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Silicon Valley Picks a Side. Cambridge Teaches Weeds to Self-Destruct. Apple is fusing chips for 80% speed gains while eyeing a sub-$700 MacBook to squeeze schools. Startups are pushing cloud-free AI glasses, automating patents, governing code, and redesigning drugs with models instead of microscopes. Even Audible’s cutting prices and Gen Z is hoarding iPods. The vibe: faster everything.
Tomorrow’s webinar: Startup Funding Rounds in the AI Era
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Nine bullets of updates
⚡ Apple debuts new M5 Pro/Max chips, using Fusion tech to combine two processor dies into one blazing SoC for up to 80% faster speeds.
🕶️ Three startups join forces to launch privacy-first, cloud-free AI in smart glasses, aiming to protect user data on-device.
🤖 AI is set to streamline the patent lifecycle as DeepIP lands $25M in Series B funding for platform expansion.
🧬 UK biotech raised $9.3M Series A to advance its AI-powered antibody drug design platform and speed up therapy discovery.
💻 Apple eyes the budget laptop space with a rumored sub-$700 MacBook aimed to challenge Chromebooks in schools as early as this week.
🤖 Austrian startup raises €1.1M to bring AI-powered code governance to software teams across Europe.
📱 Nostalgic tech is back—resale prices for classic iPods jumped 40% as Gen Z discovers these retro gadgets.
📚 Audible rolls out a $8.99/month plan, letting users stream one audiobook and podcast per month—$6 less than its Premium tier.
🔄 43% of workers want to change careers due to AI and economic jitters, but most won’t make the leap.
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Cambridge teaches weeds to self-destruct
Cambridge-based Bindbridge closed a $3.8M round led by Speedinvest (with Nucleus) to use AI-designed “molecular glues” that trigger targeted protein degradation—basically teaching weeds to off themselves, Cambridge-style.
Why it matters: resistance and regulation are choking legacy chemistries while new actives take a decade-plus; an AI-first engine could compress discovery and unlock fresh modes of action. Go-to-market hinges on co-development with agchem, regulatory data packages, and field performance.
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Startup Budgeting (And What Most Founders Get Wrong)
In this video, we walk through the framework we use to budget how much funding your startup needs — using Slidebean’s Financial Modeling tool. Learn how to plan expenses, track runway, and map out realistic growth milestones. Part of our Financial Modeling Bootcamp.
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All-in-One Social Media Platform Live Product Tour
Skip the 1:1 book a demo call. See Agorapulse live.
We are a social media management platform - Plan. Publish. Measure. Reply. All in one platform.
Join our live 30-minute product tour with Q&A on Wednesday, March 11th 2026
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💡 20 habits turn scrappy ideas into lasting wealth— stack tiny wins into daily compounding for outsized founder outcomes.
AI Pitch Deck Reviewer
Slidebean has been helping startups craft pitch decks for over 10 years. We recently built an AI Pitch Deck Review tool, that processes the text and visuals on your presentation, and provides actionable feedback on the story, potential missing items, and recommendations on how to improve each slide.
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Silicon Valley picks a side
Photo by Nik Shuliahin 💛💙 on Unsplash
Ethan Agarwal, 40, the former founder of Aaptiv with no prior political experience, is challenging Rep. Ro Khanna in California’s 17th District—setting up what feels like a Silicon Valley civil war. He launched his campaign after Khanna backed a federal wealth tax, effectively forcing the tech donor class to pick a side. Agarwal says early supporters include YC’s Garry Tan and DoorDash co-founder Stanley Tang, and with CA-17 covering Apple, Intel, and Nvidia territory, the primary is expected to draw late-stage-growth-round levels of money, ads, and high-profile surrogates.
For founders, this race is about policy, not personality. Khanna is leaning into wealth-tax momentum and progressive reform, while Agarwal is centering his campaign on AI and national security, banning congressional stock trading, and taxing asset-backed loans. If Agarwal gains traction, expect PACs to recalibrate and employee activism to intensify; if he doesn’t, a Khanna win could strengthen the mandate to push wealth-tax legislation forward.
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Startup Events and Deadlines
TOMORROW! Startup Funding Rounds in the AI Era l March 5 l Webinar
Web Agents Hackaton l February 28 - March 1 l San Francisco
AI Tech & Startup Night — San Francisco l Feb 25 l San Francisco
How to Pitch an AI Company to Investors l March 12 l Webinar
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