your puns are overdone. 

GEOPOLITICS

Tech takes a stand on Russia

As the war between Russia and Ukraine continues to escalate, US tech companies have begun to make decisions on whether to pause or suspend services and sales in Russia. 

The tech world's reaction 

It can be tough to keep track of what every company is doing, so here’s a quick rundown of all the tech-related sanctions that have been passed down so far, compiled by Justine Moore in her Accelerated newsletter. 

• Apple has stopped selling products and is restricting Apple Pay usage in Russia.

• Google suspended its ad business in Russia.

• Reddit banned links to Russian state media outlets, is rejecting ads from Russian companies, and has “quarantined” r/Russia.

• Snap also stopped ads in Russia and Belarus.

• Airbnb halted operations in Russia and Belarus.

• Twitter and Meta, both paused ads in Russia.

• TikTok, one of the few global social apps that hasn’t stopped selling ads in Russia, has blocked Russian state media accounts in the EU.

Russia's reaction

Russia is using the war to increase its stranglehold on the flow of free information its citizens are receiving. It has fully blocked Facebook as of Friday and continues to limit access to Twitter. There are even rumors that Russia plans to fully disconnect from the global internet in the coming weeks, which is technically impossible, but still goes to show the how far Russia is willing to go to control information within its borders. 

Zoom out: For a full list of the companies that have suspended operations in Russia (and those that haven’t), check out this list compiled by Yale Management Professor Jeffrey Sonnenfeld. 

VENTURE

VC fund round up 

Homebrew goes self-funded. The firm is ditching its traditional venture structure (raise a fund, deploy a fund, repeat) in favor of a more evergreen model that is funded entirely by the firms GPs, Satya Patel and Hunter Walk.

The D’Amelio family is launching a VC fund. The TikTok-famous family, led by sisters Charli and Dixie, are formalizing their investments under a new $25 million fund, called 444 Capital. The fund will focus on women- and minority-led startups and will likely leverage the sisters' enormous TikTok followings to woo founders. Bet no one at Tiger Global can even renegade, smh. 

Inside look at Peter Thiel's Founder's Fund. You gotta read this great interview from Connie Loizos at TechCrunch that gives fantastic insight into how one of the most successful funds out there is run.

QUICK HITS

Seed round

Stat: More Russians are conducting Google searches related to leaving Russia than have done so in 18 years since such data became public. 

Startup: Combine Turo, Bird scooters, and U-Haul, and you end up with Fetch. The truck rental service enables users to walk up to a truck, unlock it with an app, and pay for it by the hour or day. The firm has some of its own trucks, but individual truck owners can make their own vehicles available on the marketplace as well. Fetch just raised $3.5 million to expand its operations. More here.

Rabbit Hole: The 25 best batman villains, ranked. (The Ringer)

WHAT ELSE IS GOING ON

• The hacker group Anonymous says it hacked Russian streaming services and TV channels to broadcast war footage.

• Visa and Mastercard suspended their operations in Russia.

• The Aid for Ukraine DAO has raised $1.45 million in donations so far.

• Vice launched a virtual office in Decentraland.

• The Batman made over $250 million in worldwide box office sales, the second-best opening of the pandemic era.

SOMEBODY BUILD THIS

Yeah, somebody's definitely had this idea before...but we won't rest until applicant tracking systems (ATS) die a fiery death. 

TRIVIA

Many dog breeds have hit the big and little screens, but what is the most popular pooch when it comes to appearing in television and movies? 

NEWS FROM THE HOUSE

Your SXSW event guide

We know it's hard to keep track of everything that is going on at a mega event like SXSW. So, like that weirdly organized friend who brings a printed out itinerary to spring break, we curated a list of all the ~unofficial~ events and parties going down. 

Consider this the master list to defeat FOMO once and for all. Get it here. 

TID BITS

Cool stuff we found around the internet. Do with it what you will. 

📧 You're using email wrong 

✍️ The three types of successful seed pitches

🗺 A map showing the first 8 days of Russia's invasion of Ukraine

TRIVIA ANSWER

German Shepard. With 562 film and TV credits, it's the most filmed breed of all time. 

In second, third, and fourth are the bulldog (284), the poodle (209), and doberman pinscher (176)

Source Reddit, u/elviejozuloqi