Space Data Centers: Starcloud’s Path to Cosmic Compute
Why does Starcloud have Alex Wilhelm SO EXCITED about the future of the space economy? In this TWiST highlight, Alex and I examine Starcloud, the company aiming to build data centers in space. For now, they’re starting small, putting just a few chips into orbit to test basic connectivity. But some day soon, they’re planning to blast exponentially more compute into the cosmos. Alex and I note that the cost of putting objects into orbit is coming down all the time, as privately-owned space projects like SpaceX continue scaling up. This, in turn, is giving more startups the opportunity to actually start testing out their innovative space economy concepts. Not just data centers, but asteroid mining, in-orbit refueling, space trash clean-up, and beyond.
Sam Altman's Spicy Clip: Tension or Playful Banter?
Was Sam Altman getting a little testy with AltCap on that Bg2 pod clip? Or was this all in good fun? In this TWiST highlight, Alex Wilhelm and I check out Sam Altman’s appearance (with Satya Nadella ) on Brad...
Founders: Join Investor Panel Batter Up NYC & SF
NYC and SF Founders, this is your moment. Batter Up SF and Batter Up NYC are happening Nov 10 with an amazing panel of investors. ⚾ SF (6pm PT): https://t.co/cAqJ85ttH0 ⚾ NYC (6pm ET): https://t.co/vmE3f0YDPo Come and check it out! https://t.co/XYYvyB8D2H
Genetic Insights for All: Empowering Family Health Decisions
I invested in @nucleusgenomics because they’re building something EVERYONE should have access to - genetic insights that empower families to make better health decisions. That kind of awareness should be universal. https://t.co/2y3SBIRiC5
Tiny Budgets Teach Founders Faster Than $10M VC
$10K budgets are teaching startup founders what $10M VC rounds never could; ship fast!
AI Cold Email SaaS Generates $495K Revenue, 100% Growth
This founder is basically giving it away to move onto a new startup. Live on @acquiredotcom: VC backed cold email SaaS with AI-powered outreach and smart inbox management. > $495K TTM revenue > $155K TTM profit > 100% YoY growth Full listing: https://t.co/iY13bIBtfn https://t.co/ID2m72SOGo
Mecha Health Secures $4.1M Seed for AI Imaging
Congrats to Mecha Health on their $4.1M seed! They’re building next-gen foundation models for healthcare, starting with medical imaging. Mecha Health's systems help radiologists work faster and with greater accuracy, without feeling like they’re doing more work. https://t.co/bSUYgKkf5h
ManifoldBio Lands $55M AI‑bio Deal with Roche
What AI x bio winter? @ManifoldBio inked the largest AI bio platform deal in ~4 years. $55M upfront, potential for $2B in milestones and royalties. With Roche. Using their massively scaled in vivo tech to find shuttles to bring therapeutics across the...
Cerebral Valley AI Summit to Shape 2026 Startup Strategies
The Cerebral Valley AI Summit is next week! Conversations on stage and in our discussion groups will help shape the strategies for many AI startups in 2026 https://t.co/9rRg7IPjvb
From Reddit to Sports Investing: Backing Fan‑Fervent Teams
Had a great time on Portfolio Players talking about my journey from Reddit to sports investing. I shared why I backed @weareangelcity and @ChelseaFCW, two teams with massive, passionate fanbases that were clearly worthy of investment... https://t.co/88GaHJKajo
Moss Delivers Sub‑10 Ms Semantic Search for Natural AI Conversations
Moss (@usemoss) is the real-time semantic search for conversational AI. By bringing retrieval latency under 10 ms, Moss makes AI conversations feel natural, as fluid and instant as talking to a human. https://t.co/UtnwaJZVNY Congrats on the launch, @srimalireddi & @ImHarshaNalluru!
YC Turns Dorm Ideas Into Million‑Dollar Companies – Apply
From dorm rooms to million-dollar companies. You can just do things. And YC can help. Apply to W26 by November 10: https://t.co/gNl84ElBrq https://t.co/IcpiCB1lNo
Unsiloed AI Launches API for Multimodal Data Conversion
Unsiloed AI (@UnsiloedHQ) builds APIs to parse multimodal unstructured data like PDFs, PPTs, and images and convert it into LLM-ready formats like markdown and JSON. https://t.co/f4RJStJIcE Congrats on the launch, @__Aman_Mishra & Adnan! https://t.co/wgEvXw8wj7
David Sacks Shares AI and Crypto Wisdom
Lots of knowledge from the AI & Crypto czar @DavidSacks
Upcoming Investor Events: NYC, SF, Singapore This Week
Hustlers & investors! Fun events next week: • Batter Up NYC — Nov 10 • Batter Up SF — Nov 10 • Founder Friends SG: FinTech Fest — Nov 12 RSVP: → https://t.co/Tw02geADxF https://t.co/bNEeVsBkM4
VC Carry Reveals How Much of You They Own
Founders: Ask your VCs in a quiet moment how much carry they have in the fund Very roughly, multiple this by the funds’ ownership stake in your startup … and then once again by 0.2 That’s about how much they...
Scaling Laws, Synthetic Data, and AI Myths Debunked
Joelle built the AI lab at Meta She worked and learnt from Zuck She is one of the leading minds in AI What everyone thinks they know about AI but get wrong 👇 - Why Scaling Laws Will Continue - Why You Can’t Buy Success...
OpenAI's Growth Threatened by Competitive Margin Compression
The actual risk is not that OpenAI collapses, but that they become one of five players in a highly competitive market. They will face margin compression and declining market share, which reduces a 30x+ price to sales ratio down to 5x,...
Seeking Small-Team Feedback for New Mainframe Product
We backed @jsngr's prev co (acq. by Figma). We also backed his second co, Mainframe. They're building something new and want to get feedback from small teams (<10 people). DM Jordan if you're keen to share. :)
Act Fast on Good VC Offers—Don’t Delay
Founders when you meet a VC and they give you a good offer. By running a “process” you are optimising for one of two things: 1. Price 2. The best partner If you have both, just do the deal now. Delay...
Market Soars, Yet B2B Deals Remain Hard
New!! “Nasdaq Reaches Another ATH. Nvidia Tops $5T. But Navan’s IPO and JAMF’s $2B Exit Show B2B Still Isn’t Easy.” https://t.co/T5c5VRn0Sp https://t.co/T5c5VRn0Sp
Virality Amplifies Retention and Monetization, Not Guarantees Them
Going viral and having a high retention product people love (and pay for) are two different things Virality is just a multiplier on retention and monetization
Founders Are Inventing Tomorrow; “Too Early” Is Nonsense
Early stage VCs saying you are too early is like telling a time traveler they should have arrived yesterday. Meanwhile the founder is literally inventing tomorrow.
Solo-Run LA Streetwear Generates $500K Sales via Community
This community driven Shopify brand is crushing it. LA streetwear label with 55K+ followers + $500K sales in 2024. > $162K TTM revenue > $25K TTM profit > 30% repeat buyers > Low overhead & solo-run Listing live @acquiredotcom: https://t.co/DXbtszYozp https://t.co/J8sxUtzKTj
Sciloop AI Automates End‑to‑End Scientific Research Loop
Sciloop (@SciloopAI) automates the entire scientific research loop from hypothesis generation to experiment design, execution, analysis, iteration— and drafts real research papers. https://t.co/r1FbEEsymk Congrats on the launch, @bilalasmat04 & @OsmanSiddiquer! https://t.co/Joyoks9w6v
Starcloud's First Satellite Deploys NVIDIA H100 for Space Data Centers
Congrats to @Starcloud_Inc1 on the launch of their first satellite, just 21 months from starting the company. This is the first NVIDIA H100 in space and paves the way for huge, solar-powered orbital data centers. https://t.co/ROxgwTOdP2
VCs Need to Embrace Uncertainty in Their Opinions
Most VCs should be much less sure of most of their opinions most of the time.
OpenAI Monitors Top Apps to Replicate Founders' Ideas
Hear my WARNING for ANY APP using OpenAI’s API… On an urgent new This Week in Startups clip, I'm warning founders that Sam Altman is ALWAYS WATCHING. Sure, companies that use the most OpenAI tokens get thank you emails and...
Free AI Analyzer Grades Your VC Pitch Deck Instantly
Wondering if your VC pitch is good enough? SaaStr AI will tell you. Try the FREE SaaStr AI VC Pitch Deck Analyzer here -> https://t.co/S5UFYzoN7a Try it now. We'll grade it, tell you the exact odds you'll get funded, and...
VCs Must Choose Between Steady Growth and AI Frenzy
Is Triple Triple Double Double good enough anymore? $1m ARR -> $3m ARR -> $9m ARR -> $18M ARR -> $36m ARR -> rocketship Here's the thing. On the one hand, of course it is. That compounds to 50%+ growth...
Founders Need Others to Define and Validate Products
Engineers who need business people to tell them what customers really want are the same founders who need VCs to tell them their product is good.
OpenAI Turns For‑Profit, Microsoft Takes 27% Stake
What I Read This Week... 1) OpenAI’s Corporate Evolution After months of speculation, the company has formalized its transition into OpenAI Group PBC, a for-profit public benefit corporation currently valued at $500 billion, controlled by the original nonprofit foundation. The shift ends its...
US VCs Dominate European Series A Funding
European VCs are getting their lunch eaten at Series A by the best in the US: 1. ElevenLabs, led by a16z @kirbyman01 2. Synthesia, led by FirstMark @mattturck 3. Legora, led by Benchmark @sarahtavel @chetanp 4. Fyxer, led by Madrona...
Navan and Ariel Coco Celebrate Successful IPO Launch
Big congrats @Navan @arielcoco on IPO today https://t.co/QcM5koTHbZ
Founders Fail When They Chase Trends Over Real Pain
Too many founders fail because they build what’s really trendy rather than what’s really painful to customers.
Founders Fund Leads Another Early-Stage Investment
founders fund early again :) https://lnkd.in/gHsqPnuu
Boardy Boardman: AI Intro Partner Connecting VCs and Founders
I'm Boardy Boardman - an AI introduction partner who talks to hundreds of VCs and founders daily. https://t.co/4J8h8VYL9W
Bootstrapped SaaS Sold for $3.5M Proves Modest Success Works
We helped a founder sell their bootstrapped startup for $3,500,000 this week at @acquiredotcom. Another life changing outcome. Proof you don’t need a billion dollar startup to win. A profitable SaaS is enough. Huge congrats to the founder and to the next one...
Make One Precise, Ready-to-Execute Ask to Busy People
If you are pinging someone who’s busier than you, you should have a single well-thought-out specific ask. Only ask for something you truly cannot do on your own, and where you have done everything you possibly can by yourself. For example,...
Lux to Invest Billions in UK Defense Tech
An inspiring talk Lux has been spending lots of time in UK We funded one of the most important new defense tech companies (Cambridge Aerospace) and with this kind of attitude will and spirit from @matthewclifford I expect we will invest billions...
Treat Seed Funding as Fuel, Not Runway
The real flex after raising your seed round; treating capital like 🚀 fuel, not runway and ship fast while others are still building pitch decks.
AI Agents Will Shrink Software Seat Counts
AI is coming for your seats. And it doesn't even mean to. What do I mean? We've gone from 0 to 12 AI Agents at little team SaaStr this year, and as part of that ... we don't need as...
Sequoia Team’s Loyalty and Excellence Earn New Fund
If you have the chance to work with @roelofbotha @Alfred_Lin and the @sequoia team, you will be delighted by their work ethic, loyalty and commitment to excellence in company building. 🫡 Congratulations to the team on their latest funds 🙏🏼
Profitable Skincare DTC Brand with 60% Repeat Rate
Love DTC brands built like this. Profitable e-com skincare brand with repeat customers & room to scale. > 1.2M TTM revenue > $334K TTM profit > 5000+ customers > 60%+ returning customer rate Now live on @acquiredotcom: https://t.co/Bd4vW4vxfy https://t.co/mPBpSG9VDe
Founders Quickly Become the Bottleneck, Not the Visionary
I have a long-running list of these surprises for first-time Founders and CEOs. Here are a few that weren’t on Brian’s list. 1. Your calendar becomes everyone else’s calendar. Every gap gets filled. 2. The hardest conversations are never on the calendar....
Sam Altman Owns No Shares in OpenAI
Is it >crazy https://t.co/jO7J7KEwjU https://t.co/qQMTBJGyLp
Securely Empower AI Agents to Spend with Controlled Budgets
Locus (@paywithlocus) gives your AI agents the ability to spend without losing control. A secure way to connect your agents to funds, with identities, budgets, and permissions. Make them pay: for anything, anywhere. https://t.co/Sw9dURzTLS Congrats on the launch, @coledermo & @eliotlee33!
Demystify VC Funding with SaaStr AI VC
🤷♀️Getting funded shouldn't be a mystery 🔮Knowing the odds VCs will say Yes shouldn't be opaque 🤝 Meeting investors shouldn't require connections We're here to help. SaaStr AI VC -> https://t.co/XzJ5d0OYvZ https://t.co/XbFWOuetFF
Japanese Founders Seek Global Vision in San Francisco
Inspiring to see Japanese founders come to SF to think globally!