Thursday, May 12, 2022

Preethi Kasireddy: The Coinbase Story

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Wednesday, May 11, 2022

Balen Balen Balen

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Sam Lessin Of Slow

Musk’s grand vision for Twitter faces reality check in Asia His biggest headaches lie abroad. The question to be answered over the coming years is how far Musk will stick with his promises of freeing up Twitter — not just in the US, but in the rest of the world. ...... For all the furore about which way Elon Musk might tilt US political discourse after getting the keys to Twitter Inc, his biggest challenges may emerge across the Pacific. ........... If the Tesla Inc and SpaceX billionaire makes good on promises to scrap censorship, he’ll encounter a plethora of perplexing regulations, wielded by sometimes authoritarian governments, pushed to the limits by a horde of first-time Internet users. ....... Twitter’s monetisable daily active users numbered 179 million internationally — dwarfing the 38 million in the US in 2021 ........ “Asia has the potential to make or break the new Twitter” ........ Twitter is officially banned in China, but the country will still demand a lot of Musk’s attention. Amazon.com Inc founder Jeff Bezos alluded to the potential conflicts in a tweet shortly after Musk’s deal, asking “Did the Chinese government just gain a bit of leverage over the town square?” ....... An obvious point is that China is tremendously important for Tesla, the key source of Musk’s wealth. The billionaire will certainly face pressures — implicit or explicit — to fine-tune Twitter’s policies to please Beijing. ...... As the world’s biggest electric-vehicle market as well as a supplier of Tesla batteries, China is essential to the healthy growth of the centrepiece of Musk’s business empire. Tesla has also benefited from significant tax breaks in setting up his Shanghai Gigafactory — its first overseas plant — and been allowed to wholly own its local operations, a rarity for a US firm. .......... A pressing issue is how Twitter handles China’s efforts to spread propaganda globally on the platform. The company in 2020 instituted labels for government officials and “state-affiliated media” for publications like Xinhua and Global Times, and readers are reminded of this government-backing any time they like or retweet stories. Chinese media have called the practice “intimidation” and already begun to lobby the billionaire to roll it back. ........ Bots are another matter. China has also used automated and anonymous accounts to distribute the government’s messages, which prompted Twitter to remove more than 170,000 accounts in 2020 for “spreading geopolitical narratives favourable to the Communist Party.” Musk has pledged to “defeat the spam bots or die trying!” and sounds determined to keep taking on the fake accounts. ......... Beijing has shown a willingness to punish billionaires who don’t comply with its wishes. Regulators have hammered the country’s tech giants and effectively banished Alibaba Group Holding Ltd co-founder Jack Ma from public view. ........ Musk’s SpaceX could certainly seek Chinese customers, while his Boring Co may profit from lucrative infrastructure contracts in the country.



Job interest in Twitter skyrocketed more than 250% since Elon Musk moved to take over. But current employees are nervous.
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Saturday, May 07, 2022

Sam Lessin



A DAO To Topple Putin By Christmas

Sam Lessin General Partner, Slow Ventures Lessin was a personal investor in crypto before his firm made numerous bets including blockchain privacy startup Aleo (valued at $1.5B), blockchain platform Chia Network (valued at $500), and Solana. ........ Other than crypto, Lessin backed cloud software startup Airtable, valued at $11.7 billion, and rocket launch company Astra, which went public at a $2.1 billion valuation in 2021. ........ Lessin founded Slow Ventures in 2015 alongside Kevin Colleran and Dave Morin (who has since left). The firm has raised $750 million over the last seven years. ......... Once Facebook's vice president of product management, Lessin now works with pal Mark Zuckerberg's sister, Arielle

Slow’s Newest Seed and Opportunity Funds… More of The Same! We wanted to share with the Slow community the launch of our fifth seed fund (Slow Ventures V), and Slow’s second Opportunity fund (Slow Opportunity II), representing together $325M in new capital commitments for us to invest in the coming years. In total, Slow now manages $770M of investor capital and has invested in more than 550 companies over the past decade. ........ Our point of entry remains at the Pre-Seed and Seed stage and then we continue to support and invest in the later stages as these companies continue to grow. ......... we will seek out and support companies from the earliest days — long before a new thesis is proven or before it is simply about scaling. We love entrepreneurs who ask ‘what if’ and take calculated risks on new markets, business models, and technical innovations. ...... Our goal is to be intelligently non-consensus. So much of what is called ‘venture capital’ has simply become a matter of piling capital into things which everyone sees and knows is ‘working’. Our job is to push the envelope ahead of the herd of large funds. ........ and are always looking for the next frontiers ........ Currently we have several new ideas we are exploring, from

launching and managing DAOs

to investing in individual humans in exchange for a piece of their future value creation, all in an effort to find the next great and unrealized truly ‘venture’ opportunities. ......... We care about impact, not facetime. Time is always money, but even more so at the seed stage. ....... We don’t take board seats and we don’t demand in-depth investor meetings. ........ We want to help founders understand how the venture game is being played. Lots of guidance and advice founders rely on is quickly out of date in this rapidly changing market so we help founders better understand the dynamics at play ........ We’ve honed our network and processes to give founders the best opportunity to raise the capital they need from the most appropriate top tier investors focused on their sector and stage. ........ To us, it really isn’t that complicated. We remain as we have always been, generalists who believe in backing great people with great hypotheses, trying to prove they are correct. We take pride in funding founders from the earliest days, before everyone else comes knocking, we believe the best things take time, and we take pride in delivering capital to founders when it really matters.

Sam Lessin’s Lessons From Backing Solana, $350M For Jump Capital And A Red-Hot Recruiting Software Raise In Santa Monica

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Friday, May 06, 2022

Gokul Rajaram: First Question To Ask

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News: May 6

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Thursday, May 05, 2022

News: May 5



NFT’s A New Way To Monetize Your Speaking Material

Life’s a Trip: My Journey As a Web3 Artist Thus Far With the introduction of COVID-19 the shows I was scheduled to play began to get canceled one by one, and I slowly watched everything I’d built in the last half decade deteriorate before my eyes. ........ My newly found free time led me to freelance songwriting and my interest in cryptocurrency. I poured all of my energy into researching everything I could about the space. ........ After 1000’s of hours of reading white papers, watching youtube content, and exploring discord servers, my interests started trending towards NFTs. ....... I’d heard of NFTs beforehand, but after the February / March wave of 2021 I was completely sold on the fact that many things can, and probably will be tokenized in the future. ....... As a musician, my only question was where in the world is the music? ........ Before I released a single piece of music on-chain I spent 5 months

chatting with strangers on twitter

who I had grown to be big fans of. ........... and I started participating in many conversations via twitter spaces. ........ Public speaking has never been my forte, but talking about the things I am truly passionate about has really helped me develop that skill in the last year. ........ The music sold out in under 30 seconds

The Countdown Memorandum Doubling down on the future of American industry ........ in the fourteen years since California launched its high-speed rail initiative to connect San Francisco and Los Angeles, less than 120 miles have even begun construction ........ In roughly the same amount of time, China has constructed close to 25,000 miles of high-speed rail, spanning quite literally its entire country. ....... China appears to be rapidly developing its hypersonic arsenal and is the largest outbound investor in alternative energy technologies. ........ The past century of prosperity cannot be extrapolated to the next one, and it is certainly not a given. Despite a repressive and authoritarian political system, the Chinese citizenry has experienced more than three times more economic growth over the past three decades than any other citizenry in the world and have proven to be quite capable of the type of dramatic change conducive to technological progress. ........ America is still the most innovative country in the world, with technological progress highly valued by both the private and public sector. By many metrics and surveys, America is also still by far the most desirable country for immigrants. .......

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Neeraj Arora Of WhatsApp



Former Facebook, WhatsApp Employees Lead New Push to Fix Social Media HalloApp is among new companies trying to reshape online discourse



About The first real relationship network. ..... A completely new category. A simple, safe, and private place to connect and share what matters in your life, with the people who matter to you. In complete privacy.

HalloApp is a private ad-free social network from two early WhatsApp employees The app bills itself as the “first real relationship network” .... There are many parallels between HalloApp and WhatsApp: the app is designed for group or individual chats with close friends and family, the only way you can find people is by knowing their phone number, the messages are encrypted, and there are no ads...... Arora was WhatsApp’s chief business officer until 2018 and a key figure in negotiating the Facebook deal. And Donohue was WhatsApp’s engineering director for nearly nine years before he left Facebook in 2019. ...... the antidote to traditional, engagement-driven social media, or “the 21st century cigarette.” ...... Acton, who now funds the encrypted messaging app Signal, famously tweeted “#deletefacebook” during the height of the Cambridge Analytica scandal.

The First Real-Relationship Network Real conversations happen in private........ As it turns out, treating people and relationships as “media” has massive ramifications. It has turned social media into digital malls. ........ Where you hoped to find your friends, instead you found ads, bots, likes, filters, influencers, followers, misinformation, and more. Where you hoped to have meaningful conversations, instead you found yourself falling down the rabbit hole of blinking red notifications and an algorithmic feed of meaningless content. Where you hoped for a safe space to keep in touch with your siblings, family members, neighbors, and friends from college, you found content from people you’ve never met before—the whole thing feeling invasive, even creepy. ......... To have private conversations with the people closest to you, your only option has been through 1:1 direct messaging platforms. In most cases, these direct messages lived on social media networks that were still “listening.” Mention cameras or going fishing and suddenly the ads in your feed would change. And while you chat back and forth, other sections of your screen light up and flicker like lottery machines, tempting you to click back into ad land and scroll just a few more times. In a best-case scenario, the platform might be a stand-alone messaging app, but would be owned by a larger social network using it to mine user data. ...... Social media, as it stands today, makes sharing real moments with real friends impossible. ...... No ads. No bots. No likes. No trolls. No followers. No algorithms. No influencers. No photo filters. No “feed fatigue.” No misinformation spreading like wildfire.

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Tuesday, May 03, 2022

News: May 3



It's official: Zoom kills creativity
How to Write a Cover Letter only one in two cover letters gets read ....... catch the attention of the hiring manager or recruiter with a strong opening line. If you have a personal connection with the company or someone who works there, mention it in the first sentence or two, and try to address your letter to someone directly. ....... Hiring managers are looking for people who can help them solve problems, so show that you know what the company does and some of the challenges it faces. ........ Then explain how your experience has equipped you to meet those needs. If the online application doesn’t allow you to submit a cover letter, use the format you’re given to demonstrate your ability to do the job and your enthusiasm for the role. ....... For many, the most challenging part of the process is writing an effective cover letter. ........

Before you start writing, find out more about the company and the specific job you want.

....... carefully read the job description, but also peruse the company’s website, its executives’ Twitter feeds, and employee profiles on LinkedIn. ........

you shouldn’t send a generic one

. ....... “Think about the culture of the organization you’re applying to” ......... “If it’s a creative agency, like a design shop, you might take more risks, but if it’s a more conservative organization, like a bank, you may hold back.” ........ If at all possible, reach out to the hiring manager or someone else you know at the company before writing your cover letter ....... You can send an email or a LinkedIn message “asking a smart question about the job.” That way you can start your letter by referencing the interaction. You might say, “Thanks for the helpful conversation last week” or “I recently spoke to so-and-so at your company.” .......... While your rรฉsumรฉ is meant to be a look back at your experience and where you’ve been, the cover letter should focus on the future and what you want to do ...... Because of the pandemic there is less of an expectation that you’ll be applying for a job that you’ve done before. “There are millions of people who are making career changes — voluntarily or involuntarily — and need to pivot and rethink how their skill set relates to a different role or industry” ........ You can use your cover letter to explain the shift you’re making, perhaps from hospitality to marketing ....... lead with a strong opening sentence. “Start with the punch line — why this job is exciting to you and what you bring to the table” .......... don’t rehash your rรฉsumรฉ. ....... always address your letter to someone directly. “With social media, it’s often possible to find the name of a hiring manager” ........ Hiring managers are looking for people who can help them solve problems. Drawing on the research you did earlier, show that you know what the company does and some of the challenges it faces. These don’t need to be specific but you might mention how the industry has been affected by the pandemic. ....... there are two skills that are relevant to almost any job right now: adaptability and the ability to learn quickly. ........ there are two skills that are relevant to almost any job right now: adaptability and the ability to learn quickly. ....... if you supported your team in the shift to remote work, describe how you did that and what capabilities you drew on. ........ “When you don’t get hired, it’s usually not because of a lack of skills,” says Glickman. “It’s because people didn’t believe your story, that you wanted the job, or that you knew what you were getting into.” ........ Hiring managers are going to go with the candidate who has made it seem like this is their dream job. ......... “I’d love to work for your company. Who wouldn’t? You’re the industry leader, setting standards that others only follow.” ......... he often cuts outs “anything that sounds like desperation” when he’s reviewing letters for clients. .......... Much of the advice out there says to keep it under a page. ........ “It should be brief enough that someone can read it at a glance.” ....... ry to find someone to whom you can send a brief follow-up email highlighting a few key points about your application.

Fears of new front in Ukraine war Russia has suffered "staggering" military losses, according to British intelligence, with 25% of invasion units rendered "rendered combat ineffective.”....... Moscow’s offensive in the eastern region of Donbas is “plodding” and making “minimal progress” ..... The EU is getting closer to a deal on phasing out Russian oil imports ....... The United Nations said the number of Ukrainian refugees could hit 8.3 million by the end of the year. ........ Russia’s destabilization of Ukraine positions it to achieve a high degree of leverage and control over a significant share of global commodities ranging from food to strategic minerals ....... Putin may announce a “general mobilization” of the Russian military on May 9th. ....... The Kremlin likely seeks to leverage its partners in the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) to evade Western sanctions. ........ Western sanctions may need to target Russia’s partners in the CSTO and Eurasian Economic Union to prevent Russian sanctions evasion. .

The Best Cover Letter I Ever Received

Twitter really isn’t the digital town square, but it might as well be the newsroom coffee counter Just 23 percent of American adults use Twitter, far below the 81 percent on YouTube, the 69 percent on Facebook or even the 31 percent on Pinterest and the 28 percent on LinkedIn. .......

Jony Ive vs. the Apple ‘accountants’ “After Steve: How Apple Became a Trillion-Dollar Company and Lost Its Soul.”

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