In partnership with

TLDR from Z

1. I’ve seen 5 different Series A raises in the past 1 week alone — summer has definitely not (for whatever reason) been a quiet season

1. Everyone is applying to A16Z’s Speedrun (again)

2. Gamification is everywhere (again)

3. The spotify-wrapped-ification of all our data is imminent (piece coming soon)

We put your money to work

Betterment’s financial experts and automated investing technology are working behind the scenes to make your money hustle while you do whatever you want.

Learn more

VC Industry News

• Wiz turns down $23 billion Google deal, says it’s aiming for IPO

• ZN’s POV: Fortune has become one of my favorite publications in the tech ecosystem (along with The Information) this week they did a exceedingly rare deep dive on Iconiq read more here: An inside look at one of Silicon Valley’s most mysterious venture funds

• War and rising nationalism is expected to spur a venture capital boom in a one-time Silicon Valley ‘taboo’ sector: defense tech

• Digital banking startup Mercury abruptly shuttered service for startups in Ukraine, Nigeria, other countries

• Lauri Moore joins Bessemer as partner

• How to communicate with Gen Z: “Be more vulnerable than you think you need to be”

  • ZN’s POV: the title of this article is my quote! here’s a write-up from my panel at the fortune brainstorm tech summit this past week ❤️ thank you Allie for the incredible feature

• Legendary venture capitalist Mike Maples has revealed the one thing world-changing startups have in common. Use it to spot the next winners in the age of exponential tech

• PE firm PartnerOne paid $28M for HeadSpin, a fraction of its $1.1B valuation set by ICONIQ and Dell Technologies Capital

Fundraising News

• A day after raising $500 million, AI startup Cohere told staff it was laying off about 20 employees

• Momentum, an AI-powered customer intelligence startup, just raised $13 million from FirstMark Capital using this 18-slide pitch deck

• Deepfake-detecting firm Pindrop lands $100M loan to grow its offerings

• 17-year-old Eric Zhu’s startup was built in a high school bathroom — now it’s raised $2.3M and is emerging from stealth

• Legal tech Clio raises $900M at a $3B valuation, plans to double down on AI and fintech

• Tribe AI raised venture capital to keep up with demand after six years of bootstrapping

• This Gen Z startup raised $41.5 million as the ‘anti-Facebook’

• Fintech Fragment eases ledger problems, nabs $9M from Jack Altman, BoxGroup, others

• Linx emerges from stealth with $33M to lock down the new security perimeter: Identity

Consumer-Specific News - subscribe to my other newsletter Fan Behavior.

• Netflix has 80 games in development, will release one per month

• Overloaded consumers will fuel soaring demand for AI that makes life easier, top venture capitalist says

• How Skims turned advertising into an art form

• The long-touted impact of social media on shopping habits might be here, with this survey’s results: 55% of Gen Z say they’ve shopped while browsing social media

• Patreon’s shape-shifting logo is a reflection of a changing internet

• Netflix co-CEO says it will only stream the best pro sports events: ‘It’s very difficult to have big league sports and profit’ over entire seasons

• Strava’s next chapter: New CEO talks AI, inclusivity, and why ‘dark mode’ took so long

• Netflix added eight million subscribers in its last quarter, the streaming company said in its earnings report on Thursday, bringing its global subscription base to 278 million.

Niche internet lore

I don’t think this is niche at all anymore. But a deep dive into Charli XCX’s Brat album is necessary given its political ramifications now. Read more here. Internet culture, meme culture, and pop culture are critical (most of the time) to understanding broader consumer trends, particularly when it comes to VC investing and startups. The blending of business and online culture is unavoidable!

Tweets to think about

Big congratulations to Avante + the Posh team for announcing their Series A raise today.

Resources: Discounts + Tools

• Need an EA but can’t afford one? Howie is the fastest and most responsive scheduling assistant on earth. You can email him anytime to set up meetings and coordinate your calendar.

• Wanna start a newsletter?I use Beehiiv for all three of my newsletters. Cannot recommend enough.

• Wanna sell digital products that actually convert? I’ve been working with Michael and Faisal for a couple of months now. Pillar is an all-in-one creator store that actually converts. You can offer lead magnets, sell digital products + appointments w/ Apple Pay checkout, and even boost deal flow with their brand deal funnel. It’s like LinkTree, Calendly, Kajabi, and Clickfunnels in one. Click to get 1 month free + your 1st lead magnet made for you in Canva by their team!