ICYMI: TWiST Weekly Recap! 4/17-4/23
Producer’s Picks:
Nick:
On episode 1725, Jason broke down the news solo.
One segment that stood out was Tiger Global marking down its $12.7B VC fund by ~20%. (27:50)
The Information did some great reporting on this, including SPECIFIC valuations on a per-investment basis and great high-level stats, like:
$11B+ deployed so far (close to 90%) in 250 startups, 170 of which are in the red
Here’s how some of Tiger’s most notable investments were marked at the end of 2022:
FTX: invested $38M, marked to $0 (-100%)
OpenSea: invested ~$127M, marked to ~$30M (-76%)
ByteDance: invested ~$145M, marked to $101M (-30%)
OpenAI: invested ~$125M, marked flat
It’s a great segment inside of an awesome episode. Don’t miss episode 1725!
Jon:
On episode 1724, Jason interviewed Runway CEO Cristóbal Valenzuela on his startup’s recent advancements in generative AI-powered VFX technology.
The two had an amazing chat about AI’s current impact on filmmaking, and what the future holds.
Cristóbal showcased Runway’s Gen-2 system, which utilizes generative AI to generate videos based on text, image, and video prompts (6:41).
This technology is super exciting because it opens up so many new possibilities for creators and the film industry writ large, which Jason and Cristóbal discuss.
Check out episode 1724 to learn more about Runway and what the film industry might look like in the near future!
Brian:
Episode 1723 was a lot of fun last week as Rachel joined Jason to dive into the most interesting AI topics.
They discussed the latest news surrounding Samsung considering switching its device-default browser from Google to Microsoft’s Bing, and if that means Google is in decline OR if it just means Samsung has a savvy negotiator.
They also discussed the viral hit song, "Heart on My Sleeve," which used AI to generate and mimic Drake and The Weeknd's voices.
And the TWiST team actually trained some models of their own, including one of Jason’s voice… and another of a very special guest!
This AI technology is becoming more advanced by the day, and this is a great breakdown. Don’t miss episode 1723!
Episodes:
E1726: SpaceX's Starship launch, Tiger Global's 20% markdown + Ask Jason!
E1725: Startup pitch competition: Jason invests 25K
E1724: Building the future of VFX and video editing with Runway CEO Cristóbal Valenzuela
E1723: Google’s search engine “panic,” AI-generated hits, Coinbase considers leaving US market
E1722: Uizard’s Tony Beltramelli on text-to-UI & PMF + building a Notion CRM w/ Kelly Schricker
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