Hot startups from former Googlers, Jeffrey Epstein's Wall Street connections, and CBD loopholes
Hello!
After working at one of the largest tech companies in the world, many Googlers get the itch to leave and start their own companies.
Rosalie Chan this week profiled 20 of the hottest enterprise startups of 2019 founded by Xooglers, as for Googlers are known. You can check that list out right here.
And you can find our full list of the startups VCs are betting on in every corner of tech here.
Elsewhere in the startup world, Shona Ghosh and Charlie Wood published this list of the 32 star venture capital investors in Europe every tech founder needs to know. And the BI team published a number of VC interviews this week. Here's a selection:
- This VC says the cut-throat hunt to beat SoftBank to the hottest startups means funds need to be faster than ever
- A VC on Elon Musk's SpaceX board says founders who can't answer this question might miss out on millions in funding
- Here's why 100 tech firms a month are asking this VC to fund their ventures into space - 'It was a eureka moment for us'
Business Insider also hosted its first BI Prime webinar this week, with Henry Ward, founder of $1.7 billion startup Carta, talking through the pitch decks that helped him raise almost $450 million. You can watch a replay right here.
And you can find our pitch deck library, showcasing early pitchdecks for companies ranging from AirBnB to Uber, right here.
One final note before I go. If you haven't seen it already, my colleagues at Insider, our lifestyle and general news sister site, hired the author of "Black Hawk Down" and an illustrator from "Archer" to adapt the Mueller report so you'll actually read it. Enjoy!
-- Matt
Quote of the week
"If you look at the numbers needed to achieve to current valuations, they're absurd. They're staggering." - Leo Kelly, CEO of Verdence Capital, which manages $2 billion for professional athletes and the ultra-wealthy, on why he's avoiding unicorn IPOs.
In conversation
- Akin Oyedele talked to Jean Boivin, the global head of research for the BlackRock Investment Institute, about why the stock market's principal driver just changed, and how investors should adjust to the shift.
- Charlie Wood talked to Manoj Saxena, who was the first general manager of IBM Watson. Saxena, who is now chairman of AI Global, a nonprofit that encourages responsible AI design, said humans figuring out AI is like "children playing with bombs."
- Ben Pimental talked to Arvind Krishna, an IBM senior vice president who is leading the company's cloud initiatives, about why IBM's $34 billion Red Hat purchase, gives it an advantage in the "trillion dollar" hybrid cloud market.
- Ashley Rodriguez talked to Laura Evans, who joined Disney last year from The New York Times as senior vice president of data, about how ESPN Plus is helping build a weapon to fight Netflix.
- Amanda Perelli talked to Steven Galanis, CEO of Cameo, which lets you buy personalized video messages from celebs, about global expansion plans and trying to get politicians on the platform.
- Emma Court and Lydia Ramsey talked to David Schenkein and Krishna Yeshwant, who lead the life sciences team at GV, formerly Google Ventures, about their plan to upend the costly, time-consuming process of making new drugs.
- Lydia also talked to Todd Latz, the CEO of urgent care company GoHealth, who oversees 126 clinics across the country, about the four top threats facing the business.
- Sherin Shibu talked to Mark Hoplamazian, CEO and president of Hyatt Hotels Corporation, about the simple equation that underlies his management, hiring, and firing strategies.
Finance and Investing
Apollo Global Management CEO Leon Black and his family foundation are disputing media reports linking the charity to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Hedge funds have long been nearly synonymous with their founders' strategies and personalities, but investors are now looking closely at firms' plans to carry on without their creators at the helm.
Taking risks with money is challenging for a lot of people. Betting $10,000 on television would probably be out of the question.
Tech, Media, Telecoms
Food delivery startup Deliveroo is one of the UK's fastest-growing and most promising firms.
Cloudera has already seen some big changes this year.
Netflix has just grabbed a movie with three of the biggest stars in the world attached to it.
Healthcare, Retail, Transportation
When former journalist James Higdon founded Cornbread Hemp, a Kentucky-based CBD producer, he knew that getting in front of customers was crucial.
In a bid to become a one-stop-shop for customers looking to spruce up their abodes, Home Depot is doubling down on decor.
Autotech Ventures, a San Francisco-based firm with a portfolio valued at nearly $200 million, has made investments in almost every segment of the red-hot transportation space.