Thiel Advisors, Inc

11/03/2020

Software startup valuations are skyrocketing - meet the 100X Club

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When San Francisco–based Retool raised new funding this month, investors valued the maker of software development tools at just below $1 billion, or 100 times its annualized revenue of roughly $10 million. This price, essentially a bet that the three-year-old firm’s growth has just begun, is ...

10/27/2020

Innovating an audacious climate change solution: restoring the Arctic ice to slow the effects of climate change

Few people will argue that climate change is impacting our planet and our weather. One team has developed an innovative solution that might possibly stop the melting Arctic ice cap and slow the advance of climate change.

The Arctic ice pack is melting. For more than a decade, Steve Payne (MBA 1985), chair of the board of the Arctic Ice Project, has patiently explained the problem to anyone willing to listen: The disappearing ice is a harbinger of climate change but also a cause of it. Thick, old ice reflects 80 perc...

10/21/2020

Big news for Bitcoin - PayPal to allow crypto holding, buying, selling and shopping.

As a further sign of Bitcoin going mainstream, PayPal has joined the growing list of money service companies supporting cryptocurrencies use for buying, selling and holding assets. The further cryptocurrencies enter the mainstream, the greater the volumes transacted and the greater the stability of the value.

https://www.reuters.com/article/paypal-cryptocurrency-idUSKBN2761MI

https://www.reuters.com/article/paypal-cryptocurrency/paypal-to-allow-cryptocurrency-buying-selling-and-shopping-on-its-network-idUSL1N2HB14U

PayPal Holdings Inc said on Wednesday it will allow customers to hold bitcoin and other virtual coins in its online wallet and shop using cryptocurrencies at the 26 million merchants on its network.

10/20/2020

The Privacy Project – 12M Phones, One Location Dataset, No Privacy

Previously published by the NY Times, this article takes an in depth look at the wealth of data and insights available through our location data – all of which is available to clients of tracking companies and government agencies. We are moving from advertisers tracking where we “go” online, to where we “go” in real life, all day long, minute by minute…

What we learned from the spy in your pocket.

10/18/2020

The algorithm tackling the office space crunch

The algorithm tackling the office space crunch will determine who should come to the office on which days based on Covid restrictions and business needs.

Companies are wrestling with how to bring staff back to the office in a safe and fair manner. One US firm has created an algorithm to try and solve the puzzle.

10/17/2020

Google reveals Mineral crop-inspecting robots

Robots plus AI are a game changer for crop management and production yields.

The project will analyse every leaf on every crop, helping farmers tend the fields.

10/17/2020

Zoom will start letting people host online events with paid admission
Zoom saved businesses and schools. Now it will help fuel the new virtual online economy as we get comfortable with the new normal.

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/10/14/zoom-launches-onzoom-paid-live-events.html?

Zoom will challenge Eventbrite and Live Nation as it introduces an online venue for promoting live online events that people can pay to attend.

10/16/2020

Apple’s Wearables, Home and Accessories have grown significantly resulting in driving iPhone revenue dependency down to

10/08/2020

Big Technology Disruption Predicted in 10 Years

The biggest technology disruption is on its way bringing a new creation-based production system with it. Corporate leaders and Investors need to prepare now to ensure the changes benefit all.

fastcompany.com/90559711/we-are-approaching-the-fastest-deepest-most-consequential-technological-disruption-in-history?

In the next 10 years, key technologies will converge to completely disrupt the five foundational sectors—information, energy, food, transportation, and materials—that underpin our global economy. We need to make sure the disruption benefits everyone.

10/03/2020

Another step closer to reliable and functional smart contracts, which will remove friction and automate complex transactions

Ripple has won a patent for a design would allow a whole new breed of derivatives to settle based on external data – such as temperature.

10/01/2020

While the US economy appears to be showing signs of recovering, business failures are expected to increase by over 50% showing a huge impact to small businesses affected by Covid and the shutdown.

09/29/2020

Researcher says he can prove time travel is feasible - but don’t step on the butterfly

Interested in time travel? If so, a new mathematical discovery shows you can experiment with traveling in time without fear of impacting event outcomes.

Now we can all go back to 2019.