No product? No problem. This Disrupt 2026 session shows how to get pre-seed funding with conviction, storytelling

July 17, 2026

It’s not just you: AI startups are taking in a huge amount of seed funding, and in the process making things harder for anyone looking for funding even at a pre-seed stage. We’ve covered the trend in detail, and at this year’s TechCrunch Disrupt event, we want to help pre-seed founders now being held to seed-stage […]

The 6 Rules of Expanding Where No One Is Looking

July 17, 2026

Emerging markets are growing faster, cheaper to enter and largely ignored. Here’s why that’s a mistake.

How Higher Ed Is Catching Up to the Students It Used to Ignore

July 17, 2026

Non-traditional students are reshaping the future of higher education. Here’s how.

Zoox issues software recall after a robotaxi got confused by heavy smoke

July 17, 2026

The recall comes as the top automotive safety regulator in the U.S. has warned AV companies about their vehicles interfering with first responders.

Prozac Maker Eli Lilly Just Bought a Psychedelics Company for $2.8 Billion — Here’s What It Could Mean for Mental Health

July 17, 2026

Big pharma is making a big bet that a DMT nasal spray could succeed where daily Prozac pills fall short.

I Stopped Waiting for Certainty — Here’s the System I Use to Decide Without It

July 17, 2026

Waiting for perfect data is the fastest way to lose in a fast-moving market.

An Explosive Parasite Outbreak Has Americans Skipping Salad. The Lettuce Industry Is In Full Panic Mode.

July 17, 2026

Restaurants are swapping salads for cooked vegetables, and growers say the $3.79 billion industry could spin out of control.

Why the first GPU financiers are turning to inference chips in a $400 million deal

July 17, 2026

A $400 million chip-backed loan points to the next wave of AI infrastructure deals.

There’s a lot of hype around perimenopause. Don’t buy it.

July 17, 2026

Perimenopause has entered the chat. Perimenopause—and its better-known relative, menopause—used to be considered taboo. Not anymore, thanks at least in part to TV doctors and social media influencers. Perhaps it’s my age, but these days, both my algorithm and my conversations with friends increasingly swing toward perimenopause. Menopause is defined as the life stage that…

The risk of weather data sabotage is rising

July 17, 2026

Every morning, airline dispatchers, grid operators, and farmers around the world make decisions based on the same thing: a weather forecast. While these forecasts are something that most people glance at for two seconds, weather predictions influence major strategic decisions in many industries, with real money, livelihoods, and even actual lives at stake. Farmers use…

The Download: perimenopause misinformation and China’s latest AI leap