March 2, 2025
Good morning. đ”Workin' on the weekend like usual. Way off in the deep end like usual.đ” While Drake may have gotten absolutely destroyed by Kendrick and might be getting canceled, you can't deny that lyric slaps, especially when writing a Sunday newsletter.
Anywho...let's get into it.
- Alex Blackwood
đïž Brand new whip, just hopped in - Mira Murati, former CTO of AI juggernaut OpenAI, has a new company that is in talks to raise $1 billion at a $9 billion dollar valuation. If youâre wondering why you havenât heard of the company, itâs because it just emerged from stealth and is less than 1 year old. In a blog post, Murati positioned the startup as an AI research and product lab. She joins the ranks of former top execs at OpenAI to split off, launch a company, and raise billions of dollars on a vision.
đŹ No longer just a thing Sci-fi movies use to explain something they canât - Quantum computing is having a run. A startup providing control systems for quantum computers, Quantum Machines raised $170 million dollars in their Series C round. The raise is the 5th largest raise from a quantum computing company and comes in the wake of breakthroughs in the industry from Microsoft, Google, and Amazon. While I dove deep into a quantum computing overview (link here), it is cool to see the space heating up.
đ„ The SEC loves dank memes - The securities industry watchdog, the SEC, said in its view crypto tokens that originate from memes are not securities. Those who participate or offer the sale of meme coins do not need to register their transactions with the SEC. While this doesnât seem massive, it is. The SEC for the past 4 years under Gensler has been going after crypto with reckless abandon. Now, with Gensler gone, crypto is having a renaissance under the new administration.
In this section, we are going a little bit unorthodox. I have noticed a trend across two stories that has left me incredulous: technology hasnât fully advanced todayâs current systems. More specifically, fat fingered errors at Citigroup have hamstrung the economy, and DOGE has uncovered ridiculously archaic systems.
Over the past few years, Citi has had a few errors that had mass repercussions:
60-75% of the trading done in the US, Europe and Asian markets is done via algorithmic trading accounts. This means that computers are trading stocks at a rapid rate with one another. They attempt to take advantage of trends, correlations, and spreads at breakneck speed to soak up alpha, while minimizing downside. This just means they trade in and out of stocks to achieve high returns by taking advantage of inefficiencies in the market.
Algorithms are only as good as the data that enters them. When fraudulent data enters the system, the algorithms act at a rate faster than humans can intervene. In the case of Citi, they put out a trade which caused the algorithms to sell their stocks and crash the markets.
Regulators have fined Citi hundreds of millions of dollars, and Citi has pledged billions of dollars to overhaul their archaic systems. Ultimately, financial institutions should be fined for lagging behind in technological innovation. In Silicon Valley, AI companies have to rapidly iterate because if they donât, they lose to their competitors. In Wall Street, finance is a primarily relationship driven business, so some firms advance technologically, while a vast majority stay behind. This is why major fintech players have emerged for services that a bank couldâve easily implemented over time.
As you may know, the Department of Government Efficiency has been making headlines. Whether you agree or disagree with them, I am not arguing one way or another. I am merely bringing up the uncovering of the antiquated government computer systems, including:
Do I need to even explainâŠ
We bring in tech experts to revamp old archaic systems. With AI, we can expedite a lot of conversion of old systems into new ones. Joe Gebbia, a co-founder of Airbnb, has joined DOGE to revamp old government systems. This past week, a retireeâs pension application was processed entirely digitally for the first time in a process that took 2 days vs. the average 64 days prior. DOGE is having mixed results, but the revamping of government systems is crucial to the safety and advancement of the US as a whole.
The Johnson, our inaugural Austin property and biggest offering yet, is already generating buzz. With over $140K raised in just two days, this flagship short-term rental in the Live Music Capital of the World boasts strong fundamentals and earning potential.
This stunning 4-bed, 4-bath gem comes with over a year of verified performance, delivering an NOI yield exceeding 10% and T12 rents of $190K at roughly 80% occupancy. Underwriting forecasts $210K in year-one rents, with an extra $50K in future bookings transferring seamlessly at closing to kickstart cash-flow from day one.
Secured $100K below listing, The Johnson offers both stability and upside in a market powered by robust tech growth, vibrant live music, and booming tourism. With a pre-growth Year 1 yield of 9.0%, an annual levered IRR of 16.2%, and a levered MOIC of 2.7x, every dollar invested is poised for impressive and sustainable returns.
Remember when Richie was pumped to deliver a Chicago deep dish pizza to restaurant goers in a 3 Michelin star restaurant in The Bear? Well, this book is like that episode but on steroids. Will Guidara was the General Manager of Eleven Madison Park.
When Guidara took over the brasserie in 2006, the restaurant was far from their 3 Michelin stars and top restaurant in the world award. Guidara realized all the best restaurants competed on different cuisines & concoctions, but to create a restaurant with incredible food and unreasonably good hospitality, there could be no stopping them. The book chronicles the process of transforming the restaurant and instills lifelong lessons for anyone in the customer service industry. Highly recommend.
â 4.78 / 5.0 in my book (no pun intended)
If you made $5,000 every day since the birth of Christ, you still wouldnât be as rich as Elon Musk. đ€Żđ°
Written by Alex Blackwood & Thomas Horcel
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