Hey Reader,

Altitude Weekly Edition 008 is hot off the press from Cirrus Capital Partners 📰

Once weekly, we give you a bird's eye 🦅 view of the most exciting news and insights around...

• Successful Companies and Founding Teams
• VC, PE, M&A, and Credit Transactions
• Growth Metrics, Benchmarks, Charts & Data
• New and Emergent Technologies
• Productivity Hacks

It was created for founders, bootstrappers, VCs, angel investors, marketers, technologists, executives, and operators—everywhere.

Let’s get into it:

The "OMG" news:

​Sam Bankman-Fried gets 25 years in prison for fraud and money laundering at FTX, ordered to pay $11B in forfeiture​

Sam Bankman-Fried is toast. Not fried, but toast. (I give that dad joke a C- myself).

The co-founder and former CEO of FTX and Alameda Research was sentenced to 25 years in prison without parole (but possibly a year reduction for good behavior) by Judge Lewis Kaplan of the Southern District of New York. The sentence comes after he was found guilty on all seven fraud and money laundering counts. The judge criticized his courtroom demeanor and highlighted the need for the sentence to reflect the severity of his crimes. Additionally, Bankman-Fried was ordered to pay the U.S. government $11 billion (!!) in forfeiture.

The outcome sends a strong message to the crypto industry: Fraudulent activities will have dire consequences, and legal compliance is necessary.

​Microsoft, OpenAI plan $100 billion data-center project, media report says​
Microsoft and OpenAI are collaborating on a massive data center project that could cost up to $100 billion. This project includes developing an artificial intelligence supercomputer named "Stargate" that will launch in 2028.

This project directly responds to a growing demand for generative AI technology, which requires data centers to handle more complex tasks than traditional ones. Microsoft is expected to foot the bill for the project, which is significantly more expensive than current large data centers. The project's costs are partly driven by the need for AI chips, which are sold at high prices, with Nvidia's latest AI chip costing between $30,000 and $40,000. Microsoft has also developed custom computing chips to support this initiative. The plan, which could exceed $115 billion in expenses, represents a significant increase over Microsoft's previous capital spending on infrastructure.

This sh*t is going to be huge.

​Adam Neumann Bids to Buy Back WeWork for More Than $500 Million​

The previously ousted founder and co-founder of WeWork is trying to make a comeback in the form of a bid exceeding $500 million to repurchase the office space rental company he started in 2010. His property company, Flow, and a coalition of financing partners submitted the bid. WeWork, acknowledging regular interest from third parties, reviews these proposals to ensure actions align with the company's long-term interests. Right now, they're focused on restructuring after filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the US due to high interest rates and reduced demand for office space. Neumann, whose personal fortune was significantly impacted by WeWork's failed IPO in 2019, has sought to negotiate a deal for months to buy WeWork outright or provide debt financing. Despite preliminary discussions with investors, including the US hedge fund Third Point, no financial commitments have been made towards the potential deal.

Startups are getting more efficient

@jason @Jason There will soon be many $100m revenue companies with 10 employees — and 50%+ margins The efficiency I’m seeing at startups today is just wild 5:6 PM • Mar 16, 2024 618 Retweets 4269 Likes Read 244 replies

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With every tool at your disposal for prospecting, advertising, sales, and CRM, we have seen far more millionaires emerge in the last five years than ever before.

So, if you want to be lean and mean, you have plenty of examples. I'm not usually the one to say there are no excuses, but in this case—there are no excuses.

Here's a cool event you should go to:

​How to Automate & Delegate to Add $1M+ in Sales: 6 & 7-figure Founders​

Notion resources I love:

​Company OKR templates​

​Meeting Agenda Template​

​Words that increase conversions​

Fundings, from big to small.

💰 Scale AI, an SF-based startup that provides training data that OpenAI and other players can use to develop models, is set to raise hundreds of millions of dollars. The deal will boost Scale AI’s valuation by 80% to about $13 billion.

🤑 Vizcom, an AI-powered creative tool designed for design and creative professionals, raises $20M in Series A funding from Index Ventures and angel investors Kyle Parrish, Steve Malouf, Ayush Sood, and Daniel Sturman.

💵 Float Health, a 3-year-old, SF-based startup that connects nurses with a health care home network, $10M in Series A funding from Canvas Ventures, whose General Partner Mike Ghaffary has joined Float’s board, with participation from Wave Capital, Y Combinator, Burst Capital, Also Capital, as well as Max Mullen.

Being a Founder is hard. Let's make it easier.

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English majors were broke in the early aughts, but now is the time for them to get rich.

Growth Newsletter #167 focused on "Wallet Opening Words," a term coined by Katelyn Bourgoin and Phill Agnew, which refers to powerful words that influence people to make purchases. Believe it or not, minor changes in wording have an impact on conversions:

1. Because Bias: Explaining the reason behind a request increases compliance. For example, adding "because I'm in a rush" to a request to use a photocopier raised compliance to 94%.
2. Specific Prices: Using particular numbers rather than round numbers can make prices more believable and memorable, leading to increased donations or sales.
3. Framing: How you present information can control perception. For instance, framing a product to align with its intended use can enhance its appeal.
4. Authority: Communications from a figure of authority, like a company founder, tend to be more engaging and credible than those from a less authoritative source.
5. Present Tense: Using present tense in writing can make actions feel more immediate and tangible, increasing engagement and purchase intent.

Put down the business fundamentals book and start reading some Hemmingway. Creativity is king in this era of marketing messaging.

​How to speak more confidently and persuasively | Matt Abrahams (professor, podcast host, author, speaker)​

Matt Abrahams is a communication expert with extensive experience in teaching, coaching, and consulting in strategic communication. Abrahams, who teaches at Stanford University, is also a keynote speaker, consultant, podcast host of Think Fast, Talk Smart, and author of books aimed at improving speaking skills.

The article covers critical strategies for speaking more confidently and persuasively, including:

• Visualization Techniques: To reduce anxiety and boost confidence, visualize the speaking environment and your successful performance, and use virtual reality tools for rehearsal.
• Distracting the Audience: At the beginning of a presentation, use stories, videos, or written material to draw attention away from yourself, allowing time to calm nerves.
• Daring to Be Dull: Focus on providing sufficient information rather than striving for brilliance, making the conversation more about collaboration.
• Connection Over Perfection: Prioritize creating a genuine connection with the audience over-delivering content flawlessly.
• Reframing Anxiety as Excitement: Interpret physical sensations of nervousness as excitement to positively shift your mindset and performance.
• Being Interested Over Being Interesting: In small talk, listen actively and show genuine curiosity about others.
• Positive Internal Dialogue: Use affirmations to shift from self-doubt to self-assurance.
• Structured Speaking Techniques: Use specific structures like What? So What? Now What? and the Four I’s for feedback, the WHAT structure for toasts, and the ADD structure for Q&As to effectively handle stressful speaking situations.

Until our next flight,

Ryan Ridgway & your friends at Cirrus

​cirruscap.com

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