Good morning!
When it comes to news, the week of Thanksgiving is usually slower than molasses. But with the OpenAI drama — ousted founder; upset employees; etc. etc. — continuing to deliver exciting headlines on the company’s uncertain future, this week is anything but.
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That’s why I’d be remiss if I didn’t include at least one story related to everything that’s happened. But it’s not just another recap. Instead, it’s about how we need to understand the two camps of people who have opinions on how AI is being built and deployed: those who are interested in speed (E/ACC, short for “effective accelerationism”) and those who want things to slow down (dubbed “decels”).
And don’t forget, we’ll be off Friday celebrating Thanksgiving. Happy Holidays, and see you next week!
Thanks for reading,
Karyne
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Join 10k+ tech and VC leaders for growth and connections at Disrupt 2025
Netflix, Box, a16z, ElevenLabs, Wayve, Sequoia Capital, Elad Gil — just some of the 250+ heavy hitters leading 200+ sessions designed to deliver the insights that fuel startup growth and sharpen your edge. Don’t miss the 20th anniversary of TechCrunch, and a chance to learn from the top voices in tech. Grab your ticket before Sept 26 to save up to $668.
San Francisco | October 27-29, 2025 REGISTER NOWEffective accelerationism, doomers, decels, and how to flaunt your AI priors
Pitch Deck Teardown: Fifth Dimension AI’s $2.8M seed deck
Speaking of AI, resident pitch expert Haje Jan Kamps tore open Fifth Dimension AI’s pitch deck that helped land the company almost $3 million in seed funding. Though there are definitely things to like (the use of personal quotes from customers in one of the slides helps bring the problem to life, for example), the company doesn’t mention the competition at all. And that raises quite a red flag.
Pitch Deck Teardown: Fifth Dimension AI’s $2.8M seed deck
5 investors have high hopes for defense tech amid growing venture interest
“It is likely not an overstatement to say that the relationship between U.S. defense and Silicon Valley is undergoing its most profound transformation since the 1950s,” writes defense tech reporter Aria Alamalhodaei in our recent survey of five investors in the space. But are certain sectors more saturated than others? Can venture dollars help build the next U.S. prime?
5 investors have high hopes for defense tech amid growing venture interest
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Strategizing your fintech exit in a turbulent market — top 3 questions to tackle
A sign of a successful company is a completed exit. In the crowded fintech space, it’s not enough to just have a good product-market fit. Alex Axelrod, the founder and CEO of payment platform Uluky, shares his advice on how to tackle this complicated event. The best part, though, is that this advice is useful no matter which industry you’re in.
Strategizing your fintech exit in a turbulent market — top 3 questions to tackle
Will 2024 be a bounce-back year for startups?
There’s been a consistent shift from growth to efficiency over the last year, and some signals point to a strengthening economy. Does that mean we’ll be seeing a recovery next year, with startups once again growing and thriving? The answer may not be that simple.
Will 2024 be a bounce-back year for startups?