🔗 WTF is Web3?
17,000 tried to buy the US Constitution, $13bn for fixing typos, & N26 pulls out of America
🎉 This week’s newsletter is sponsored by On Deck’s First 50 Fellowship. It’s an 8 week virtual program that gives you the knowledge, skills, and network to land your dream job at breakout startups. Read more details at the bottom of the post to learn more 🎉
So, what happened this week in the Tech & Startup world? 🌍
The Grapevine Newsflash 🔥
10 tech & startup stories in 131 super short seconds.
🔗 WTF is Web3? Hearing people talk about ‘Web3’ and have no idea what they are on about? We’ve got you. Here’s a great tweetstorm with 10 free resources to learn about it. We’d also recommend pairing this with Gaby’s Web3 reading list once you’ve mastered the basics.
📜 We The (DAO)People In what was almost a historic day, a group of 17,000 people pooled their cryptocurrency in an unsuccessful attempt to buy a copy of the US Constitution at auction. Formed as a decentralised autonomous organisation (DAO), the group raised close to $49m but couldn’t quite get enough. Nevertheless, the crypto community are celebrating this sensational effort. Are DAOs the future?
⚙️Ethereum 2.0? StarkWare, an Ethereum ‘scaling solution’ has raised $50m from Sequoia at a $2bn valuation. What’s an Ethereum scaling solution? Cryptocurrency developers frequently build on top of the Ethereum network, which is now struggling to hold up under global traffic. StarkWare are building a more scalable ‘layer’ on top. Read more here.
☕ Starbucks & Amazon! Starbucks has teamed up with Amazon to utilise ‘Just Walk Out’ technology in one of their US stores. The concept? Get your coffee and just walk out. No need to pay. Starbucks will sort out the rest. Read more here.
💳 Amazon vs Visa? Amazon will stop accepting Visa credit cards next year. The e-commerce giant has announced it will no longer be accepting Visa credit cards in the UK next year because of the ‘high fees’. This is a huge move. Could this be the first big step in lower fee options like open banking? Read the full story here.
📰 The Media & Tech Several months into the court case against alleged fraudster Elizabeth Holmes, some media outlets are starting to look critically at the role their industry played in creating hype around Theranos. In many ways, the coverage of the rise & fall of the company reflects how the media has changed its reporting approach on tech. Read more here.
🎨 From Robo-Advisers to NFTs Some great insights from Sifted on Wealthtech which you can find here.
🏦 N26 pulls out of America The german challenger bank announced to its 500,000 US customers this week it would be ceasing operations in the US to focus on Europe. With N26 pulling out of the UK last year, could we be spotting a tactical retreat? Story here.
💬 No More Typos The company behind writing assistant, Grammarly, has raised $200m from investors valuing the company at $13bn. This makes it the 10th most valuable private startup in America. Big market opportunity or a sign of a bloated venture capital market?
🕹️ Life in the Metaverse The hype word of the last few weeks has most definitely been the ‘metaverse’. With the pitch that we’re all going to be spending more of our time in it… what does that actually look like? Watch this journalist spend a day in the metaverse here.
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If you’re looking to be intentional about the next phase of your career journey, check out the On Deck First 50 Fellowship (OD50). It’s an 8 week virtual program for operators who want to find their next roles at breakout startups, surrounded by a community of incredible peers.
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Over & Out,
Nick & Louis