Spotify launches a $9.99/mo audiobooks service for its free users, Rec emerges from stealth to modernize Parks & Rec management and bookings

Top News

Spotify launches a $9.99/mo standalone audiobook service for its free users. - Link

Rec comes out of stealth today, helping users find reservations, book lessons, and learn about upcoming events in their area. - Link

GitHub enables push protection by default for all public repositories to prevent accidental leaks of secrets, like access tokens and API keys, when pushing code. - Link

Alibaba researchers detail EMO, or Emote Portrait Alive, an AI system that creates a realistic talking or singing video from a portrait photo and an audio file. - Link

Embracer plans to sell its subsidiary Saber Interactive to private investors in a $500M deal, making Saber a privately-owned company with ~3,500 staff. - Link

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Advice of the Day

Advice for a Pre-Product/Market Fit Startup

The best advice for a pre-product/market fit startup, inspired by Brian Armstrong, founder of Coinbase, and Paul Graham, emphasizes the importance of continuous action:

1. Action as a Source of Information: taking action, even if uncertain, generates valuable information. This approach aligns with Graham's analogy that startups are like sharks, needing constant movement to survive.

2. Avoid Analysis Paralysis: avoid getting stuck in debates or over-analysis. Focus on experimenting and trying different strategies.

3. Learning from Experiments: every experiment provides insights. This includes building the wrong product, as it helps in understanding which hypotheses about users, value propositions, and go-to-market strategies might not work.

4. Emphasis on Movement and Experimentation: continually move forward and try new things. Use each step as a learning opportunity to refine approaches.

Read more here.

Startup Demo of the Day:

Mailbob helps users create and publish email newsletters. The tool lets users manage subscribers, import/export lists, and track audience engagement.

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.

This Week in Startups

E1906: David Clark joins Jason to discuss VenCap's investment strategies and analyze over 500 investments. They delve into the criteria for success in VC, examining 12K companies and the concept of the power law. Key topics include the selection of top-performing investments, the benefits of long-term company investment, challenges faced with seed managers, and selling strategies. - Watch

E1905: In this "Ask Jason" episode, questions range from the relevance of a fintech degree for joining startups to strategies for pre-VC survival and the timing of fundraising. Other questions include the pitfalls of incorrect pivoting, whether to focus on deep relationships with a few customers or to target a broader base, and common mistakes by first-time founders. - Watch

1904: Sunny Madra joins Jason to discuss the challenges faced by Google's AI, exploring how Google can learn from Meta's solutions. Google's Gemini model, Apple's gradual integration of AI features, and an analysis of OpenAI's Sora are also discussed. - Watch

E1903: Jason, along with guests Bryan Rosenblatt, Michael Downing, and David Weisburd delve into the potential of Reddit as an advertising platform in light of its upcoming IPO. The integration of AI in traditional businesses and a comparison between consumer-focused and enterprise AI are also discussed. - Watch

E1902: Jason hosts LAUNCH’s Accelerator Demo Day, featuring pitches from Melengo, PodcastAI, Tolt, River, TaxGPT, and Fanfare. - Watch

This Week in Startups Paid Partnerships

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