Continued thread
This is the Silicon Valley “startup” model. Startups are not long-term sustainable businesses or small businesses. A startup is a temporary business designed to either grow exponentially and exit (sell) or to fail fast.
#vc
2 posts1 participant0 posts today
A little reminder that DuckDuckGo is venture capital (VC) funded.
The way VC works:
1. You get VC
2. You grow as fast as you can (or fail fast)
3. You sell (either to a larger corporation or to the public in an IPO; this is called the “exit”)
(In case any of you are surprised by recent/future developments.)
Listen hustle folks and VCs. Completion of the intra-American Iron Curtain will be a business opp for a border theme park on the Mexican side. You too can make money off ICE.
Educational visitor center, taco trucks, a replica of a checkpoint - name it Checkpoint Jesus for the common first name and to pi** off Evangelicals.
A mini wall parcours for kids, a waterslide called Rio Pequeno with plastic razor wire. A large observation tower, drone racing, and more.
Mira. Se ríen. Se están riendo. De ti y de mi.
«Metaview, an AI startup aiming to modernize recruitment, has raised $35 million in a Series B round led by Google Ventures. The company, founded by former Uber and Palantir executives, offers AI tools that streamline interview note-taking, generate job descriptions, and optimize hiring workflows.»
The epitome of Silicon Valley: a startup to help people “cheat on everything.” Best three-word summary of the history of America from 1492 onwards.
The perfect Trump-era fraud.
And OF COURSE a16z would rush in to fund this crap.
TechCrunch · Cluely, a startup that helps 'cheat on everything,' raises $15M from a16z | TechCrunchCluely's new funding comes roughly two months after it raised $5.3 million in seed funding co-led by Abstract Ventures and Susa Ventures.
Moorpark Us101 N / Wendy Dr **Report of Fire** 8:19 PM #CHP #VenturaCounty #VC
Replied in thread
I'm the #CEO of a multi million dollar #VC funded #startup. Due to the #Pareto Principle, which tells me we only need 20% of people for the second 80% of the result, I have deducted that we can fire 80% of our employees. #quickMaths
"Builder.ai lacked true AI, instead utilising a group of Indian developers who were merely pretending to be bots writing code."
It's hilarious to see the online reaction to this. It has been common knowledge for YEARS.
The Wall Street Journal already questioned the "AI" part of builder.ai in 2019: https://www.wsj.com/articles/ai-startup-boom-raises-questions-of-exaggerated-tech-savvy-11565775004
Techcrunch mentioned it in 2022: https://techcrunch.com/2022/03/30/builder-ai-raises-100m-series-c-led-by-insight-partners-to-scale-up-its-software-automation/
I don't hang out on #Bluesky and I'm all in on the #Fediverse, but I have to admit that when I occasionally go over to Bluesky to see a thread that somebody has linked here or that was bridged here via #BridgyFed, I find that the comments on the thread tend to be quite good.
There's definitely an early-Twitter-before-it-turned-to-shit vibe to it.
Mind you, I don't think it will last, because everything backed by #VC eventually eventually enshittifies, but right now, it really is pretty good.
Ventura 0 Sr33 **Report of Fire** 5:15 PM #CHP #VenturaCounty #VC
Moorpark Us101 S / No Conejo Scales **Car Fire** 1:21 PM #CHP #VenturaCounty #VC
“We’re building services that improve the personal computing experience by understanding your unique context and taking action at your command. When you use our services, you’re trusting us to handle your personal data.”
A VC-backed startup with Sam Altman as their lead investor* wants the keys to your Mac.
Yeah, no.
* https://www.crunchbase.com/funding_round/software-applications-incorporated-seed--db0eafa1
#AI #privacy #Sky #SamAltman #startup #VC #BigTech #surveillance #capitalism #mac https://mastodon.macstories.net/@viticci/114586346228814327
Continued thread
Post 7: The Economic Impossibility
Infrastructure spending vs AI revenue ratio: 50:1
Translation: For every $50 spent on AI infrastructure, companies generate $1 in revenue.
SoftBank seeking record $16.5B bridge loan for Stargate
Connection wait times: 7 years for large facilities
Blocked projects: $64B worth since 2023
The math doesn't math.
#AIEconomics #Infrastructure #VC
US led economic sanctions on Russia & Yemen aren't even this effective.
“Here is the state of venture capital in early 2025:
Venture capital is moribund except AI.
AI is moribund except OpenAI.
OpenAI is a weird scam that wants to burn money so fast it summons AI God.
Nobody can cash out.”
With his typical thoughtful restraint, @davidgerard has told some hard truths:
https://pivot-to-ai.com/2025/05/03/in-2025-venture-capital-cant-pretend-everything-is-fine-any-more/
Pivot to AI · In 2025, venture capital can’t pretend everything is fine any moreVenture capital is screwed. A bubble in AI is their last hope, and they’re betting everything on Sam Altman. It’s heartwarming. Today, we have the Pitchbook-NVCA Venture Monitor for Q1 2025. This i…
Bridging alt and mainstreaming: A note on the shape of resistance
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZOoT8AbkNE There’s a nice post by Elena Rossini’s, “This is what resistance to the digital coup looks like.” she is commitment to the #Fediverse, #FOSS tools, and open publishing solutions, and her critique of #VC-funded platforms like #Substack and #Bluesky is needed. At the same time, it’s worth pausing to reflect on how we talk about these things, particularly when we’re speaking to an emerging audience, still navigating the gap between […]https://hamishcampbell.com/bridging-alt-and-mainstreaming-a-note-on-the-shape-of-resistance/
#VC giant #InsightPartners confirms investor data stolen in breach
OK, right: "Trump’s DEI ban throttles Africa’s gender investments" https://www.semafor.com/article/05/07/2025/trumps-dei-ban-throttles-africas-gender-investments
*But* "Women accounted for less than 5% of venture capital funding in Africa in the last decade."
*And* there's no money! (outside of AI, for the time being)
https://pivot-to-ai.com/2025/05/03/in-2025-venture-capital-cant-pretend-everything-is-fine-any-more/
Oops "The end of zero interest"
5% * 0 = 0, with or without DEI
www.semafor.com · Trump’s DEI ban throttles Africa’s gender investments
These nincompoops keep saying "it's just like the internet/smartphone", forgetting that both of those things were ridiculed by their ilk for a long time before finally realizing that everyone else had discovered the value they couldn't see through their prism of short-term greed - whereupon they joined the fray & ruined it fore everyone.
Having worked with #investors a lot: They're fucking idiots. That's why I don't anymore.
https://pivot-to-ai.com/2025/05/03/in-2025-venture-capital-cant-pretend-everything-is-fine-any-more/ #VC #business
Pivot to AI · In 2025, venture capital can’t pretend everything is fine any moreVenture capital is screwed. A bubble in AI is their last hope, and they’re betting everything on Sam Altman. It’s heartwarming. Today, we have the Pitchbook-NVCA Venture Monitor for Q1 2025. This i…