Welcome to the fiftieth edition of this newsletter! I had planned to take a nostalgic look back, reflect on the present, and talk about what’s coming next. But then, global events took over. An ayatollah pressed some buttons, and suddenly, even the announcement of my new podcast had to make way for more urgent world news. If there’s one thing I’m good at, it’s being humble when needed.

Originally, I was going to focus on the big breakthrough of crypto, which is pretty ironic because after the Iranian attack on Israel, Bitcoin and Ethereum saw their biggest drop in a year.

Looking at the price chart from the past five days, you can see how cryptos were hit hard, while Microsoft shares and the S&P 500 remained mostly flat since Friday. It’s likely that by the time Wall Street opens tomorrow, the shock will have passed and traditional stocks won’t fall as much as cryptos did this weekend. Israel’s Iron Dome has held up well, as Wired explains.

If Iran wanted to hit the West harder, they should’ve done it when Wall Street was open. Instead, Bitcoin and Ethereum took the brunt of it, dragging other cryptocurrencies down with them.

For those interested in keeping up with crypto trends, tracking the top 100 biggest gainers and losers is always helpful. You can check out the ‘hit list’ of the largest cryptos by market value or, for thrill-seekers, explore all coins. It’s not uncommon to see wild fluctuations—like today’s 32,951% rise in Polis or a 98% drop in NTD.

However, don’t get too excited about such coins—they’re more like gambling than real investments or innovation. Blockchain technology offers unique possibilities, especially in decentralized systems like Bitcoin. Sadly, these innovations often get overshadowed by all the noise in the crypto space.

Speaking of noise, did you know there are between three and five million podcasts out there? Well, we’re about to add one more to that list. But don’t worry—it won’t just be me rambling into a microphone. I’ll be teaming up with a successful entrepreneur who’s made a name for himself in online media and e-commerce.

What’s interesting is that he started his company as a student but after selling it, he decided to work at a scale-up and later in the corporate world. This gives him a unique view on today’s tech landscape.

My co-host also knows his stuff when it comes to crypto and has written a highly regarded book on the topic. He’s great at making predictions and analyses—which we’ll be sure to hold him accountable for!

Each week, we’ll dive into tech news but look beyond just the headlines. We won’t be discussing how many megapixels the new iPhone has or how fast Nvidia’s GPUs are. Instead, we’ll tackle questions like: How will Microsoft and Google react if Amazon makes AWS more attractive for AI startups? And what does that mean if you work at a startup or a large company dealing with these tech shifts?

We’re not just talking—we’re also putting our ideas to the test by creating an investment portfolio made up of tech stocks and crypto coins. (One of us might play it safe with an index fund.) We’ll update you weekly on how it’s performing.

We want to get smarter together. That’s why we’d love to hear your thoughts, suggestions, or questions! But remember: we’re not here to give investment advice. Just follow this simple rule: “Read the newsletter and listen to the podcast—but never take our advice.”

The markets’ reaction to the events in the Middle East shows we need some sort of alert system. If one of us changes their portfolio because they expect a price swing of over 10%, we’ll let you know. But again—this isn’t investment advice!

Feel free to share your tips or feedback via email or LinkedIn, where this newsletter is published in English.

Some noteworthy things from last week:

AI expert Dr. Andrew Ng has joined Amazon’s Supervisory Board, replacing ex-MTV CEO Judy McGrath. This move highlights that the AI race is now focused on securing top talent. Microsoft recently snagged Mustafa Suleyman, co-founder of Google DeepMind, making Google this week’s big loser as both of these AI pioneers have now joined rival companies.

This also shows that Amazon prefers hiring tech talent over media-savvy executives like McGrath. The nerds are winning over media moguls.

Ng was previously a co-founder of Google Brain and chief engineer at Baidu. His newsletter “The Batch” is highly recommended if you’re interested in how AI is shaping society.

Ng has a rare gift for explaining complex topics in a simple way. I remember attending his presentation in Singapore last year—I snapped photos of almost every slide! Despite the tiny fonts and plain design, Ng made everything easy to understand.

Meanwhile, The Verge just published a harsh review of an AI pin I wrote about last November. The $699 device promises to free you from your smartphone—but there’s one major issue: it doesn’t work.

The whole presentation video is entertaining—but probably not for the reasons the founders hoped. The Verge questions why anyone would buy such an expensive gadget when smartphones already do much more. And why would someone livestream from their chest? Maybe mountain bikers or certain militants might find it fun—but not most people.

In other tech news, Ken Kantzer, CTO at Truss, shared insights about working with ChatGPT at scale. One surprising takeaway: being vague sometimes leads to better responses from AI models! Who knew?

I haven’t had a chance to try out Airchat yet but would love to hear feedback from those who have. Not a fan of the name though—anything is better than adding “Air” to everything!

On a different note, back in 1991 during my internship days as a student, I wanted to launch a sports weekly called Sportweek. Only one publisher showed some interest: Maarten van den Biggelaar—known for founding Quote magazine. After months of meetings with media planners and ad agencies with no luck, I left for San Francisco where I first encountered the internet.

When I returned to the Netherlands, Van den Biggelaar was the only person who believed that the internet would become mainstream—and he became our first investor at Planet Internet.

Now he’s working on high-speed trains—a great alternative to short flights: faster, cheaper, and better for the environment. I wouldn’t bet against him—he seems to be on track (pun intended).

Lastly, within two days, this video racked up nearly five million views: Conan O’Brien appeared on Hot Ones—a popular YouTube series where guests eat progressively spicier chicken wings while answering questions.

The magic lies in host Sean Evans’ meticulous preparation combined with guests trying to maintain their composure through sweat and pain. It’s almost like watching people get interrogated with hot sauce!

Conan even drank from the hottest sauce bottle during his appearance—talk about bravery! When asked if he liked spicy food, his response was priceless…