🔥 Hot Takes Tuesday for 2024-09-17
This week, I'm exploring huge AI funding, Microsoft's costly choices, and the quirks of smartphone tech.
The numbers this week are once again big numbers.
These three stories caught my eye.
https://www.techmeme.com/240917/p29#a240917p29
💰 + 🤖 $100B+ is an interesting number (now that $30B+ has been raised within this AI specific fund) and it goes to show that even companies like Microsoft that could tap their cash reserves alone are facing funding crunch needs that require multiple parties. 🤔
https://www.techmeme.com/240916/p30#a240916p30
💰 + 🤑 Oh. Well. This is awkward. So, from a Microsoft perspective, AI is expensive… and so is a stock buyback program. Got it. Cool. Cool. 😳
https://www.techmeme.com/240913/p7#a240913p7
💰 + 🤖 Spatial is fascinating, and it reminded me of how spatially dumb our smart phones (still?) are today — I still have fond memories of Fei-Fei Li on stage at a conference many years ago where the Googler entourage in the first several rows had not yet figured out their new Android OS updates for silence settings and it was HILARIOUS hearing their devices all chirping, dinging, ringing, etc. as they frantically tried to turn them off or make them go silent (unsuccessfully). 😂
Enjoyed this post?
Consider supporting my sponsor!
🔓 Unlock Your Best Self with Lida Coaching! 50% off regular coaching rates until July 31, 2026!
A quick message from Lida:
With 18 years building, marketing, and scaling products at startups, I work with founders and leaders stuck between where they are and where they need to be. I help you cut through the noise, make sharper decisions, and get your team executing with clarity instead of chaos.
Most founders mistake complexity for strategy. They keep adding when they should be subtracting. When I'm brought in, the team is usually doing a lot right, and the real issue is focus and direction. I diagnose what's actually going wrong across product, positioning, and execution, then reset direction and get everyone aligned around one clear path forward that will lead to growth.
A bit of what I've done: I was the first PM on a fintech product that hit 10,000+ users within months, built a national incubator that supported over $500M in startup funding, and led teams at 23 Design before it was acquired by frog (the design team behind Apple’s first products). I've spoken at Google, Microsoft, and LinkedIn, etc.
🔓 Unlock Your Best Self with Lida Coaching! 50% off regular coaching rates until July 31, 2026!
