Don’t miss Startups Weekly. Sign up here to receive it every Friday in your inbox.
Hello, fabulous person. Have you given yourself a high five today? No? Well, now’s your chance!
I’ve had quite the few weeks on the website. I got upset about entrepreneurs failing to consider sustainability in startup pitch decks. I looked at a couple of thousand decks and realized that less than 1% mention environmental issues, a fact I find deeply concerning. I argue that startup founders, unlike individuals in large corporations, are uniquely positioned to embed values like sustainability into the very fabric of their business. Let’s be better.
As I was conversing with a founder recently about how they had a terrible founder-market fit, and then got to thinking: Damn, it’s no wonder that most of my startups weren’t all that successful: I didn’t have great founder-market fit. Pretty sobering, and I concluded that, well, perhaps I just don’t have what it takes to be a founder.
The last great rant I went on was in the aftermath of the whole Sam Altman/OpenAI shenanigans, where it seemed to transpire that he “wasn’t forthcoming” with the board. That’s bad business to withhold information– very bad juju when it comes to the C-suite and the board. In a nutshell: No, you can’t lie to your board.
With your regularly scheduled Haje rants out of the way– and given that it was a turkey feast last week, so I was deep in a meat coma to write Startups Weekly last week– we have 2 weeks of startup news to catch you up on. Let’s get to it. ..
Vehicle go vroom? Not so fast.
Image Credits: Spencer Platt/Getty Images
Look, I’m all for saving lives, but the government’s recommendation to make smart speed-assist (ISA) technology mandatory in new vehicles is an outrageous overreach. It is my God-given right as an American to drive 70 miles per hour in a 65 miles per hour zone, and I’m particularly furious about the suggestion that they’re going to use a car’s GPS and cameras to limit your speed to the speed limits. I’m all for road safety and all, but … come on. It isn’t even like it’s going to be all that helpful in the grand scheme of things: Plenty of fatal accidents occur well within the speed limits because people are using their phones, and the number of uninsured and unlicensed drivers on the roads (not to mention the vast number of completely un-road-worthy junk heaps that are driving around) are much more dangerous than speeding.
While rooted in the laudable intent of reducing traffic casualties, the recommendation sparks a debate that extends beyond road safety, swerving firmly into the headlights of core values of personal liberty,
