CapitalG

Analog Devices (NASDAQ: ADI) and Empower Semiconductor today announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement under which ADI will acquire Empower. We are excited about the future of ADI and Empower together, working to accelerate power solutions for the AI market. https://lnkd.in/gG6UxWrE

Six years ago, Grant LaFontaine and Logan Head rented a house in Phoenix, locked themselves in to build live video infrastructure from scratch, and sold $5,000 worth of Funko Pops on Whatnot's first show. Fast forward to last year: sellers on Whatnot generated over $8B in live sales, and Whatnot now holds nearly 60% of the live shopping market in the West. Jennifer Conrad at Inc. Magazine talked to our founders, sellers like Wild Ginger Vintage and Pursuit Farms, investors, and analysts for this profile on how Whatnot made live shopping finally click in the West and where it goes from here. A few things from the piece that we think about a lot: you can't fake community, the next decade of commerce will be built on real human connection rather than algorithms, and dogfooding the product (every employee goes live once a quarter, answers customer service requests, gets a monthly buying budget) leads to better decisions. From Grant LaFontaine: "If your culture recedes, you end up doing things like every other company, and you're not going to be, by definition, an exceptional company." https://lnkd.in/gwnK_nCF #LiveShopping

Today marks a pivotal moment for Isomorphic Labs. We have secured $2.1 Billion in our second external funding round, led by Thrive Capital with significant participation from Alphabet and GV. They are joined at the table by new investors MGX, Temasek, CapitalG and the UK Sovereign AI Fund. We're thrilled to have their combined expertise on board. This milestone funding accelerates our ability to develop the pioneering novel AI models that power our AI drug design engine (IsoDDE) and deploy them at scale: accelerating and expanding our pipeline of therapeutic programs driving toward the clinic. By transforming drug discovery with proprietary AI at the core, we are positioned to deliver scientific breakthroughs with a level of precision that was previously unthinkable.  To power this next phase of growth, the funding will also support scaling our expertise; integrating world-class AI, engineering, drug design, and clinical expertise across our global sites. This scale is crucial to our long-term vision of applying AI-driven breakthroughs to the most complex biological challenges and addressing the global burden of disease. Our goal is to bring life-changing medicines to patients who need them most. We are grateful to our incredible team, partners, and investors who share our ultimate mission: to one day solve all disease with the help of AI. Read the full announcement here: bit.ly/4v2OI03

Our mission at Gusto is to grow the small business economy with technology and heart. We are deeply grateful to all the work small businesses do every day in communities everywhere, and we are committed to being their partner, taking hats off their head, delivering them peace of mind, and giving them superpowers, so they can progress their business. Allie Garfinkle from Fortune has been following Gusto for a long time, and we recently shared with her some milestones in our journey of building Gusto (including passing $1b of revenue). These are still the early days of what’s possible. We are building Gusto for the long term, and when small businesses succeed, we succeed. Link to Fortune article is below

It was a privilege to speak at the #VCPlatformSummit in San Diego on a topic central to our work at CapitalG: “Platform as a Product.” Erica Amatori from Left Lane Capital and I dove into how the platform function – the "connective tissue" of VC firms – is shifting. Gone are the days when platform teams operated as reactive support engines or glorified help desks. Today, the best VC firms are creating productized suites of services and deeply valuable, differentiated offerings that help founders navigate key points of friction. A few themes from our discussion that feel particularly relevant for founders navigating today’s landscape: ✅ AI can be an enabler of white-glove service  There’s a common misconception that more AI leads to less human connection. We’ve found the opposite to be true in our work. By leveraging AI to power our proprietary networks, like our #ITLeadersNetwork and the #CapitalGAdvisoryBoard, we can remove the manual friction of searching for the right connection or expert. This precision allows us to scale a high-touch, white-glove experience, getting founders what they need with much greater speed. Technology shouldn't replace the human touch, but rather clear the path for it. ✅ Operationalizing the “secret sauce” We spent time discussing how venture platform teams should lean into the secret sauce that makes their respective firms special. For CapitalG, that’s our unique relationship with Google and Alphabet Inc. We focus on giving founders a direct line to Google and Alphabet advisors across engineering, #GTM, and beyond who can share functional "in the trenches" expertise, open doors to prospective customers and partners, and advise on best practices for implementing #AI across their companies. ✅ The product mindset  We’ve found that the most effective way to build platform initiatives is to treat them as true products. This means having clear value propositions and development roadmaps. When we treat our support programs with the same rigor founders use to build software, we’re better equipped to stay ahead of their needs rather than just reacting to them. The summit was also a great opportunity to swap notes with fellow platform leaders and catch up with friends from GV (Google Ventures) and Google. Huge thanks to 💫 Dan Holahan, Joshua Goodfield, and the VC Platform Community for the invitation. I returned from San Diego inspired to keep refining our "product" for the builders we’re lucky enough to partner with. #VCPlatform #VentureCapital #FounderSupport #ProductMindset #CapitalG #AI Melissa Chaika Sobel McKenzie Furber Natalie Schwartz Amy Anton Loehrer Jason Leder

Today is a Gusto Showcase! It’s one of my favorite moments, when we share a summary of how we’re making Gusto better for our 500,000+ small business customers. For this Showcase, we’re spotlighting nearly 75 product changes, including: • Assisted Payroll Prep – inspired by the yoga studio that mispaid a team member because of a timesheet error  • Gusto Pro Dashboard – inspired by the accountant who needs to be notified ASAP if their client is out of compliance  • Benefits Advisor – inspired by a business owner who needs guidance on the best benefits for their employees   And much more. At Gusto, we obsess over helping small businesses, and every challenge they face is an opportunity for us to help. Gusto has never been just a tool or technology. We strive to be a partner for small businesses, taking hats off their head, doing work on their behalf, so they can progress in building their business. With 500,000+ customers, we know we’re still early in the journey. There are millions of small businesses we are eager to serve. The future of business is small. And that’s big. #GustoShowcase