In this week’s BB, you’ll learn about…
📚 Lambda School deflects
☢️ Why Bezos should go nuclear
📹 The new star of Chaturbate
💖 Multi-love in the Valley
👔 Openings at FirstMark, Equal Ventures, Accomplice and others
♟️ The bond between Chess and Fortnite
🌊 Digital Ocean’s big move, E*Trade goes private, and Org Charts
🎉 Congratulations, and a mea culpa
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👋 For newcomers, welcome! If you’d like to check out some of The Generalist’s other pieces, I’d recommend Tweet Storm, a recap of the best of the month’s social media discussions. You might also enjoy The Miss, where great investors to talk about a deal they got wrong.
🐰 Overheard
(Quotes from clever people)
“I feel like most of the time when an entrepreneur is telling you about what made him successful, he’s lying a little bit.”
For all his foibles, Austen Allred is a canny marketer. Before he founded Lambda School in 2017, Allred seemed to recognize the value of a good story, sharing the quote above in a 2012 article titled “Successful Entrepreneurs Are Usually Liars.”
He was at his evasive best this week. The same day that new allegations surfaced about Lambda School’s false marketing, Allred took to his Twitter pulpit to share the coding bootcamp’s new financing structure. While Allred had previously refuted the claim that Lambda sold collateralized student loans to finance training — something we discussed last week — he announced the company had raised $100MM in financing for a similar structure in which the company defrays its risk by receiving an upfront advance from investors. After that advance has been repaid, the company shares in funds received from students. Though this new arrangement preserves some of the alignment between students and school — and is clearly better for the company — it should not be construed as a benefit, as Allred has sought to position it.
More concerning are the other falsehoods.
While Lambda sells the dream of a modern education, the reality is rather bleaker: much of the curriculum seems to have been ripped from other online tutorials only to be regurgitated by “Team Leads” that have only just learned the concepts themselves. Little support is given to those that are struggling, resulting in a set of graduates ill-equipped to pass a first round technical interview.
That’s supported by the real figures behind Lambda’s graduates, something the school has been at pains to obscure. For months, Lambda noted that “86% of Lambda School graduates are hired within 6 months and make over $50k a year.” Per an internal report, that wasn’t true, with the real figure closer to 50%. For students that gave up nine-months of earning, usually without a safety net, that delta is significant.
Allred’s bubbly announcements may have staunched the bleeding for now. But with potentially hundreds of students with stories of lingering debt and broken promises, another blow may be just around the corner. As institutes of higher learning act increasingly like luxury brands, trading on reputation rather than quality of product, such an outpour would further tarnish Lambda’s carefully concocted image and seriously damage the business. Allred might be wise to revise his conception of successful entrepreneurs, and try the truth.
🖼️ 1000 words
(Something to look at)
Amazon might save the Amazon. Or, to put it less dramatically, it might help. This week, Jeff Bezos pledged $10B, roughly 8% of his net worth, to combat climate change through a new foundation, the Bezos Earth Fund. Bezos has said he will begin distributing funds this summer and is open to a range of recipients, “This global initiative will fund scientists, activists, NGOs – any effort that offers a real possibility to help preserve and protect the natural world.” One place Bezos might be well-advised to deploy his dollars: nuclear energy.
Still a word that inspires dread, nuclear offers a low emission option that is under-funded and reliable. While wind and solar should certainly be part of the solution, nuclear has the benefit of working in disparate weather conditions and has been deployed at scale in countries like France, which derives 70% of its power from the energy source. Contrary to popular belief, it is also safe, with 0.07 deaths occurring per terawatt hour of nuclear energy produced, compared to 24.6 from coal or 18.4 from oil.
Even with these favorable figures, there is room for improvement: small, modular reactors like those created by NuScale offer enhanced safety (they sit in underground water pools), and greater flexibility (they can be installed more easily and new units can be added if more power is needed). They also do so at significant lower cost since they are built on assembly lines.
😱 Signs of the apocalypse
(Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!)
“Bots not thots.” Since launching on Chaturbate, a site for explicit livestreams, Melody has racked up over 20K followers. The key difference between Melody and other women using the platform? She isn’t real. Instead, the hentai-inspired character is the product of animator, Digitrevx, that uses the game engine Unity to render Melody in real-time. Among her fans are “digisexuals,” those sexually attracted to robots or other technologically enhanced beings, hentai fans, and incels. But as Melody has grown in popularity, viewers have begun to criticize human performers for, well, their humanity, complaining about their perceived laziness and boredom. “The ultimate thot destroyer is an anime camgirl,” one YouTuber noted.
📡 Signal
(One exploding Google Trend)
Multi-love. Interest in “ethical non-monogamy” has seen a persistent if volatile increase over the past decade. That seems to fit broader demographic trends: when surveyed in 2014, 4-5% of adults suggested they had been in a polyamorous relationship at some point in their lives, by 2017 that figure had risen above 20%, with some studies suggesting it may actually be meaningful higher. Meanwhile, r/polyamory, grew from 17K subscribers in 2014 to 142K today.
In many ways, this is a cultural movement twinned with the rise of technology — a high risk-tolerance and inclination towards optimization may be characteristics of both. As one polyamorous PM noted, "I think that in technology, people have higher appetites for risks…Opening up your relationship is really risky, kind of in a similar way that starting a company is really risky."
It is perhaps not surprising then that the practice has fans in Silicon Valley, with some noting that the practice may be better suited to a world in which humans have longer lifespans. “It’s pretty hard to have an exclusive relationship with someone for 300 years,” per one proponent.
Interestingly, despite that connection to tech, there are few good apps for non-monogamists.
🔟 Jobs
(The jobs you need, and no more)
VC Associate - FirstMark (NYC). The backers of Shopify, Riot Games, Pinterest, and Ro are bringing onboard a new investor. A true Tier-1 fund in NYC that founders rave about.
VC Associate - Equal Ventures (NYC). A “pre-MBA” gig at an insurgent, thesis-driven fund that I happen to share an office with. Fantastic, sharp investors, and all-around good people.
Chief of Staff - Transfix (NYC). Listed as one of the “Next Billion Dollar Startups,” Transfix is transforming the gargantuan trucking industry. If you’re interested in mobility, I’d be all over this one. If you’re in NYC (or want to be) and trucking’s not your jam, check out CoS gigs at Alfred and Quip.
VC Intern - Accomplice (NYC, SF). Lovers of crypto will relish the chance to work alongside Ash Egan for a few months. While Accomplice is based in Boston, there seems to be some coastal flexibility for this role.
Product Manager - Truebill (NYC, DC, SF). With $20MM in the bank, this YC-backed company is hiring rapidly. Openings in Product and Growth, all in service of helping people take control of their finances.
Growth Marketing Manager - Clora (Boston). This talent platform for biotech has attracted capital from Spark, Notation, and Ludlow.
Chief of Staff - Twilio (SF). One of the most fundamental pieces of web infrastructure is hiring someone to report directly to the the COO. This company did $650MM in revenue last year; it seems like there’s still plenty of space to grow.
Chief of Staff - Move (SF). An online supermarket with a sense of flair, Move is looking for someone that will help the company function like a “well-oiled machine.” PM role also open, if that’s more your thing.
Chief of Staff - Clara Foods (SF). Purveyors of animal-free protein, Clara is looking for a right-hand to their CEO. You’ll have access to onsite “mini-golf patio.” Sounds like a fun place, in addition to having a strong mission.
Chief of Staff - The Athletic (SF). The distributed sports publisher has made its foray into podcasts and videos over the last few years, signaling big ambition. The upside is that this company becomes ESPN for the next generation. Arguably the most interesting media company outside of The Generalist.
🐒 Long tail
(Best of the rest)
Gambits and gamers. Streaming sites like Twitch and Caffeine are usually associated with the saturated colors and rapid action of games like Fornite or League of Legends. Personalities like Alexandra Botez are changing that expectation. The 24 year old Stanford grad has amassed a Twitch following of 60K that tune in to watch her play chess. She’s one of several streamers capitalizing on the increasing popularity of the centuries old game which has seen a 500% increase in viewing on the platform since 2016.
Dumpster diving. As part of the “NextGen Cup Challenge” McDonald’s and Starbucks are trialing a closed loop system for cups. Specifically, stores in Palo Alto and Oakland will work with two startups, Muuse and CupClub, to provide plastic cups fitted with QR codes or RFIDs, along with disposal sites throughout the area. The hope is that users will return cups to a kiosk, allowing them to be washed and used in the future. If successful, the pilot could cut down on the billions of un-recyclable paper cups used by the chains.
“I need a drink.” Transcription once paid $40/hour, allowing workers like Gabriel to send their children to good schools and institutes of higher education. The past decade has seen a huge growth of demand for transcription — the proliferation of video and podcasts have made sure of that — but supply has expanded much more quickly. High-speed internet is available in low wage countries, and AI has developed the ability to transcribe low complexity audio. The result is a job that may pay as little as $4.50 an hour with few safeguards; sites like Rev give little warning as to the content of files which might include graphic audio.
An icon bows out. Larry Tessler, Apple’s Chief Scientist and the inventor of “copy & paste” and “find & replace” functionality died this week. In addition to those inventions, Tessler was a firm believer in "modeless computing,” the idea that keystrokes and mouse-clicks should work consistently across programs, or “modes.” Tessler was so convinced, in fact, that his license plate read: NOMODES.
🤑 Splashing Cash
(Intriguing raises and acquisitions)
Outdoor Voices raised a down round. The just reported financing happened last year. This week, founder Tyler Haney stepped down in the face of slowing growth.
Tier topped up their Series B. The company added $40MM to their coffers to conquer Europe. The new capital comes from RTP Global, Novator, and a debt firm. The previous money came from Mubadala, Abu Dhabi’s sovereign fund.
DigitalOcean dips into debt market. The company took in $100MM to push towards profitability after reaching $250MM in annualized revenue towards the end of 2019.
Outrider emerged from stealth with $53MM in the bank. The company provides autonomous vehicles for yard operations. The company raised from NEA, 8VC, and Schematic.
E*Trade got snapped up by Morgan Stanley for $13B. The free-trading app has 5MM customers and $360B AUM.
The Org pulled in $8.5MM from Founders Fund & Sequoia. The company produces org charts of companies like Amazon and Apple, opening that information up to job recruiters and sales teams. Meanwhile, Founder’s Fund pulled in $3B across two vehicles.
🧩 Puzzler
(A question, conundrum, or riddle to mull over)
The Barber of Seville shaves all men living in Seville. No man living in Seville is permitted to shave himself. The Barber of Seville lives in Seville.
Who shaves the Barber of Seville?
First of all, a mea culpa. In sharing the answer in last week’s edition, I made a mistake. The correct response was “a fish hook,” not a “fish.” Credit to Arnold G for calling me out.
With that out of the way, we can turn to last week’s puzzler fittingly titled, “Mario’s Telegram.” A particularly difficult conundrum had only one winner, AMT, who succeeded in deciphering the hidden code: Congratulations. The message is found by taking the first letter of the first word, the last letter of the second word, the first letter of the third word, the last letter of the fourth word, and so on. Credit is also due to Michael T and Matteo A who got close. Congratulations to them all.
Sending my best to all of you for a relaxing end to your weekend. 💙