Neither Bill Gates nor Mark Zuckerberg has ever been on the top end of our 'love to have a beer with' list. It was cool that both ditched Harvard early, though. It's like the ultimate coup—you get into The 'Vard (a.k.a. the 'Stanford of the East'), claim victory, then go about your business earning your first billion. The next time you hit campus is to deliver a commencement speech and pick up an honorary degree. 😎🤙🏼

There was something special about Steve

Steve Jobs’ speech to the Stanford graduating class of 2005 (46.5M views)

Zuck’s speech to the Harvard graduating class of 2017 (6.8 M views)

Bill Gates’ speech to the Harvard graduating class of 2007 (5.5M views)

Bill G and Zuck are chess players more than innovators. Yes, Bill Gates was once the King of PC Land, but even the first MS-DOS operating system, which he sold to IBM to reach the top, was developed by a third-party software company. Zuck earns credit for learning from the Friendster disaster by initially scaling The Facebook one college at a time and then later emerging as the world's number one social network. But Zuck's real genius was acquiring Instagram in 2012 and WhatsApp in 2014 (to the later regret of the founders of both companies). As Zuck told Joe Rogan in January, Meta services combined now touch over 3.6 billion unique users a day, which is mad.

Bill G and Zuck are both full of unfulfilled innovation dreams. For years, Bill G talked about how the 'Tablet PC' would be the Next Big Thing until Steve Jobs envisioned the iPad and delivered it in 2010. Today, Apple dominates the tablet sector with a 35% market share, having shipped almost 50 million iPads globally in 2024, which generated a whopping $28.3 billion in revenue. This success is driven by premium models like the iPad Pro, featuring M2/M4 chips. Meanwhile, Microsoft's Surface tablet ranks sixth in sales.

We must also remember Zuck's decision in October 2021 to change the name of his company from Facebook to Meta, because he intended to boldly lead 'a billion users' into the Metaverse, where they will generate 'hundreds of billions in digital commerce' within a decade. Well, last time we looked, Zuck wasn't shepherding legions of avatars to the Promised Land; he was scrambling to get on the AI gravy train driven by Elon's xAI, Perplexity.ai, OpenAI, and any number of other emerging AI companies. And the Metaverse? Well, the Metaverse got no mention in Meta's Q1 2025 earnings call, with AI devices taking center stage.

In late April, Zuck explained to Dwarkesh Patel on his podcast how he thinks AI bots will serve as social companions and help solve the loneliness epidemic. 'There's the stat that I think is crazy—the average American has fewer than three friends,' noted Zuck. 'And the average person has demand for meaningfully more—like 15 friends, right?' Zuck then deduced that 'this need for more personalized connection and companionship could be filled with virtual friends!' 😳

A 2022 survey by The Cigna Group found that 58% of U.S. adults are considered lonely. A startling 79% of young adults (aged 18–24) report experiencing loneliness compared to 41% of seniors (aged 66+).😔 In a 2024 Harvard study, 73% of the adults surveyed cited technology as a top factor, with heavy social media use linked to feelings of inadequacy and isolation.

A poetic dramatization of how Zuck's AO bot vision plays out was foretold in the now-epic 2013 film Her, written and directed by Spike Jonze. The stars of Her are the equally splendid actors Joaquin Phoenix and Scarlett Johansson, who acted out our current reality 12 years before its time.

Emotional entanglements with your AI bot

The following are the conclusions from four recent studies that investigated the psychosocial, social and practical implications of using AI chatbots.

It is now quite evident that the apps we most depend on will evolve into a team of agents who find your stuff, prepare reports, execute regular tasks, arrange your travel and schedule, you name it. Aravind Srinivas, the CEO and cofounder of Perplexity AI, says AI agents are becoming the 'next battleground for the web' as search evolves from providing links to enabling actions. 'Whoever builds the most useful, trusted agents will win,' he says.

The move to AI agents will be a big net positive for personal ease and productivity. However, getting too close to your AI bot, as Joaquin's character in Her, Theodore did, is a very unhealthy psychosocial boundary to cross. It falls into the same disordered basket as being addicted to your sex doll, local stripper, or favorite OnlyFans model. No matter how much you try, you will not find true human empathy in AI. Chatbots cannot replicate the depth of in-person human interactions and never will.

Zuck strategized out loud in the podcast, in an eerie Orwellian way, that 'We need to find the vocabulary as a society to articulate why this [AO bots as friends] is valuable and why people choosing these relationships are rational.' Zuck predicted that 'as personalization improves, the relationship between AI and the user becomes more compelling.' Reminder to readers: Meta reaches 3.6 billion people every day—Zuck can change the vocabulary in a snap🫰if he wants to.

On the People by WTF podcast in April, Bill G said he is betting that the 'free intelligence' created by AI will largely replace doctors and teachers within a decade.😳 'High-quality medical advice and tutoring will be widely accessible,' says Bill G. Yes, AI is advancing rapidly—tools like diagnostic algorithms and personalized learning platforms are already assisting professionals—but human creativity, judgment, empathy, and contextual understanding remain critical in these fields. He acknowledged that jobs requiring emotional intelligence, like therapy or caregiving, would likely remain human-driven.

AI does have significant potential, as Bill Gates explained, to fill the gaps in underserved regions like India and Africa, which face a shortage of doctors and mental health professionals, and also to extend to blue-collar roles. Net-net, Bill suggests, 'AI will come in and provide medical IQ, and there won't be a shortage.' He also believes that the new AI-powered productivity tools could lead to shorter workweeks and redefine societal roles. 'What will jobs be like? Should we work like 2 or 3 days a week?' he pondered out loud.

Palantir cofounder and CEO Alex Karp is well-informed about what's happening inside the U.S. Department of Defense and throughout our intelligence agencies, particularly regarding our AI innovation and counterintelligence status compared to that of the Mighty Dragon from the East.

Mr. Karp bluntly told CNBC recently, 'My general bias on AI is it is dangerous. There are positive and negative consequences. In the AI arms race, Alex says only one country will emerge as the winner. 'Either we win that race or China will,' he says. ‘So we need to run harder, run faster in an all-country effort to develop more advanced AI models.'

Alex Karp excerpts from Q1 2025 letter to Palantir shareholders

‘The artificial intelligence revolution is not a distant horizon—it is here, and it is a race we must win. Our platforms are built to give the U.S. military and its allies the edge in decision-making, from the battlefield to the command center, ensuring that our technology underpins the strength of the West."

"We take pride in standing shoulder-to-shoulder with our partners in the Department of Defense and intelligence community. Our software is not a commodity; it is a force multiplier that transforms how our nation’s most critical institutions operate, enabling them to outpace adversaries in an increasingly complex global landscape."

"We have chosen sides, and we are unapologetic about it. Our work is rooted in the belief that the United States and its democratic allies must lead in the development and deployment of transformative technologies. This is not just a business—it is a mission to preserve the principles that define our way of life.”

'“All men are to be loved equally. But since you cannot do good to all, you are to pay special regard to those who, by the accidents of time, or place, or circumstance, are brought into closer connection with you.”

—Alex Karp’s Q1 2025 Letter to Palantir Shareholders excerpts discussing the company’s commitment to U.S. defense interests published on May 4.

Alex also told CNBC that he believes the U.S. currently has a leg up in the AI race. ‘There is no economy in the world with this kind of corporate leadership which understands technologies, has such a deep domain expertise, and is willing to look at new things and pivot quickly if necessary,’ he said. “Our allies in the West, in Europe, are going to have to learn from us.”

Alex also rebuffed a recent New York Times report that Palantir is helping the Trump administration gather data on Americans. He made it clear, 'We are not surveilling Americans.'

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—Septenber 16th & 17th (Tuesday & Wednesday)

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—600 invitation-only live guests

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The SV '25 program centers on conversations between entrepreneurial thought leaders and risk capitalists about how Web3 innovation can create new efficiencies, opportunities, and wealth, and further decentralize power away from institutions we no longer trust.

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SV’25 is presented by Voting Block USA (VB USA), a 501 c3 non-profit, nonpartisan, grassroots project dedicated to educating the public on how Web3 innovation will impact our daily lives and professional futures. VB USA is supported by The Draper Family Trust and Draper Associates and produced by Cryptonite Ventures.

We hate to tell you so, but we will. The hysterical corporate business media and the Masters of the Universe on Wall Street (that is, Jamie Dimon and Bill Akerman) just took stockholders on a wild roller coaster ride that was completely unnecessary.

The skies over Wall Street were falling

Give Jaime your money; he sees where the world is not going.🤔

‘The recent tariffs will likely increase inflation and are causing many to consider a greater probability of a recession. I think a recession is a likely outcome.'

—Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase, April 3, 2025

Actually, the inflation numbers are the best in four years. So why don't we stop trying to say this could happen, and wait and see what does happen.’

—Scott Bessent, US Treasury Secretary on Face the Nation, June 1, 2025

Wall Street titans make money when we buy and sell our stocks. They have had a profitable couple of months, which has fueled the panic

The NASDAQ index was approximately 17,606.93 on April 2, 2025, right before Trump announced his tariffs. As of June 10, 2025, NASDAQ was 19,714. This represents an increase of approximately 11.97%. There you go. The goal of the Boogeyman's tariff threats has always been to lower tariffs for the US its trade partners, as was recently accomplished with the UK. It is currently in progress with India, South Korea, Japan, Vietnam, and the European Union. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, even China has just received a deal in hand, negotiated over the last couple of days in London, that would lower both the US and China's current tariffs.

More groovy economic times ahead

The price of a dozen eggs dropped almost in half, from $4.95 in January to $2.65 in June. The cost of gas has similarly fallen from $3.65 a gallon at the end of the Biden Administration to $3.11 today. The US economy created almost a million (991,500) new jobs so far this year, and the unemployment rate remains steady at 4%. Real GDP growth for Q2 2025 is projected to rebound strongly at 3.8%, reflecting improved consumption and investment trends. And finally, (Are you listening, Jamie?) inflation (CPI) dipped from 3.0% in January to 2.4% in May, showing a cooling trend.

We agree with Elon that the ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ includes barrels full of pork that our Federal government has no business funding. We believe in continuing the shift of Federal taxpayer money away from centralized agencies and toward first responders, including firefighters, police, EMTs, and dispatchers, who care for our communities, as well as charities and churches that assist the homeless and single mothers.

Web3 technologies will facilitate this transformation through AI bots, which will help eliminate outdated bureaucratic structures within government and decentralize tax collection and distribution systems, giving taxpayers more privacy and control over how their tax dollars are spent.

We are at the beginning of a 20- to 30-year, $200 trillion Web3 innovation boom (10x the size of Web2) now that AI and crypto regulations are being sorted out. Thankfully, we are leaning towards a more unbridled innovation and free market approach, which allowed the Internet to flourish quickly in the 1990s.

As this multi-trillion-dollar opportunity, driven by AI, quantum computing, blockchain dApps, crypto, robots, drones, and green vehicles, among others, comes into sharper focus, billions of dollars in risk capital are flowing into startups throughout the global Silicon Valley.

Regarding the IPO market, we are sticking with our 2025 prediction that 25 private companies in the innovation sectors we cover will break out of the IPO gates this year. So far, we are counting the six Cryptonite Top 100 companies below that have either gone public, filed, or moved to NASDAQ this year.

A slew of Cryptonite Top 100 have also received new capital at bullish valuations.

• —offers an AI-powered answer engine for complex queries, delivering precise information synthesis. Perplexity AI is in advanced talks, led by Accel, for a new funding round that would value it at $14 billion, a more than 50% increase from late last year.

• TON Foundation—Dubai-based ’s TON (The Open Network) blockchain enables fast, scalable transactions, powering decentralized apps and services integrated with its messaging platform. The Open Network Foundation disclosed that it sold over $400 million in Toncoin, which was purchased from Sequoia Capital, Ribbit, Benchmark, and Kingsway. Draper Associates is a big backer.

• The Costa Mesa, California-based company founded in 2017, develops AI-powered defense technology, including autonomous drones and surveillance systems. Anduril recently raised $2.5 billion at a $30.5 billion valuation, doubling the company's valuation from last August in a round led by Peter Thiel's Founders Fund.

Speaking of the Founders Fund, the San Francisco-based venture capital firm closed a $4.6 billion late-stage venture fund, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

In addition to this flurry of IPOs and investments, Alphabet, Microsoft, Meta, and Amazon have told investors that they will invest more than $300 billion in AI-focused infrastructure this year.

Both the Russians and the Ukrainians have used millions of drones since 2022, including hundreds of thousands of killer drones, such as the FPV and kamikaze drones. In a dramatic development, drones cause 70–80% of military casualties and ~27% of civilian deaths (as of January 2025), likely accounting for 60–70% of total war deaths.😳 To date, killer drones likely caused 354,050–404,050 of the military and civilian deaths, representing 35–40% of the war’s 1 million estimated deaths.

The Boogeyman's one-on-one with Maurine Devine of the NY Post

'Drones are the thing—they are the new weapons of choice. When you look at this horrible war between Russia and Ukraine that we are trying to get over, it's all drone warfare. You wouldn't believe how quick and smart they are and what they are able to do.

: So, are you thinking of banning them?

: No, I don't think we can ban them. I guess we just have to buy more drones than they do—and better ones.

You had a lengthy conversation with Vladimir Putin last week. How did that go?

Trump: We mostly talked about how to end the war. I had a great relationship with him, and this war would never have happened if I were in office. They [the Russians and Ukrainians] are losing 5,000 soldiers every single week! Putin is losing a lot of soldiers, and so is Ukraine. We make progress, then someone bombs something that shouldn't be bombed, and then the progress stops. This is not about money; it is about humanity! My God, they are losing 5,000 people a week! That is a vicious war. There has not been anything like this since the Second World War. We've [Trump and Putin] have had good conversations, but nothing has come from it.