Six bullets of updates

1. 🚗 A Comprehensive Timeline: Fisker’s journey, marked by missed production targets and safety issues with its Ocean SUV, ends in Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

2. 🤖 OpenAI's shift to becoming a Public Benefit Corporation, along with its plan to raise $6.6 billion, is facing pushback from Elon Musk and Meta.

3. 🔒 2024 had major data breaches. Companies like 23andMe and Change Healthcare mishandled sensitive info, impacting millions.

4. 💼 AI SDR startups boom. Rapid growth to $1M ARR within a year sparks excitement, but VCs remain cautious.

5. 🇨🇳 China's growth strategy for startups: Decide between Wholly Foreign-Owned Enterprises for control or Joint Ventures for local partnerships.

6. 📉 Bench unexpectedly shuts down, leaving 35k+ businesses scrambling for accounting solutions and tax docs.

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Startup Pay 101: Why Titles Are Just Part of the Puzzle

Seed-stage founders often ask what’s fair pay for themselves and early hires. Kruze Consulting’s data reveals a twist: CTOs and COOs usually earn more than CEOs, with product roles leading at $149K. Titles can be deceiving—being the “COO of a startup” is more like captaining a canoe than a yacht.

Post-funding, salaries jump, with founders earning up to $218K after a Series B. Equity remains the ultimate lure, offering early hires 0.5% to 4%. The startup pay game is a blend of low initial salaries, jackpot equity potential, and roles that demand strategy. Dive into Kruze’s full analysis for more insights.

While you’re here, don’t miss our video where we dive into what we’d do differently if we could start a startup all over again. 📺️ 

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Startup Events and Deadlines

1. Founders Running Club:: New York | Today! | NYC

2. Holiday Breakfast: Web3 & AI Founders |Today! | San Francisco

3. The Year-End Gathering: Founders, Chai & Conversations | Dec 30 |Austin

4. "fun house" - #1 New Years Eve Party - for VC's, creators + tech founders by TappedX | Dec 31 | NYC

5. Entrepreneurs Roundtable Accelerator | Deadline: Jan 1 | NYC

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Top US AI Startups Raising $100M+ in 2024

These groundbreaking companies are leading the charge in AI innovation, backed by massive funding rounds this year. Here are some of the biggest names making waves.

1. 🖥️ Poolside raised $500 million in a Series B, reaching a $3 billion valuation with its AI-powered software development platform.

2. 🤖 Tenstorrent secured $693 million in a Series D round, valuing the AI hardware company at $2.7 billion.

3.  🧬 EvolutionaryScale raised $142 million in a seed round for its biological AI models, valued at $2 billion.

4. ✍️ Writer generated $200 million in a Series C round, empowering content creation with a $1.9 billion valuation.

5. 🏗️ Liquid AI closed a $250 million Series A round, achieving a $2.35 billion valuation in foundation AI models.

6. 🚚 Nimble Robotics raised $106 million in a Series C round, entering unicorn status with a $1.1 billion valuation.

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Musk's xAI Turbocharges with $6B Investment Boost

Elon Musk's AI venture, xAI, has just pulled off a blockbuster $6 billion Series C funding round, skyrocketing its valuation to an eye-popping $45 billion. Among the standout contributors to this massive infusion is Kingdom Holdings, which put down a cool $400 million, alongside heavy-hitters like Andreessen Horowitz and other prominent investors.

xAI’s ambitious mission? To challenge the likes of OpenAI and other industry titans by harnessing unique assets, including proprietary data from Musk's other ventures—Tesla and SpaceX. This treasure trove of information gives xAI a potential edge in training AI models with capabilities that could redefine the competition.

Musk isn’t stopping here—xAI has already set its sights on another funding round in 2025. This isn’t just a tech story; it’s a classic Musk narrative of high stakes and bigger bets. But will xAI’s bold approach pay off and disrupt the AI hierarchy, or will it be another ambitious Musk project facing daunting odds?

If there's one thing we know, Musk thrives on defying expectations (check out our video about Elon Musk), and with $6 billion backing this gamble, things are about to get interesting.

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How Dyson Made A Fortune Reinventing The Wheel

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