We can't find the internet
Attempting to reconnect
Something went wrong!
Hang in there while we get back on track
Patrick O'Shaughnessy: "Venture is dead (again)" in Colossus
Patrick O'Shaughnessy shared the new Colossus essay by contributing editor @ganeumann. "I love reading @ganeumann," he wrote, and said this one is "on the changing world of venture" . The essay's premise is that more money is being raised by fewer investors. Funds over $1B have taken 72% of all venture money raised so far in 2026, up from 34% last year and 16% ten years ago. Even Benchmark went from raising $425M in 2024 to $2B this June . The essay compares this to the 1980s, when money per venture investor tripled and median returns fell from above 30% to 8%. It then explains what happened next, what's likely to happen now, and which firms are best placed to win . Essay
No Priors: a pharma pioneer on safety vs. progress
In No Priors' interview with Isomorphic Labs president Max Jaderberg, one of the hosts recommended "a very good YouTube video" of the founder of Janssen Pharmaceuticals. (The transcript spells the name "Jansen" and doesn't say which host was speaking.) In the video, the founder argues that "the main constraint on drug development is an overemphasis on safety." His example: during World War II, penicillin was rediscovered and commercialized from scratch in nine months once regulatory obstacles were removed . The host's takeaway was that drug development is about risk and reward, not safety alone . Jaderberg pushed back: patient safety stays central, but the acceptable level of risk should depend on the disease and the patient's needs . No link to the video was given. Episode
Tobi Lütke: Parker Brydon on what he took from Shopify
Tobi Lütke called Parker Brydon's thread "Well put" . Brydon lists Shopify practices he took with him to Stan :
- Optimize totals, not rates.
- Measure each merchant cohort's total GMV over 1, 3 and 5 years.
- Re-check experiments that looked like wins against holdout groups.
- Follow a "no wizard" approach to onboarding, putting it inside the product instead of a separate setup flow .
His common thread: "don't optimize the appearance of progress" . Thread
Reading on Jensen Huang's ouster
Investors passed around reporting and commentary on Huang's resignation.
- David Sacks called a CNN report shared by Natasha Bertrand a "Bombshell story." He wrote that "the spy narrative is collapsing already" . According to the report, multiple sources say the intelligence gathered so far on the Chinese businesswoman who had an affair with Huang does not prove she was spying for Beijing . Sacks also called for an investigation into who leaked the classified memo . CNN
-
Amjad Masad recommended two pieces:
- Brian Chau's "My Experience With the Leaders of the Jensen Coup," which he called "Worth a read" . Chau argues that the same DC think tanks and lobbyists who spread rumors about DeepSeek smuggling GPUs are behind the push against Huang . Post
- @Dream1984Tube's "Who Is Really Behind the Hunt for Jensen Huang?" Masad said he was "Not endorsing the conclusions," but that "the financial and institutional connections deserve scrutiny" . The article alleges overlap between Anthropic's network and Huang's critics . Article
Shorter picks
-
Bill Gates linked three maternal-health stories:
- A New York Times story on an 80-cent plastic drape in Nigeria that helps health workers spot dangerous bleeding after childbirth. Gates called its impact "literally lifesaving" . Article
- A piece on m-mama, a free hotline that connects expecting mothers in sub-Saharan Africa with emergency transport . Link
- A piece on a portable retinal scanner that helps rural clinics catch early signs of pre-eclampsia . Link
- Naval shared a SemiAnalysis post. It reports that a 100MW datacenter in China now costs under $300M to build, excluding IT equipment, which is about a fifth of the US cost . His takeaway: "Someone, somewhere, will build them" . Post
Patrick O’Shaughnessy recommends his conversation with Zach Reitano, Ro’s co-founder and CEO, noting that Reitano rarely does long conversations and that they discuss how Ro grew from a $250M run rate to over $3B in four years with about one-third fewer people, alongside broader healthcare topics; O’Shaughnessy closes with “Enjoy!” A linked clip highlights Reitano’s case for healthcare reaching 50–70% of GDP, versus 18% today, and his view that an additional healthy year has no diminishing marginal return.
Bill Gates shared a New York Times-linked article about an 80-cent plastic drape used in Nigeria to detect dangerous bleeding after childbirth, calling the simple tool lifesaving: article.
He also shared linked pieces on a free emergency hotline that connects expecting mothers in sub-Saharan Africa with transport to healthcare facilities, and a portable retinal scanner helping rural clinics detect pre-eclampsia warning signs earlier.
Elad Gil recommends a YouTube video about Jansen, who started Jansen Pharmaceuticals, for his argument that an overemphasis on safety and regulatory barriers can constrain drug development; he cites penicillin’s wartime rediscovery and commercialization as an example. In response, Max Jaderberg says patient safety remains central, while acceptable risk should vary with the indication and patients’ needs.
Naval shared a SemiAnalysis post reporting that a 100 MW datacenter in China costs under $300 million to build, excluding IT equipment—about one-fifth the US cost—and added that datacenters are globally competitive and someone will build them.
Patrick O’Shaughnessy said, “I love reading” Gene Neumann, and shared Colossus’s essay on the changing world of venture capital: read the essay. The essay is described as examining what followed the previous venture downturn, what may happen now, and which firms are best placed to win.
Tobi endorsed @parker_brydon’s post as “Well put.” The post shares lessons its author says he took from Shopify while at Stan, including measuring merchant-cohort value over 1-, 3-, and 5-year periods and prioritizing real outcomes over metrics that only make progress look better.
Martin Casado praised and shared Brittani Natali’s video post (“This splat is insane”), calling it “Unbelievable” and saying “Gen 3D has crossed the threshold” and “We’ve finally arrived”; view the post.
Elon Musk highlighted an a16z video post, labeling it “Jensen”; the clip includes the line, “You're gonna be remembered forever because some things are eternal.” No reason for sharing it is stated.
Tim Ferriss recommends his new podcast episode, “Q&A with Tim — How to Get Unstuck, Resilience in Hard Times, Tools for Brain Health, Finding Inner Peace, Optimism as a Learnable Skill, and More.” The full Q&A is available on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4r3aUiWpQY
- Jason Lemkin shared a new episode of The Agents with @miadia, highlighting agent-related examples: Canva was canceled because their agents did not use it; renewal rates for $100K+ sponsors rose from “the 20s” to “the 70s”; 10K co-sold a six-figure deal with Wix’s Base44; two agents identified Amelia as a bottleneck; and Muse ordered $138 of flowers autonomously. Watch the episode.
- Lemkin also pointed readers to a SaaStr article on “Stealth Churn” as further reading; this was in the context of his claim that agents may not switch again after changing apps, describing his agents’ move from Canva to Higgsfield. Read the article.
David Sacks praised a CNN report shared by Natasha Bertrand about US intelligence’s still-unresolved assessment of whether Alice Huang acted as a Chinese spy, calling it a “Bombshell story” and saying “The spy narrative is collapsing already.” Link: https://www.cnn.com/2026/11/12/politics/alice-huang-us-intel-jensen-huang-nvidia?cid=ios_app
Jason Lemkin shared a clip from this week’s The Agents featuring Amelia Lerutte: after agents wanted to email every SaaStr Annual speaker, she describes requiring them to surface proposed actions for approval before acting.
A No Priors interviewer called a YouTube video featuring a person identified as Jansen, who started Jansen Pharmaceuticals, “very good.” The interviewer said the video argues that excessive emphasis on safety and regulatory barriers constrain drug development, using wartime penicillin development as an example; this came up in a discussion of how to balance patient safety against risk.
Jason Lemkin promoted a new SaaStr article, “$1 Billion ARR Is the New $100 Million. The Public B2B Companies Below It Show Why,” arguing that public B2B companies below $1B ARR may face weak growth or acquisition, while companies at $1B can afford to rebuild for agents; he cited PagerDuty’s 1% growth and Asana’s 97% NRR as examples. Article
Amjad Masad recommended reading @Dream1984Tube’s “Who Is Really Behind the Hunt for Jensen Huang?” . He said he did not endorse its conclusions, but considered it worth reading because its financial and institutional connections deserved scrutiny .
Aravind Srinivas praised an animated explainer about what happens inside a GPU as models think and reason, generated by Perplexity’s Producer teammate in Computer; he called it incredible and said Producer basically does the work of a creative team. In the linked post, @Eleanori says she tested Producer in Computer and found the explainer an impressive starting point, especially for people without a creative or editorial team. Original post
Tim Sweeney shared Chris Bakke’s post as a comparison of founder-led and functionary-led companies . Bakke argues that when the CEO of one of the world’s most valuable companies resigns, the company should not wait a week to hold an all-hands . Post
Amjad Masad called Brian Chau’s post “My Experience With the Leaders of the Jensen Coup” “Worth a read”; he gave no more specific reason or takeaway.
Amjad Masad recommended @dream1984tube’s X post as “worth a read,” while clarifying he did not endorse its conclusions; he said its financial and institutional connections deserve scrutiny.
