iPhones aren’t selling like they used to

Top News

• iPhone sales fail to impress: An analyst’s warning that iPhone 16 series phones are underselling their predecessors weighed on Apple’s share price today. An estimated 12.7% change in early sales compared to the iPhone 15 lineup is no joke. Will Apple still make oodles of money? Yes, but the company’s growth story could be under extreme pressure for the next few quarters.

• 11xAI raises $24M: The race to build “AI bots for process automation” is a large one. UiPath is working on them, as are startups like Sierra. And 11xAI, which just closed a $24 million round led by Benchmark. The Benchmark money is notable in and of itself, but perhaps more impressive is TechCrunch’s note that “the company is also approaching $10 million in annual recurring revenue.” Presuming that the company sold 15% of its shares in its latest round, it’s valued at around 16x ARR. 2021, this is not (of course, we’re spitballing here on the numbers).

• Amazon is heading back to the office: Two big news items from the e-commerce giant today. First, it’s going back to five days per week in the office. That’s a change from its three-day-weekly minimum. And, CNBC reports, high-level org leads are “expected to increase the ratio of individual contributors to managers by at least 15% by the end of the first quarter of 2025.” Lots of tech companies want to get flatter. One way to do so is to mandate a ratio shift. Let’s see how Amazon’s staff react — other companies are certainly watching.

Coding Assistant Feedback

Jason and I just wrapped the Monday news record — out later today — which touched on the sheer number of startups and products in the market today that want to use AI to help developers — and perhaps non-developers — write code better and faster.

Why are so many companies tackling the task at the same time? Developers are famously expensive in terms of labor and often scarce, and because LLMs seem to be particularly adept at slinging code compared to other tasks. So, it’s a market with known buyers and a potentially winning solution.

That doesn’t mean that a startup will win. Big tech companies have their own coding assistants. But it’s the startups we care about here at TWiST and the TWiST500.

What we need from you is input on what you are using and why. If you are a regular user or customer of Codeium, Replit, Magic, Cognition, Codegen, or their competitors, email me ([email protected]) to let me know what you like, or don’t like, about the service. We’re going to add a name or two to the TWiST500, and need all the data we can get to make an informed decision. — Alex

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This Week in Startups

E2008: This episode throws it back to the Liquidity Summit. Meghan Reynolds presented a talk on "Relationship Advice: Of the LP / GP Sort," covering key topics in investor relations and fundraising strategies. She discussed the complexities of raising capital, rationalizing fund sizes, securing re-ups, and highlighted common pitching mistakes. Meghan also touched on market sentiment, single deal SPV dynamics, VC allocations, private credit, and overall market dynamics.

E2007: Another throwback to Liquidity Summit! Pejman Nozad shared his journey in building a $100 billion portfolio before joining Jason in a fireside chat. Jason Shuman presented "The New Power Law," and discussed the difference between good and great investment funds.

E2006: Jason and Boom Supersonic’s Blake Scholl discussed the evolution of commercial flight speed and the legacy of the Concorde, highlighting Boom's progress with the XB-1 test flights and airline partnerships. They also covered the challenges and opportunities in hardware startups, including venture capital perspectives, the decline in Boeing's innovation, and cross-discipline innovation. Blake dives into aviation safety, cockpit technologies, and the future of autonomous aviation, reflecting on lessons from incidents like Air France 447 and MH370.

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The TWiST500 newsletter is the new, updated, and improved TWiST Ticker.