John Cook
What's going on with Seattle startup funding, a Kalshi setback, Impinj's long game, and a smartphone detox
This week on the GeekWire Podcast: Seattle startup funding drops 40% in the first half of the year while AI money floods everywhere else. We dig into the numbers and the implications for the region. Plus: a Seattle judge deals Kalshi a setback, Impinj marks a decade on the Nasdaq after a 26-year climb, and nearly 40 Seattleites trade their smartphones for flip phones for five weeks. Related Stories Venture funding drops in Seattle area as AI boom reshapes startup world Helion raises $465M at $15.5B valuation as it aims to commercialize fusion UK data center startup Nscale bets big…
The tough new realities for startups, Amazon's next big strategic bets, and Allbirds' crazy AI pivot
This week on the GeekWire Podcast, a week of Seattle-area startup news shows how the AI era is reshaping the regional tech scene. Q1 venture numbers reveal bigger checks going to fewer companies, with Seattle slipping behind the likes of Austin and Miami on deal volume. And yet the distributed nature of modern startups is complicating what it even means to be a regional tech hub. (Does a mailbox in Pioneer Square really count as a Seattle headquarters?) Founders and CEOs are navigating the shakeout in different ways. Those with enough cash in the bank are eyeing strategic acquisitions, including…
Amazon's big bet, a 'MySpace for bots', and a conversation with AI veteran Oren Etzioni
Upcoming GeekWire Podcast Live Event: Join us from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. Thursday, Feb 12 at Fremont Brewing for a live recording of the GeekWire Podcast with Todd Bishop and John Cook. Free for Fremont Chamber members, $15 otherwise. Register here. This week on the show: Andy Jassy tells Wall Street that Amazon is planning $200 billion in capital expenses this year, mostly to build out AI infrastructure, and investors give it a thumbs down. Microsoft's financial results beat expectations but the company loses $357 billion in market value in a single day after investors learn the extent of…
Uber + Expedia? Ballmer on 60 Minutes; 1980s Silicon Valley revisited; What's next for AI
This week, we imagine the possibility of Uber buying Expedia Group, based on a report by the Financial Times this week that the ride-hailing company has considered a bid for the online travel giant. It would be notable in part because Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi was Expedia Group’s CEO from 2005 to 2017 and remains on the company’s board. In the second segment, we enjoy highlights from the "60 Minutes" profile of former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, and a separate appearance by University of Washington historian and author Margaret O'Mara on an episode of the podcast "60 Minutes: A Second…
What's next for Microsoft and OpenAI; Amazon car sales; disappearing unicorns
This week on the GeekWire Podcast, we assess the outcome of the drama at OpenAI, considering what the removal and ultimate return of its CEO Sam Altman, and everything that happened in between, means for Microsoft. While Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella earned kudos for masterfully navigating the mess, the situation also showed how the company was vulnerable to being blindsided due to OpenAI's convoluted structure. And while for-profit interests are likely to get more influence on OpenAI's reformulated board, it's not yet clear if Microsoft will end up with a seat on that board, leaving the ultimate outcome for Microsoft…
Jeff Bezos' big move, Convoy's final stop, AI meets VC
What should we make of Jeff Bezos' decision to move his primary residence from Seattle to Miami? That's our first topic on this week's episode. Plus, Convoy's final destination; a new AI feature from Seattle startup Yoodli that helps startup founders hone their pitches; and Amazon tests Bluetooth earplugs for warehouse workers. Related stories and links ‘Seattle, you will always have a piece of my heart’: Jeff Bezos leaving Amazon’s hometown for Miami Jeff Bezos’ move out of Washington state sparks questions about wealth taxes Swimming from Seattle? Jeff Bezos’ big move brings us full circle from the mid-1990s Flexport…
Amazon's AI strategy, how AI startups can stand out, and hope for AI and humanity
This week on the GeekWire Podcast, we look at how Amazon is positioning itself in the emerging era of generative artificial intelligence. We play and assess clips of Amazon CEO Andy Jassy explaining the company's AI strategy on its earnings call this week. We also discuss the history of AI usage by startups, and consider advice from investors and startup leaders at Seattle Tech Week for emerging tech companies looking to stand out with their own AI applications and solutions. And finally, we reconsider our approach to interacting with machines and contemplate the possibility of artificial intelligence reflecting not just…
When Mark Zuckerberg met Seattle
The year was 2011, Facebook was serving a mere 600 million users, and Mark Zuckerberg was making his pitch to a crowd of prospective hires inside the company's office near Pike Place Market — explaining why the social network had chosen Seattle for its first remote engineering hub. "We were like, alright, at some point, we should probably think about opening up offices in other places," he said. "And we figured that Seattle would be a good starting place, because it's culturally pretty similar to the Bay Area, pretty close by. ... It's the same time zone. So it's easier…
GeekWire's Elevator Pitch: Analyzing the four winning pitches in advance of the upcoming live finale
This week on the GeekWire Podcast, we hear the pitches made by four startup CEOs in the 32 seconds it takes to get to the top of Seattle's historic Smith Tower, on their way to winning their respective episodes on this season of GeekWire's Elevator Pitch series. It's a preview of the upcoming season finale, in which each of the four will make a final pitch at the GeekWire Summit next week, live on stage. Episode 1 winner: Amina Moreau, CEO of Radious, an online marketplace that turns houses, apartments and other residential properties into workspaces, rentable by the day…
Insights from the life of early Amazon investor and Seattle business leader Tom Alberg
Seattle investor and business leader Tom Alberg, who died last week at the age of 82, was a key figure in the e-commerce and wireless industries, and in the Seattle startup community, through his roles as an early Amazon investor and longtime board member, executive at McCaw Cellular, and co-founder of Madrona Venture group. On this episode of the GeekWire Podcast, Todd Bishop and John Cook share their own insights from Alberg's life. See our earlier coverage for more on Alberg’s legacy; read tributes from his friends and colleagues; and see Madrona’s LinkedIn post for more remembrances from those who…
Tech pay, cloud trends, Kraken, and self-driving cars with Qumulo CEO Bill Richter
Everyone is closely monitoring the implications of remote work as we emerge from the pandemic, so it's no surprise that one of the most widely read stories on GeekWire this week — right behind the Titanic's disappearing bathtub and Facebook's potential name change — was a story on trends in tech salaries. Two big trends stood out in the report from jobs site Hired: Average tech salaries in Seattle are up 4.6% from last year, to $158,000, second only to the Bay Area, which saw its average dip slightly to $165,000. Nationwide, the average U.S. tech salary fell 1.1% to…
'They proved me wrong.' Investor who passed on Seattle startup analyzes its IPO
Jason Stoffer was still early in his career at venture capital firm Maveron in 2012 when he declined an opportunity to invest in Remitly, then a fledgling Seattle startup with ambitions to challenge Western Union by bringing a tech mindset to the business of international money transfers. He was impressed by Remitly co-founders Matt Oppenheimer and Josh Hug but knew they faced a huge challenge in getting the state-by-state regulatory approval required to make monetary remittances to what was then their initial international market, the Philippines. "It felt like the end vision was powerful — if they can get there,"…
Microsoft (maybe) rescues TikTok; downtown Seattle struggles; micro-schools
Here’s what we’re talking about on the GeekWire Podcast this week. Who would have thought that Microsoft could be the likely white knight to save social video app TikTok from threats by President Trump to ban it in the U.S.? Trump set a hard deadline this week for Microsoft or another entity to buy the company before he'll block all transactions with its Chinese parent company, ByteDance. We discuss what might be behind Microsoft's interest in entering the social media sphere. In latest TikTok twist, Microsoft reportedly looking at buying entire social media giant Trump issues executive order banning transactions…
Expedia's lifeline; Bill Gates on life after lockdown; Redfin and Tokki CEOs on pivoting in a pandemic
Here's what we're talking about this week on the GeekWire Podcast. “Picture restaurants that only seat people at every other table, and airplanes where every middle seat is empty.” That is what the “semi-normal” next phase of the pandemic will look like, Bill Gates says, offering a starkly pragmatic take that contrasts with predictions from President Trump that the economy will come “roaring back.” But Gates also points to the potential for a new wave of innovation the likes of which hasn’t been seen since World War II. “If there’s life, there’s travel,” says Expedia chairman Barry Diller, expressing optimism…
Inside the IPO: Adaptive Biotech
Chad Robins is a Cornell grad and Wharton School MBA who was working in real estate finance a decade ago when he was approached with a business idea by his brother, Harlan Robins, head of the Computational Biology Program at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. As Chad Robins recalled, "When he called me up in 2009 and said, 'Hey I want to start a business, I've figured out how to sequence T-cells at a high throughput,' I was like, 'Yes, I'm in!' and then I went to Wikipedia and I'm like, 'What the hell is he talking about?' I…
Week in Geek: The Uber of dating
Tired of the dating scene? Exclusive dating app League is hoping so, and it’s bringing its Uber of dating to Seattle. Plus, a ride-along with Seattle Police as they enforce the new Washington state distracted driving law and what truck drivers think of startup Convoy and the emergence of automated vehicles. Follow all our coverage and read the stories we talked about this week at GeekWire.com Thank you to this week's sponsors: The University of Washington's Human Centered Design and Engineering department. Learn more: www.hcde.washington.edu. And Hughes Marino, the commercial real estate company now expanding to Seattle. Learn more: hughesmarino.com…
How a new VC fund is trying to change the game for Seattle entrepreneurs
Flying Fish Venture Partners has a bold plan: completely change the game for entrepreneurs in Seattle. We sit down with Heather Redman, one of the fund's co-founders, to hear her vision for the fund and how she plans to shake up Seattle's startup ecosystem. Follow all our coverage, including more about Pacific Northwest startups, at GeekWire.com Thank you to this week’s sponsors: Wealthsimple — GeekWire listeners pay no management fees for a year when they invest up to $15,000 on Wealthsimple’s automated investing platform. GoDaddy — who is offering GeekWire listeners 35 percent off their purchase of a GoDaddy domain…
GeekWire turns 6
This week marked GeekWire's 6th anniversary, and it's been quite the wild ride for co-founders Todd Bishop and John Cook. On this GeekWire Podcast special, they talk about their experience so far as entrepreneurs, and how Seattle's tech scene has changed over the past 6 years. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
