Sunrise Aotearoa 2024 Moves to Shed 6 for a Bigger, Better Experience
It’s almost the end of the short week Caffeinators,
Is it just me, or did Labour Weekend give us the mental reset we all needed? Things feel like they’re buzzing out there again! Pulling today’s news together was a real boost of fresh energy. Forget the ‘survive ‘til 25’ talk—we’re here to thrive and make the most of what’s ahead. Epic events and serious momentum.
Sunrise bursts from its venue due to surging demand; legal startup Disputes Buddy wins big in Australia; the Executive Women’s event you need to get a ticket for; Xero announces beautiful Business Fund winners; Icehouse Ventures’ Barnaby talks AI; plus a wrap up of some wild stories from around the world all rounded off with some winning advice from your favourite (?) Founder Elon Musk.
We love you and this community so much. Sharing your news and success is an actual dream job.
Lauren & the Caffeine team
P.S. An update here on the AG1 story we shared yesterday.
New Venue Alert: Sunrise Aotearoa 2024 Moves to Shed 6 for a Bigger, Better Experience! Due to high demand, Sunrise Aotearoa 2024 is moving to a larger venue—Shed 6 on Queens Wharf, Wellington. The new location promises an even grander experience, but all other event details, including ticket validity, remain the same. Mark your calendar for November 26, and spread the word if you’ve got guest tickets! P.S Sunrise tickets have sold out, but keep your eye out on Blackbird's socials for a second release coming soon 👀
Dispute Buddy Wins Big in Australia: People’s Choice + First Runner-Up at LawTech Hub: Mount Maunganui-based Dispute Buddy, led by founder Jenny Rudd, won People’s Choice and First Runner-Up at LawTech Hub’s pitch night in Australia. Inspired by Jenny’s own legal experience, Dispute Buddy streamlines evidence collection by organising messages and emails for users—no more reliving painful moments. Judges praised Jenny’s authentic approach, with AirTree’s James Cameron highlighting her deep connection to the problem. Kiwi legal tech is officially on the map! Add your congrats to Jenny here.
Sharesies Executive Women’s Series: An Evening for Women Leaders: Join the Sharesies Executive Women’s Series on November 11 at Sharesies HQ, Level 3, 111 Customhouse Quay, Wellington. Starting at 4:30 PM, the event will feature a fireside chat with Alison Gerry, Chair of Sharesies, and Brooke Roberts, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Sharesies. This evening is designed for connection, learning, and leadership insights tailored to women in executive roles. Don’t miss this opportunity to network with top leaders. RSVP by November 3 to secure your spot here.
Announcing the 2024 Xero Beautiful Business Fund Winners: Xero has awarded $750,000 to winners of the 2024 Beautiful Business Fund, celebrating small businesses across four categories: environmental sustainability, community connection, technology innovation, and up-skilling. The global winners include The Bowling Club (NZ) for community connection, Other Matter (Australia) for sustainability, Prosthetic Art Technology (Australia) for tech, and The Code Zone (UK) for up-skilling. Each winner will use the funds to enhance their impact and continue driving positive change. For a full list of details and all winners visit the Xero blog.
Is the world in an AI bubble? Are we at peak AI investment or is there more to come? Icehouse’s Barnaby Marshall wrote a guest piece for The Press this week here. For those without a sub here’s the TLDR key notes. The AI investment cycle is similar to every other tech investment hype cycle before it in many ways. Comparing it directly to the dot com boom / bust: The investment to date is of a similar scale to that of the dot com era; Investment so far in the AI cycle has been mostly in infrastructure, not apps [important difference]; Investment to date has mostly been made by technology behemoths, not VCs and IPOs; Behavioural change is incremental with AI, it was fundamental in the early internet era; and revenue growth so far has been quite incredible, and it looks like more is yet to come. Overall Marshall argues we’re early in the cycle with massive opportunity for NZ businesses to adopt the tools to improve efficiency, productivity and the quality of our exports (be that software or otherwise!).
Waymo Secures $5.6 Billion to Expand Autonomous Ride Services: Waymo has raised $5.6 billion, led by Alphabet, to scale its autonomous ride-hailing service, Waymo One, across cities like San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Phoenix, with future plans for Austin and Atlanta through an Uber partnership. This funding will advance the Waymo Driver’s capabilities, supporting over 100,000 weekly trips. With a commitment to safety and transparency, Waymo aims to bring its autonomous technology to even more users, aiming to become the world’s most trusted driver. For more, here.
Washington Post Loses 200,000 Subscribers After Bezos Blocks Kamala Harris Endorsement: Jeff Bezos blocked The Washington Post’s endorsement of Kamala Harris, sparking mass subscriber cancellations and columnist resignations. Former editor Marty Baron criticised the timing, just weeks before the election, as driven by motives beyond journalistic independence. Bezos defended his choice, denying any political motives or influence from his other ventures, such as Blue Origin. Columnists argue the move could signal press compliance with political pressures. See more here.
Tony Fadell on mission-driven a**holes, Silicon Valley entitlement and why LLMs are ‘know-it-alls’: At the TechCrunch Disrupt event in San Francisco yesterday, Tony Fadell, creator of the iPod and Founder of Nest Labs, argued that “mission-driven assholes”—those relentless on details but not ego-driven—are essential to building great tech products. He criticised Silicon Valley’s entitlement culture, jokingly warning startups against hiring “Googlers” for their pampered attitudes. Fadell also voiced skepticism about Large Language Models (LLMs) as “know-it-alls,” noting they’re fine for entertainment but dangerous for high-stakes fields like medicine due to their propensity for errors. For a punchy read check the TechCrunch article.
ByteDance Intern Fired for Planting Malicious Code in AI Models: In a real-life spy twist, a ByteDance intern was busted for slipping malicious code into AI models, allegedly to manipulate outputs—talk about “creative” coding! The company acted fast, firing the intern and pledging to lock down internal security tighter than ever. This incident proves that, even in tech, there’s always someone trying to rewrite the rules. For the full scoop, BBC covers it here.
TikTok Founder Becomes China’s Richest Person Amid Global Challenges: While we’re on the ByteDance subject, Zhang Yiming, its co-founder, has become China’s wealthiest individual with a net worth of $49.3 billion, fuelled by TikTok’s immense popularity. Although he stepped down in 2021, he retains a 20% stake in ByteDance. Despite U.S. concerns over TikTok's Chinese ties and a looming 2025 ban if ByteDance doesn’t sell, the company’s profits soared by 60%. China’s rich list reflects this tech-driven success amid a challenging economic climate. More here.
Elon’s Advice on Winning in Business 📈 Love him or hate him, Elon Musk is undeniably one of the most impactful entrepreneurs of our time. As he’s gotten older, Ex-NFL player turned startup founder Kevin Jurovich, says one of the most valuable lessons he’s learned is to set aside personal opinions and recognise the value someone brings—even if we don’t agree with them. He pulled together a summary of Musk’s top advice here.
That’s it for today, thanks for reading. We’ll be back tomorrow morning. Want to get in touch with a news tip, bit of feedback or just to chat? Email hello@caffeinedaily.co