The worrying mistake made by this programme, groups like Just Stop Oil, & Chris below, is to approach climate change as a civil rights challenge rather than a technology challenge.
We cannot just legislate for lower carbon emissions globally, we have to innovate.
This challenge
Personally , I've now reached a point where I believe breaking the law for the climate is the ethically responsible thing to do .
#ChrisPackhamC4
|
@Channel4
Today my book, Start-Up Century, is released in the UK.
The book includes research, interviews and insights from 100s of entrepreneurs and policy makers.
But it's based on two simple observations: that more people than ever are becoming entrepreneurs, while the path to scaling
@paulg
The American legal system imprisoned the founder of Silkroad to life, chased Mike Lynch around the world through extradition ( only to be found innocent ) and hounded Aaron Swartz to his death, amongst other things.
I don’t no the details for Pavel, but the US is no haven.
The board fired the CEO and 1 hour later, 1000s of customers ( including us ) received an email saying you now have to pre-pay for OpenAI because they can’t wait until the end of the month for the money.
It doesn’t take a super sleuth to work out what’s happened.
Ever wanted to talk to a book? Now you can!
In what I think is a first, you can now chat with Start-Up Century using the latest AI model.
You can ask it questions like whose the author? Or how will AI affect employment?
Check it out at .
Given the incredible advances in technology, there's surprisingly little discussion of the positive impact it can have on our health, wealth and planet.
Introducing What's Next, an interview series with some of the leading founders and investors behind the technological
We
@balderton
have raised $1.3B in new venture & growth funds to continue investing in the UK & Europe’s leading technology companies.
It’s obviously important if you’re building a company, so if you’re raising from seed -> IPO get in touch!
But it’s also important for much
Celebrating Father’s Day by becoming a new one!
Cara Evelyn Kay Wise was born on 13th June to two overjoyed parents in
@LizziePaton
& I.
Thrilled & exhausted.
Amazing to think Revolut didn’t exist a decade ago. This year alone it will save its users £1Bs, create 1000s of jobs & generate £100Ms in corporate & income taxes for HMRC.
Now we just need to create dozens of Revoluts. It’s the only way Britain grows.
My book, Start-Up Century, comes out in the USA today! If you're interested in why record numbers of people are starting businesses, why the traditional firm is shrinking and why entrepreneurship is becoming one of the most popular ways of working - check it out.
With record
If we want to improve our health, we first need to know what's going on in our bodies.
For this week's episode of 'What's Next' I sat down with
@RENCIRCI
of
@Savahealth
to discuss their breakthrough sensor which provides realtime data on our many different molecules & hormones,
Excited to announce that my book, Start-Up Century is now available to order ahead of it's release on November 23rd with
@BloomsburyBiz
.
It covers why more of us than ever are going to become entrepreneurs. It explores, through interviews & research, what makes people start-up,
Following the news of their £35M funding round, I sat down with James Field, CEO and founder of
@labgeni_us
for the latest episode of What's Next.
LabGenius is on a mission to not only find novel therapeutics, but to use AI to augment the scientific method itself.
In this
My book, Start-Up Century, comes out in the USA and Canada on February 14th. If you're interested in why record numbers of people are starting businesses, why the traditional firm is shrinking and why entrepreneurship is becoming one of the most popular ways of working - check
An exceptional write up in the
@thetimes
on
@wayve_ai
’s technology and the experience of riding in an autonomous vehicle through Kings Cross.
Huge congratulations to
@alexgkendall
and the team on their $1B funding round - the largest ever for an AI company in Europe. Balderton
If you want to help tackle climate change, and we must then you can:
- work for a climate tech company
- put your pension or savings into carbon reduction funds or companies
- buy carbon neutral products and services
- vote for parties that will invest capital into carbon
I know it’s a few weeks ago now but the
@justpark
story deserved a lot more coverage.
- An incredible entrepreneurial journey of effort over a decade
- More international investment into UK tech companies
- A great outcome for both the taxpayer ( through the Future Fund ) and
‘Wise is single minded in what he wants: policies that will turn the UK into a country that nurtures & promotes entrepreneurship’
My interview in
@CityAM
on how the UK can utilise one of our least appreciated national assets - ambition.
I’ve sat on dozens of start-up boards and having professional board members matters. OpenAIs board was woefully under experienced and didn’t have skin in the game. It’s not unusual for a start-up, they just happen to be the one that cracked the most important technology of the
This chart never ceases to blow my mind.
Fewer & fewer people are needed by firms for them to be successful. We're already seeing companies with just a few dozen people generate billions in revenues & create world changing products.
In the next few years I'm certain there will
NEW: European VC returns are better than North American VC returns over 10 and 15 year horizons, finds a new report from
@InvestEuropeEU
& Cambridge Associates.
Hugely grateful to everyone who came to the UK book launch for Start-Up Century yesterday, we were completely sold out by the end.
Let’s hope the Chancellor has more good news for people starting and running their own businesses later today!
Incredibly niche content:
If you’re an alumni of Oxford you have until midnight to register to vote for the new Chancellor. The first time you can vote online & not in person! And it’s probably the only time you’ll get a say in the University’s direction for a decade or more.
Want to know what we might be eating in the future?
Our latest episode of What’s Next is out with Benjamina Bollag of
@uncommonbio
. We discuss:
- why lab-grown meat can be better for our health, pockets & the planet 🥓
- how breakthroughs in cell research are changing the way
Following the ‘AI safety summit’ last year, we should be hosting an even bigger ‘AI success summit’ this year:
- showcase recent breakthroughs across the NHS, schools & gov where advances in AI are making a real difference
- demonstrate the capabilities of the latest tools and
The barbarism and cowardice shown by Hamas in its attack this weekend is sickening.
Those celebrating or defending it under the Palestinian flag are at best wilfully ignorant of the horror of Hamas in Palestine & Israel, or do so because of a much darker sickness.
In either
I never said these words, this is an entirely generated video of me, and sadly I’m not fluent in German.
But virtual avatars are getting really good.
If you’re working on the tools we’ll need to prevent this new tech being used for fraud, get in touch with
@_lauramcginnis
or
Bored of the negative narrative around new technologies? So am I.
Introducing "What's Next?" - a new video series aimed at improving the conversation around emerging tech.
We've interviewed the founders of companies behind breakthroughs in fields as diverse as self-driving
Just like with nuclear power - some countries have rushed to regulate a new technology based on imagined risks, costing them very real & immediate benefits.
Can only hope UK avoids the same fate.
I'm very time-poor right now (new father, work, Oasis ticket queue) and I haven't used HTML/CSS since Dreamweaver 3.
But I managed to spin-up a new and interactive version of the website for my book (Start-Up Century) in 15 minutes with . I can't
We’re backing
@convergence_ai_
.
The team have built the most incredible product I’ve seen in years. A web agent that you can teach to do tasks exactly as you would. The ability to learn is the missing link between dumb software & generalised, productive agents. And while they
BREAKING: The Biden administration's ban on noncompete clauses has been upheld in court, per MorePerfectUnion.
As of now, virtually all noncompete agreements with bosses will be banned and voided beginning September 4.
The important point here is that venture as a whole has come back incredibly strong in 2024 - and in the UK in particular.
It’s a great time to start a business.
British firms have received nearly a third of European venture capital tech funding so far this year, new data shows, as investors flock back to London and Cambridge bolsters its credentials as an international hub.
VC investment in the UK tech sector came in at £7.4bn for the
On a day that’s packed with AI, thanks to
@business
for having me on to speak about - AI!
Regulation is vital, but let’s regulate the uses of AI, not the tools that entrepreneurs need to innovate. Keep the models open!
#Freetheweights
Impressive that less than 24 hours since
@jonno_evans
and I released a podcast calling for a department for AI success,
@matthewclifford
and DSIT have launched it!
Congrats!
A new plan led by
@matthewclifford
will use AI to boost growth and improve our public services.
The AI Opportunities Action Plan will identify how to boost uptake of AI across the public and private sectors to increase productivity.
(1/2)
I have incredible friends running in this election for all the main parties. The sacrifices they are making to their personal & professional lives are immense. This is a great article capturing why we should recognise the demands we place on our politicians more if we want good
My piece in
@guardian
today: while academics debate the rise of the Terminator, the real and present challenge is how new AI tools are being used to defraud people.
We made imitating humans through the Turing test the gold-standard for AI, now it’s being used against us.
An astounding graph.
The most productive companies are getting smaller, but there’s two big follow-on effects from this:
Employees in larger firms are getting paid less, a phenomenon
@JamesPlunkett
wrote about recently, creating firm ‘unequality’…
Kicking off London Tech Week with
@peterkyle
and
@Dom_Hallas
of Start Up Coalition.
We hope all manifestos will focus on how the UK can become an even better place to start and scale technology companies.
One of the consistent trends I’m seeing in our portfolio is the use of generative AI to make complex products more accessible for non-experts.
In short, AI is massively expanding the best products’ TAMs.
This is true for incumbents, as well as start-ups. I wrote about what
When the Times’s Rich List came out in 1989, they said ‘the surest way to a fortune was to be a landowner, preferably with a title’
Today they lead with ‘the list is a celebration of aspiration….(with) stories of extraordinary entrepreneurship’
Britains transformation into a
Have been asked for a reference on a fund whose single GP is pitching themselves as an AI & deep tech expert.
Two years ago they had a kitty NFT as their profile pic & their largest cheque was into a now defunct snack delivery company.
I guess you have to admire the hustle?
The
@photoroom_app
team have built one of the world's most popular AI products.
Over 150 million people have used it to improve images - whether it's for their small business, online shop, event promotion, social media or just for fun.
It's a beautiful experience, and we're
Following the announcement of our new funds, I've pulled together some thoughts on:
- why venture capital matters
- how fundraising in Europe has changed
- our commitment to both our LPs and founders
Too long for an X thread, but worth a read I promise:
I’ve always thought success at work is a marathon not a sprint and now we have the data to prove it!
All jobs, but especially entrepreneurial roles need you to take time to reflect and recoup. It’s a key challenge addressed in
#StartUpCentury
and in our Balderton well founded
Our hackathon with
@AnthropicAI
,
@deepset_ai
,
@cerebral_valley
& others in London this weekend has had over 1,000 applicants.
There’s a truly astonishing number of talented and ambitious people.
Invites are being sent out to the c.300 people we can accept - but we will look to
While we are overwhelmed with the stories of sportspeople and celebrities, there's nowhere near enough content for people on the motivation, challenges and learnings from entrepreneurship. Especially British ones.
This is great to see from Tom and well worth the watch. With over
We want to see more people benefit from AI.
Following the AI Safety Summit - we are hosting the UK's biggest AI hackathon next weekend, with unique support from
@AnthropicAI
,
@cerebral_valley
,
@Haystack_AI
& others.
Come & build with us here:
The latest episode of What's Next was an incredible deep dive into drone delivery with
@realBobbyHealy
, founder of
@MannaAero
.
We discuss:
- why he sees drone delivery as 'the biggest opportunity imaginable'
- how Manna does drone deliveries today everywhere from Ireland to
Great to have the Economic Sec to the Treasury
@BimAfolami
address fintech founders
@balderton
last night.
The UK really is a global leader when it comes to fintech, but there’s a lot of work to be done if we want to stay there.
I'll be speaking at the House of Lords today alongside
@kevinhollinrake
&
@jogideon
about my book, Start-Up Century as part of
@TenThinkTank
's work to make Britain one of the best places in the world to start and grow a business.
If you're starting a company, a freelancer or
We won’t, because we’re British. But the regeneration of Manchester from the 1980s - 2010s should celebrated & shared as a blueprint to other post-industrial cities. Much of that success was down to Sir Howard Bernstein.
May his memory be a blessing.
🇬🇧FASTER THAN CONCORDE! British aerospace manufacturer Reaction Engines is celebrating a major hypersonic propulsion system milestone.
The Abingdon-based firm has successfully demonstrated the integration of its innovative precooler technology with existing jet-engine
One of the biggest shifts in the way we work in coming years will be the need for life-long and regular learning.
Excited to share our investment in Grasp, and support its mission to use the latest in AI to provide personalised and adaptive learning throughout your career.
In Start-Up Century I wrote about how automating code with AI was going to result in millions more people starting businesses.
@Replit
are making that happen today:
This is my first year of having a child old enough for World Book Day and can I just say are you all completely mad?
You do this every year?
Do we parents not have enough on than competing over who can hand weave the most authentic Gruffalo costume?
Adding
@danielsusskind
’s new book to the Balderton library.
I’m only a few chapters in - but it’s a powerful read on the most important economic and political question of our time: growth.
In an attempt to save people’s time when raising, here are the three areas I’m trying to focus on this year, condensed into 400 words:
‘A.I’ for All
The Great Energy Transition
Scalable Healthcare
If you’re working on these challenges, get in touch.
Introducing our new whale bioacoustics model, which can identify eight distinct species, including multiple calls for two of those species. The model even includes the “Biotwang” sounds recently attributed to the Bryde’s whale. Learn more at:
@jburnmurdoch
@xianghui90
@oren_reshef
@Zhou_Yu_AI
It's a good piece. But there are already >10k freelancers on Upwork who list ChatGPT as a skill, presumably to respond to work that wasn't there a year ago.
Treating skills as static will always lead you to conclude jobs are in decline.
Hundreds of people turning up ( and tuning in ) to our Gen AI builder events here
@balderton
. Some great demos from
@deepset_ai
,
@JinaAI_
& TitanML.
If you’re interested in joining in future sign up to our newsletter!
What gets measured gets managed.
Great to announce our investment in Sava Health - a breakthrough British biosensor company which can track dozens of molecules from glucose to cortisol through a micropatch on your skin.
Read more about it and their clinical trials below:
Delighted that
@TechCrunch
has picked Start-Up Century as one of their Christmas reads this year.
A great gift for the budding entrepreneur in your life!
This was certainly true over the last decade. However the data suggests there’s been a significant shift.
Interest in starting a business, especially from people under the age of 25, is at record highs in the UK. As is the number of people who have already sold something online.
Met a British startup founder today who'd studied engineering at Oxford. He said the majority of his fellow students had since gone into finance or consulting. In effect there is a brain drain *within* the UK, as engineers emigrate to fields where they don't build anything.
I'm delighted to be giving a keynote address at this year's Start-Up Show, the biggest event of it's kind, at King’s College London on 27 Jan.
I'll be talking about my book, Start-Up Century, with The Times'
@jameshurley
and discussing why and how more of us than ever are
Small modular nuclear reactors (SMRs) are considered by some to be the most important clean energy breakthrough of this decade.
Loved speaking to Jake, the co-founder of BlueEnergy about:
- why SMRs can be a cheaper, more elegant & safer solution to many of our energy needs
-
I feel like this should be required viewing for everyone attending the AI safety summit in a few weeks.
Bill Gurley’s incredible talk on regulatory capture - ‘regulation is the friend of the incumbent’
Britain’s startup and scaleup ecosystem is at a crossroads.
And whoever forms the next Government has some serious decisions to make.
That's why today we are launching our Startup Manifesto. Read it here:
Or find out more below 👇
Huge congratulations to
@peterkyle
, given the pace of change in frontier technology at the moment this is one of the most critical jobs in the country - but it’ll be fun too!