Cities, Cycles, and the “Return” of San Francisco

Welcome to Startups Weekly, a nuanced look at this week’s startup news and trends from senior reporter and equity co-host Natasha Mascarenhas. Sign up here to receive it in your inbox.

“San Francisco is back!”

“He never left.”

“He’s long dead.”

They’re all taken, none particularly well, but they all suggest a level of self-importance that you know when a city’s heart beats in a way that should count.

To me, San Francisco, for all the impermanence and frustration that comes with it, never seems to go away. It is all too easy to believe that cities can disappear from our lives, disappear from culture or become irrelevant. I’m not saying San Francisco hasn’t had a legitimate mass exodus of empty stores and office buildings; this is something that happened. But people are coming back: According to Vox, citing data from LinkedIn, “San Francisco saw the second-largest increase in headcount of any industry in the United States in the past 12 months.”

It was felt. It’s nice to eavesdrop on conversations and hear people talk about the future, see bookstores packed until closing time, and have a busy schedule of networking events and happy hours. I’m constantly meeting people I only know through direct messages on Twitter and meeting people, a “this is where I lived” milestone I’ve only dreamed about. Maybe that’s how I experience San Francisco, but it seems the social energy around us is less overbearing, more present. Yes, there’s a huge hype around AI and I think people are flocking to Hayes Valley for some reason, but the few founders I’ve had coffee with lately? They seem to be more focused on building than TechCrunch’s previous product. Maybe I’m just lucky, but I feel like the sci-fi that’s back feels more grounded and less overbearing.

It makes me think: Cities never leave our lives, they just teach us lessons about cyclical moments, short-lived friendships, and how fickle community can be.

If you like this newsletter, please visit my personal blog! In the rest of this newsletter, we’ll talk about pitch deck teardown and artificial intelligence. you can follow me as always tweet or Instagram, where unfortunately I don’t post anything about the disappearance of this city.

A pitch deck teardown to get you started

It never hurts to remember that eating veggies is important, and that’s my lazy preamble Today it is Jan KampsFinal teardown of the pitch deck on Spinach.io. there is. As a reminder, this series includes a tour of startup pitch decks, covering strengths where there is always room for improvement and smart analysis.

Read the full review here and remember: if you want your own introductory deck teardown to appear on TC+, click here for more information. Plus, check out all of our Pitch Deck Teardowns and other pitching tips, all gathered in one convenient place for you!

monitoring

As with any cycle of hype, accountability and transparency are required. CT Dominic Madori Davis He has written a few stories about how the rise of artificial intelligence is affecting historically underfunded minorities. There is good news and there is bad news. Let’s start with the good: First, female-founded AI startups are seeing an increase in venture capital funding. In each case. At the same time, the work isn’t done yet: bias persists across all AI, from the investments VCs make to the products founders develop.

Here’s why this matters, in Davis’s words: “Diversity discussions are more important than ever as AI enters a new golden age. Every new technology that comes along seems to come with a painful consequence. So far, AI has contributed to racist recruiting tactics and lower approval rates for black housing. Self-driving cars have a hard time detecting dark skin, making black people more likely to be hit by them; In one case, bots identified black men as criminals 9% more often than white men, which would shine in a new light if justice systems did. [began] Introduction to AI.

Photo credit: salhkilic/Getty Images

etc. etc. Z5 Capital, a US company that focuses on startups, plans to raise a $25 million fund, according to SEC filings.
Green Bay Ventures, a venture capital firm founded by NEA co-founder Dick Kramlich, and his partner Anthony Schiller, closed $90 million in a new investment vehicle, according to SEC filings.
I heard during happy hour in San Francisco, “You know, some people think Adobe is a new company.” .” TechCrunch will arrive in Boston on April 20. I will be there with my favorite colleagues to interview top experts in a one-day startup meeting. Reserve your pass as soon as possible! Speakers include Kerty Levy of Techstars, Dayna Grayson of Construct Capital and James Currier of NFX.

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