Did TxO get TKO'd? The fate of a16z's program

Top News

• a16z pauses TxO program: Andreessen Horowitz’s Talent x Opportunity (or TxO) program launched in 2020, with the goal of supporting under-represented founders (mostly women and people of color) who lacked independent access to traditional venture networks. Admission to the program included not just warm investor intros but a 16-week training program and a $175,000 investment through a fund operated by the nonprofit Tides Foundation. (The entire program was technically organized as a nonprofit, rather than a traditional investment fund.) 60 companies passed through TxO during its 5-year tenure, with the final cohort (at least, for now) starting in March 2025. In an email announcing the pause, a16z partner Kofi Ampadu said that the firm was re-evaluating “how we deliver” on TxO’s mission.

• Beacon raised $250 million: Beacon Software — from former Instacart chief Nilam Ganenthiran and former Sequoia partner Divya Gupta — is a holding company, with the mission of acquiring small, self-funded software companies and transforming them through AI upgrades. (Specifically, they’re looking for firms doing less than $20 million in ARR, but showing consistent profitability.) The self-described “anti-private equity firm” just announced a $250 million Series B round, bringing their total raise so far to $335 million and valuation to $1 billion.

• Mimic is getting handsy: The Swiss robotics project aims to design the next generation of robotic hands, capable of learning complex, high-precision tasks that require a lot of mobility. “Mimic” is not just a clever name. The technology is designed to capture detailed movement data from human workers and use it to train the robot appendages, before pairing these upgraded designs with the same arms and automated systems already in use across the retail, manufacturing, and logistics sectors. The company raised $16 million in seed funding from Elaia, Speedinvest, 10X Founders, Sequoia Scout Fund and others.

TWiST 500

There’s a lot of tension in the air this week between Amazon and one of the TWiST 500’s largest AI concerns, Perplexity. The retail giant sent the LLM maker a cease-and-desist letter, demanding that they turn off the Comet browser’s ability to make purchases on behalf of human users.

Amazon argues that, by acting on a human user’s behalf without disclosing to the website that it’s a digital tool, the Comet browser violates their Terms of Service. Going even further, Amazon likens the use of Perplexity’s AI agents to a kind of consumer fraud, which introduces privacy and security vulnerabilities while, in their view, degrading the entire online shopping experience. (Amazon suggests that the Comet experience is inferior to browsing Amazon the old fashioned way, as Perplexity does not necessarily include the same personalized recommendations, discovery tools, and shipping options.)

In a blog post response, Perplexity accuses Amazon of “bullying” a smaller company, as part of an effort to “use legal threats and intimidation to block innovation and make life worse for people.” They go on to argue that Amazon should embrace tools that make the shopping experience easier and faster, pointing out that, so far, Comet users “love this experience.”

While publishers have certainly had their wrangles with AI companies in the past, this is Amazon’s first major salvo against an LLM giant. It’s worth noting that the company is developing competitive AI tools of its own. There’s “Rufus,” an AI-powered chatbot that can answer questions and make suggestions for shoppers, and the “Buy For Me” agent that allows Amazon users to view products from third-party websites without leaving the main site. So it’s unclear at the moment if they’re acting entirely out of concern for the safety and experience of their users… or responding to a competitive release from a potential rival. – Lon

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This Week in Startups

E2203: Starcloud has sent its first chips into orbit… so we’re debating whether or not we’ll one day keep our datacenters up there… and also wondering whether or not wifi connections work in the vacuum of space. (See, we ask the IMPORTANT questions.) PLUS will OpenAI ever be able to earn back the trillions it’s dropping on power and GPUs? Can ChatGPT still help me identify this rash? AND why Jason thinks Netflix should consider picking up CNN along with the rest of Warner Bros. Discovery.

E2202: Producer Oliver makes an actual appearance on the pod to give us a deep dive Suno AI demo, showing Jason and Alex just how easy it is to compose and produce an original song based purely on text prompts. PLUS we’re checking out Higgsfield AI and their incredible face-swapping technology, debating when OpenAI will finally go public, and offering a STRONG WARNING to anyone relying on OpenAI’s APIs to build their business.

E2201: Grammarly CEO Shishir Mehrotra joins us to explain why his company is swapping names, taking on the mantle of Superhuman, the email helper it recently acquired. It just goes to show that, sometimes, a brand upgrade is still called for, even after you have 40 million active daily users. PLUS find out why Jason is off to Tokyo and everyone’s thoughts on 1x’s tele-operated chore-bot, Neo.

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Founder U and Angel University in Japan!

Jason’s coming to Tokyo on Nov 14 to launch a partnership with JETRO — bringing Founder University and Angel University to Japan, and connecting Japanese founders and investors with the global ecosystem. This event kicks off a ten-week program that we're starting in January, all culminating in an Immersion Week and Demo Day in SF. Register here: https://luma.com/cm0x90mk

We’re Hiring a Program Manager!

LAUNCH is seeking a program manager to help organize and manage the Japanese versions of Founder University and Angel University. Candidates must be fluent in both English and Japanese, and should plan on splitting their time between Tokyo and our home base in Austin, Texas. If you’re interested in this exciting opportunity, reach out to [email protected]!

SF Live-Work Space Now Available

Need a flexible living and working environment in San Francisco? This thoughtfully designed loft-style residence at 787 Bryant St., the heart of the vibrant SOMA district and the city’s creative hub, is now available for rent or purchase. Check the listing for more details.

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