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In Today’s Edition
Those who've joined a friend's startup as an employee, how did that go?
Vertical Software 2.0
The Rooftop Solar Industry Could Be On the Verge of Collapse
Elon Musk says Chinese electric car brands could ‘demolish’ rivals as Tesla earnings fall
A new AI model called Morpheus-1 claims to induce lucid dreaming
Airborne infection risk plummets in face of metal nanoparticle spray
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🚀Startups Nuts
The dynamics of joining a friend's startup as an employee aren't widely discussed. This Hacker News thread provides many personal anecdotes of what the experience is like. While some people report positive experiences, many replies tell the story of how the decision to work at a friend's startup ultimately cost them the friendship. Working with friends may be more enjoyable, but the decision to join a startup should be based on the startup itself rather than the friendship - is the opportunity good, does it progress your career, does it pay you well, and is the equity fair?
Vertical software has become more of a thing over the past few years. These companies build for a singular or niche audience, allowing them to tailor their offerings. VCs have often pushed back, saying that by going niche, they're shrinking the market they're selling to. We’re still early in vertical software and fintech, adtech, and logistics support are still relatively untapped opportunities.
🏭Business Nuts
Solar panel salespeople obscuring the specific terms of financial agreements and clouding the value of their products are causing a storm in the solar panel industry. Law firms across the US are claiming to receive multiple calls every week from potential clients with stories of dodgy salespeople causing them to sign up for deals that they can't afford. Some of the nation's biggest public solar companies are struggling to stay afloat as questions arise over the viability of the financial products they sold to both customers and investors. These factors could topple the residential solar industry: more than 100 solar dealers and installers in the US declared bankruptcy in late 2023 alone.
Tesla has backed off its bullish sales targets due to growing EV sales by rival brands. The company has been cutting prices for more than a year to boost sales. It lost the lead in global EV sales to Chinese automaker BYD in the fourth quarter of 2023. Elon Musk told analysts on a call that Chinese carmakers will have significant success outside of China. He believes that current trade barriers are preventing Chinese car manufacturers from demolishing most other car companies in the world.
📱Tech Nuts
Google's Gemini Pro has claimed the second position in HuggingFace's Chat Bot Arena Leaderboard. Gemini Pro is Google's second-best model - Gemini Ultra's capabilities have yet to be revealed. OpenAI risks losing its lead if it fails to introduce a new model soon. Google is integrating a 'Help me Write' feature directly into Google Chrome to reduce the need for users to draft content on other AI platforms.
Prophetic, a neurotechnology startup, has a new AI model called Morpheus-1 that it claims can help people enter a lucid dream state. The model takes the current brain state as a prompt and generates ultrasound holograms that can be sent to the brain to start the lucid dream state and keep it stable. Lucid dreaming is a type of dream state where the dreamer is aware they are asleep and can control the dream. Prophetic plans to release a headband product called The Halo in beta in the Spring. The device sends sound waves into the brain to connect with the current brain state and put the mind into a lucid state.
🎁Miscellaneous
A new sprayable coating applied to standard air filters may help protect against airborne respiratory infections like measles, influenza, SARS, pneumonia, tuberculosis, and COVID-19. It provides a greater than 99% antiviral activity while also completely stopping bacterial growth. The spray doesn't interfere with the effectiveness of filters doing their normal job of removing other particles from the air. There are many other similar technologies in the works, but they will all need more development before they become commercially available.
💡What else are we reading and seeing?
Gamification: A New Era in Workplace Experiences
Warning Signs of a Layoff
Flat is the new ‘up’ for banker bonuses
These gyms survived the pandemic and are still sweating
How Netflix won the streaming wars
Tesla investors see no floor after losing $200B
6 conversation tips from people with high emotional intelligence
Why Warren Buffett is such a big reader
😎Fun Fact
The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) has a trading floor area of about 60,000 square feet, roughly the size of a football field
🔥 Hot Book of the Day
Sometimes it feels as if there are as many ways to struggle with food as there are foods to eat. Craving, habit, emotions, boredom, stress, anxiety, or just the simple fact that a box of donuts seems to be omnipresent in the break room (free food!) can lead to feeling out of control around food.
While anxiety feels like something that happens to us, the pull of food seems like something we should be able to handle.
After all, we have to eat! But it’s not that simple. The result of this constant struggle—and then giving in or giving up—is a toxic cocktail of shame and self-judgment that makes it feel like it is impossible to change our behavior.
The Hunger Habit is based on Judson Brewer’s deeply researched plan proven to help us understand what is going on in our brains so that we can heal the guilt and frustration we experience around eating.
The key is to learn how to work with our brains rather than resisting our impulses, and to adopt an attitude of self-kindness rather than self-judgment.
“How we eat is more important than what we eat.”
🐦Joke of the Day
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