Why AI progress feels like a black comedy
Plus: NZ mulls response to Trump tariffs, why VCs might be 'ghosting' you and billionaire moves to sack NZME board.
Happy Friday!
We’ve made it another week. The endless wave of news is still crashing over us but at least you can relax this morning with a column from me about how we’re maybe just a little desperately unprepared for the most important event in human history - so that’s fun! We’re even putting it above the paywall so you can share existential dread with your friends and family free of charge.
Here’s your Daily shot of news you don’t want to miss!
Govt mulls response on potential Trump tariffs
Event: Fund Female Founders on March 13
Why a VC might be ‘ghosting’ you
Canadian billionaire makes move to take over board of NZME
Pod pick: Wild Hearts - The Wild Rise of Clutch with Annabel Hay
Your usual weekend fuel recommendations
Thank you so much to everyone who has subscribed already this year and for those who haven’t, if you could recommend the substack or share with friends and whanau that still helps out in a big way.
Finn & the Caffeine Team
How will New Zealand respond to potential Trump tariffs?: After President Trump essentially kicked off a trade war with most of his neighbors and allies and threatened tariffs on huge swathes of product entering the US this week, the whole world has been grappling with how to respond. One of the most concerning from a Kiwi perspective is Trump signaling tariffs on ‘external’ agricultural goods from April 2. Giles Dexter over at RNZ reports our own Trade Minister is being proactive at least and is planning a call phone between himself and the United States' Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick in the next week or so. Meanwhile Riley Kennedy over at Business Desk breaks down what it could mean for NZ wine exporters. Interestingly, McLay didn’t rule out reciprocal tariffs on US goods but said they are getting ‘advice on everything’. The US is our second biggest trading partner, despite our lack of a free trade deal, so whatever happens here could have significant consequences on both the relationship and our economy moving forward.
Event: Fund Female Founders on March 13 - With International Women’s Day tomorrow it’s a good reminder that there’s one week to go to join the 'Fund Female Founders' Investment Showcase on 13 March 2025. Funding is one of the biggest hurdles for women scaling their businesses so MoA and Pledge Me are teaming up to address that with an online event where you can meet some incredible women founders, hear their stories and celebrate, support and most importantly, fund the mahi they’re doing. It’s a great initiative but I hope the energy we’re seeing around Women’s Day this year starts being pushed throughout the calendar and not focused on one date. Register here.
On getting ‘ghosted’ by VCs: I think every founder can relate to the pain of putting their heart and soul into a pitch to an investor and then waiting for a phone call that never comes. As this lovely piece from Mary Ann Azevedo on Tech Crunch describes, it’s a little like getting ghosted after a first date which you were incredibly excited for. But the important thing to remember is, just like a date, there are some reasons you might not hear back from the investor that you shouldn’t take personally but some red flag behaviors you should be aware of and address to improve your chances next time. Was the VC just too time poor to get back to you or did your AI-generated outreach give them the ick? There’s some great insight from various interviews with VCs and some hard truths that are worth hearing.
Canadian billionaire makes move to take over board of NZME: Well yesterday I said we didn’t know exactly what the Canadian billionaire heavily invested in NZME wanted and we should be watching this space closely. Only hours after publishing we started getting a better idea and ho boy is it a doozie. Jim Grenon is moving to sack the board of NZME, removing most of the current directors and replace them with himself, three others and keep just one to stay on form the original. It’s a huge play and could have pretty profound consequences for one of our most important and sadly, few remaining, large-scale media companies. Director nominations will be made by March 11 and the annual NZME board vote is on April 11. Watch this space. Read more about it in a great longer form piece from Simon Plumb on Stuff here or get more of a snapshot from RNZ here.
Pod pick: Wild Hearts: The Wild Rise of Clutch with Annabel Hay It’s a problem many of us would love to face but it’s fascinating to hear from someone who truly grappled with overnight success and the need to scale up in a hurry. On the latest Blackbirds Wild Hearts podcast, they dig into what happens when a 10-second TikTok video changed everything for Annabelle Hay, co-founder and CEO of CLUTCH. From selling out 5,000 units in hours, navigating a manufacturing disaster, and scrambling to scale. Annabelle shares the rollercoaster journey of building a consumer brand from scratch, the unexpected lessons of going viral, and the challenges of breaking into retail. Listen here.
Here’s what’s on our radar. Hit us with your own recommendations.
📺Watch: The Raid 2 - Last week I recommended you watch all the time great action film the Raid and you will be deeply unsurprised to learn that I also think you should currently be watching the sequel, the Raid 2, which dials the insanity of the first film up to eleven without missing a beat and delivers some of the greatest action cinema of all time.
📖 Read: Shroud by Adrian Tchaikovsky - I swear this is the last book from this author I will recommend (for now) but I swear this guy simply cannot miss. What happens when a pair of explorers crash land on a planet completely inhospitable to humans, pitch black with no sun, but still teeming with awful, savage life? Think of a mash up between the Martian and Alien and you’ll be there.
🎧Listen: The Government knows AGI is coming -For those who weren’t worried enough by my feature this morning or just want to hear some of the scarier segments referenced first hand, listen to the full Ezra Klein and Ben Buchanan interview here. Warning, it may give you a powerful feeling AI vertigo. Listen here.
Machines of Loving Grace: If you’re feeling scared about the future, I definitely get it. So this weekend I will leave you with this genuinely beautiful and uplifting essay from one of the leading men ushering in our AI future. Dario Amodei from Anthropic penned a lengthy, detailed and optimistic vision for what our new world could look like, if we get this right.
That’s it for today, thanks for reading. Want to get in touch with a news tip, bit of feedback or just to chat? Email hello@caffeinedaily.co. Look after yourselves this weekend and we’ll see you Monday.