Impulse Space to make geosynchronous orbit cheaper than ever, Alphabet to release a drone that carries up to five pounds

Top News

Impulse Space reveals its next product, a high-energy kick stage called Helios, that could make getting to geosynchronous orbit cheaper than ever before. - Link

Alphabet's Wing unveils a new drone that can carry up to five pounds, fly a 12 mile round trip, and cruise at 65mph, set for deployment in the next 12 months. - Link

Amazon rolls out a feature to create AI-generated images on second-generation Fire TV Stick 4K Max and Fire TV Omni QLED devices. - Link

Apple updates its guidelines to allow US developers to promote subscriptions on the web without using in-app purchases. - Link

Lexington, Brookfield and Sequoia Heritage's Pinegrove, and StepStone are raising billions to buy stakes in VC-backed tech startups via secondary share sales. - Link

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Advice of the Day

5-Year Plans to Forecast $100B+ Startups

Former Google CEO, Eric Schmidt, emphasizes the limitations of traditional business strategies in the Internet era and advises startups to think more cleverly for scalability. He suggests creating a 5-year plan and mapping growth rates to identify a more scalable approach. Schmidt encourages founders to consider giving away products for free and upselling users. Thinking big and optimizing for scalability differentiate ultra-successful companies. Additionally, aligning with dominant platforms like Android, iOS, and machine learning is crucial for long-term success. - Link

Startup Demo of the Day:

Triibe is an employee engagement platform, featuring an interactive news feed, polls, pulse surveys, and a wellness tracker. It offers admin analytics, team management, and recognition tools to foster workplace collaboration and well-being.

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This Week in Startups

E1881: Flexport's CEO, Ryan Petersen, covers topics including the company's focus, pick-and-pack economics, global logistics challenges, the Red Sea Crisis impact, trends in sourcing, and the effects of the market collapse on CEO transition. The conversation also touches on leadership challenges, decisions on going public, and the state of the global workforce and remote work. - Watch

E1880: Sunny joins Jason to discuss CES, emphasizing AI's role. They review the Rabbit device and its impact, evaluate Rabbit R1 and purpose-built devices, and explore AI integration with Large Language Models. Sunny demos Elli Q for the elderly and showcases a kid-friendly smartphone. The GPT store launch is highlighted, focusing on its disruptive potential using All Trails as a case study. - Watch

E1879: David Weisburd hosts Michael Kim and Jason Calacanis in a discussion about the world of VCs, LPs, and GPs. They explore topics such as doubts LPs may have about VC startup valuations, Jason's LP strategy, best practices in LP portfolio management, evaluating different GP strategies for secondary deals, and the challenges of starting a new firm. - Watch

E1878: Dara Khosrowshahi, CEO of Uber, joins Bill Gurley, Brad Gerstner, and Jason to discuss Uber's journey and future. Uber's position entering 2024, myths about the company, its early appeal to investors, the influence of valuations on founder mindset, the role of secondary markets, and untold company stories are shared. Uber’s future strategies to upsell and integrate AI are also discussed. - Watch

E1877: Jason and Jon from Halcyon discuss ransomware's resurgence, anonymity in attacks, and counteraction strategies, citing the 2023 MGM and Caesar's ransomware incidents. They highlight Halcyon's endpoint agent and touch on hacker markets, AI, multi-factor authentication, global cybersecurity, privacy on platforms like TikTok, and threats to the American power grid. - Watch

This Week in Startups Paid Partnerships

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