Weekend Briefing No. 498
A Saturday morning briefing on innovation and society.
Welcome to the weekend.
Last week I announced Ace - Chat GPT for startup law.
Ace is the world’s first AI legal assistant for startup law.
You may not know this, but before I was a lawyer I was a startup founder. I remember how frustrating it was to get solid answers to basic legal questions. Ace is the tool I wish I had when I was a founder. I hope it makes your startup journey just a little bit easier.
To get first access to when Ace launches, make sure you sign up for the waitlist below.
This weekend, we’re going to have a little fun. The briefing is all videos. Enjoy!
Prime Numbers
280,000,000 — Neuralink, implantable brain-computer interface maker founded by Elon Musk, raised $280 million. If this company works, I think this will be the most impactful of all Musk’s companies.
36 — Here are 36 hidden messages in company logos.
6 — A new study found that for every 1 degree Celsius rise in outside temperatures, the odds of a Georgian in an emergency room for a snake bite increases by 6%. Is this actually how climate change is going to kill us? We all get bitten by snakes?
Lift Off at Sunrise
I’ve been getting into electronic music more recently. This is an iconic set from one of my favorite artists Ben Bohmer, who is in a hot air balloon at sunrise while flying over Cappadocia, Turkey. It’s melodic and stunning. Cercle (84 minutes)
Quantum Computer Explained
You’ve heard about quantum computers. Maybe you’ve seen the “race for quantum supremacy” between governments and companies; read that quantum computers will break all encryption; or heard terms like “qubits,” “superposition” or “quantum mechanics” in a confusing TV segment. But you might be wondering what a quantum computer actually does? And how could it actually affect my life? Huge if True (18 minutes)
Shepherding the Next Generation
There is no bigger influence on the quality of a child’s education than their teachers. Yet, due to isolation and resource constraints, many rural educators simply do not have access to the support needed to profoundly improve outcomes for underserved students, even though they deeply care about them. In 2016, DRK Foundation portfolio organization, TeachUNITED set out to positively shape educational systems by empowering teacher leaders to shepherd the next generation. TeachUNITED Coaches reach even the most remote communities with access to high impact, research-based instructional strategies -- helping more kids graduate and ensuring the best teachers are staying in the profession. Today, TeachUNITED has grown to a global network of 2,000 schools, reaching 1M+ students, and 30,000+ educators across 18 countries. No one person or organization will solve the global learning crisis alone, but with this incredible momentum, TeachUNITED is transforming lives through education. DRK Foundation (Sponsored)
The Universe
The scale of the universe might seem too big to grasp, but what does the universe even look like? What do you picture when you hear that word? Galaxies? Stars? Empty space? It can all seem so endless and overwhelming. This video tries to fix that. This is a journey to the edge of the universe and back, in a way that you hopefully don't lose all sense of scale. This is an image of the universe that's simple, relatable and you can even hold in your hands — and made out of cereal! Epic Spaceman (5 minutes)
Chaos Reexamined
This short, relaxing, mesmerizing 4K video of an Martian impact crater called Aram Chaos was taken by the HiRISE camera on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. The images were run through an enhanced color red-green-blue filter, which tends to highlight the structure and geology rather than the true color. For example, the blue in the video often represents basalt, an igneous rock of volcanic origin. UAHiRISE (2 minutes)
Epic Badminton
This Epic 211-shot badminton rally delights fans in Malaysia. The world No 11 Thinaah Muralitharan and Pearly Tan survived a 211-shot marathon rally in their round-of-16 encounter against Japan's Rena Miyaura and Ayako Sakuramoto at the BWF Malaysia Masters. The home pair were leading Miyaura and Sakuramoto in the final set of the match when the rally began. More than three minutes later, after a jaw-dropping showcase of athleticism and perseverance, Tan produced a well-disguised drop shot, which Sakuramoto could not reach, to seal the point, bringing an incredulous crowd to their feet. I can safely say this was the most fun I’ve ever had watching badminton. Guardian Sports (4 minutes)
Papyrus
Years after Avatar's release, there's one thing Steven (Ryan Gosling) just can't get over. This is one of my favorite SNL digital shorts ever. I won’t give anything away. Saturday Night Live (3 minutes)
Should We Work Together?
Hi! I’m Kyle. This newsletter is my passion project. When I’m not writing, I run a law firm that helps startups move fast without breaking things. Most founders want a trusted legal partner, but they hate surprise legal bills. At Westaway, we take care of your startup’s legal needs for a flat, monthly fee so you can control your costs and focus on scaling your business. If you’re interested, let’s jump on a call to see if you’re a good fit for the firm. Click here to schedule a one-on-one call with me.
Check out Founder Fridays — A Friday morning briefing helping founders scale smarter.
Weekend Wisdom
Never, ever underestimate the importance of having fun. - Randy Pausch
Loving Ben Bohmer’s music! Thank you Kyle for the recommendation 🙂
Great one this morning! These links were all fun or informative or both. Thanks for the music recommendation—new focus music!