EMERGING TECH "SUPER ANGEL". INVESTED IN OVER 500 STARTUPS.

‘Workslop’: AI-Generated Work Content Is Slowing Everything Down AI slop has infiltrated the workplace, costing companies time and money. AI slop isn’t limited to cringey cat videos on Facebook anymore; it has made its way into the workplace. The Harvard Business Review recently coined a term for low-quality, AI-generated work documents—workslop. The respected business publication argues that this growing pile of phoned-in memos and reports is one reason many companies are seeing little return on their AI investments. • Harvard Business Review warns that a surge of low-quality, AI-generated documents—dubbed “workslop”—is dragging down company productivity. The report ties the phenomenon to lackluster returns on corporate AI investments. • In a survey of 1,150 U.S. full-time employees, 40% said they had received workslop in the past month and spent nearly two hours per incident cleaning it up. Researchers estimate the hidden cost at about $186 per employee per month, potentially totaling millions for large firms. • Workslop forces recipients to interpret or redo tasks, shifting effort downstream and nullifying promised efficiency gains. Over half of surveyed workers felt annoyed or confused by such outputs and viewed senders as less capable, eroding trust inside teams

Y Combinator is going all-in on AI agents, making up nearly 50% of the latest batch. Y Combinator's Spring 2025 batch saw a significant focus on AI agent companies. Out of 144 startups in the batch, 67, or 46%, were identified as AI agent companies. As of this writing, I am personally excited about the coming era of AI agents for every aspect of business and our personal lives, spending a lot of my reflection time contemplating what life will look like once these become ubiquitous and integrated into every aspect of our lives. I genuinely see the next generation growing up with AI agents woven into every aspect of life, and they would not be able to imagine life before or without them. This is definitely a major paradigm shift. YC, with its batch model, can invest in a broad base of the most promising startup teams all at once, betting that a few will wind up being the winners who have breakout success and go on to be the next Google or Amazon of the coming generation of tech giants.

Venture Debt appears to be back in a big way. With many mature venture-backed startups having raised at high valuations in 2020-2022, they would now likely have lower valuations should they seek to raise another round of VC funding. Some firms are now offering non-dilutive structures to these companies as an alternative to a down round.

Microsoft has announced its commitment to supporting Google’s newly introduced open protocol, known as Agent2Agent (A2A), which facilitates communication among AI "agents."

On October 16th, the Federal Trade Commission announced a final “click-to-cancel” rule that will require sellers to make it as easy for consumers to cancel their enrollment as it was to sign up. Most of the final rule’s provisions will go into effect 180 days after it is published in the Federal Register. “Too often, businesses make people jump through endless hoops just to cancel a subscription,” said Commission Chair Lina M. Khan. “The FTC’s rule will end these tricks and traps, saving Americans time and money. Nobody should be stuck paying for a service they no longer want.”

Angel investing in the tech startup ecosystem demands a keen understanding of market dynamics and strategic evaluation of potential investments. Key factors include identifying startups with high-growth potential, prioritizing solid execution, and staying attuned to the evolving venture capital environment. Investors should be aware of common pitfalls and focus on the critical aspects that determine long-term success in their investment portfolios.