CRAIG

Just a noob, I don't belong here. Purely sarcastic advice - tweets should be read with a grain of sea salt. Space, web3, music & all that jazz. Que sera, sera!

[SpaceX @SpaceX]

SpaceX was founded to make life multiplanetary. We’ve been able to expand that mission with our Starlink constellation and AI solution

Learn more → https://t.co/PSCyWrMUYI

[Eric Glyman @eglyman]

Today, Ramp raised $750M at a $44B valuation.

Last time we grew this fast, we were 1/20th the size.

For 2000 years, business was built on two pillars. Today, a third: intelligence.

It’s your least governed cost. It’s also your single greatest opportunity.

[Uday Kotak @udaykotak]

Google which is cash surplus, just announced an additional capital raise of $80 bn.
Google annual profit is $160 bn, last quarter $62 bn, and market cap $4.5 trillion. That is close to total profits and market cap of all Indian listed companies put together.
It’s a wake up call to all companies to invest into the future, whatever the present maybe.
Now that IPL is done and dusted, time for India to focus on business of business.

[Bret Taylor @btaylor]

I am excited to have a discussion with @djrosent and @gilbert from @AcquiredFM (my favorite podcast by a mile) in NYC on June 24. You can register to attend in person at the link below.

We're discussing "The AI Paradox" - all the apparent contradictions of AI (If AI is displacing jobs, why are there more job postings for software engineers today than there were a few years ago? If AI is deflationary, when will see lower prices? If AI is destroying the software industry, why are some younger applied AI companies growing so quickly?). David and Ben are the smartest and most well researched interviewers on the planet, and I'm really looking forward to our discussion.

https://t.co/Kuad1ek1CA

[Brian Armstrong @brian_armstrong]

Excited for Coinbase to be live in India 🇮🇳with direct INR rails. Sign up today and try it out!

Deposit and withdraw available now for some users (rolling out to 100% over next ~2 weeks).

India is arguably the number one crypto market globally (by number of users).

[Coinbase 🛡️ @coinbase]

Coinbase is now live in India with direct INR rails.

Users across India can now seamlessly access global liquidity and institutional-grade execution at the lowest total cost of trading in the market.

Making access to the future of finance easier than ever.

[Mudassir Sheikha @MudassirSheikha]

Uber increases investment in Careem

This morning, we announced a transaction where @Uber is acquiring a controlling stake in @Careem through a combination of additional capital and purchasing a portion of e&’s shares. While @eAndGroup will remain a meaningful shareholder and close strategic partner, this move brings Careem and Uber back into a closer, deeply familiar alignment.

Uber and Careem have a long, deeply intertwined history. We came together in 2019, and when the time came, we charted our own independent course to build and grow the Everything App in partnership with e&. That structure enabled us to accelerate our growth, increasing top-line by almost 5X in the last couple of years. Along the way, we proved the Everything App concept that we first introduced in the region back in 2020.

Through all of it, Uber kept investing in the region. From their entry in 2013 to our landmark 2019 acquisition to standing by us through the pandemic, and more recently, launching global-first autonomous vehicles, they have been the ultimate catalyst for the region’s tech ecosystem. I am especially grateful to Uber’s CEO, Dara Khosrowshahi (@dkhos), for his long-standing trust, partnership, and unwavering commitment to our region.

I also want to extend my deepest thanks to the e& team for their partnership. Thank you, Hatem Dowidar (@hdowidar), for believing in the Careem Everything App vision. Thank you, Khalifa AlShamsi (@KhalifaAlshamsi), for being our constant champion within e&. And thank you, Masood M. Sharif Mahmood, for your team’s incredible support. We look forward to continuing to build the region’s most impactful platform alongside you.

To our customers and partners: thank you for your trust and your love. Please know that we do not take it for granted.

To our colleagues, alums, and captains: thank you for your hard work, your sacrifices, and most importantly, your resilience.

Yalla Careem, let’s keep building! We are just 14 years in...

#Careem #Uber #eand #MiddleEastTech #YallaCareem

[Anthropic @AnthropicAI]

We've raised $65 billion in Series H funding at a $965 billion post-money valuation, led by @AltimeterCap, Dragoneer, @Greenoaks, and @sequoia.

This investment will help us advance our research and expand our capacity to meet growing demand for Claude.

[Andrej Karpathy @karpathy]

Personal update: I've joined Anthropic. I think the next few years at the frontier of LLMs will be especially formative. I am very excited to join the team here and get back to R&D. I remain deeply passionate about education and plan to resume my work on it in time.

[Financial Times @FT]

Google DeepMind’s Demis Hassabis emerges as early Anthropic investor https://t.co/Oy5UO5Aes5

[Chandra R. Srikanth @chandrarsrikant]

🚨 Exclusive: Walmart-owned Flipkart to defer IPO; prioritise profitability this financial year

This is the second Walmart-owned company to put off IPO plans this year after PhonePe

Break with @Goenka_Tushar1

[Elad Gil @eladgil]

What a moment of acceleration

Breathtaking moment in Silicon Valley (and the world)

[pj @BeingPractical]

VC business in India is all set for a new-order!

Am I the only one who has been thinking of this:
- Tier-1 VCs of yesterdays is changing landscape.
- Sequoia is not Sequoia any more, its Peak XV
- Accel, Matrix Z47, Elevation, Nexus - people moves, change of guard, need new winners in portfolio.
- Tier-2 of yesterday's have new & upcoming winners in portfolio.
- Too many new funds & fund managers, and much to prove.
- For Founders, starting up is easy but scaling up is hard.
- Investors know that capital is commodity; so reputation & experience will make difference.
- No one is close to being Y Combinator of India
- Public markets will show valuation reality to VCs, everyone will be aware & informed.

5 to 7 years from now, how the pecking-order of the top tier VCs in India may look like will be defined by portfolios & founder networks they build now.

[Brian Armstrong @brian_armstrong]

This is an email I sent earlier today to all employees at Coinbase:

Team,

Today I’ve made the difficult decision to reduce the size of Coinbase by ~14%. I want to walk you through why we're doing this now, what it means for those affected, and how this positions us for the future.

Why now
Two forces are converging at the same time. We need to be front footed to respond to both.

First, the market. Coinbase is well-capitalized, has diversified revenue streams, and is well-positioned to weather any storm. Crypto is also on the verge of the next wave of adoption, with stablecoins, prediction markets, tokenization, and more taking off. However, our business is still volatile from quarter to quarter. While we've managed through that cyclicality many times before and come out stronger on the other side, we’re currently in a down market and need to adjust our cost structure now so that we emerge from this period leaner, faster, and more efficient for our next phase of growth.

Second, AI is changing how we work. Over the past year, I’ve watched engineers use AI to ship in days what used to take a team weeks. Non-technical teams are now shipping production code and many of our workflows are being automated. The pace of what's possible with a small, focused team has changed dramatically, and it's accelerating every day.

All of this has led us to an inflection point, not just for Coinbase, but for every company. The biggest risk now is not taking action. We are adjusting early and deliberately to rebuild Coinbase to be lean, fast, and AI-native. We need to return to the speed and focus of our startup founding, with AI at our core.

What this means
To get there, we are not just reducing headcount and cutting costs, we’re fundamentally changing how we operate: rebuilding Coinbase as an intelligence, with humans around the edge aligning it. What does this mean in practice?

- Fewer layers, faster decisions: We are flattening our org structure to 5 layers max below CEO/COO. Layers slow things down and create coordination tax. The future is small, high context teams that can move quickly. Leaders will own much more, with as many as 15+ direct reports. Fewer layers also means a leaner cost structure that is built to perform through all market cycles.

- No pure managers: Every leader at Coinbase must also be a strong and active individual contributor. Managers should be like player-coaches, getting their hands dirty alongside their teams.

- AI-native pods: We’ll be concentrating around AI-native talent who can manage fleets of agents to drive outsized impact. We’ll also be experimenting with reduced pod sizes, including “one person teams” with engineers, designers, and product managers all in one role.

In short: AI is bringing a profound shift in how companies operate, and we’re reshaping Coinbase to lead in this new era. This is a new way of working, and we need to leverage AI across every facet of our jobs.

To those who are affected
I know there are real people behind these decisions — talented colleagues who have poured themselves into this company and our mission. To those of you who will be leaving: thank you. You’ve helped build Coinbase into what it is today, and I am sincerely grateful for everything you've done.

All impacted team members will receive an email to their personal account in the next hour with more information, and an invitation to meet with an HRBP and a senior leader in your organization. Coinbase system access has been removed today. I know this feels sudden and harsh, but it is the only responsible choice given our duty to protect customer information.

To those affected, we will be providing a comprehensive package to support you through this transition. US employees will receive a minimum of 16 weeks base pay (plus 2 weeks per year worked), their next equity vest, and 6 months of COBRA. Employees on a work visa will get extra transition support. Those outside of the US will receive similar support, based on local factors and subject to any consultation requirements.

Coinbase prides itself on talent density. Our employees are among the most talented people in the world, and I have no doubt that your skills and experience will be highly sought after as you pursue your next chapters.

How we move forward
To the team that is staying, I know this is a difficult day. We’re saying goodbye to colleagues and friends you've been in the trenches with. But here’s what I want you to know as we move forward together:

Over the past 13 years, we have weathered four crypto winters, gone public, and built the most trusted platform in our industry. We’ve made it this far by making hard decisions and by always staying focused on our mission. This time will be no different – nothing has changed about the long term outlook of our company or industry. And most importantly, our mission has never been more important for the world. Increasing economic freedom requires a new financial system, and we’re building it.

The Coinbase that emerges from this will be more capable than ever to achieve our mission.

Brian

[Bret Taylor @btaylor]

Sierra is raising $950 million from new and existing investors, led by Tiger Global and GV, at a valuation of over $15 billion. We now have more than $1 billion to invest in becoming the global standard for companies wanting to transform their customer experiences with AI. 

We’ve never had such conviction in the opportunity for Sierra and our customers. Just a couple of years ago, we had four design partners. Now, Sierra is serving over 40% of the Fortune 50, and agents built on our platform are powering billions of customer interactions — everything from refinancing homes to processing insurance claims, returning orders, and helping people raise millions in fundraisers.

We’re deeply grateful to our customers for helping show what’s possible. If you’re not yet using Sierra, we’d love to partner with you. https://t.co/tT4tBSeSoR

[TBPN @tbpn]

BREAKING: Sierra raises $950M at a $15B valuation led by Tiger Global and GV

[CRAIG @CR41GD]

@nikhilkamathcio Congrats! Howard Marks is a genius, can’t wait for this one.

[Sahil Bloom @SahilBloom]

Your entire life will change when you realize your standards decide your future. Every time you let something slide, you train yourself to accept less. That’s how goals erode. That's how principles slip. Set your standards. Then hold the line. Especially when it’s hard.

[CRAIG @CR41GD]

@AbdullahMoai @DemaEnergy Likewise!

[عبدالله المعيقل ⚡ @AbdullahMoai]

No way Satoshi would have predicted this...

Bitcoin is helping balance the power grid in the middle east! 🇸🇦🇴🇲 ⚡️ $MARA x @DemaEnergy