Refinery Ventures

In the latest Notorious post, Zachary DeWitt delves into the concept of keeping startups lean, especially during uncertain times. The spotlight is on Linear, a startup that defied the trend by maintaining a tight, efficient team even after securing substantial funding. At their Series A, Linear had just 8 employees, far below the industry norm. This disciplined approach helped them build a strong, beloved product while avoiding the pitfalls of rapid, unsustainable growth. For Series A startups, keeping teams small can foster agility and innovation, enabling quicker responses to market changes and fostering a stronger, more cohesive culture. This approach necessitates hiring top talent who can deliver substantial value across various roles, reducing the need for rapid expansion. By maintaining a lean structure, startups can manage their resources more effectively, extending their operational runway and minimizing financial pressures. Moreover, leveraging modern AI and automation tools allows these small teams to punch above their weight, achieving significant outcomes without proportionate growth in headcount. This strategic lean approach positions startups to deftly navigate challenges and seize emerging opportunities. This aligns with my personal experience starting ShareThis. It was 2008 and terrible market conditions forced us to be extremely focused and capital efficient. Fast forward to today and you have similar conditions. Embrace it and start building healthy habits for your business. Read the full post to explore how you can keep your startup lean and thriving in today’s evolving market: https://lnkd.in/gGVcAf-K #StartupTips #VentureCapital #LeanStartup #AI #Productivity

One of the biggest technology challenges we face is managing the growth and power consumption of data centers. Here's a great article from Steven Santamaria, CEO of Folio Photonics. :According to an analysis by the consulting firm Grid Strategies LLC, electric utilities project a near doubling of power needs by 2028, equivalent to adding another California to the grid." #data #storage #energy https://lnkd.in/gF7RWGV4

Today, we're announcing RedCircle's latest product - OpenRAP. The first-ever automated host-read ad platform spanning across podcast hosting platforms. OpenRAP delivers new host-read advertising demand to podcast creators, **without requiring them to switch their hosting to RedCircle.** If you've ever done a host-read ad deal before, you know how much work / how many emails it requires to get it done. Negotiations, docusigns, talking points, measurement pixels, flighting -- it's a lot of work, and it's easy to make mistakes. We've built our ad platform RAP to address this friction. We automate all of the manual steps it takes to complete a host-read deal. And we're doing it at scale: RAP has completed 7,000 unique host-read ads and has delivered more than $16 million to podcast creators. Previously RAP's magic required podcast creators to host on RedCircle, as the combination of our ad deal workflows and our dynamic insertion technology was our unique solve to the problem. Today -- with the launch of OpenRAP -- we're bringing host-read to podcasts everywhere. Leveraging an open standard called VAST, typically used for programmatic integrations, OpenRAP can now dynamically insert our host-read ads into podcasts hosted on other compatible hosting platforms. We're bringing the magic of RAP to podcasts everywhere. Set up is simple -- paste a few URLs one time and you're done. Our demand will flow around yours, filling your empty inventory, staying out of your sales team's way, and increasing your revenue. We've already set up OpenRAP on podcasts like Chris Hutchins All The Hacks (https://allthehacks.com), and Zachary Nunn's Living Corporate (https://lnkd.in/g6mDVayr), and we're running on big networks like Gen-Z Media (https://gzmshows.com) and Impressions.fm. OpenRAP is delivering new host-read revenue for these businesses & providing increased scale for our brands. Our mission at RedCircle has always been to get podcasters paid. OpenRAP isn't just our latest achievement; it's a step toward unlocking podcasting's full potential as an advertising medium for everyone in the ecosystem.  With our level of scale and automation, advertisers big and small can interact with creators big and small -- democratizing and scaling host-read ad revenue for all. You can sign up for the OpenRAP waitlist and get $250 off your first deal (see terms) at: https://lnkd.in/g2ENJqqJ Read more on our blog:  https://lnkd.in/gKqDw3mw

StartupCincy Demo Night returns this March 6th starting at 5:00pm with free headshots from Rhine Media! Programming will begin at 5:30pm with demos from Evan Fix, Jay Kothari, Jacob Habib, and more to come! Join us for Demo Night and get a glimpse of Cincy's latest innovations before anyone else: https://bit.ly/3RMCczq

Well done post by ANGUS FINNEY on how to think about AI tools for movie and television scriptwriters. Human creativity and authenticity can, and should, be preserved. As someone who has worked on more than 200 hours of scripted television series, Mark Goffman is no stranger to receiving “feedback”. So when the top writer-producer (The Umbrella Academy, Bull, Limitless) downed tools in the early days of the WGA strike, he reached out to a new AI script tool StoryFit, in a mission “to learn everything I could. I did an early test and wondered what the feedback would look like.”  “This is not traditional script coverage. StoryFit is systemized, consistent and data-point driven. It gave me specific analysis on, for example, what characters cared about most, their key dilemmas, and emotional styles. The relationship page was particularly helpful – providing a check on how often they appear with other characters, and for how long. There were no prescriptive suggestions, it just showed me what it found."  https://lnkd.in/gBmki6Cr #AI StoryTap