Firefly’s Alpha rocket reaches orbit for the fourth time

December 22, 2023

Firefly Aerospace sent its Alpha rocket to orbit for the fourth time ever this morning, with the company carrying a payload from Lockheed Martin to space. However, the company has yet to update the public on whether it successfully deployed the satellite to its destination orbit – which could suggest an issue with the rocket’s […]

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Proposed new rule: All AI output must rhyme

December 22, 2023

Welcome to Startups Weekly. Sign up here to get it in your inbox every Friday. I know I usually lead Startups Weekly with my own column (and I did write one this week, so if you are somehow a fan of everything I write, go ham), but Devin’s piece taking a stand against the pseudanthropy […]

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Once again, Etsy’s layoffs come at no surprise

December 22, 2023

More than quantitative, Etsy’s challenge is qualitative. A viral tweet summed it up in one word: junkification.

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Hyperloop’s loss is high-speed rail’s gain

December 22, 2023

In 2013, Elon Musk published a white paper that teased the idea of zipping from Los Angeles to San Francisco in just 35 minutes through a vacuum-sealed tube — a system he called hyperloop. The idea “originated out of his hatred for California’s proposed high-speed rail system,” according to his biographer Ashlee Vance. Ten years […]

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A strong foundation can help raise early-stage capital

December 22, 2023

Investors aren’t scouring pitch decks as earnestly as they were in the past. There’s still a market for early-stage deals, though.

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