Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Alex Konrad

Emily Baker-White @ebakerwhite.bsky.social · 8d

My TikTok book is out in stores today!

Why should you read it? Because 1 in 5 Americans now get their news from this thing. We should all understand how it works.

It was inevitable that strongmen would seek to control a tool this powerful. The book is the story of what happened when they did.

W. W. Norton & Company @wwnorton.com · Feb 3

The rise of the most effective attention-algorithm ever invented, and the superpower struggle to control it.

EVERY SCREEN ON THE PLANET: THE WAR OVER TIKTOK by Emily Baker-White.

In Stores 9.30.25.
wwnorton.com/books/every-...

1 22 62

Reposted by Alex Konrad

👨🏻‍💻☕️ @hunterwalk.com · 21d

Tech Reporter @alexrkonrad.bsky.social on Going Independent with Upstarts, What Drives Subscribers (vs Just Views) and How He Uses AI in His Content Creation

hunterwalk.com/2025/09/17/t...

Tech Reporter Alex Konrad on Going Independent with Upstarts, What Drives Subscribers (vs Just Views) and How He Uses AI in His Content Creation

Got to know Alex while he was at Forbes, a tenure which basically made him one of, if not *the*, go-to reporters for exclusives launches and fund announcements. As a result of our friendship, I kne…

hunterwalk.com

1 3

Alex Konrad @alexrkonrad.bsky.social · 21d

Really enjoyed this chat with the great @hunterwalk.com about what we're building at @upstarts.bsky.social as we approach our 6 month mark.

Feedback includes:

"You are SUCH a nerd my god" 🤓
and
"You really nailed the balance of promo + substance here!" 😂

Tech Reporter Alex Konrad on Going Independent with Upstarts, What Drives Subscribers (vs Just Views) and How He Uses AI in His Content Creation

Got to know Alex while he was at Forbes, a tenure which basically made him one of, if not *the*, go-to reporters for exclusives launches and fund announcements. As a result of our friendship, I kne…

hunterwalk.com

2 5

Alex Konrad @alexrkonrad.bsky.social · 22d

Congrats, Alex!! Excited to subscribe

2

Alex Konrad @alexrkonrad.bsky.social · 22d

When I still worked at Forbes, I'd annoy our IT helpdesk by filing tickets to update Signal and WhatsApp seemingly every week.

One-year-old startup Console, which just raised $23M, uses AI agents to automate away basic IT requests like that.

www.upstartsmedia.com/p/console-ai...

Console founders Andrei Serban and Neal Chandra

3

Alex Konrad @alexrkonrad.bsky.social · 22d

When Margot was a puppy, she tried to say hi to a skunk and got sprayed pretty bad. Years later, she still freaks out when she sees black and white dogs.

Which raises an important question: does she think the dogs are skunks, or that skunks are just a spooky kind of dog 🤔

10

Alex Konrad @alexrkonrad.bsky.social · 25d

— Scene: outside a fancy new Brooklyn high rise, 1pm —

Broker [suit, clipboard in hand]: sir, do you have an appointment?

Me [gym clothes, stomping on 50 spotted lanternflies]: no, just getting my steps in!

2

Alex Konrad @alexrkonrad.bsky.social · 26d

Chatted with Klarna's CEO from NYSE during their IPO week.

We talked about what he learned from IKEA and Walmart, Klarna's evolving mission, his stance on crypto, personally vibe coding fixes for bad customer text messages, handling CEO pressure and much more.

www.upstartsmedia.com/p/klarna-ceo...

Upstarts editor Alex Konrad with Klarna CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski

1 1

Alex Konrad @alexrkonrad.bsky.social · Aug 28

Tech legend Jack Dangermond founded Esri in 1969. Now 80 years young and with a net worth of $10B+, he's still "all in" on his company and global mission.

@upstarts.bsky.social spent an hour with Jack this week for one of our best interviews yet, full of lessons on startup-building and life.

Esri Founder Jack Dangermond's 'Secrets' To Building A Legendary Business

The 80-year-old software billionaire shares startup and life lessons that have kept him "all in" while running a high-impact global business for 50+ years.

www.upstartsmedia.com

8 12

Reposted by Alex Konrad

Emily Baker-White @ebakerwhite.bsky.social · Aug 26

Intel has been touting partnerships with sanctioned Chinese surveillance firms as Trump announces that the USG is taking a stake in the company:

www.forbes.com/sites/emilyb...

Intel Worked With Chinese Firms Sanctioned For Enabling Human Rights Abuses

As the U.S. government takes a 10% stake in Intel, Forbes has learned the tech company partnered with sanctioned Chinese surveillance firms Uniview, Hikvision and Cloudwalk.

www.forbes.com

1 22 21

Alex Konrad @alexrkonrad.bsky.social · Aug 22

Meta exec Alexandr Wang confirmed today's Upstarts scoop about Meta and Midjourney holding partnership talks in a short thread on X this afternoon 👀

Alex Konrad @alexrkonrad.bsky.social · Aug 22

Subject to Alexandr Wang’s approval

Alex Konrad @alexrkonrad.bsky.social · Aug 22

Scoop: Meta has held talks with Midjourney about a partnership including a potential acquisition, among several previously-unreported AI video startups it's met recently, sources tell me at @upstarts.bsky.social.

Midjourney's been busy, too, pitching an API.

www.upstartsmedia.com/p/meta-talks...

Scoop: Meta Held Talks With Midjourney As Part Of Video AI Talent Search

Meta has talked deals with Midjourney and video AI startups including HeyGen and Krea as part of its researcher talent hunt, sources tell Upstarts, while Midjourney has pursued other partnerships.

www.upstartsmedia.com

4 9 14

Alex Konrad @alexrkonrad.bsky.social · Aug 21

it’s a beautiful San Francisco day in NYC

5

Alex Konrad @alexrkonrad.bsky.social · Aug 20

need burning man to start already so I can finally catch up on email

4

Alex Konrad @alexrkonrad.bsky.social · Aug 20

The status quo in Medicare is grim: call center brokers spamming senior citizens to change plans, in hopes of a commission.

YC alumni startup careCycle and founders Alex Doonanco and Evan Roubekas think they have a win-win solution: voice AI. They've raised $2M to build it. But questions remain.

The Startup Bringing AI Voice To Medicare

Y Combinator alum careCycle thinks its AI calls are better for Medicare policy sellers and senior citizens alike. Now it's raised $2 million to build a Medicare-focused CRM.

www.upstartsmedia.com

3

Alex Konrad @alexrkonrad.bsky.social · Aug 19

Sequoia not even cracking the top 350 (!) VC firms on TIME's new Midas list knockoff is a wild troll and instantly invalidating

1 1 6

Alex Konrad @alexrkonrad.bsky.social · Aug 6

Exclusive: Startups in the AI race are throwing money at growth. But the result is often "chaos."

Roadway, a new startup by veteran Webflow and Notion growth marketer Tim Dalrymple, has launched today with $3.2M in funding and customers like Clay and Decagon to use AI tools of its own to help.

The New Startup Using AI To Solve Growth Marketer 'Chaos'

Roadway, led by Webflow and Notion veteran Tim Dalrymple, is launching with $3.2 million in funding and customers like Clay and Decagon.

www.upstartsmedia.com

1 2

Alex Konrad @alexrkonrad.bsky.social · Jul 31

AI is sparking a moment of big change in cybersecurity.

I sat down with Wiz co-founder Ami Luttwak to talk in depth about how his security startup is thinking about AI - as well as the latest on its $32B acquisition by Google, his take on CyberArk's big deal, and his advice for founders today.

Exclusive Interview: Wiz's Co-Founder On AI, Security And Google

CTO Ami Luttwak dishes on how AI has changed cybersecurity and Wiz's product roadmap -- plus life since Wiz's announced $32 billion acquisition by Google.

www.upstartsmedia.com

5

Alex Konrad @alexrkonrad.bsky.social · Jul 29

Can a financial market for GPU compute improve access for startups, and help finance big datacenter projects better?

Today's @upstarts.bsky.social post talks to Nobel Prize winning economist Paul Milgrom about his newest project to create such a market, a partnership with startup OneChronos.

www.upstartsmedia.com

1 3

Alex Konrad @alexrkonrad.bsky.social · Jul 24

Best thing about flying Delta is the chance to watch Delta CEO Ed Bastian’s 2025 CES Keynote over and over again

1

Alex Konrad @alexrkonrad.bsky.social · Jul 24

Can insurance underwriting and a new SOC 2-like certificate help AI startups grow faster? Or will it just create a new "racket" for them to pay?

I spoke with the founder behind the idea, AIUC CEO Rune Kvist, as well as with a bunch of other AI startup leaders, to dive in 👇

Startup AIUC Launches New Certificate For Safer AI

Led by an early Anthropic staffer, AIUC has raised $15 million from Nat Friedman, Emergence and others to sell a certificate of safety for AI tools, called AIUC-1, and develop an insurance market.

www.upstartsmedia.com

3

Reposted by Alex Konrad

Joshua J. Friedman @joshuajfriedman.com · Jul 18

WSJ claimed the Trump–Epstein article was an “exclusive.” But what if I told you they fully intended to show it to people? storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

16. The Article was published in The Wall Street Journal as an exclusive.' However, since publication, Defendants have widely disseminated it to hundreds of millions of people worldwide.

180 1.1K 7.1K

Alex Konrad @alexrkonrad.bsky.social · Jul 18

they’re good dogs

3

Alex Konrad @alexrkonrad.bsky.social · Jul 18

Sometimes I forget to turn off my recorder and it catches me talking to my dog

Transcript saying "good girl" repeatedly

2 1 8