Scott Gottlieb, the former Food and Drug Administration chief, became known during his tenure for his efforts to regulate the tobacco and e-cigarette industries — and for his particular focus on Juul, the fast-growing e-cigarette company that Gottlieb squarely blames for creating a “youth epidemic” of e-cigarette use by teenagers. Indeed, when he announced that … Continue reading Former FDA chief Scott Gottlieb has rejoined the venture world — but he hasn’t forgotten Juul
Author: Eric
Palantir’s Hotly Anticipated IPO Set to Slide to 2020
Palantir is among the world’s most richly valued and most powerful tech startups, after spending 15 years on the private markets and amassing more than $2 billion in funding. It’s also one of the most hotly anticipated IPOs of this year. But while the data-mining company has told some investors it could go public in the second … Continue reading Palantir’s Hotly Anticipated IPO Set to Slide to 2020
Salesforce’s Success Rides on One Man’s Gut
Marc Benioff wanted everyone to know the statue was “a very, very big deal.” The software billionaire, a lover of all things Hawaiian, spent $7.5 million at auction in late 2017 for a centuries-old carving of the war god Ku and made a show of donating it to a museum in Honolulu last spring. Hawaii … Continue reading Salesforce’s Success Rides on One Man’s Gut
DoorDash, now valued at $12.6B, shoots for the moon
More than five years ago, Sequoia partner Alfred Lin called Tony Xu, the founder of a small on-demand delivery startup called DoorDash, to say he was passing on the company’s seed round. This was, of course, before venture capital funding in food delivery startups had taken off. DoorDash, launched out of Xu’s Stanford graduate school … Continue reading DoorDash, now valued at $12.6B, shoots for the moon
Elon Musk’s Boring Company lands $48.7M contract for underground ‘people mover’ in Las Vegas
The Boring Company (TBC), Elon Musk’s tunneling and transportation startup, has landed a $48.7 million project to shuttle people in an underground Loop system around the Las Vegas Convention Center. This is the company’s first commercial contract. The initial design for the project, dubbed Campus Wide People Mover, or CWPM, will focus on the Las … Continue reading Elon Musk’s Boring Company lands $48.7M contract for underground ‘people mover’ in Las Vegas
Andreessen pours $22M into PlanetScale’s database-as-a-service
PlanetScale’s founders invented the technology called Vitess that scaled YouTube and Dropbox. Now they’re selling it to any enterprise that wants their data both secure and consistently accessible. And thanks to its ability to re-shard databases while they’re operating, it can solve businesses’ troubles with GDPR, which demands they store some data in the same … Continue reading Andreessen pours $22M into PlanetScale’s database-as-a-service
Stanford’s Doggo is a petite robotic quadruped you can (maybe) build yourself
Got a few thousand bucks and a good deal of engineering expertise? You’re in luck: Stanford students have created a quadrupedal robot platform called Doggo that you can build with off-the-shelf parts and a considerable amount of elbow grease. That’s better than the alternatives, which generally require a hundred grand and a government-sponsored lab. Due … Continue reading Stanford’s Doggo is a petite robotic quadruped you can (maybe) build yourself
ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company, plans to launch a free music streaming app
Does the overcrowded and cut-throat music streaming business have room for an additional player? The world’s most valuable startup certainly thinks so. Chinese conglomerate ByteDance, valued at over $75 billion, is working on a music streaming service, two sources familiar with the matter told TechCrunch. The company, which operates popular app TikTok, has held discussions … Continue reading ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company, plans to launch a free music streaming app
China’s Luckin Coffee raises up to $651M in upsized US IPO
Another week, another cash-burning tech IPO in the U.S. Following on from Uber’s high-profile listing, ambitious Chinese startup Luckin Coffee has raised up to $650.8 million on the Nasdaq after it priced its shares at $17. Despite concern at its high losses and little chance of near-term profitability, Luckin seems to have been greeted positively … Continue reading China’s Luckin Coffee raises up to $651M in upsized US IPO
How Much Money Do You Need to Be Wealthy in America?
The exact amount can depend on how old you are. Rich is relative. Merely having a net worth of $1 million, it seems, doesn’t mean you’re wealthy. In Charles Schwab’s annual Modern Wealth Survey, the amount people said it took to be considered rich averaged out to $2.3 million. That, the company said, is “more than 20 … Continue reading How Much Money Do You Need to Be Wealthy in America?
Eric's playground 