Mistral Raised €105M at Seed with 6 Employees, 4 Weeks in, and No Customers. Here Is the Memo that Did...
In May 2023, three ex‑DeepMind and Meta researchers formed Mistral AI with six employees. Within four weeks they closed a €105 million ($115 million) seed round, the largest ever in Europe, without a pitch deck, customers, or revenue. The round valued the startup at €11.7 billion ($12.8 billion) and was led by Lightspeed and Bessemer. In March 2026 Mistral secured $904 million in debt to build a Paris‑based data center powered by 13,800 Nvidia GB300 chips, targeting over $1 billion in ARR by 2026.
Volkswagen to Cut Production Capacity By 1 Million Cars a Year, CEO Oliver Blume Says
Volkswagen announced it will trim its annual production capacity by one million units, dropping from over 12 million to 9 million vehicles. The cut, driven by a shift toward higher margins and resilience, will affect both Volkswagen and Audi plants in Europe...
Trump's Pick for Fed Chair Heads to Capitol Hill
The episode covers President Trump's nomination of Kevin Warsh to lead the Federal Reserve, highlighting Warsh's testimony that balances a claim of Fed independence with the President's desire for lower interest rates. It then shifts to energy companies seeking new...
A&K Robotics Closes $8-Million Series A Round to Put Self-Driving Pods in Airports
Vancouver‑based A&K Robotics secured a CAD 8 million (≈US $5.8 million) Series A round to accelerate its Cruz self‑driving mobility pods. The pods, already in service at Vancouver International and Madrid‑Barajas airports, aim to ease passenger movement in crowded terminals. The funding, led by BDC...
Novant Health Taps Chief Growth Officer
Novant Health announced that Richard Divers will assume the role of senior vice president and chief growth officer on April 13. Divers will steer the system’s enterprise growth strategy, covering mergers and acquisitions, strategic partnerships, and expansion projects aimed at widening...
Employers Hesitate to Train High-Turnover Workers — but Training May Strengthen Retention
A recent Indeed Hiring Lab analysis reveals a stark perception gap: 67% of U.S. workers view learning as a top priority, yet only 48% say their employers share that focus. Employees without a bachelor’s degree—who often occupy high‑turnover roles—are far...
America, the Oblivious
The article argues that China is reshaping global trade by providing manufacturing technology to resource‑rich nations of the Global South in exchange for natural commodities, creating a new form of economic imperialism. It contrasts this strategy with the United States’...
Was ABF Right to Demerge Primark?
ABF announced it will demerge its fashion retailer Primark from its food operations, creating two separately listed companies – Primark and a renamed “FoodCo” – by the end of 2027. Primark generated about £9.5 bn ($12 bn) in revenue and saw 2%...
MUG Brotein Turns Classic Root Beer Into Protein Shake Hack
PepsiCo’s MUG Root Beer has launched MUG Brotein, a DIY protein‑shake blend that mixes MUG Zero Sugar with a vanilla protein powder, co‑created with NFL star George Kittle. The limited‑run bundle, featuring gym‑gear accessories, drops on April 22 via Walmart.com and...
Quest Protein Bar Owner Cuts 15% of Workforce in Restructuring
Simply Good Foods, the owner of Quest protein bars, announced a 15% workforce reduction and leadership reshuffle to curb a projected 10% sales decline. The cuts, aimed at saving $17 million annually, include the exits of the chief HR and chief...
🍏 Apple’s AI Bet Got a CEO
Apple’s board announced that senior vice president of hardware engineering John Ternus will take over from Tim Cook as chief executive on September 1. The decision marks the first time a pure‑hardware leader has been tapped to run the company, bypassing...
Warsh Signals Normalcy, Yet Bias May Influence 2026 Rate Cuts
Warsh is presenting himself as if he intends to be a normal Fed Chair. Either he intends to put his thumb on the scale despite what he is saying in Congress or the President is going to be disappointed. Dollar...
Firestone Walker and Duvel USA to Acquire Stone Brewing From Sapporo
Firestone Walker and Duvel Moortgat USA have agreed to acquire the Stone Brewing brand from Sapporo USA, with the deal expected to close in Q2. Firestone Walker will manage Stone’s western U.S. markets and four California taprooms, while Duvel will...
EU Foreign Ministers Divided on Sanctioning Israel
EU foreign ministers remain split over suspending the EU‑Israel association agreement. Spain and Ireland pushed for at least a partial suspension, citing West Bank settlements, the Gaza humanitarian crisis, and Israel's new death‑penalty law. The European Commission’s proposal to suspend...
AI Is Approving Our Pull Requests: Here’s How We Made It Safe
Intercom has deployed an AI‑driven pull‑request (PR) review Agent that now auto‑approves about 19% of PRs and handles over 93% of review work across its two main codebases. The system breaks review into specialized sub‑agents, enabling simultaneous checks of intent,...
Susan Powls Cloud Nine: The Woman Who Turned a Mystery Styling Tool Into a £600m Beauty Win – and Why...
British hairdresser Susan Powls turned a mysterious Korean ceramic iron into the foundation of ghd, a brand that helped grow the UK straight‑ener market from under $19 million to an estimated $750 million by 2025. After exiting ghd, she launched Cloud Nine...
Real-Life Cluckin’ Bell Quietly Changes Name After Viral Debut
The London‑area takeaway that went viral for mimicking Grand Theft Auto’s Cluckin’ Bell has officially changed its legal name to The Cluckin’ Bite Ltd. Companies House records show the name change was filed on April 7, 2026 via a special resolution, confirming the...
Proprietary Stacks Are Failing Enterprises when They Need Flexibility the Most
Enterprises adopting hybrid and multicloud strategies are hitting a wall as many vendors push proprietary technology stacks, limiting the flexibility needed for resilient operations. SUSE positions itself as a counterpoint, championing open‑source architectures that promise interoperability and a unified control...
MCP Dev Summit: Standardizing AI Agents, Starting with MCP
The Agentic AI Foundation (AAIF) is rapidly scaling, now counting 170 members and drawing 1,100 attendees at its recent MCP Dev Summit in New York. The Model Context Protocol (MCP) – a core standard for AI agents – is seeing...
Beef Imports, Red Tape Reductions, & a New Canola Processing Facility | RealAg Radio, April 21, 2026
The episode examines Canada’s stalled progress on red‑tape reduction and regulatory reform, featuring Pierre Patel of CropLife Canada who critiques the federal government’s weak response to a House of Commons report with 26 recommendations. It also covers concerns from the...
Chesnara Makes Sue-Ann Ind Group CRO
Chesnara, the European life‑and‑pensions consolidator, appointed Sue‑Ann Ind as its group chief risk officer, effective 1 September 2026. Ind arrives after eight years as group CRO and executive director at International Financial Group and more than six years leading risk and...
Amazon Filed a WARN Notice to Lay Off 616 Workers at Its Homestead, Florida Warehouse, Which It Plans to Close...
Amazon filed a WARN notice indicating it will lay off about 616 employees at its Homestead, Florida fulfillment center as the site closes temporarily for a multi‑year renovation. The layoffs will begin in early July and run through September, with...
What Vertex Accelerator+ Does Inside SAP—And Why It’s Different
Vertex Accelerator+ embeds a configurable tax‑management layer inside SAP ERP, working alongside the Vertex O Series engine to centralize tax logic, mapping, and validation. By moving tax rules from custom ABAP and scattered tables into a single, maintainable configuration, it...
Stepherson Inc., Superlo Foods Expands Loyalty, Digital Engagement With RSA America
Stepherson Inc. has rolled out RSA America’s loyalty and digital engagement platform across all 11 Superlo Foods stores in Memphis and Mississippi. The multi‑year agreement adds a unified rewards program, digital coupons and a branded mobile app designed to lift...
Warsh's Trump Ties and Consistently Poor Fed Calls
It's not just that Warsh would be beholden to Trump. That is the most important thing, but it also overshadows the fact that his Fed calls down the years have been bad--not uniquely bad, but systematically bad. I'm old enough...
UK Government Launches Call for Evidence on TUPE
On April 8, 2026 the UK Government opened a call for evidence on reforming the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations, known as TUPE. The consultation runs until July 1, 2026 and seeks input on employee protections, consultation duties, pension rights, and the...
Kenya Wants Lenders to Prove Borrowers Can Repay Before Approving Loans
Kenyan regulators have drafted a Financial Consumer Protection Framework that would require all lenders—including banks, fintechs, and mobile‑money providers—to prove a borrower’s ability to repay before issuing a loan. The rule mandates verification of income, expenses and existing debt, moving...
Press Release: Geopolitical Risk Concerns Surge for Corporate Treasurers, According to 2026 Tradeweb ICD Portal Client Survey
Tradeweb’s 2026 ICD Portal Client Survey shows corporate treasurers’ geopolitical risk concerns have surged, with 88% reporting moderate‑to‑high anxiety—a rise of 11 percentage points from 2025. In response, 27% of firms plan to increase money‑market‑fund allocations, while cash balance expectations...
World Briefs | EU Warns Against Early Nuclear Plant Closures
The European Commission is urging EU members to keep existing nuclear plants operating, warning that premature closures would undermine low‑cost, low‑emission power amid rising energy prices linked to the Iran war. In India, the Competition Commission has escalated AB InBev...
Press Release: EU to Relax Merger Rules in Bid to Create ‘European Champions’
The European Commission is drafting the most significant relaxation of its merger control rules in decades, aiming to give greater weight to innovation, investment and internal‑market resilience. The new guidelines would make it easier for large cross‑border deals, especially in...
‘The Creative Is Coming Out of the Internet’: What This Year’s Webby Winners Say About Advertising
The 2026 Webby Awards highlighted a shift in advertising where creative originates on the internet rather than being imposed on it. Winners showcased AI‑enhanced campaigns, from a Dr Pepper jingle generated online to the “death of Duo” stunt, and blended digital...
Productivity Comes From Results, Not Office Presence
Showing up at an office three days a week for the optics isn't productivity. The people who know the difference aren't anti-office. They're just honest about where they actually get things done.
Stop Comparing Content to Performance; Value Your Role
In my first marketing job, I gaslit myself into thinking that if my content marketing results weren’t keeping up with the performance team’s, my job was worthless.
Prego Pasta Sauce Wants to Listen in on What’s Being Said Around the Dinner Table
Prego has teamed with nonprofit StoryCorps to launch the Connection Keeper, a $20 dinner‑table voice recorder bundled with pasta sauce and conversation cards. The device stores up to 16 GB of CD‑quality audio locally, runs eight hours on a charge, and...
Hiring at AI Speed: Artemis Secures Talent in 48 Hours
Shachar Hirshberg and Dan Shiebler make offers to new hires within 48 hours of their first conversation. They’re building an AI-native security company, Artemis Security, that battles threats that move at machine speed (which, for AI-driven attacks, is often in seconds)....
Warsh Pushed 2008 Rate Hike over Oil Price Worries
The reason Warsh wanted to hike rates in 2008, just months before the financial collapse was...wait for it...concern over high oil prices
Apryse and Creatio Set New Standard for Document Automation in CRM Platforms
Apryse, a leader in enterprise document processing, announced a strategic partnership with Creatio, the no‑code, AI‑driven CRM platform. The deal embeds Apryse’s full‑stack SDK—covering viewing, editing, conversion, redaction and digital signatures—directly into Creatio workflows. This native integration eliminates the need...
Iran's Hormuz Threat Lacks Leverage without Clear Economic Damage
If Iran wants its future threats to re-close the Strait of Hormuz to be seen as serious leverage vs a future US administration, it's going to be tricky for Tehran to reopen the Strait before we see more acute—and truly...
Complex Product Derailed PLG, Forcing Sales Team Rebuild
PLG got Product Fruits to $2M ARR. Then it broke. The product was too complex for self-serve. Customers had no idea what it could do. They had to build a sales team from scratch. https://t.co/DInZ7mxOqy
US Economy Defies Oil Shock, Re‑Acceleration Persists
Maybe the econ re-acceleration thesis isn't dead from the oil shock.... The US economy truly is something else https://t.co/CKPkVkfOQG
Consistent LinkedIn Posts Unlock $15K Partnership Deals
I have booked more than $15K in co-marketing and partnership content deals with AI/AEO companies since I started posting daily on LinkedIn and switched my newsletter to a weekly cadence. This was not on my bingo card for 2026, but...
Weekend Fund I Achieves 5x DPI, 14x TVPI
We just sent our largest distribution to Weekend Fund LPs to date. Fund I is now 5x DPI and 14x TVPI. Credit to the founders and team that made it possible (cue @VCBrags).
FIFA's Last‑minute Ticket Email Raises Sales Doubts
Seems odd to get an email from FIFA a few minutes just 50 days before the World Cup starts offering tickets to all 104 matches. I wonder why? Could it be that ticket sales are not as good as Gianni...
Nations Squeezed: US Pressure vs Beijing Warning on Supply Chains
Many countries are caught in a vise: Washington wants them to strip Chinese content from their supply chains, and Beijing is warning them not to. @Lingling_Wei https://t.co/LilGzuOzlf https://t.co/LilGzuOzlf
Warsh Vows Independence; Markets React with Caution
Overly simplistic headline I expect to see in Google News: "Trump's Fed Chairman Pick Kevin Warsh Says he Will be Independent of Political Influence, Stocks Retreat"
Efficiency Beats Hours: 230% Quota in Half Time
Person A: 230% of quota, works 25 hours most weeks. Person B: 90% of quota, works 50 hours most weeks. Who is the more valuable employee?
Markets Expect Peace, Yet Escalation Threatens Energy Crisis
The markets have decided peace will be the outcome in the Middle East, writes @TheMichaelEvery But markets will be wrong The options are really limited IMO A fragile pause before escalation or escalation. But escalation has many faces. None averts an energy disaster. #OilMarkets...
Retire Dot Plots, Forward Guidance, and Cut Press Conferences
Shitposting aside, I think it would be a great move to retire dot plots, forward guidance, and have less press conferences
Warsh Says President Never Directed Specific Interest-Rate Decisions
Warsh's wording seemed quite precise to me (emphasis mine): "The president never asked me to predetermine, commit, fix, decide on *any interest rate decision*" He used the same wording again: "The president never once asked me to commit to any particular...
Inflation Improving, Trend Favorable Despite Imperfect Measures
“Inflation has been Improving somewhat.. the measures I prefer… they’re not where they should be but the trend is quite favorable” Kevin Warsh on inflation