Innovation Insider - December 3rd, 2024

Ever wondered what it’s like to live in a country with a 193% inflation rate? Recently, Gary Nunn wrote an article for The Hustle where he details just that. He recounts his experience moving from Australia, a country with relatively low inflation, to Argentina, which has one of the highest inflation rates globally. In October 2024, Argentina's year-over-year inflation rate was 193%, marking its lowest in nearly a year.

This rampant inflation has led to unique economic behaviors such as dog walkers handling over a dozen dogs simultaneously to maintain their income's purchasing power.

Nunn highlights the daily challenges Argentinians face, including unpredictable financial decisions, frequently changing prices, and the necessity of carrying large amounts of cash. He traces the roots of Argentina's inflation to historical policies, particularly those of former President Juan Perón, which involved extensive money printing to fund public expenditures.

There is good news though. Argentina president Javier Milei was elected last year with a promise to slash government spending and reduce inflation. Milei has drasticaly lowerd the inflation rate by cutting money printing and reducing the size of government.

Milei has already closed 13 ministries and fired ~30,000 public employees. He has also cut government subsidies in a number of areas. It will likely lead to pain in the short term, however, austerity is needed to begin the process of healing.

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Let’s jump into this week’s highlights.

News

In a recent interview on The Joe Rogan Experience, venture capitalist Marc Andreessen revealed that over the past four years, more than 30 tech and crypto founders have been “debanked”—denied access to banking services—due to political pressures. He attributed this trend to a covert initiative called “Operation Chokepoint,” aimed at targeting political adversaries through unaccountable federal agencies. Andreessen noted that affected entrepreneurs were often compelled to leave the country or switch industries to regain banking access. He also expressed concerns about potential government overreach in artificial intelligence, warning that such control could lead to unprecedented censorship.

Poor Valuation Practices Have Slowed Innovation. Dan Gray examines how the adoption of simplistic valuation methods, particularly the use of crude Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) multiples, has adversely affected the venture capital (VC) landscape. This approach, which became prevalent as Software as a Service (SaaS) solutions were commoditized, prioritized rapid deal closures over accurate pricing, leading to a decline in valuation discipline. Consequently, venture capitalists' understanding of value was fundamentally altered, contributing to the growth of mega funds and a shift in investment practices.

In American Affairs Journal, Jeffrey Funk explores why modern start-ups are losing significant amounts of money. He notes that only 22% of start-ups were profitable at IPO in 2021, compared to 80% in the early 1980s. He attributes this to venture capital's focus on rapid growth over sustainable business models, a lack of experimentation with diverse designs and customer bases, and inflated valuations driven by hype. These practices have led to massive cumulative losses, with companies like Uber and WeWork losing over $10 billion. Funk argues for a shift toward profitability and sustainable growth to address this trend.

In Lucerne, Switzerland, St. Peter's Chapel introduced an AI-powered "Jesus" avatar, known as "Deus in Machina," as part of a two-month art installation. This digital representation, based on OpenAI's GPT-4 and capable of conversing in over 100 languages, was situated in a confessional booth where visitors could seek guidance on faith, morality, and personal concerns. Many participants reporting profound spiritual experiences, while others viewed the advice as generic.

Developer Profiles of the Week

Gabriel is a fullstack engineer with 13 years of professional experience. Gabriel has experience with NodeJS, React, TypeScript and PHP. Gabriel also has experience with ETH, Web3.JS, Metamask and Solidity. Gabriel is based in Brazil.

Gustavo is a fullstack developer who has a slight preference for the frontend. Gustavo has experience with React, Angular, NodeJS and NestJS. Gustavo lives in Mexico and would be a great addition for any team looking for some fullstack talent.

Please email us at hiring@donestreet.com to learn more about these talented developers and how you can bring them onto your team.

Engineering and Security

How Couchbase's Capella Free Tier enables developers to experiment and build new projects without financial, time, or flexibility constraints. This offering allows developers to activate new clusters, evaluate products, and develop applications without worrying about an end date, facilitating innovation beyond the limitations of legacy systems.

T-Mobile recently detected and thwarted unauthorized attempts to infiltrate its systems originating from a connected wireline provider's network. The company's security measures effectively prevented any access to sensitive customer data or disruption of services. T-Mobile promptly severed connectivity to the compromised provider's network and reported the incident to U.S. government authorities.

The advantages of integrating predictive artificial intelligence into software development. Predictive AI employs machine learning algorithms to analyze historical data, identify patterns, and forecast future events, making it valuable in areas such as fraud detection, credit risk assessment, demand forecasting, and disease diagnosis

Is Your SaaS Stack a Security Nightmare? How to Regain Control. The challenges organizations face with unmanaged Software as a Service (SaaS) applications is vast. Enterprises often use between 1,500 and 3,000 distinct SaaS apps, many adopted without formal IT approval, leading to security vulnerabilities, compliance issues, and increased costs. To address these challenges, one option is implementing AI-powered SaaS management tools to automate access management, conducting regular audits to identify and eliminate redundant applications.

openSUSE Tumbleweed: An Ideal Desktop for Linux Admins. Jack Wallen highlights the advantages of using openSUSE Tumbleweed, a rolling-release Linux distribution, for system administrators and advanced users. He emphasizes Tumbleweed's commitment to providing the latest software packages while maintaining system stability through rigorous testing. The distribution's use of the Btrfs file system, combined with the Snapper tool, enables users to create and manage system snapshots, facilitating easy rollbacks in case of issues.

HR Notices

Serial entrepreneur Marc Lore shared insights into his management philosophy and approach to risk-taking. He emphasized the importance of focusing on vision, capital, and people, dedicating weekly meetings to foundational elements such as strategy, organizational structure, and company values. Lore highlighted the significance of hiring top talent, identifying candidates with consistent success and rapid advancement in their careers, and offering competitive compensation to build a team of superstars. He also discussed the necessity for startups to embrace risk, noting that avoiding change can be more detrimental than pursuing bold initiatives.

Funding

StoreCash, a mobile payment solution that enables users to earn immediate cash-back rewards at various retailers, has secured a $3.7 million seed funding round led by BlackOps Ventures. The app integrates with fintech partners to notify users of cash-back opportunities at stores like H&M, Gap, and AMC Theatres. In-store, customers can scan a QR code generated by the app to apply savings directly to their purchases. Online shoppers select their desired store within the app and input the provided serial number and barcode during checkout

Pi-xcels, a Singapore-based interactive e-receipt technology company, has secured $2.7 million in its latest funding round led by Headline. The company plans to use the funds to strengthen partnerships and advance its proprietary NFC-based technology, which enables app-less, one-tap digital receipts, providing merchants with valuable customer insights and promoting a paperless retail environment.

Citigroup Inc. has made a minority strategic investment in Pylon, a mortgage infrastructure provider founded in 2022. The investment was made jointly through Citi's Spread Products Investment Technologies (SPRINT) unit and Citi Ventures. Pylon's platform delivers programmatic originations and capital through enterprise-grade APIs, serving sectors such as wealth management, homebuilding, servicers, banks, and select lenders.

Product of the week

Bitwarden is an open-source password management service designed to securely store and manage sensitive information, such as passwords and credit card details, within an encrypted vault. It offers cross-platform accessibility through web interfaces, desktop applications for Windows, macOS, and Linux, browser extensions for major browsers, and mobile apps for Android and iOS. Bitwarden employs end-to-end AES-256 bit encryption, ensuring that only users have access to their data, with even the Bitwarden team unable to decrypt it.

Book Recommendation of the Week

The Mountain Is You: Transforming Self-Sabotage into Self-Mastery by Brianna Wiest explores the concept of self-sabotage and how individuals can overcome their internal obstacles to achieve personal growth and fulfillment. Wiest uses the metaphor of a mountain to symbolize the challenges and fears that stand in the way of self-mastery.

This Day in History

On December 3, 1967, 53-year-old Louis Washkansky receives the first human heart transplant at Groote Schuur Hospital in Cape Town, South Africa. Washkansky, a South African grocer dying from chronic heart disease, received the transplant from Denise Darvall, a 25-year-old woman who was fatally injured in a car accident. Surgeon Christiaan Barnard, who trained at the University of Cape Town and in the United States, performed the revolutionary medical operation.

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