Google launches an AI-first notebook, Meta rolls out tags on Threads offering support for multiple words and spaces

Top News

Google launches the NotebookLM, an AI-first notebook that pulls information from users’ documents. It’s powered by Gemini Pro and was demoed at I/O 2023 in the US. - Link

Meta rolls out tags on Threads, bringing tags without the # symbol and supporting multiple words and spaces. Each post can now feature a single tag, enhancing the search view. - Link

Amazon sues an “international fraud organization” for allegedly stealing millions of dollars in merchandise from the company through a series of refund scams. - Link

Apple and its suppliers aim to make 50M+ iPhones annually in India in two to three years, accounting for a quarter of global iPhone production. - Link

Amazon tells customers that the company plans to stop accepting Venmo as a payment method on January 10, 2024, after rolling out Venmo support in October 2022. - Link

Founder University is a 12-week pre-accelerator program run by Jason/LAUNCH for builder founders. We're investing $25k in 20-30 companies from Cohort 7. Apply at founder.university/letsbuild.

Startup Funding

Rhythms, which plans to use AI to analyze companies' patterns, such as monthly reviews and weekly meetings, comes out of stealth with a $26M seed round co-led by Greenoaks and Madrona. The company was founded by Vetri Vellore and Madhan Subhas. - Link

Simply Homes raises $22M co-led by Gutter Capital and Watchung Capital to tackle the affordable housing crisis. Their approach involves purchasing, renovating, and renting homes out to very low-income families, the elderly, and the disabled. The company was founded in 2020 by Brian Bagdasarian, Don Murdoch, and Robert Kavanagh.

Product Demo & Launches

Urso is a mobile game that takes care of your mental health. It allows users to build a ‘home among the stars’ and relieve stress in a gamified way. - Watch

Propertizer allows users to find the income potential of properties currently listed on popular portals, make data-driven investments, and stay updated on market trends. - Watch

Final Round AI creates an Interview Copilot, providing real-time transcription and contextual assistance on the fly during online interviews. - Watch

Advice of the Day

How to Create a Product Hook

The Hook Model creates a cycle that encourages repetitive use, embedding your product into a user's routine. The model works by guiding users through four stages:

1. Trigger: This initiates the user's interaction with the product. Triggers can be external (advertisements, emails) or internal (emotions, thoughts).

2. Action: The user performs an action in anticipation of a reward. This action is often simple and straightforward.

3. Variable Reward: The user receives a reward, but its variability keeps them engaged and coming back. This could be social validation, material gain, or something else.

4. Investment: The user invests time or effort, which increases their likelihood of using the product again, creating a loop.

Learn more about building a product hook here.

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This Week in Startups

E1860: Scott Orn discusses the challenges of founder salaries, emphasizing the trade-offs in entrepreneurship, dangers of underpayment, and gender disparities. The episode also covers the importance of structured approaches to compensation, managing personal and company finances, and the dynamics of salary distribution within a company, including the impact of investor expectations. - Watch

E1859: Jason welcomes Michael Putz, CEO of Blackshark.ai, to discuss lessons from video game creation, the vision behind a digital twin of the planet, and Blackshark's programming methods. The conversation covers modern data training, In-Q-Tel's investment, a live demo of Orca Huntr, satellite imagery updates, remote work perspectives, and how Blackshark's team uses AI for efficiency. - Watch

E1858: Anne Wojcicki of 23andMe discusses the transformative journey of genome sequencing, highlighting the dramatic cost reduction to $99 and its impact on proactive health management. The conversation delves into pivotal moments in health understanding, strategies for healthcare integration, and the need for policy shifts, concluding with reflections on Wojcicki's 17-year journey and her vision for the future of health and genetics. - Watch

E1857: Sunny Madra joins Jason to showcase Figma's FigJam, a collaborative whiteboard tool. The discussion covers AI-generated images, company copyright challenges, and FigJam feedback. Sunny also demonstrates Fal, an AI tool for photo transformation, and showcases the Real-Time Latent Consistency Model. The session concludes with a demo of Alibaba's Animate Anyone. - Watch

E1856: David Heinemeier Hansson discusses the launch of his new project, Once.com, which offers a unique alternative to traditional SaaS by charging a one-time fee instead of a recurring subscription, and shares his views on various topics including copyright, the changing nature of remote work, internal culture challenges at Basecamp, the pace of AI development, and the importance of embracing hardship to build resilience and grit. - Watch

This Week in Startups Paid Partnerships

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