GeekWire

Techstars Seattle helped launch more than 160 startups over the past decade, partnered with the likes of Microsoft and Amazon to spark even more startups, and led to the creation of three companies currently valued at more than $1 billion — making it one of the most successful programs in the Techstars network. 

Founded in 2006 in Boulder, Colo., Techstars provides fledgling startups with early capital, coaching, mentorship, a chance to pitch to investors, and an opportunity to work for three months in a shared space with other entrepreneurs.

Techstars expanded to Seattle in 2010, and for more than a decade, it worked. And then, this week, it ended. TechStars announced that it's closing its Seattle accelerator as part of a broader restructuring.

So what happened? And what's next? GeekWire managing editor Taylor Soper joins the show this week to address those questions.

Related stories

• Seattle tech leaders lament departure of Techstars but remain bullish on new opportunities
• Techstars CEO responds to former Seattle managing director, tells him to check his facts
• Techstars Seattle is shutting down as accelerator shifts focus to cities with more VC activity

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This week on the GeekWire Podcast, stick around to the end for a late-breaking addition to the show — a bonus segment about OpenAI's new AI video generation technology Sora. Joining the show is Rahul Sood, CEO and co-founder of Irreverent Labs, a Seattle-area startup that is working on AI to turn images and text into video.

We also discuss the Seattle-area startups that are bringing employees into the office five days a week; look ahead to the upcoming release of what appears to be a juicy Amazon book, due out in April; and preview the GeekWire Awards in advance of the Feb. 29 deadline for nominations. And in our "My AI" segment, we talk about a specific approach to chatting with ChatGPT on the go.

With GeekWire co-founders Todd Bishop and John Cook.

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This week on the GeekWire Podcast, Todd Bishop and John Cook examine the timing of Jeff Bezos' plan to sell up to 50 million shares of Amazon stock, in the context of his public announcement that he would be moving to Miami; assess Satya Nadella's track record as Microsoft CEO as he reaches 10 years in the role; and test an example of how text-to-speech applications could change the way we engage with printed books — or maybe not, based on the way one of them reacts.

Audio editing by Curt Milton; theme music by Daniel L.K. Caldwell. 

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First up this week on the GeekWire Podcast: an inside take on developing software for the Apple Vision Pro.

We talked with a longtime software developer for Apple platforms, Ken Case, co-founder and CEO of Seattle-based Omni Group, which makes productivity apps for Mac, iPhone, and iPad, and just released a version of its OmniPlan project management software for the newly launched Apple Vision Pro.

• Related story: Apple Vision Pro: Why one longtime software shop is jumping head-first into spatial computing

Then, it's AI, politics, and a new attempt to detect and defuse deepfakes.

A few weeks ago on the show, Oren Etzioni, a University of Washington computer science professor and longtime artificial intelligence specialist, hinted at a secret project in the works. This week, he unveiled nonprofit, nonpartisan technology organization, TrueMedia.org, that is developing an AI-powered tool to detect AI-generated deepfake videos, photos, and audio, aiming to combat political disinformation in the leadup to the 2024 elections.

We jumped back on the line with Etzioni to get the details on the new initiatives, and discuss the pros and cons of the rapid development of new generative AI tools for democracy and society.

• Related story: New nonpartisan AI nonprofit TrueMedia, led by Oren Etzioni, is making a political deepfake detector

With GeekWire co-founder Todd Bishop. Audio editing by Curt Milton. 

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Our guest this week is someone who is experimenting every day with AI, pushing the capabilities of the existing tools and technologies: Kevin Leneway, principal software engineer at the Pioneer Square Labs startup incubator in Seattle. He talks about the tools he's using across his personal and work life, and how they're transforming the process of innovation and creativity. He also shares details about a new project he's been working on, an AI coding assistant called JACoB.

Hosted by GeekWire co-founder Todd Bishop.

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This week on the GeekWire Podcast, we consider Microsoft's latest AI product, the $20/month Copilot Pro, compare it to the likes of ChatGPT Plus, Claude Pro and Otter.ai — and realize in the process that one of us is already paying way too much for AI assistants on a monthly basis.

Plus, a deep dive on Zulily bolsters a hypothesis about the motives of the private equity firm that acquired and later shut down the online retailer.

And finally, we compare, contrast, and appreciate the very different approaches taken by Costco and Amazon for authenticating the identity of customers at store entrances and check-out.

With GeekWire co-founders John Cook and Todd Bishop.

Related Stories:

• Copilot Pro vs. ChatGPT Plus: Microsoft’s new paid service offers alternative to OpenAI subscription
• Zulily’s downfall: How the high-flying online retailer soared, sank, and shut down
• Zulily sues Amazon, alleging that price-fixing and supplier coercion sank its attempts to compete
• Scanning against scammers: Costco testing membership card readers at store entrances

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Liz Hamren has been CEO of Amazon's Ring business for almost a year, as the successor in the role to Ring founder Jamie Siminoff.

Hamren previously held technology and business leadership positions at companies including Dropcam, Microsoft, Oculus, and Discord, and was involved in product launches including Xbox consoles and Meta VR headsets. In addition to Ring, she leads Blink, Amazon Key, and Amazon Sidewalk in her current role. She spoke with us recently in her first public interview since becoming Ring CEO last year.

With GeekWire co-founder Todd Bishop; Audio editing by Curt Milton.

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This week's guest, Nancy Wang, is a technology product and engineering executive, advisor, and investor. A former Amazon Web Services general manager and former Google lead product manager, she is a venture partner at Felicis Ventures, where she invests in early-stage startups in cybersecurity, enterprise infrastructure, and business-to-business software as a service. She is also founder and board chair of Advancing Women in Tech, and a contributor to Forbes.

With GeekWire co-founder Todd Bishop. Edited by Curt Milton.

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Our guest this week on the GeekWire Podcast is computer scientist and entrepreneur Oren Etzioni, assessing the past year in AI, and looking ahead to what's next. Etzioni, an AI leader for many decades, is professor emeritus at the University of Washington, Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence board member, AI2 Incubator technical director, and Madrona Venture Group venture partner.

In the first segment of the show, GeekWire's John Cook and Todd Bishop discuss the big AI news of the week: The New York Times Co.'s landmark lawsuit against Microsoft and OpenAI over their use of the newspaper's articles in AI models.

• The New York Times sues OpenAI and Microsoft for training AI chatbots on its copyrighted work
• NYT v. GPT: Microsoft finds itself on the other side of an industry-defining copyright dispute
• Francesco Marconi in the WSJ: AI and Journalism Need Each Other

Audio editing by Curt Milton. 

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Our guest this week is Kristi Coulter, whose latest book is Exit Interview: The Life and Death of My Ambitious Career. It’s a memoir about what she learned in her 12 years at Amazon about work, gender bias, and herself. Exit Interview is Coulter's second book. Her first, Nothing Good Can Come From This, is a collection of essays about quitting drinking. As you’ll learn from this podcast conversation, it intersects with her Amazon career. 

Guest hosting is Ross Reynolds, whose voice is well-known in the Seattle region from his 34 years at KUOW, the public radio station from which he retired in 2021.

Production assistance from Curt Milton.

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