The Saturday Morning Newsletter #12
Stealth Mode, Stocks, Aerobraking, Jupiter, Peace, and More
Hello!
Welcome to The Saturday Morning Newsletter, a concise and casual digest of current events, optimistic news stories, and other interesting tidbits to round out your week. The concept is simple: 16 articles, essays, companies, ideas, podcasts, videos, or thoughts that caught my attention this week for their potential to significantly impact our future.
I want this to be a collaborative effort, so if you see examples of things that truly impact our future, let me know here. I’ll give you credit for sharing them.
If you enjoy this newsletter, please share it with friends, colleagues, and family.
Let’s get started.
#1: Deckmatch
Description: Deckmatch is a venture capital deal flow automation tool.
Why Is This Company Interesting? Deckmatch recently raised $3.1M in venture capital funding. Popular venture capital firms (like a16z) receive hundreds of pitch decks that are extremely cumbersome to navigate and triage effectively. Deckmatch’s AI algorithm sorts through each deck, narrowing down potential investments based on the VC’s criteria to a manageable pile of solid prospects almost instantly—vastly increasing efficiency and allocation of funds.
Description: Firefly Aerospace is a designer and developer of launch vehicles for commercial orbital missions.
Why Is This Company Interesting? Firefly Aerospace recently raised $175M in venture capital funding (with a valuation of $2B+). Firefly’s arsenal of technology includes small- and medium-sized launch vehicles, lunar landers, and other orbital vehicles, providing end-to-end space transportation. Their mission is to provide more affordable and reliable access to space for governments and commercial entities.
#3: tozero
Description: Tozero is a lithium-ion battery recycler based in Germany.
Why Is This Company Interesting? Tozero recently raised $11.7M in venture capital funding. The Earth has a finite amount of critical metals and resources. Many of those materials are being drained significantly with the influx of electric vehicles and other electric-powered equipment. As such, there is a significant need for recycling old batteries in the market, specifically for companies to be able to extract all critical materials from these old batteries. Enter Tozero, the first European company capable of doing just that.
#4: Ulysses
Description: Ulysses is a stealth startup building underwater autonomous drones to restore seagrass.
Why Is This Company Interesting? Ulysses recently emerged from stealth mode, having developed autonomous drones that operate underwater. These drones, rather than having military or other commercial applications, are being used to combat climate change by reseeding sea beds with sea grass, restoring the ecosystem, and removing carbon dioxide at the same time. It’s an ambitious vision (I’m unsure how it’ll be funded), but their heads are in the right direction, and some progress is better than no progress.
The Regulatory Review: Powering Up U.S. Nuclear Energy
Many strategies to mitigate climate change require exponential increases in clean energy.
Because of this, support for scaling nuclear energy has reemerged as a viable policy option.
Nuclear power capacity declined over the past decade. Why?
“Scholars attribute these closures to stringent regulations, rising construction costs, and the inability to compete on price with natural gas as technological advances have made drilling far less costly. Some scholars also question whether, under the current regulatory and technological conditions, the climate benefits of nuclear energy generation outweigh the economic costs of a carbon tax that would make it competitive with natural gas.”
Today, many environmental groups in the U.S. stand divided over the future of nuclear power in the nation’s clean energy system.
CNBC: Solar Stocks Tank on Fears Trump Will Hamper Clean Energy Progress, Repeal IRA
Solar stocks dipped significantly after Donald Trump secured a second trip to the White House and Republicans won the House and Senate.
Many expect Trump to repeal the Inflation Reduction Act, which has fueled a clean energy boom in the United States. Solar stocks fell between 10-51% this week as investors felt the pressures of lower sentiment for renewable energy.
New York Times: ‘Fossil Fuels Are Still Winning’: Global Emissions Head for a Record
One year after COP28, when world leaders made promises to shift away from fossil fuels to renewable sources, countries are burning more oil, natural gas, and coal than ever before.
There is an estimated 0.8% increase in CO2 emissions from 2023 to 2024 according to the Global Carbon Project. To elaborate further, emissions will most likely decline this year in the US and Europe, but in most other countries there will be an increase in 2024.
The following graph from the article gives a great visualization of what’s happening:
New York Times: Nuclear Power Was Once Shunned at Climate Talks. Now, It’s a Rising Star.
For years, many countries often saw nuclear energy as part of the problem, not part of the solution.
Yet, now interest in nuclear power has grown as concern about global warming exponentially increases. At COP29, new countries are hosting discussions about nuclear power plant financing and how small reactors could be a future solution. “[M]any politicians at this year’s climate talks seem eager to give it a second look.”
“It gives me hope that nuclear energy is more and more popular around the world,” Prime Minister Petr Fiala of the Czech Republic said in an address to other leaders this week. “I strongly believe that nuclear power is essential to meet climate goals.”
Smithsonian Magazine: The Secretive Spaceplane of the US Space Force Conducts First-of-Its-Kind Maneuvers
The United States Space Force announced that its Boeing X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle was testing a series of unprecedented aerobraking maneuvers, where spacecraft change orbit without using fuel.
Many space experts familiar with the domain question why the public has learned about this sensitive information, following the common troupe that any information the public learns about new technology, the actual advancements (undisclosed to the public) of that technology are already 5+ years ahead of what was disclosed. Nevertheless, this is still a great piece of space info, showing that government space programs are very serious about space vessel capabilities.
X.com: Space Experiencing Moores Law
The following image was shared on Twitter (X) this week, showing how SpaceX has dramatically decreased space costs, following Moores law. If this trend continues, space may be accessible to more people sooner than expected, continuing the trend of rapid space commercialization.
TechCrunch: SpaceX Wants to Test Refueling Starships in Space Early Next Year
SpaceX has plans to test the transfer of propellant from one orbiting Starship to another in Q1 or Q2 next year, a milestone that will pave the way for an uncrewed landing demonstration of a Starship on the moon. SpaceX is currently slated to work with NASA to put astronauts on the moon by 2026, a feat only 2 years away now. SpaceX is still on pace to reach this goal, potentially becoming the first private entity to put someone on the moon ever.
NASA: New Images of Jupiter
For those of you who haven’t seen the new image of Jupiter, take a look HERE. Granted these images are color-corrected and edited, but they still show the variance in atmosphere which is fascinating. Launched in 2011, the Juno satellite continues to give us high-quality images and analysis of Jupiter, shedding light on the gas giant’s inner workings.
New York Times: The Election’s Other Biggest Losers? Economists.
23 Nobel laureate economists warned that Donald Trump’s agenda would “lead to higher prices, larger deficits, and greater inequality.” Their core argument: many of Trump’s main points (tariffs, taxes, and immigration) weren’t economically sound. Yet, despite the warnings of economists, many voters (much less versed in economics) voted in favor of these points.
Economists are in shock as to the general level of economic misinformation in this country. So, what do the economists say now?
“Trump got a lot of political mileage out of defying these and other norms. But reality bites. In the long run, Democrats will be better off sticking to their economic principles while Trump and the party he controls founder. Unfortunately, the American people will pay a heavier price.”
WIPO: World Intellectual Property Indicators Report: Global Patent Filings Reach Record High in 2023
Global patent activity increased in 2023 as over 3.5M patents were filed globally, continuing 4 years of consecutive growth.
The World Intellectual Property Office Director Daren Tang stated “Demand for IP rights is growing even in the face of an uncertain economic environment. In addition, this demand is increasingly indigenous.
For example, the growth in patent filings has been driven by residents inside the countries themselves rather than by foreign innovators. With volume growing, the challenge still remains quality and the ability to translate IP filings into actual products and services.”
Pitchbook: PitchBook Universities: Top 100 Colleges Ranked by Startup Founders
Here’s a super valuable older article I just discovered.
As you may imagine, some universities are better than others at attracting and producing successful entrepreneurs.
Pitchbook tallied the number of alumni entrepreneurs who have raised VC funds in the last 10 years, compiling a ranking of the best universities for entrepreneurs in 2024. Where does your university stack up?
An interesting quote I heard recently:
"Whoever brings you the most peace should get the most time"
This is a solid piece of advice. If people aren’t bringing you peace, they shouldn’t get much time in your life. Period.
If people are bringing you peace, they should get most of the time in your life.
Maybe it’s time to make some changes and put some boundaries up.
See you Wednesday for Brainwaves,
Drew Jackson
Website: brainwaves.me
Twitter: @brainwavesdotme
Email: brainwaves.me@gmail.com
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Disclaimer: The views expressed in this content are my own and do not represent the views of any of the companies I currently work for or have previously worked for. This content does not contain financial advice - it is for informational and educational purposes only. Investing contains risks and readers should conduct their own due diligence and/or consult a financial advisor before making any investment decisions. Any sponsorship or endorsements are noted and do not affect any editorial content produced.