Farewell TikTok Music

Top News

• Bytedance says goodbye to TikTok Music: ByteDance has announced that TikTok Music, its music streaming service available in Indonesia, Brazil, Australia, Singapore, and Mexico, will be shutting down in November. While TikTok has played a major role in music discovery (and resurgence), tensions with the music industry and the threat of a ban have made expanding the service difficult. In some cases, it’s wiser to partner with established players rather than compete against them.

• Stability AI snags a major Hollywood director: Stability AI, the company behind the popular text-to-image model Stable Diffusion, has just added James Cameron to its board of directors. The Hollywood giant is known for pioneering technological advances in film (remember The Terminator and Avatar?), and this new role is another example of pushing the boundaries of innovation. Add to that the recent Lionsgate deal with Runway and it’s looking like Hollywood is opening its arms to AI.

• Harmonic raises a Series A: Harmonic, cofounded by Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev, just raised a $75 million Series A from Sequoia Capital and other investors. The startup wants to build AI models that never hallucinate, and it’s first target is mathematics. Given the structured nature of math, where it’s easy to determine right and wrong, Harmonic believes it can create an AI model that outperforms humans in math. This would be an admirable feat, but can the model maintain its accuracy when applied to the complexities of daily life?

Wiz is in Talks for a New Deal

Today, I’ve got an update on Wiz. You know, the cybersecurity giant that walked away from Google’s $23 billion acquisition offer. It takes a lot of confidence to turn down a deal like that, but with at least $350 million in ARR and strong growth, it's clear why Wiz is choosing to stay independent and possibly aim for an IPO.

Now, the company is in talks to sell existing shares at a valuation of up to $20 billion. This deal could allow shareholders to sell between $500 million and $700 million in shares, with a valuation range of $15 billion to $20 billion. And that's not their only option (remember, this is the company that declined $23 billion). Wiz might also raise fresh capital from investors, with top venture firms like G Squared, Thrive Capital, and Lightspeed Venture Partners looking to get involved. Stay tuned—this one’s still unfolding! — Erika

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This Week in Startups

E2013: Jason and Alex begin the show discussing a viral tweet from Harry Stebbings about venture capital and the balance between luxury and grit in entrepreneurship. They cover Amazon’s return to office policy, its use of generative AI, and the impact on innovation and stock price. They dig into antitrust enforcement in tech, Apple's AI advancements, and end with audience questions about return to office trends and app store rules.

E2012: Jason and Ryan Hudson of Pie.org discuss his experience with Honey, focusing on consumer trust, merchant reactions, and conversion rates. Ryan also covers Pie's vision for consumer ad control, demonstrating their browser extension and exploring the economic and legal implications of ad blocking. The conversation also touches on Apple's privacy stance, funding advice for founders, and the importance of company values.

Startup Legal Basics: Wilson Sonsini partner Becki DeGraw covers the challenges faced by distressed companies, including VCs stepping down from boards and the complexities of insider-led down rounds and pay-to-play scenarios. She highlights the legal actions and stockholder lawsuits involved in successful turnarounds, the importance of conducting market checks during financing, and ethical issues in the startup ecosystem.

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