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Good morning!

When it comes to news, the week of Thanksgiving is usually slower than molasses. But with the OpenAI drama — ousted founder; upset employees; etc. etc. — continuing to deliver exciting headlines on the company’s uncertain future, this week is anything but.

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That’s why I’d be remiss if I didn’t include at least one story related to everything that’s happened. But it’s not just another recap. Instead, it’s about how we need to understand the two camps of people who have opinions on how AI is being built and deployed: those who are interested in speed (E/ACC, short for “effective accelerationism”) and those who want things to slow down (dubbed “decels”).

And don’t forget, we’ll be off Friday celebrating Thanksgiving. Happy Holidays, and see you next week!

Thanks for reading,

Karyne

Pitch Deck Teardown: Fifth Dimension AI’s $2.8M seed deck

Image Credits: Fifth Dimension AI (opens in a new window)

Speaking of AI, resident pitch expert Haje Jan Kamps tore open Fifth Dimension AI’s pitch deck that helped land the company almost $3 million in seed funding. Though there are definitely things to like (the use of personal quotes from customers in one of the slides helps bring the problem to life, for example), the company doesn’t mention the competition at all. And that raises quite a red flag.

5 investors have high hopes for defense tech amid growing venture interest

Image Credits: Bryce Durbin/TechCrunch

“It is likely not an overstatement to say that the relationship between U.S. defense and Silicon Valley is undergoing its most profound transformation since the 1950s,” writes defense tech reporter Aria Alamalhodaei in our recent survey of five investors in the space. But are certain sectors more saturated than others? Can venture dollars help build the next U.S. prime?

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Strategizing your fintech exit in a turbulent market — top 3 questions to tackle

Image Credits: cruphoto (opens in a new window) / Getty Images

A sign of a successful company is a completed exit. In the crowded fintech space, it’s not enough to just have a good product-market fit. Alex Axelrod, the founder and CEO of payment platform Uluky, shares his advice on how to tackle this complicated event. The best part, though, is that this advice is useful no matter which industry you’re in.

Will 2024 be a bounce-back year for startups?

Image Credits: Nuthawut Somsuk / Getty Images

There’s been a consistent shift from growth to efficiency over the last year, and some signals point to a strengthening economy. Does that mean we’ll be seeing a recovery next year, with startups once again growing and thriving? The answer may not be that simple.