The Saturday Morning Newsletter #28

👋 Hello friends,

Thank you for joining this week's edition of The Saturday Morning Newsletter. I'm Drew Jackson, and today we're exploring 13 articles, essays, companies, ideas, podcasts, videos, or thoughts that caught my attention this week for their potential to significantly impact our future.

#1: Renaissance Fusion

Description: Renaissance Fusion is a fusion reactor designer.

Why Is This Company Interesting? Renaissance Fusion recently raised $32M in venture capital funding. Renaissance is building the first magnetic confinement fusion reactor in Europe, conveniently located to what they estimate as 40% of the world’s talent, labs, and universities within the field. They’ve received several grants from various countries and are on their way to bringing fusion to Europe.

#2: Skyfora

Description: Skyfora is a weather prediction startup.

Why Is This Company Interesting? Skyfora recently raised $4m in venture capital funding. Climate change makes weather patterns more extreme and less predictable. This trend has made the need to measure, predict, and adapt to extreme weather more important. Skyfora’s technology, they claim, is able to measure and predict better than other current solutions on the market.

#3: Steady Energy

Description: Steady Energy is a developer of heat-producing nuclear reactors.

Why Is This Company Interesting? Steady Energy recently raised $22M in venture capital funding. They’re building low-temperature district heating reactors capable of providing sustainable heat to the surrounding areas. Their goal is to complement renewable sources of energy, especially in the winter when these sources are pushed to their limits.

#4: Epoch Biodesign

Description: Epoch Biodesign is a recycling technology developer.

Why Is This Company Interesting? Epoch Biodesign recently raised $24M in venture capital funding. There is around 400 million tons of plastic produced annually, with only a tiny fraction of this being recycled currently. Epoch has developed a new type of plastic-eating enzymes which are more efficient and, at full capacity, can eat around 150 tons of plastic waste annually.

#5: Glimpse

Description: Glimpse is a battery defect detection startup.

Why Is This Company Interesting? Glimpse recently raised $10M in venture capital funding. As batteries continue to become a more integral part of the world’s energy infrastructure, it’s becoming increasingly important to monitor and prevent defects that emerge. Glimpse’s technology generates a high-resolution map of the internal structure of the battery cell to produce a comprehensive assessment of the manufacturing quality.

Atlantic Council: The Role of Nuclear Energy in Economic Development

The new advanced nuclear technologies can drive economic security and energy security, especially through supporting clean manufacturing and creating a workforce and educational opportunities. These upcoming projects need to factor in local wants and needs, emphasizing economic opportunities and challenges facing new developments.

Wall Street Journal: These Smart Cameras Spot Wildfires Before They Spread

The ALERTCalifornia network began adding AI bots in 2023, now capable of scanning more than 1,100 cameras in almost every fire-prone region in the state. Since 2023, these AI bots have detected over 1,200 confirmed fires so far, beating human 911 callers roughly 1/3rd of the time, particularly at night. This proactive methodology has helped stop many fires earlier in the process, reducing potential environmental damages.

The New York Times: Blue Ghost Lands on Lunar Surface

Firefly Aerospace’s robotic vehicle became the second privately built spacecraft to make a soft landing on the moon. Within 30 minutes, the spacecraft sent back its first photograph of the moon’s surface. In the coming months, it may be joined by two more lunar landings by private spacecraft, a large pipeline for the private space sector.

Pitchbook: Why US Startups Had a Decade-High Level of Flat and Down Rounds in 2024

In 2024, almost 25% of all United States venture capital rounds were flat or down, a decade high. The amount of time between rounds is increasing while valuations are marginally increasing, if at all. Companies are coming back to market with these already high valuations, and seeing a pretty low step up in valuation, if not a lower valuation.

Shopify: How to Sell an Idea

You know it’s a big deal when even Shopify is reporting on protecting intellectual property rights. Their pitch is to business owners/founders who don’t have enough time to fully commercialize their business, so instead they can make money by protecting and licensing the idea/underlying technology for the business. Not a bad pitch, although the rates of IP being licensed are very low, so I would be surprised if this model works in the long run.

Big Think: The Swedish Philosophy of Lagom

In Sweden, there’s an ancient idea of Lagom, meaning “just enough”, involving finding contentment in satisfaction. Another translation of Lagom is “just the right amount”, meaning knowing when enough is enough, and trying to find balance and moderation rather than constantly grasping for more. Lagom is the feeling of contentment we all get when we have all that we need to make us comfortable.

New York Times: Zero-Sum Thinking

Many people’s philosophy is zero-sum, meaning that for many, if not all of their choices, it’s a black or white outcome. Either you’re successful or you’re a failure. However, research is showing that there are rarely actual zero-sum decisions—there’s often middle ground between each end that can be chosen.

Socks.

There are varied opinions online as to the “correct” or “most efficient” way to run a sock drawer/collection.

For many people, they buy socks when they desperately need to, or receive them as gifts on birthdays or holidays. So, the average person’s sock drawer may seem eclectic.

One solution (which I have subscribed to), is to go through and find a brand or a certain pair you like and buy a very large quantity of that one sock, so all of your socks are the same—making laundry and picking them out each day that much easier.

Other people, as I’ve seen, take pride in their unique socks and use them as a way to flush out their outfits.

This isn’t to say one way is necessarily “better” than the other, however, I do think socks don’t receive as much attention as they probably should.

So today, take 30 seconds to think about what type of sock person you are.

See you Wednesday for Brainwaves,

Drew Jackson

Twitter: @brainwavesdotme

Email: brainwaves.me@gmail.com

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Disclaimer: The views expressed in this content are my own and do not represent the views of any of the companies I currently work for or have previously worked for. This content does not contain financial advice - it is for informational and educational purposes only. Investing contains risks and readers should conduct their own due diligence and/or consult a financial advisor before making any investment decisions. Any sponsorship or endorsements are noted and do not affect any editorial content produced.