Hello, readers. Hallam Bullock here, writing from London. Venture capitalists are known to preach that failure is essential to innovation. It's just as well since, as Insider's Alistair Barr and Melia Russell write, they'll have a lot to preach about soon.
Startups are facing a "Mass Extinction Event" — and most people can't even see it. That's because startups are not public companies. You can't watch a stock price tumble in real-time. However, if you look closer, you can see the slow trainwreck taking place.
That's where we start today's newsletter.
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1. It's the beginning of the end for startups. That's according to Tom Loverro, a general partner at IVP, who said: "The Mass Extinction Event for startups is underway." As Loverro also noted, startups die quietly and slowly. VCs are known to let them wither in their portfolios while they bank on a small handful becoming the next Meta or Twitter.
- So, there's a natural run-rate of startup failures, but the problem is that the VC boom that peaked in 2021 put this natural order out of whack.
- Now, the money spigot has run dry. On the horizon are painful asset sales, nasty cram-down recapitalizations, ultra-cheap acqui-hires, and yes, simple shutdowns and bankruptcies.
- In our full analysis, we dive even deeper into this "Mass Extinction Event," including signs that can be gleaned from the fates of WeWork, Zume, and Plastiq.
Read the full story.
In other news:
2. Is Jeff Bezos channeling Elon Musk and trolling Wall Street? Bezos unexpectedly bought a single Amazon share in May, marking his first known purchase of the company's stock in over two decades. But the timing of the trade — 4:20 — has some people asking questions. More here.
3. Venture capital giant Andreessen Horowitz is set to open its first office outside of the US. "But where?" I hear you ask. Well, the Silicon Valley giant is betting on the UK to become a leader in crypto regulation. So, Andreessen Horowitz is coming to London. Read more.
4. Footage shows police shouting at a self-driving car that stalled during a mass shooting. According to witnesses and videos posted online, a Cruise self-driving taxi disrupted emergency crews responding to a mass shooting in San Francisco on Friday night. The full report.
5. Tech companies are getting tougher on remote workers. A slew of Silicon Valley bosses are not backing down when it comes to return-to-office policies, even though many of them either embraced — or at least tolerated — remote work during the pandemic. Now, they're getting strict.
6. Some of Steve Jobs' most iconic quotes came from a commencement address he made in 2005. Eighteen years later, three big lessons still resonate today. They include stories about love, death, and following your gut. Read them here.
7. Investors shut out of traditional funding rounds are finding another way to snap up shares in buzzy AI startups. They are scouring the secondary markets, where founders, employees, and even investors and VC funds are selling their shares before an exit or IPO. The full story.
8. Twitter's new CEO shared her vision for "Twitter 2.0" — and it sounds a lot like Elon Musk's ambitions. In an email to Twitter employees, Linda Yaccarino said it's her mission to turn Twitter into "the world's most accurate real-time information source." She then shared the email in a public Twitter thread. Read more.
Odds and ends:
9. Can you charge a Tesla car while driving? Kind of. It is possible, but only in very specific situations. One YouTuber managed it by attaching a gas generator to his Tesla Model S. However, there are other ideas being developed, including electric roads and solar panels. The full story.
10. The best streaming devices of 2023 for speed, reliability, and quality. Based on a combination of hands-on testing and a decade worth of experience covering home entertainment products, we've found the best streaming devices you can buy. Check them out.
Curated by Hallam Bullock in London. (Feedback or tips? Email hbullock@insider.com or tweet @hallam_bullock). Edited by Shona Ghosh.
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