The Saturday Morning Newsletter #63
Cartoons Revolutionizing Philosophy, Elon Musk’s $1T Compensation Package, and Seaweed-Powered Plastics
This Week I’m Tracking: 15 developments across the sectors shaping our future
Reading Time: 6 minutes of curated insights
Your weekly pulse check: The most important events in venture capital, energy, space, economics, intellectual property, philosophy, and more. I distill the most important developments across sectors I track, saving you hours of research while keeping you ahead of the curve.
New to these updates? They pair with our bi-weekly Brainwave analyses for comprehensive sector coverage. Wednesday’s deep dive explored a guest post by Danny Nathan - catch up here.
Let’s dive in.
#1: Uluu
Description: Uluu is a developer of plastic alternatives using seaweed.
Why Is This Company Interesting? Uluu recently raised $10.5M in venture capital funding. Uluu is an Australian startup developing a new type of plastic derived from seaweed instead of fossil fuels. Their production process uses the benefits of salt water, providing a cheaper and safer alternative to existing solutions.
Description: Poseidon Aerospace is a developer of cargo-hauling unmanned aircraft.
Why Is This Company Interesting? Poseidon Aerospace recently raised $11M in venture capital funding. Poseidon is developing autonomous, Earth-based planes to transport goods across the globe. Their mission is to dramatically reduce the cost per ton of air transport, fundamentally changing how goods are transported quickly and efficiently in the future.
#3: Voltaic Marine
Description: Voltaic Marine is a designer and manufacturer of electric boats.
Why Is This Company Interesting? Voltaic Marine recently raised $3M in venture capital funding. Voltaic is making a large bet that the future of casual boating is electric. They’ve developed solutions for personal, commercial, and government use. These boats are quiet, clean, and powerful.
#4: Catalyx Space
Description: Catalyx Space is a developer of hardware and software for orbital reentry.
Why Is This Company Interesting? Catalyx Space recently raised $5.5M in venture capital funding. Catalyx is developing efficient ways to prototype and test space objects. Their autonomous space labs take your prototype into space, testing it at each stage in the process, then bring it back down safely with results in hand.
#5: Evotrex
Description: Evotrex is a developer of power-generating RVs.
Why Is This Company Interesting? Evotrex recently raised $16M in venture capital funding. Evotrex is creating the next generation of RVs. These RVs are completely solar-powered, enabling users to live completely off-grid for endless periods. Their RVs are complete with modern smart home features, providing a luxury experience whenever you go.
Nuclear Threat Initiative: 5 Things to Prevent the Spread of Nuclear Weapons
As nuclear energy interest increases, countries are becoming apprehensive about unknown entities gaining access to nuclear weapons. Many of the strategies historically used to stop the proliferation of nuclear weapons are losing their effectiveness. Due to this, countries are re-evaluating how and where they are using nuclear materials, imposing more stringent regulations.
Ars Technica: Falling Solar Prices Lead to Global Solar Boom
Solar is growing exponentially. In 2010, the IEA estimated there would be 410 GW of solar capacity globally by 2035. In 2025, there will be 4x that number. This is primarily due to wider access to panels and continual decreases in the cost of panels. For countries across the globe, renewables are the place to be—that is, in every country except the United States, which is actively trying to reverse the renewable wave.
Solar Power World: Reshored Solar Supply Chain in the US
New data shows that the entire solar supply chain has been reshored to the United States. Manufacturing capacity has grown across every step in the lifecycle of solar panel production, providing further energy security and enabling faster growth in the future. These panels can be produced in a cost-effective manner that encourages businesses, consumers, and governments to adopt them.
The New York Times: COP 30 Results
Important people from across the globe met recently at COP30 in Brazil. The UN announced that the world was still far off track from the 2 degrees Celsius target. The U.S. was one of the few countries not to attend the summit. Speeches focused on the consequences of rising temperatures across the globe. The main message continued: climate change is real, and it matters.
The New York Times: 10 Years After Paris
After 10 years, we’re able to see the effects of the Paris Agreement:
Emissions are still rising, but not as fast as they were prior to the agreement
The last 10 years were the hottest on record
Solar is spreading faster than we thought it would
Electric vehicles are now normal
Rich countries have put relatively little money on the table
Coal is in a weird place
Natural gas, a planet-warming fossil fuel, is ascendant thanks to America
Forests are losing their climate superpower
Corals are bleaching more often
U.S. electricity demand is soaring, in part because of A.I.
Pitchbook: VCs Pull Back from China AI Investment
Appetite for AI is driving value in Chinese tech stocks; however, VC investments in the country’s AI sector have declined amid a weaker economy and geopolitical concerns. Only $6B has been invested in 2025 in AI in China, compared to $175B in the U.S. The disclosed deal value peaked in 2021 and has been declining since.
The New York Times: Elon Musk’s $1T Compensation Package
How much is someone truly worth? That’s an incredibly hard question. Would someone work harder for a trillion dollars than for a billion? Tesla proposed this to their shareholders this week, arguing that the greater the monetary reward, the greater the effort. Research shows, however, that the impact of financial carrots has often been exaggerated, and there are many other factors at play. This contradicts the pure-play rationale incentives model the field of economics often follows, leading to further questions about how money can and can’t be used as an incentive.
Science Direct: How IP Affects the Quality of Green Innovation?
This new study, based in China, studies how intellectual property protections impact corporate green innovation quality. The findings are that IP protection enhances firms’ green innovation quality, primarily by increasing market competition and alleviating financing constraints. Further, the effects of IP protection are more pronounced for firms led by CEOs with green backgrounds and those operating in high-tech industries.
The Stanford Daily: Cartoon Philosophy
Graphic novelists have created a book that provides readers with an accessible first encounter with the world of philosophy, which is traditionally characterized as a rigid, complicated realm. Philosophy is universal, so we should be able to digest it easily. Cartoons are one of the best ways to simply broadcast information, and philosophy cartoons are no exception, providing an easy way to understand complicated theory.
A quick guide on how to find your purpose in life:
Write down hobbies and activities that excite you, where time flies, and you feel alive.
Reconnect with your childhood self - what did you love doing as a child?
Reflect on moments when you felt truly fulfilled and the impact you had on others.
List skills you excel at and what others seek your help with regularly.
For one year, say yes to as many new experiences as possible.
List your regrets. Understanding what you wish you had done can illuminate what truly matters to you.
Identify people you envy and understand why. Often, envy points to something you desire for yourself.
Practice mindfulness to connect with your inner voice and trust your gut instincts.
Take a break from your regular life - this could be a gap year, a long retreat, or simply a few weeks off.
Imagine what you’d like people to say about you at your 90th birthday.
Create a “passion timeline” where you chart moments in your life when you felt most alive.
Engage in meaningful conversations with people outside your social circle to get a fresh perspective.
That’s a wrap on this week’s roundup.
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Drew Jackson
Founder & Writer
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