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Edtech platform <keyword id="2900267" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="byju" source="Orion">BYJU</keyword>'s on Monday said that the company has received funds from 11 out of 13 investors in a Rs 3,600 crore funding round which started in June last year. New York-based Oxshott in September 2021 invested Rs 1,200 crore as part of the Series F round at Rs 285,072 per share, which is yet to arrive. "Additionally, Oxshott wasn't leading the round. In fact, they were one of the last investors to come in for that round. Out of the total Rs 3,600 crore, Rs 2,400 crore has already come in," a company spokesperson told IANS. Other investors in the round were Edelweiss (Rs 344.9 crore), IIFL (Rs 110 crore), Verition Multi-Strategy Master Fund (Rs 147 crore), and XN Exponent Holdings (Rs 150 crore). The Morning Context first reported that "money from <keyword id="14428557" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="oxshott-capital-partners" source="Orion">Oxshott Capital Partners</keyword> or related entities for an investment has not reached the company". Oxshott <keyword id="14428559" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="venture-fund-x-llc" source="Orion">Venture Fund X LLC</keyword> and <keyword id="14428558" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="drd-holdings-sarl" source="Orion">DRD Holdings SARL</keyword> are both investment vehicles of <keyword id="14428556" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="oxshott-capital" source="Orion">Oxshott Capital</keyword>. It is common industry practice for investment funds to establish separate investment vehicles for compliance/internal structuring purposes to deploy investments. In the current case, the investor has requested that their investment be deployed through DRD Holdings SARL (instead of Oxshott Venture Fund X LLC). The fresh development came after another report recently claimed that some money in the Rs 6,300 crore private equity investment that BYJU's announced early this year has also not arrived. In March, BYJU'S had announced to raise about Rs 6,300 crore (around $800 million) from Sumeru Ventures, Vitruvian Partners, and BlackRock. <keyword id="1702989" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="byju-raveendran" source="Orion">Byju Raveendran</keyword>, Founder and CEO, was also part of the funding round and made a personal investment of $400 million. According to reports, the money from Sumeru Ventures "hasn't come in and questions are being raised about the fund's antecedents". However, BYJU'S said most of the funds have been received and the rest were on track. The company said that "its fundraising efforts are on track and majority of the $800 million has been already received". "The balance is also expected soon," a company spokesperson had told IANS. Meanwhile, the edtech giant said recently it has closed the nearly $1 billion acquisition of offline test preparatory services provider <keyword id="6380190" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="aakash" source="Orion">Aakash</keyword>. The company, in a statement, said last week that its payments to Aakash are "closed" and the "audited financial results are going to be announced in the next 10 days". BYJU'S has also been in the news for laying off employees and disgruntled parents complaining about poor quality of learning material and sales pitches by agents. Late last month, BYJU's announced to cut nearly 600 jobs -- 300 employees at its Toppr learning platform and another 300 at coding platform WhiteHat Jr. "In order to reduce redundancies across our organisation after multiple acquisitions, we had to let go of nearly one per cent of our 50,000+ strong workforce," said a company spokesperson. BYJU'S also lost a case in a consumer court, where a Bengaluru man sued the company in a consumer court for providing low-quality tablets and study material to his son and daughter who were promised <keyword id="10591" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="samsung" source="Orion">Samsung</keyword> tablets worth Rs 25,000. Further, the edtech major also backed out of its promise to convert the tuition fee of Rs 99,000 into EMIs. When the company did not pay heed to his demand of cancelling the subscription and refunding, he filed a case and won a refund of the fee of Rs 99,000 and a compensation of Rs 30,000, according to reports. SEE ALSO : <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/sustainability/article/opinion-priorities-for-building-an-energy-efficient-indian-economy/articleshow/92804706.cms">OPINION: Priorities for building an energy-efficient Indian economy</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/corporates/news/uber-files-what-they-reveal-about-the-companys-india-operations/articleshow/92805725.cms">Uber Files — What they reveal about the company’s India operations</a>

Byjus raises more Rs 3,600 cr and says its fundraising plans are on 'track'

<ul class="summary-list"><li>OpenAI's $6.6 billion funding raise attracted some big names across the industry.</li><li>The investors had to fork over huge sums and reportedly avoid future investments in OpenAI's rivals.</li></ul>Sam Altman has taken his share of <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/sam-altman-openai-note-more-staff-exits-barret-bob-2024-9">bumps</a> <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ilya-sutskever-leaving-openai-6-months-after-failed-altman-ouster-2024-5">and</a> <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/sam-altman-ousted-fired-openai-ceo-chatgpt-maker-2023-11">bruises</a> over the last year, but he proved yet again that he can convince investors to pour hundreds of millions into <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/openai-softbank-investment-ai-vision-2024-10">OpenAI.</a>The latest funding round appeared to be the hottest ticket in Silicon Valley, drawing a who's who of investors looking to get in on the buzzy AI startup's latest capital raise.The $6.6 billion round gave OpenAI a $157 billion post-money valuation and minted it into one of the most valuable startups in the world. The startup's valuation is now in the same neighborhood of publicly traded companies like Uber or AT&amp;T.In a statement posted to its website, OpenAI said the funding will "accelerate progress on our mission" and that it was "grateful to our investors for their trust in us."The investors' participation — which <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.ft.com/content/66e0653e-c446-47b2-8a7f-baa54ccbfb9a">reportedly carried the stipulation</a> that they shouldn't invest in rival AI companies — comes as OpenAI is discussing how to transform from a nonprofit organization into a more traditional <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/what-openai-needs-to-do-to-become-for-profit-altman-2024-9#">for-profit company</a> and <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/openai-leaders-who-left-since-2023-sam-altman-leadership-struggle-2024-9">several high-profile executives</a> have left to join rivals or start their own venture.Here's who broke out their checkbooks.<h2 id="c2afb3aa-677c-429d-a122-909331dfe44f">Thrive Capital</h2><div type="image" title="A photo of OpenAI CEO Sam Altman walking next to Anderson Cooper and Thrive Capital founder Josh Kushner at the Sun Valley conference." height="3881" width="5760" msid="113886506" hostid="261" sizebytes="589644"></div><a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/joshua-kushners-thrive-capital-invests-in-studio-a24-2024-6">Thrive Capital</a> led the funding round, a spokesperson confirmed to Business Insider. The VC firm, founded by Josh Kushner, has made early investments in several now-prominent companies such as Slack and Instagram and previously invested in OpenAI.The venture firm invested about $1.25 billion, <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/openai-nearly-doubles-valuation-to-157-billion-in-funding-round-ee220607?mod=breakingnews">according</a> to a report from The Wall Street Journal. Thrive also has the option to invest another $1 billion in OpenAI next year at its current valuation if a revenue goal is reached, Reuters <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.reuters.com/technology/artificial-intelligence/openai-sees-116-billion-revenue-next-year-offers-thrive-chance-invest-again-2025-2024-09-28/">reported</a> last month.Besides being an investor in OpenAI, Kushner is close with Altman, The Information <a target="_blank" href="https://affiliate.insider.com?h=1cab063bf769ea9eb48814eb0a6d6dc829f20d25d9d18c766002829154b96aba&amp;postID=66fd750c0c43543ec7a4b399&amp;postSlug=openai-investors-latest-funding-round-2024-10&amp;site=bi&amp;u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theinformation.com%2Farticles%2Fwhy-josh-kushner-became-openais-fundraising-sherpa">reported</a> last month. "i have been fortunate to work with many great investors; there is no one i'd recommend more highly than josh," Altman wrote in <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://x.com/sama/status/1821340757225078966">a post on X</a>, formerly known as Twitter, in August.<h2 id="736a35a4-d4e2-49f2-9f06-528a5fbc3cd5">SoftBank</h2>The highly anticipated funding round also attracted newcomers like SoftBank. A source close to the Japanese media-technology conglomerate told Business Insider that it had invested $500 million.The deal gives the Tokyo-headquartered firm, led by enigmatic founder Masayoshi Son, its <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/openai-softbank-investment-ai-vision-2024-10">first major stake in a company developing the large language models (LLMs)</a> that have powered buzzy apps like ChatGPT in the generative AI boom.While SoftBank led several investments into AI-linked Silicon Valley firms before the generative AI boom through its $100 billion Saudi-backed Vision Fund, it has been slow to invest in a post-ChatGPT world as it has sought to repair its reputation following its disastrous WeWork bet.However, Son has signaled in recent months that he would be ready to make an investment splash again to capture the opportunities in the generative AI frenzy.At the company's annual meeting in June, the SoftBank founder told shareholders that past investments were just a "warm-up" for AI and advancing the technology is "what I was born to do."<h2 id="b79edc35-3e70-45b0-9358-2c370180b278">ARK Venture Fund</h2><div type="image" title="Cathie Wood" height="683" width="1024" msid="113886505" hostid="261" sizebytes="29948"></div><a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/cathie-wood-ark-venture-openai-funding-2024-10">Cathie Wood's ARK Venture Fund agreed to invest</a> at least $250 million into this funding round, which is its second investment to the company, Business Insider first reported. Ark has also invested in several other big-name startups like Anthropic, xAI, SpaceX, FigureAI, and Databricks.Wood compared the state of artificial intelligence with that of the internet in the early 1990s in an <a target="_blank" href="https://affiliate.insider.com?h=a7010832e1d44d01ab25c98a17ab9f24fb271b74f6a8c21c378eb8a0ef13469b&amp;postID=66fd750c0c43543ec7a4b399&amp;postSlug=openai-investors-latest-funding-round-2024-10&amp;site=bi&amp;u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.morningstar.com%2Ffunds%2Farks-cathie-wood-tesla-ai-bitcoin">April interview</a> with Morningstar."We had just begun, and we had miles to go," Wood said. "In fact, we're still learning how powerful the internet is. That is where we are with artificial intelligence today."ARK did not immediately respond to a request for comment from BI.<h2 id="5d016f09-af75-4bcf-beba-b9511454f495">Microsoft</h2>Microsoft invested a little under $1 billion into OpenAI's latest funding round, according to The Wall Street Journal report. The tech giant has a partnership with OpenAI and has already invested a reported <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/microsoft-satya-nadella-openai-partnership-competition-collaboration-2024-5">$13 billion into the company</a>. Rival <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/apple-microsoft-rivalry-deepens-with-openai-funding-round-talks-2024-8">Apple</a> reportedly mulled its own investment in OpenAI, though <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/apple-falls-out-talks-invest-openai-wsj-report-2024-9">nothing came of the talks</a>.Microsoft has also added OpenAI's technology to Bing, its search engine, and its Copilot AI tools, as well as some of its other products.Microsoft did not immediately respond to a request for comment from BI.<h2 id="4c5792d3-7b4d-4ead-9769-659377bc0dc4">Nvidia</h2><div type="image" title="Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang." height="3335" width="5000" msid="113886507" hostid="261" sizebytes="342642"></div>Nvidia is no stranger to the AI spotlight, with its chips the best-in-class option for companies like OpenAI that are building frontier AI models.Nvidia invested about $100 million in OpenAI's funding round, according to the Journal's report.Nvidia declined to comment, referring BI to OpenAI.<h2 id="e1270d87-4463-4ac3-8d68-0f45347c3b60">Tiger Global</h2><a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tiger-global-openai-latest-funding-round-2024-10">Tiger Global Management also invested</a> in OpenAI's latest funding round, Business Insider reported. The amount of the contribution couldn't be learned.The company aggressively invested in tech in recent years, making 335 investments in 2021, according to Crunchbase. The firm has since <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/crossover-funds-tiger-global-d1-deals-2024-2023-12">pulled back on its number of investments</a> per year as the market soured, but it purchased $125 million in OpenAI shares in 2021.<h2 id="e98b1792-d5c0-48d7-b6d8-2766c05647d5">Fidelity</h2>Fidelity also participated in OpenAI's latest funding round. The asset manager recently participated in a funding round for Elon Musk's xAI.Fidelity often invests in late-stage startups that could go public in IPOs a few years later. The strategy can help big mutual fund firms get in ahead of potentially hot IPOs at a lower price.<h2 id="6d05f1b3-01e2-4e70-b574-f8fe21b1f9c6">Altimeter Capital Management</h2>Altimeter Capital Management also contributed to OpenAI's latest funding round, according to reports. Altimeter did not immediately respond to a request for comment from BI.Brad Gerstner, CEO and founder of the investment firm, said at an AI conference on Wednesday after the founding round announcement that OpenAI's next move should be an IPO."Having the opportunity for every retail investor in America to share in the upside that gets created by AI at a time we're going to have massive social disruption, jobs lost, and other things, I think it's critically important," Gerstner said, <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.geekwire.com/2024/openai-investor-says-the-next-step-for-the-chatgpt-maker-should-be-to-go-public/">according</a> to GeekWire.<h2 id="59757869-f9b3-4325-827e-57256dbfbbd3">Khosla Ventures</h2><div type="image" title="Portrait of Vinod Khosla with purple/blue lighting" height="5354" width="8028" msid="113886504" hostid="261" sizebytes="613812"></div>Khosla Ventures also participated in the funding round.Vinod Khosla, who cofounded Sun Microsystems, recently wrote in a lengthy <a target="_blank" rel=" nofollow" href="https://www.khoslaventures.com/ai-dystopia-or-utopia/?campaign_id=4&amp;emc=edit_dk_20240923&amp;instance_id=135030&amp;nl=dealbook&amp;regi_id=71823306&amp;segment_id=178573&amp;te=1&amp;user_id=f058385abc0a81f5ba25805ecd26bcd9#02-c">post</a> on his VC firm website that AI would reduce costs and take over most of the work humans do — and do it better, for the most part. He also predicted there would be one billion robots in the next 25 years.Khosla previously invested in OpenAI.<h2 id="9217eb9c-0bd6-4a0e-a57f-18b634e4595e">MGX</h2>MGX, an investment firm backed by the United Arab Emirates, participated in OpenAI's latest round, Reuters <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.reuters.com/technology/artificial-intelligence/openai-closes-66-billion-funding-haul-valuation-157-billion-with-investment-2024-10-02/">reported</a>. The firm did not immediately respond to a request for comment outside business hours.The firm was set up earlier this year to invest in artificial intelligence and semiconductors, Bloomberg <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-03-11/abu-dhabi-said-to-target-100-billion-aum-for-ai-investment-firm">reported</a> in March. At the time, MGX was reportedly aiming to have $100 billion under management in the coming years.

The investors behind OpenAI's historic $6.6 billion funding round

<ul class="summary-list"><li>OpenAI just secured $6.6 billion in its latest funding round.</li><li>The company asked investors not to back its rivals like Elon Musk's xAI, per Reuters.</li></ul><a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk">Elon Musk</a> is once again throwing shots at the artificial intelligence company he co-founded.OpenAI, which Musk co-founded with CEO Sam Altman and 9 other people in 2015, said on Wednesday that it completed a record funding round of $6.6 billion at a $157 billion valuation, making it the most valuable startup in the world.That funding round, which included <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/openai-investors-latest-funding-round-2024-10">big-name investors</a> like Thrive Capital, Microsoft, and Nvidia, had a stipulation that Musk isn't so happy with: Don't support OpenAI's rivals.According to anonymous sources speaking with <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.reuters.com/technology/openai-tells-investor-not-invest-five-ai-startups-including-sutskevers-ssi-2024-10-02/">Reuters</a>, OpenAI asked investors for an exclusive funding agreement, in which they would refrain from backing five of its competitors.The list, according to the report, was Perplexity, Glean, Anthropic, Ilya Sutskever's Safe Superintelligence, and Musk's xAI, which developed Grok.The Financial Times <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.ft.com/content/66e0653e-c446-47b2-8a7f-baa54ccbfb9a">also reported </a>that OpenAI sought exclusivity.On Wednesday, Musk responded to posts on X criticizing OpenAI's request. He twice wrote, "OpenAI is evil."After leaving OpenAI in 2018, <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/history-of-elon-musk-and-sam-altman-relationship-feuds-2023-3#musk-has-taken-shots-at-openai-on-several-occasions-since-leaving-6">Musk's relationship with the company and Altman</a> became increasingly combative.In February 2020, <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-criticizes-openai-dario-amodei-artificial-intelligence-safety-2020-2">Musk</a> criticized the company for a lack of transparency and commitment to safety.In March, <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-drops-lawsuit-against-sam-altman-and-openai-2024-6">Musk</a> accused the company in a lawsuit of violating its founding principle of building AI that benefits humanity. He later dropped the suit.In August, Musk filed <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-sues-openai-sam-altman-again-why-2024-8">another lawsuit against OpenAI</a>, this time arguing that the executives "deceived" him into cofounding the company.Musk and a spokesperson for OpenAI did not respond to a request for comment.While the request for an exclusive funding round is rare, it's not unprecedented, according to venture capitalists who spoke with the FT.Uber and Lyft, for example, asked investors not to back their rivals for six months to a year during fundraising rounds well before their initial public offerings, <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/uber-and-lyft-force-investors-to-play-favorites-1424811518">The Wall Street Journal </a>reported in 2015.Some of OpenAI's investors have already backed other AI startups. SoftBank, for one, has been <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/openai-softbank-investment-ai-vision-2024-10">doubling down</a> on hardware and software after a string of disastrous pre-pandemic bets, like WeWork.

Elon Musk called OpenAI 'evil' for telling investors not to fund his company and other rivals

<ul class="summary-list"><li>This post originally appeared in the Insider Today newsletter.</li></ul>Hello! Vice President Kamala Harris has secured the support of enough Democratic delegates to become the party's <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/kamala-harris-secured-enough-delegates-to-win-democratic-presidential-nomination-2024-7">nominee for president</a>. Harris said she was looking forward to formally accepting the nomination at the Democratic Party Convention next month.But for now, we're examining how <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/death-hedge-fund-superstars-wall-street-stock-market-titans-gone-2024-7">the hedge fund superstar has gone extinct</a>.What's on deck:<ul><li>Markets: What Wall Street is expecting <a target="_blank" href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/tesla-q2-earnings-report-preview-expectations-tsla-stock-price-robotaxi-2024-7">ahead of Tesla's earnings</a>.</li><li>Tech: Google u-turns on its plans to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/google-ditches-plan-to-kill-third-party-cookies-after-pushback-2024-7">kill the third-party cookie</a>.</li><li>Business: Duolingo's trick for teaching you a language? <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/duolingo-meanest-app-nagging-notifications-melting-icon-gen-z-marketing-2024-7">Being mean</a>.</li></ul>But first, the stars aren't shining as bright anymore.If this was forwarded to you, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/subscription/newsletter/insider-today">sign up here.</a><h3 id="7f7b11e5-16f3-49fc-92f8-20a90c248b07">The big story</h3><h2 id="a974392f-73c2-4c4e-b1ec-1a6bea702ebf">So long, superstar</h2><div type="image" title="The Wall Street Bull crying over a funeral casket surrounded by white carnations" height="900" width="1200" msid="111965401" hostid="261" sizebytes="100002"></div>Where have all the hedge fund superstars gone?An industry built on big names drawing even bigger money has faced a marked shift. The days of <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/death-hedge-fund-superstars-wall-street-stock-market-titans-gone-2024-7">investors trusting a star hedge-fund manager with their cash</a> are in the rearview mirror, writes Business Insider's Linette Lopez.In years past, even rubbing shoulders with a legendary hedge fund manager was enough for aspiring fund managers to raise capital. The late Julian Robertson and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/billionaire-julian-robertsons-tiger-network-spans-hundreds-of-funds-2019-11">his empire of so-called "Tiger Cubs"</a> prove that.But, unlike years ago, hedge funds are no longer the only game in town for institutions or the ultra-wealthy looking to park their cash somewhere. Venture capital, private credit, and private equity have grown considerably over the past decade.Meanwhile, the hedge fund industry has also evolved. The number of quantitative funds, where the stars are the models rather than an individual's mind, has grown.And the big names that remain in the industry are starting to resemble Wall Street banks in their size and complexity. Ken Griffin's Citadel and Izzy Englander's Millennium Management have filled their ranks with Goldman Sachs alumni <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/goldman-sachs-alumni-being-hired-by-top-hedge-funds-2023-3">to help oversee their ever-growing operations</a>.<div type="image" title="Bobby Jain" height="1500" width="2000" msid="111965403" hostid="261" sizebytes="260932"></div>Megafunds like Citadel and Millennium <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/hedge-fund-allocators-due-diligence-multi-strategy-firms-2024-2">sucking up all the oxygen</a> are also making it harder for new funds to raise money.Bobby Jain had two decades of experience at Credit Suisse and was the co-chief investment officer of Millennium when he decided to set up his own shop.His fund, Jain Global, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/who-bobby-jain-has-hired-jain-capital-hedge-fund-launch-2023-12">went live this month</a> with a reported $5.3 billion in assets. As eye-popping as that number is, it's well short of his initial target of $8 billion to $10 billion.Jain's high hopes were motivated by being the largest hedge fund launch in history, a title held by ExodusPoint, which launched with more than $8 billion in capital. But ExodusPoint, which also counts two Millennium alums as its cofounders, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/exoduspoint-2022-performance-vs-millennium-as-assets-headcount-decline-2023-1">has had its own struggles</a> in <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/exoduspoint-closes-paris-office-following-expansion-effort-2024-2">recent years</a>.But as the old saying goes, it's always darkest before dawn. All Wall Street needs is a couple of breakout stars to flip the script, and the potential is out there.Aaron Weiner, a 31-year-old from Coatue, got a multibillion-dollar check from Millennium <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/coatue-star-gets-multibillion-dollar-commitment-from-millennium-2024-6">for his to-be-launched hedge fund</a>. And Jonathan Xiong's Arrowpoint Investment Partners <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/asia-based-arrowpoint-investment-partners-launches-with-1-billion-2024-6">launched with $1 billion</a> thanks to backing from Blackstone and Canada's largest pension fund.<h2 id="58db3aa0-c214-454b-a45c-e67393aaa840">3 things in markets</h2><div type="image" title="Collage featuring Elon Musk, Tesla Motors dealership facade with logo, and a downward trending arrow" height="600" width="1200" msid="111965407" hostid="261" sizebytes="100990"></div><ol><li>Tesla's time to shine. The EV maker reports earnings after the bell today. Wall Street is bullish on Elon Musk's company after a rough start to the year, and is excited for updates on <a target="_blank" href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/tesla-q2-earnings-report-preview-expectations-tsla-stock-price-robotaxi-2024-7">Tesla's plans for Robotaxi and full self-driving</a>.</li><li>Are mega-cap tech stocks' best days behind them? Smaller stocks have been on an incredible run this month. But Big Tech has a chance to remind investors why it's been the market's top pick for years <a target="_blank" href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/stock-market-outlook-mega-cap-tech-rally-hinges-q2-earnings-2024-7">with a slew of earnings reports</a>.</li><li>Small-cap stocks may not stay high forever, though. Wall Street is split on whether small-cap stocks will continue their recent winning streak. Bank of America identified <a target="_blank" href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/small-caps-tech-stock-rotation-russell-sp500-treasury-yields-pmi-2024-7">two key metrics to watch</a> to determine if the wins will continue.</li></ol><h2 id="146bcf05-3865-452c-9d9a-a30b4e904a14">3 things in tech</h2><div type="image" title="An hourglass timer connected to a rocket" height="1500" width="2000" msid="111965404" hostid="261" sizebytes="58762"></div><ol><li>Founders claim a startup incubator left a trail of broken promises. AI Forge promised participants in Miami and London cash up front and help with launching their startups. But several founders told BI they <a target="_blank" href="http://www.businessinsider.com/ai-forge-startup-incubator-founders-funding-2024-7">had trouble getting paid and were underwhelmed</a> with what they got. AI Forge's cofounder said participants expected too much.</li><li>Apple aims to slim streaming service. AppleTV+ has a reputation for spending a lot on its movies and shows. The problem is that not a lot of people watch them. Now, Apple wants to cut back, but it's not clear how it plans to do that — or <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/apple-tv-plus-streaming-cutbacks-eddy-cue-2024-7/">why it's running a streaming service in the first place</a>.</li><li>Google is scrapping its plan to kill off third-party cookies. After spending years preparing for their demise, Google announced <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/google-ditches-plan-to-kill-third-party-cookies-after-pushback-2024-7">it won't be killing cookies in Chrome</a>. Instead, it will let users opt into having the trackers in their browser.</li></ol><h2 id="e2544a9f-17ed-428e-801f-0b3a167fa796">3 things in business</h2><div type="image" title="Store clerk handing over a luxury golden shopping bag to a shopper" height="1500" width="2000" msid="111965400" hostid="261" sizebytes="286294"></div><ol><li>E-commerce eats everything, except luxury goods. Though e-commerce has revolutionized retail, we still like to buy the nicest, most expensive items IRL. That's because part of buying luxury is the experience of being pampered, and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/luxury-retail-ecommerce-online-sales-stores-wealth-the-realreal-2024-7">we like to feel fancy when we buy fancy</a>.</li><li>Meanness and meme-ness are Duolingo's bread and butter. The bratty green Duolingo owl is something of a social media influencer, with a sassy personality that users can't get enough of. Its online presence and relentless nagging have <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/duolingo-meanest-app-nagging-notifications-melting-icon-gen-z-marketing-2024-7">driven the company to record profits and growth</a>.</li><li>The results of Sam Altman's basic-income study are in. For three years, low-income participants received $1,000 a month, no strings attached. They put the bulk of their extra money towards basic needs like rent and food, but researchers found it didn't directly improve their mental or physical health. <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/sam-altman-basic-income-study-results-2024-7">Here's everything the study found</a>.</li></ol><h2 id="acda8db7-985b-464a-9752-f9d16b6dd6e3">In other news</h2><ul><li><a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/joe-biden-boosts-elon-musk-x-digital-town-square-2024-7">Joe Biden's bombshell revives Elon Musk's ambitions to make X the world's digital town square</a>.</li><li><a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/secret-service-director-admits-trump-shooting-worst-failure-decades-2024-7">Secret Service director admits Trump shooting was agency's 'most significant failure' in decades</a>.</li><li><a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/quit-jobs-to-become-social-media-influencer-survey-income-brands-2024-7">The appeal of being an influencer is so strong that half of US adults would quit their jobs if they could make a living from social media</a>.</li><li><a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ai-chatbots-bad-customer-service-botshit-inaccurate-information-airlines-accountability-2024-7">'Botshit' is an example of how AI is making customer service worse</a>.</li><li><a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/andy-beshear-kamala-harris-vice-president-jd-vance-audition-2024-7">The race is already on to be Kamala Harris' VP</a>.</li><li><a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/mark-zuckerberg-glasses-photo-2024-7">Mark Zuckerberg posted this pic in February. Someone just spotted an interesting object in the background</a>.</li><li><a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/moviepass-cofounder-hamet-watt-share-ventures-studio-longevity-2024-7">The cofounder of MoviePass is raising $20 million from Amazon and Alphabet for a longevity-focused venture studio</a>.</li><li><a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/startup-job-listing-catches-ai-applications-with-prompt-injection-2024-7">I'm a tech startup founder. We weed out job applications written with ChatGPT by hiding a prompt just for AI in our listings</a>.</li><li><a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/kamala-harris-coconut-pilled-brat-memes-charli-xcx-cringe-2024-7">The one thing Kamala Harris must not do is embrace the memes</a>.</li><li><a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/joe-biden-twitter-ezra-klein-elon-musk-2024-7/">Twitter's not back. But it's not going anywhere, either. Ask Ezra Klein</a>.</li></ul><h2 id="b648cd67-11f4-4e57-9f3f-4ab9ae6dd53b">What's happening today</h2><ul><li>Tesla, Alphabet, Capital One, Visa, Coca-Cola, General Motors, and <a target="_blank" href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/earnings-calendar">other companies</a> are reporting.</li></ul>The Insider Today team: Dan DeFrancesco, deputy editor and anchor, in New York. Jordan Parker Erb, editor, in New York. Hallam Bullock, senior editor, in London. Annie Smith, associate producer, in London. Amanda Yen, fellow, in New York.

How the hedge fund superstar went extinct

<ul class="summary-list"><li>This post originally appeared in the Insider Today newsletter.</li></ul>Happy Friday! Have you sat on the couch while watching the Olympics and thought, "I could do that?" Well, you'd be wrong. Here are all the ways these elite athletes are <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-olympic-athletes-bodies-minds-different-2024-8">quite literally built differently</a>.In today's big story, turns out being a venture capitalist can be really hard, and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/vcs-reality-check-ton-of-people-looking-get-out-2024-8">some VCs want out</a>.What's on deck:<ul><li>Markets: Want to know who will win in November? The stock market <a target="_blank" href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/stock-market-presidential-election-prediction-winner-donald-trump-kamala-harris-2024-8">might have the answer</a>.</li><li>Tech: Charging things nowadays <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/apple-iphone-charging-cord-usb-usbc-phone-charger-problem-why-2024-8">is kind of a nightmare</a>.</li><li>Business: The antitrust lawsuit from Elon Musk's X <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ad-group-to-suspend-garm-initiative-following-elon-musk-lawsuit-2024-8">has already made an impact</a>.</li></ul>But first, I thought this was supposed to be fun.If this was forwarded to you, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/subscription/newsletter/insider-today">sign up here.</a><h3 id="33784ea9-4160-41f1-a9b8-43e0703b7642">The big story</h3><h2 id="f6a0a5bb-5be2-4c54-b63f-5039346cb2fb">We were promised big returns</h2><div type="image" title="A business man and a pile of money on either side of a balanced scale" height="900" width="1200" msid="112408069" hostid="261" sizebytes="56440"></div>For venture capitalists, when the going gets tough, the tough get going…toward the exits.Some VC workers are <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/vcs-reality-check-ton-of-people-looking-get-out-2024-8">reconsidering their future</a> as the industry goes through a rough patch, writes Business Insider's Sri Muppidi.It's been a rough two years for VCs. Fundraising dried up. Firms downsized. Valuations have stagnated or, God forbid, gone down. That's left workers wondering: What the hell happened?Just a few years ago, VCs were the toast of the town. A Patagonia vest and a pair of Allbirds might as well have been Superman's cape when it came to investing. The ink was barely dry on a deal before startups were raising another round, doubling their VCs' investment (on paper) along the way.Even Wall Street got jealous of the eye-popping returns — again, on paper — that VCs were getting on. The hedge fund Tiger Global tried <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tiger-global-changed-venture-capital-startups-funding">bullying its way into the space</a>.And then it all <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/startup-mass-extinction-event-has-begun-venture-capital-2023-6">came crashing down</a>.VCs are on pace to raise $200 billion this year, which is about half of what they did in 2021. AI is the only bright spot in the startup community, making it incredibly crowded.Meanwhile, exit opportunities — a chance for VCs to cash out — are few and far between. Eye-popping IPOs are a thing of the past, and acquisitions are a lot harder with high interest or at a much lower valuation than they once were.<div type="image" title="Money" height="742" width="1114" msid="112408072" hostid="261" sizebytes="123654"></div>To be sure, some VC complaints feel a bit overblown.One Bay Area partner told Sri junior investors need to meet dozens of companies a week. Another lamented about constantly cold emailing founders.While I imagine that's not necessarily fun, it does seem like a standard requirement for someone trying to find young companies to invest in. Soon-to-be unicorns aren't going to fall into your lap, even if it might have seemed that way before.But the rub for many junior employees, sources told Sri, is that the work isn't leading to a pay off in the form of an investment. There are too many VCs vying for too few startups worth backing.That's led to what feels like a lot of busy work and a lack of upward mobility, as funds aren't keen to promote when new deals aren't coming in.Even if the industry faces an exodus of disillusioned junior employees, they'll likely still be a fresh crop eager to step up into the open spots that still remain.Back when VC was booming in 2021, investment banks' juniors were complaining about long hours. A few years later, Goldman Sachs, one of the banks at the center of drama, saw a <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/inside-goldman-sachs-summer-internship-and-david-solomons-advice-2024-6">record number of applicants for its internship</a>.<h2 id="3ddf76ce-f751-4cd2-a8fa-87d6a0c6e3a0">3 things in markets</h2><div type="image" title="kamala trump" height="832" width="1118" msid="112408067" hostid="261" sizebytes="52094"></div><ol><li>Forget the polls. The stock market can predict the election. Since 1928, the S&amp;P 500 has had an 83% accuracy rate in predicting election outcomes. Market performance in the three months before the election is the <a target="_blank" href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/stock-market-presidential-election-prediction-winner-donald-trump-kamala-harris-2024-8">key indicator to watch</a>, with positive returns benefiting the incumbent party.</li><li>Jamie Dimon sounds off. The JPMorgan CEO isn't buying the Fed's goal of <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/jp-morgan-jamie-dimon-skeptical-fed-hit-inflation-goal-recession-2024-8">getting inflation down to 2%</a>. Also, according to Dimon, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/jpmorgan-jamie-dimon-on-stock-plunge-fed-rate-cuts-significance-2024-8">we're overreacting too much</a> to the daily fluctuations of the market. (Sorry, Jamie, but it's my job.)</li><li>Palantir + Microsoft = $$$. Wall Street was loving a partnership between the companies to offer <a target="_blank" rel="noopener" href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/palantir-microsoft-to-sell-ai-to-us-defense-intelligence-agencies-2024-8">AI and analytics to US government agencies</a>. Palantir's stock finished the day up more than 11%.</li></ol><h2 id="f74496c9-67c3-4980-999b-d66f8a1bbb54">3 things in tech</h2><div type="image" title="Mark Zuckerberg surrounded by eyes" height="828" width="1110" msid="112408066" hostid="261" sizebytes="71476"></div><ol><li>Instagram wanted to get younger, so it looked to a rival for some help. Meta's Instagram ran ads on Google's YouTube to try and draw more teen users to the app. The result is an arrangement that <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/instagram-youtube-advertising-teens-google-meta-2024-8">helps one company by boosting its competitor</a>.</li><li>Dell is cutting jobs as it pivots to AI, but work will be easier for those who remain, according to an exec. The company is putting AI in four core areas, including software coding. An exec <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/dell-layoffs-ai-strategy-workers-more-effective-jobs-fulfilling-2024-8">said AI will make jobs easier</a> and more fulfilling, and some employees said they were excited about the implementation. Others doubted how useful it would actually be.</li><li>Are you in Charging Cord Hell? Don't worry — you're not alone. Apple's ongoing switch from Lightning to USB-C charging cords <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/apple-iphone-charging-cord-usb-usbc-phone-charger-problem-why-2024-8">has wreaked havoc on cord owners everywhere</a>. Despite having tons of different cords, it can feel like you never have the one you need.</li></ol><h2 id="3f1e4f8d-14be-4bd1-859a-29f2cab9c055">3 things in business</h2><div type="image" title="Elon Musk" height="1500" width="2000" msid="112408071" hostid="261" sizebytes="157260"></div><ol><li>Elon Musk draws first blood in his war with advertisers. The advertising trade group The World Federation of Advertisers is <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ad-group-to-suspend-garm-initiative-following-elon-musk-lawsuit-2024-8">"discontinuing" activities for its Global Alliance for Responsible Media initiative</a> in the wake of an antitrust lawsuit filed by Musk's X. The billionaire's fight with the ad group is just one of <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-fightingwars-alot-of-fronts-2024-8#musk-met-in-court-with-former-partner-grimes-for-a-custody-hearing-1">several wars he's waging</a> — he's also battling Grimes, Sam Altman, and the UK Prime Minister.</li><li>Google quietly scales back AI search results. AI Overviews made a splash when it debuted this spring due to its tendency to generate odd or incorrect answers ("<a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/google-ai-glue-pizza-i-tried-it-2024-5">Eat glue</a>!"). A new study found that <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/google-keeps-scaling-back-ai-search-results-2024-8">a shrinking proportion of searches</a> are generating AI Overviews, and the ones that do appear are much briefer.</li><li>These VCs — and their wallets — are unburdened by the context. <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tech-investors-raise-money-for-kamala-harris-over-zoom-2024-8">Tech investors raised over $135,000</a> in a Zoom fundraising party for Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris. They hyped up the VP and made plenty of jabs at Andreessen Horowitz's Trump boosters.</li></ol><h2 id="dade9c87-7b9a-4577-ae40-e664e7509efe">In other news</h2><ul><li>CrossFit Games <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/crossfit-games-athlete-lazar-dukic-drowned-texas-2024-8">suspended after competitor drowns</a> during the swimming contest, CEO confirms.</li><li>Paramount's TV networks are collapsing in <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/paramount-6-billion-loss-tv-networks-david-ellison-2024-8/">a $6 billion hole</a>.</li><li>Sequoia invests in Reflection AI, a startup founded by Google DeepMind alum, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/sequoia-invests-reflection-ai-startup-vc-2024-8">at $100 million valuation, sources say</a>.</li><li>Apple's AI features could <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/apples-ai-intelligence-features-could-cost-more-than-you-think-2024-8">cost you more than you think</a>.</li><li>Ukrainian troops were seen pushing 6 miles into Russian territory, and the Kremlin can't decide if it's a <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ukraine-kursk-war-russia-six-miles-kremlin-large-scale-provocation-2024-8">'large-scale provocation' or 'under control'</a>.</li><li>42 downturn-resistant stocks to help you sleep at night: <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/stocks-to-buy-market-outlook-investing-strategy-volatility-vix-bofa-2024-8">Bank of America</a>.</li><li>Eventbrite is laying off <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/eventbrite-is-laying-off-11-of-its-staff-2024-8">11% of its staff</a>.</li><li>Inside the Alaska Airlines blowout: staff describe loud bangs, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/alaska-airlines-blowout-staff-describe-chaos-loud-bangs-boeing-plane-2024-8">'whooshing air,' and other chaos</a>.</li><li>The case for HIIT: Why short, intense workouts are so <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/study-hiit-short-workouts-boost-fitness-longevity-stroke-survival-2024-8">good for your fitness and longevity</a>.</li><li>David Copperfield accused of trashing his $7 million NYC penthouse <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/david-copperfield-lawsuit-alleges-he-disrepair-nyc-condo-2024-8">in new lawsuit</a>.</li><li>Middle East wealth funds are scrambling to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/middle-east-funds-racing-rescue-investments-saudi-arabia-pif-mubadala-2024-8">rescue their big bets on the future</a>.</li><li>Banks are restricting employees from donating to the Harris-Walz campaign. <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/bank-political-campaign-donation-harris-walz-sec-pay-to-play-2024-8">Here's why</a>.</li><li>The AI industry has a major problem: the real-world <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ai-synthetic-data-industry-debate-over-fake-2024-8">data used to make smarter models is running out</a>.</li></ul><h2 id="ef10e441-ad2e-4dfd-9824-4731fcbcd985">What's happening today</h2><ul><li>Disney holds its D23 Expo in Anaheim, California.</li><li>Breaking, or breakdancing, makes its Olympic debut with the b-girls gold medal battle.</li><li>Tropical storm Debby is forecast to hit North Carolina and Virginia. It's forecast to dump 10 to 20 inches of rain on the region.</li></ul>The Insider Today team: Dan DeFrancesco, deputy editor and anchor, in New York. Jordan Parker Erb, editor, in New York. Hallam Bullock, senior editor, in London. Amanda Yen, fellow, in New York.

Turns out being a venture capitalist can be really hard and some VCs want out

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Mira Murati announced her departure from OpenAI last week.</li><li>In an X post, Murati wrote, "I'm stepping away because I want to create the time and space to do my own exploration."</li></ul>Venture capitalists are clamoring to meet with Mira Murati, the former CTO of OpenAI, as Silicon Valley expects her to start her own company soon."We're trying to get in front of her," said one venture investor. "I cold-emailed her," another investor told Business Insider.Murati did not respond to a request for comment.In a X post, Murati <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/mira-murati-openai-cto-leaving-executive-memo-staff-2024-9">announced her departure</a> from OpenAI last week. Murati wrote, "My six-and-half years with the OpenAI team have been an extraordinary privilege…There's never an ideal time to step away from a place one cherishes, yet this moment feels right."Murati also added, "I'm stepping away because I want to create the time and space to do my own exploration."VCs have been <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ai-investments-vcs-startups-valuations-2024-3">competing</a> to be among the first checks into a startup founded by former OpenAI employees. Dozens of former OpenAI staffers, including the startup's other cofounders, <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/former-openai-employees-who-left-launch-vc-backed-ai-startups-2024-1">have gone on to start companies over the past few years.</a> Former OpenAI chief scientist Ilya Sutskever raised $1 billion for AI research lab Safe Superintelligence, reported <a target="_blank" href="https://www.reuters.com/technology/artificial-intelligence/openai-co-founder-sutskevers-new-safety-focused-ai-startup-ssi-raises-1-billion-2024-09-04/">Reuters</a>. Andrej Karpathy started Eureka Labs focused on applying AI to education.<a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-invests-4-billion-in-anthropic-2023-9">Anthropic was started in 2021</a> by Dario Amodei and a group of researchers within OpenAI. Aravind Srinivas, a former research scientist at OpenAI, founded the San Francisco-based AI search engine <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/perplexity-raising-new-funding-generative-ai-2024">Perplexity.</a>Murati joined OpenAI in 2018 to work on supercomputing strategy. She had previously worked at Tesla, focused on the electric car maker's Model X vehicle. At OpenAI, Murati oversaw the teams that developed the company's two flagship products, ChatGPT and Dall-E.In response to Murati's sudden departure, OpenAI CEO <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/sam-altman-openai-future-abundant-energy-intelligence-growth-2024-9">Sam Altman</a> wrote on X, "I obviously won't pretend it's natural for this one to be so abrupt, but we are not a normal company, and I think the reasons Mira explained to me (there is never a good time, anything not abrupt would have leaked, and she wanted to do this while OpenAI was in an upswing) make sense."This comes amid OpenAI's latest <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/openai-fundraising-150-billion-valuation-new-funding-round-altman-thrive-2024-9">fundraise of $6.5 billion.</a> Thrive Capital is leading the latest round with a $1 billion investment at a valuation of $150 billion before the investment, with SoftBank, Coatue, and Microsoft also participating, reported <a target="_blank" href="https://affiliate.insider.com?h=f904b52b37104c96afbbf0032cfadafdf6f3ce2c5e74e4595b74136eef000573&amp;postID=66fb0d20e5b54083003d2c8f&amp;postSlug=mira-murati-exits-openai-venture-capitalist-startup-2024-9&amp;site=bi&amp;u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theinformation.com%2Farticles%2Fsoftbank-to-invest-500-million-in-openai%3Frc%3D8tzurb">The Information</a>. OpenAI is also restructuring from a nonprofit subsidiary to a for-profit benefit corporation and planning to give Altman equity for the first time, reported <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.reuters.com/technology/artificial-intelligence/openai-remove-non-profit-control-give-sam-altman-equity-sources-say-2024-09-25/">Reuters.</a>Two other technical executives– Bob McGrew, chief research officer, and Barret Zoph, vice president of research– also announced their departures last week. Altman and Wojciech Zaremba are the only co-founders remaining from the 11-person founding team.Zaremba wrote in a viral X post, "Their departures made me think about the hardships parents faced in the Middle Ages when 6 out of 8 children would die prematurely," he wrote. "Despite the profound loss, the parents had to accept it and find deep joy and satisfaction in the 2 who survived."

VCs are rushing to meet with former OpenAI CTO Mira Murati in hopes of funding a new company

The businessman who blew up MoviePass targeted the 'Reddit crowd' with a new venture. It collapsed and cost investors millions.

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Sam Blond has left Founders Fund after 17 months with the firm. </li><li>The former Brex executive said he's returning to life as an operator on X. </li></ul>Sam Blond, the Founders Fund partner who brought sales expertise from his years at <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/inside-story-brex-layoffs-150-million-raise-fintech-2020-6">Brex</a> and Zenefits, has left the firm, he announced on X. He's the second partner to depart Founders Fund this year after <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/miami-day-in-life-of-founders-fund-vc-keith-rabois-2021-5">Keith Rabois</a> made a return to Khosla Ventures in January."Full time investing / being a VC isn't the right fit for me and I've decided to go back to operating. More on what's next for me later," Blond <a target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/samdblond/status/1764705939104686570">wrote on X</a>.Blond was chief revenue officer and an early employee at Brex, the fintech that's raised billions in capital in its efforts to corner the market for credit cards for startups. He helped <a target="_blank" href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/alexkonrad/2022/09/01/brex-cro-sam-blond-joins-founders-fund/?sh=7aa7bc532e7e">grow the business</a> from less than $100 in sales to several hundred million dollars of annualized revenue, he told Forbes in 2022. While there, Blond caught the attention of partners at <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/founders-fund-growth-fundraising-strategy-2020-3">Founders Fund</a>.Rabois told Forbes that Blond's decision to join Brex, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/the-inside-story-of-zenefits-2016-3">Zenefits</a>, and EchoSign as a very early employee, showed sharp powers of judgment. "Voting with your feet is even better than voting with your money," Rabois told Forbes.Blond became a partner at Founders Fund in the second half of 2022, as big losses for tech stocks started to bleed into the private markets. Institutional investors pulled back from allocating money to venture capital and, in doing so, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/silicon-valley-fears-exctinction-event-startup-failure-rate-increase-2023-6">choked off access to easy capital</a> for startups.Since then, Founders Fund has tapped the breaks on fundraising. In March of 2022, it announced a close on <a target="_blank" href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-03-04/founders-fund-raises-5-billion-for-early-to-late-stage-deals?cmpId=google&amp;sref=Dd2N48n2&amp;embedded-checkout=true">$1.9 billion</a> in capital commitments for its eighth early-stage fund. But a year later, Axios reported the firm <a target="_blank" href="https://www.axios.com/2023/03/03/founders-fund-slashes-vc-peter-thiel">shrunk the fund</a> to about $900 million and would roll the additional $1 billion into a ninth fund.The firm also slowed its pace of investing during that stretch, according to Crunchbase data. In 2022, Founders Fund took part in 84 rounds that totaled about $6.6 billion. Last year, it participated in about half the number of rounds with 45 deals. However, the cash raised in those rounds grew to $8 billion because it contributed to a gargantuan $6.5 billion Series I for the fintech Stripe.Blond's departure quickly follows that of Rabois, whose own exit from the firm has sparked rumors of <a target="_blank" href="https://www.wsj.com/tech/san-francisco-ai-boom-silicon-valley-307816b2">tensions among the partners</a>. Rabois is rejoining Khosla Ventures after five years at Founders Fund.

Founders Fund partner Sam Blond has left the firm

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Dan Siroker, a founder of the startup Rewind AI, is telling investors to pay if they want to meet.</li><li>He's charging $100 for bookings to conserve his most precious resource: time.</li></ul>The venture-capital industry has mostly been a tale of woe in the past year, with thousands of <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/venture-capital-fundraising-decline-leads-to-layoffs-restructuring-quitting-2024-1">startups struggling</a> to raise money and many <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/silicon-valley-fears-exctinction-event-startup-failure-rate-increase-2023-6">shutting down</a>.For some lucky founders, though, the market is as frothy as ever and edging into the realm of insanity again.A couple of days ago, Dan Siroker, a cofounder and the CEO of Rewind AI, set his sights on meeting new investors. He anticipated so many VCs clamoring to meet that the entrepreneur decided to whittle down the field and make some money for charity while doing it."We can't meet with everyone so to make sure you are serious and it's a good use of our time, we are requiring a $100 payment to meet. First come, first served," he <a target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/dsiroker/status/1763321910908051785">posted to X</a> on Friday.<h2>Over a thousand investors</h2>Not all founders can do this. Based on how his previous fundraise went, Siroker was already bracing for a deluge of Zoom calls.Last spring, the founder shared a link to the pitch for his startup and a form so anyone could make an offer to invest. After a few weeks, <a target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/dsiroker/status/1656756838984200192">over a thousand investors</a> had expressed interest.Siroker closed the process with 170 bids to sift through. He raised $12 million for Rewind AI at a valuation of $350 million.Siroker told Business Insider this week that he isn't actively fundraising. He said Rewind AI has enough cash in the bank from that last round to grow and operate for another four years.Instead, he's meeting with investors to build relationships over time."This company is my life's work," he said in a direct message. "That means I'll be working with these investors for at least a decade or more. I want to make sure it's the right long-term fit, and so getting to know them over more than just one or two meetings is important to me."Rewind's digital assistant records everything a person does on their computer, makes it searchable, and stores the recordings locally on users' computers to mitigate privacy concerns. The service has a free tier and a $19 monthly subscription that unlocks more robust features.Rewind AI came out of stealth in late 2022 with millions from Andreessen Horowitz, First Round Capital, and others. Siroker said his startup now has 22 employees.<h2>The hottest companies are getting funded while the rest fight for scraps</h2>VCs falling over themselves to meet startup founders — and paying for the privilege — is a sign that at least some parts of the startup-funding environment are back to boom times.But charging investors may be at odds with building healthy, long-lasting partnerships with them.Siroker said that while he's asking for cash as "an efficient way to know who was serious and who wasn't," the experiment has a domino effect of weeding out self-important investors."I also want investors who don't have such a big ego and believe in our company so much that they'd be willing to swallow a bit of their ego and would be happy to pay to meet," he said. "Most investors think entrepreneurs should kiss their ring. This selects for the ones without ego."This is just one example of Silicon Valley's <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/vcs-2023-startup-fundraising-challenges-2023-12">extreme divide between haves and have-nots</a>.A large number of startups staved off death during the past two years by cutting costs and head counts. But as pools of cheap money these startups raised early in the pandemic run dry, many will have to go to market for capital this year.They won't all succeed. The same scarcity of capital for startups is <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/venture-capital-fundraising-decline-leads-to-layoffs-restructuring-quitting-2024-1">hurting funds</a>. Last year, the industry notched 474 funds closed, the lowest count since the tech-bull run began in 2013, PitchBook data shows. The cash raised fell to about $70 billion from $173 billion in 2022.<div type="image" title="A photo illustration shows the Perplexity logo on a mobile phone." height="1500" width="3000" msid="108148462" hostid="261"></div>Investors have told BI they're seeing more binary outcomes as they spread much less capital to fewer companies."When deals get hot, there is extreme interest," <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/vcs-2023-startup-fundraising-challenges-2023-12">Ben Lerer</a>, a managing partner of Lerer Hippeau, an early-stage venture firm, told BI's Ben Bergman late last year. "But if you are on the wrong side of it, there's not a cent."Investors are still swooning over artificial intelligence-powered software, apps, and infrastructure, part of the reason for the growing divide, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/01-advisors-dick-costolo-ai-startup-funding-frenzy-valuations-2024-2">Dick Costolo</a>, the former chief executive of Twitter and now a managing partner at the newer early-stage firm 01 Advisors, said.This week, BI reported that <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/perplexity-raising-new-funding-generative-ai-2024">Perplexity</a>, a startup that's taking on Google with a smarter search engine, is raising additional funding at a considerably higher valuation just months after closing $74 million from investors.The funding bonanza in artificial intelligence shows no sign of slowing down. <a target="_blank" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/20/technology/anthropic-funding-ai.html">Anthropic</a> and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/openai-valued-at-80bn-following-deal-employees-cash-out-report-2024-2">OpenAI</a> closed new rounds at face-melting valuations last month. Google, Nvidia, and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/former-openai-employees-who-left-launch-vc-backed-ai-startups-2024-1">OpenAI employees</a> are striking out on their own and raising gobs of cash for new startups."Even if you're going to be investing in early growth, you need to see them when they're just getting started and get to know the team and have them get to know you — because these things get preempted," Costolo said. "If you're not there long before the raising, you're not part of the conversation."Siroker is counting on investors to do so. By Friday afternoon, he said he'd collected $900 from nine investors willing to pay to meet.Though one person replying to Siroker's tweet suggested he mark the proceeds from meetings as revenue for his business, Siroker told BI he plans to donate the money to the Boys &amp; Girls Clubs and Build, a nonprofit that teaches students how to be entrepreneurs.

It's becoming insane again in venture capital: A tiny AI startup wants investors to pay $100 to book a meeting with its founder.

<ul><li>Destiny Tech100 is a closed-end fund that has soared as much as 1,110% since its debut last month.</li><li>The fund invests mostly in privately held startups that most investors don't have access to.</li><li>These are the top 10 holdings of the Destiny Tech100 fund.</li></ul>The Destiny Tech100 fund has soared since its debut late last month, rising by as much as 1,110% at Monday's closing price of $99.79.The closed-end fund, <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/destiny-tech100-stock-price-investor-private-access-spacex-openai-dxyz-2024-4">which trades under the ticker symbol "DXYZ,"</a> seeks to invest in private high-growth tech companies that most investors don't have access to unless they're accredited.So far, the closed-end fund owns stakes in 23 companies, though it is ultimately targeting 100 companies to be held in the fund.Some buzzy names owned by the fund include SpaceX and OpenAI, and that's led to some volatile swings in the fund's price. After soaring 69% on Monday, the fund gave back some of those gains and declined by about 23% on Tuesday.Destiny said its fund offers investors access to companies that can print eye-popping returns before they go public. Traditionally, those gains have been limited to venture capital investors, while public market investors have had limited access to those gains."For many companies at the pre-IPO stage, there is a real opportunity to achieve a 10x-50x return," Destiny says on its website. Fair value of the fund's combined equity investments is just under $50 million as of December 31, based on Destiny's <a href="https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1843974/000139834424005739/fp0087134-2_ncsr.htm" target="_blank" rel="noopener">filing made with the SEC.</a>These are the top 10 holdings of the Destiny Tech100 fund.10. Relativity Space<div type="image" title="Relativity Space" height="554" width="1108" msid="109171849" hostid="261" sizebytes="38462"></div>Percent of fund: 2.7% Fair value: $1.4 million Date acquired: December 20219. ClassDojo<div type="image" title="ClassDojo Picture" height="718" width="1436" msid="109171850" hostid="261" sizebytes="42892"></div>Percent of fund: 3.0% Fair value: $1.6 million Date acquired: November 20218. Revolut<div type="image" title="Revolut" height="1600" width="3200" msid="109171851" hostid="261" sizebytes="171552"></div>Percent of fund: 3.4% Fair value: $1.8 million Date acquired: December 20217. OpenAI Special Purpose Vehicle<div type="image" title="ChatGPT and OpenAI logo" height="640" width="1280" msid="109171853" hostid="261" sizebytes="26140"></div>*Destiny Tech100 created a special purpose vehicle that intends to invest in OpenAI. As of December 31, 0% of the fund was directly invested in OpenAI.Percent of fund: 3.8% Fair value: $2.0 million Date acquired: December 20236. Superhuman<div type="image" title="Superhuman email" height="936" width="1747" msid="109171855" hostid="261" sizebytes="46722"></div>Percent of fund: 4.0% Fair value: $2.1 million Date acquired: June 20215. Brex<div type="image" title="Brex logo" height="600" width="1200" msid="109171856" hostid="261" sizebytes="7138"></div>Percent of fund: 4.0% Fair value: $2.1 million Date acquired: March 20224. Epic Games<div type="image" title="Epic Games" height="2499" width="4999" msid="109171857" hostid="261" sizebytes="301842"></div>Percent of fund: 4.0% Fair value: $2.1 million Date acquired: December 20213. Boom Supersonic<div type="image" title="A pilot sitting in the cockpit of the Boom Supersonic experimental aircraft." height="1000" width="2000" msid="109171858" hostid="261" sizebytes="85214"></div>Percent of fund: 4.6% Fair value: $2.5 million Date acquired: February 20222. Axiom Space<div type="image" title="Axiom Space Station_photo_credit image Axiom Space_5" height="1920" width="3840" msid="109171859" hostid="261" sizebytes="251350"></div>Percent of fund: 9.7% Fair value: $5.1 million Date acquired: December 2021 and January 20231. SpaceX<div type="image" title="SpaceX building in Florida" height="2689" width="5380" msid="109171860" hostid="261" sizebytes="418466"></div>Percent of fund: 34.6% Fair value: $18.4 million Date acquired: June 2022

These are the top 10 holdings of Destiny Tech100 Fund, which has soared 1,110% since its debut last month

<ul><li>The Destiny Tech100 fund has soared as much as 818% since its debut two weeks ago.</li><li>The closed-end fund offers investors access to companies that have yet to go public.</li><li>Some of the top holdings in the fund include SpaceX, Epic Games, and OpenAI.</li></ul>A new closed-end fund that offers investors access to private companies has soared over the past two weeks.The Destiny Tech100 fund has seen its price soar as much as 818% since its listing on the New York Stock Exchange took place on March 26, giving it a market value of $825 million. The fund spiked 126% at intraday highs on Friday, hitting $75.79. It originally opened for trading at $8.25 in late March.The fund, which trades under the ticker symbol "DXYZ," seeks to invest in private high-growth tech companies that most investors don't have access to, unless they're accredited.So far, the closed-end fund owns stakes in 23 companies, though it is ultimately targeting 100 companies to be held in the fund.Destiny said its fund offers investors access to companies that can print eye-popping returns before they go public. Traditionally, those gains have been limited to venture capital investors, while public market investors have had limited access to those gains."For many companies at the pre-IPO stage, there is a real opportunity to achieve a 10x-50x return," Destiny says on its website. By far the largest position in the fund is Elon Musk's SpaceX, with a 34.6% stake. The fund's SpaceX stake is worth about $18.4 million as of December 31, according to Destiny's 2023 annual report. Other stakes in the company include Epic Games at 4%, OpenAI at 3.8%, and Chime at 1.9%.While the closed-end fund offers every-day investors access to private companies that would have been difficult to invest in, it comes at a steep price, with the Destiny Tech100 fund charging an annual management fee of 2.5%.

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