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☆ VCs are 'hedging their bets,' backing competing LLMs like Anthropic and OpenAI, breaking a long-standing venture taboo
▼ + stars: | 2024-10-26 | by ( Ben Bergman | Riddhi Kanetkar | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Venture firms are increasingly investing in competing LLM startups like OpenAI and xAI. Some VCs argue investing in multiple LLMs is strategic, while others see it as unethical. AdvertisementWhen venture firms pull out their checkbooks, there has traditionally been an unspoken rule: Do not back a competitor. Sound Ventures and Wisdom Ventures backed both OpenAI and Anthropic. There is also the matter of money, with only a handful of firms capable of writing the colossal checks required to fund LLM companies.

Persons: VCs, —, Joe Aaron, — Sheel, Andreessen Horowitz, Elon Musk's XAI, Ilya Sutskever, Umesh Padval, Padval, Anthropic, OpenAI, Gregg Hill, they've Organizations: Service, Sequoia Capital, Fidelity, Ark Invest, Sound Ventures, Wisdom Ventures, Thomvest Ventures, Parkway Venture, Madrona Ventures, NASDAQ Locations: OpenAI, Canadian

☆ AI sales startup Clay is raising a new funding round at a $1.3 billion valuation, sources say
▼ + stars: | 2024-10-16 | by ( Sri Muppidi | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The company last raised a $46 million Series B at a $500 million valuation led by Meritech in June. AdvertisementClay, the AI-powered sales startup, is set to be valued at $1.3 billion in a new insider funding round, two sources told Business Insider. Sequoia Capital, First Round Capital, Box Group, and Boldstart Ventures participated in that round. Clay's AI messaging tool can then help sales teams send tailored outbound messages to prospective customers. Apollo, a sales intelligence startup, raised a $100 million Series D round led by Bain Capital Ventures last year at a $1.6 billion valuation.

Persons: Clay, Meritech, —, Kareem Amin, Amin, Varun Anand Organizations: Service, Business, Meritech Capital, Sequoia Capital, Boldstart Ventures, Wall Street, Bain Capital Ventures

☆ Exclusive: Health AI startup Anterior raised $20 million from NEA and Sequoia. Here's the pitch deck it used.
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-10 | by ( Rebecca Torrence | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Many healthcare startups have targeted administrative tasks on the provider side, like SmarterDx, which just raised a $50 million Series B in June. Wu said NEA chose to invest in Anterior in part because of its focus on health plans. Anterior's $20 million Series A will help the startup accelerate hiring to take on more health plan customers, Mahmoud said. Wu said the firm sees a big opportunity for Anterior to package a range of tools for health plans as AI technologies become more widespread. See the 18-slide pitch deck Anterior used to grab a $20 million Series A.

Persons: —, It's, Mustafa Suleyman, Adrian Aoun, Blake Wu, Abdel Mahmoud, we'd, we've, Mahmoud, Wu, Anterior's Organizations: Service, NEA, Business, Sequoia, Lion, Microsoft, Cohere, Meta, Google, McKinsey & Company, Amazon Locations: Sequoia Arc

☆ HongShan split from Sequoia last year as US-China relations worsened. Now, it's eyeing up Europe.
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-19 | by ( Callum Burroughs | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Last June, storied investor Sequoia Capital announced it was to split itself into three separate entities. Sequoia Capital would look after the US and Europe; Peak XV Partners would manage its investments in India; and HongShan Capital would be based in China. The emergence of HongShan as an active investor in Europe would result in the firm "competing with former family," one source said. The expansion could be aimed at attracting businesses that target the Chinese market or companies set up by Chinese entrepreneurs away from home, the FT said, citing sources who had spoken with Shen. HongShan Capital's most recent fund includes LPs such as CalPERS, the University of Texas Investment Management Company, and the University of Washington endowment.

Persons: HongShan, Neil Shen, Shen Organizations: Sequoia Capital, YouTube, Sequoia, Partners, HongShan, Business, United, Strategic, University of Texas Investment Management Company, University of Washington Locations: China, Europe, India, London, Singapore, Asia

☆ Some wealthy people lost millions in the FTX collapse. But others say they've lost their entire life savings.
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-16 | by ( Lloyd Lee | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The memo includes statements from victims who say their lives have been upended by the FTX collapse. NEW LOOK Sign up to get the inside scoop on today’s biggest stories in markets, tech, and business — delivered daily. download the app Email address Sign up By clicking “Sign Up”, you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy . At the time of the collapse, FTX's bankruptcy filings said that the exchange could owe money to about one million creditors. If you lost money in the FTX collapse and would like to share your story, reach reporter Lloyd Lee at (646) 768-1630.

Persons: Sam Bankman, —, Tom Brady, Brady, Axios, Lloyd Lee Organizations: Service, Star NFL, Companies, Sequoia Capital Locations: Africa, FTX, Delaware

☆ Unity CEO John Riccitiello is retiring from gaming software company after controversial pricing change
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-09 | by ( Jonathan Vanian | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Unity CEO John Riccitiello is retiring from the gaming software company following a controversial pricing change that frustrated numerous developers. Riccitiello, who has been running Unity for nine years, will also step down as chairman and is leaving the board, the company said Monday. James Whitehurst, former CEO of Red Hat, will become Unity's interim CEO. Unity said it will begin searching for a permanent CEO and Riccitiello "will continue to advise Unity to ensure a smooth transition." In September, Unity announced a pricing change that upset numerous developers who rely on the company's technology to create video games.

Persons: John Riccitiello, James Whitehurst, Roelof Botha, Unity, It's, Riccitiello, John Riccitello Organizations: Red, Sequoia, Unity's, Unity

☆ Union Square Ventures slashed the value of 7 of its funds by 26%. Insiders say this will be the 'start of a cascade' of lower valuations for VC funds.
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-02 | by ( Ben Bergman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Union Square Ventures is widely considered to be one of the top performing venture firms of all time. USV marked down seven of its funds by nearly 26% this year, a far steeper writedown than other firms. Union Square Ventures — an early backer of Robinhood, Coinbase, and Etsy— is widely considered to be one of the top performing venture firms of all time. Venture firms are required to value their holdings at fair market value, but assessing the value of illiquid assets leaves considerable room for discretion. USV's 2004 fund returned more than $305 million in cash from a $22 million UTIMCO investment, with an IRR of 66%.

Persons: USV, —, VCs, Vincent Harrison, Combinator, Fred Wilson, Wilson Organizations: Square Ventures, Union Square Ventures, UTIMCO, University of Texas, Venture, Bay, Sequoia, Twitter, Zynga Locations: Robinhood, Texas, USV

☆ Inside JPMorgan's handling of Jeffrey Epstein
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-26 | by ( Dan Defrancesco | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

This is the last week of 10 Things on Wall Street. But there remains a very large blight on JPMorgan's record that has come back into the spotlight this year: Jeffrey Epstein. Insider's Kaja Whitehouse and Emmalyse Brownstein have a breakdown of JPMorgan's long, drawn-out breakup with Epstein. Read more on JPMorgan's handling of Jeffrey Epstein. The Treasury secretary isn't particularly worried about the potential for more bank mergers this year, per The Wall Street Journal.

Persons: Dan DeFrancesco, I've, I'm, we've, Goldman Sachs, Jeffrey Epstein, Rick Friedman, hasn't, Kaja Whitehouse, Emmalyse, Epstein, Kaja, Read, Janet Yellen, isn't, Moody's, Francis Bacon, We've, Jeffrey Cane, Jack Sommers Organizations: Getty, JPMorgan, Dow, Norges Bank Investment Management, CNBC, Goldman, Street, Financial Times, Sequoia Capital, FDIC, Bloomberg, Dassault Falcon, LinkedIn Locations: NYC, Cambridge, Republic, dealmaking ., New York, London

☆ 10 Things in Tech: Apple Vision Pro, Big Tech's big AI salaries, and Marc Andreessen's plan to save the world
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-07 | by ( Nathan Rennolds | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Apple Vision Pro. Apple's Vision Pro looks amazing, but why buy it? The Vision Pro also comes with a host of caveats beyond the price tag, such as a battery life of just two hours. Read more about the Apple Vision Pro's limits here. He said AI companies should be able to build fast and aggressively — and without regulation.

Persons: Nathan Rennolds, let's, Tony Fadell, Apple, Salesforce's Marc Benioff, Justin Sullivan, Marc Benioff, Marc Andreessen, Travis Kalanick's, Adam Beswick, he's, grads, Z, Leigh Thompson, Jack Sommers Organizations: Apple Vision, Apple, Companies, Meta, Sony, Getty, Salesforce, Amazon, Oracle, Big Tech, CloudKitchens, Stanford, UCLA, USC, Sequoia Capital, Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University Locations: London

The Biden administration and CFIUS are pushing for a sale of TikTok in the US. The Chinese government could also block a TikTok sale outright before bidding kicks off. But the list of companies that would actually consider buying TikTok is small, experts told Insider. "I think Microsoft would be one of the only big money, big company possibilities." Ultimately, separating TikTok's US operations, whether in a sale to a big tech firm or a spin off, is complicated.

☆ FTX's venture backers included Patriots owner Robert Kraft and billionaire Paul Tudor Jones, new filings show
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-10 | by ( Rohan Goswami | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

The roster of high-profile investors who lost money betting on crypto exchange FTX also included New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft and billionaire hedge fund manager Paul Tudor Jones, according to court filings released late Monday. FTX's venture investors included a host of luminaries. Dan Loeb controlled over 6.1 million preferred shares through Third Point-connected venture funds. Rival exchange Coinbase held nearly 1.3 million preferred shares. CNBC has compiled and analyzed the following preferred share ownership using Delaware bankruptcy court filings.

☆ Canada's largest pension fund CPPIB among the investors indirectly hit by FTX blowup
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-15 | by ( Danielle Walker | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board had an indirect exposure to FTX through a Sequoia private-equity fund it was invested in. Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan said last week that it had invested a total of $95 million in FTX International and its US entity since October 2021. The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, one of the world's largest pension funds, can be counted among the investors now impacted, either directly or indirectly, by the blowup of crypto exchange FTX. Toronto-based CPPIB has an indirect exposure to FTX through its investment in a Sequoia Capital private-equity fund. Sequoia's other impacted fund, SCGE Fund, L.P. had $63.5 million invested in FTX and FTX US, according to the firm's letter to clients.

☆ Sequoia Capital says it's marking its investment in FTX down to $0 as a liquidity crunch threatens to put the crypto exchange into bankruptcy
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-10 | by ( Huileng Tan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

VC giant Sequoia Capital told investors it's marking down its investment in FTX to zero. FTX had asked Binance for help amid a liquidity crunch, Binance's CEO said on Tuesday. Based on our current understanding, we are marking our investment down to $0," Sequoia added in the letter. Sequoia Capital also sought to reassure investors that its exposure to FTX was "limited." Bitcoin and most other cryptocurrencies fell Wednesday following Binance's announcement that it was walking away from the acquisition of FTX.

☆ Early-stage VCs are leaving $100 billion on the table by not exercising rights to buy into later startup funding rounds. One investor is trying to make sure they don't.
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-26 | by ( Darius Rafieyan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Pro rata rights give early investors a place in later funding rounds and protect against dilution. Nearly 95% of pro rata rights go unused, often because investors lack the capital to exercise them. Alpha Partners provides the capital VCs need to take advantage of their lucrative pro rata rights. The company allows early-stage VCs to exercise their pro rata rights and participate in follow-on rounds by providing capital when no one else will. From a founder's perspective, pro rata rights can be a way of protecting those that took an early chance on the company.

☆ Laid-off Snap employees are fielding dozens of messages from TikTok, Facebook, and Netflix recruiters
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-20 | by ( Jordan Parker Erb | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Well now, some of those laid-off employees are having trouble keeping up with demand from recruiters — and some say they've received reachouts from more than 70 companies. Laid-off Snap employees describe "overwhelming" recruiter outreach. After the company laid off a staggering 20% of its staff, some former workers' inboxes are filled with messages from Facebook, Netflix, and TikTok recruiters. As former employees found themselves without jobs, some told Insider they've fielded dozens of messages from recruiters. What laid-off Snap employees told us.

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