The Saturday Morning Newsletter #93
Bias in Every Decision, 3 Summer Reading Books, and Why Groceries Are So Expensive
This Week I’m Tracking: 14 developments across the sectors shaping our future
Reading Time: 5 minutes of curated insights
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Let’s dive in.
#1: Greenpixie
Description: Greenpixie is a data center decarbonization startup.
Why Is This Company Interesting? Greenpixie recently raised $4.7M in venture capital funding. Data centers are popping up left and right. So far, they’re not the most environmentally friendly structures, so startups such as Greenpixie are helping to decarbonize them. Emissions data informs business decisions, so Greenpixie models these factors from actual cloud usage data to develop a complete and defensible viewpoint. Companies are actively delving deeper into cloud intelligence and sustainability.
#2: SuperMeat
Description: SuperMeat is a lab-grown meat startup.
Why Is This Company Interesting? SuperMeat recently raised $6M in venture capital funding. SuperMeat is a startup aiming to recreate chicken meat directly from cells through a sustainable, animal-friendly process. Cultivated meat products provide further supply chain and domestic security, as you don’t have to rely on foreign sources or processors. Their products are available at The Chicken, a shop where you can watch the production of cultivated meat while you eat your cultivated chicken.
#3: UnaStella
Description: UnaStella is a rocket developer.
Why Is This Company Interesting? UnaStella recently raised $24M in venture capital funding. UnaStella is developing the next generation of rockets, leveraging Korea’s vertically integrated landscape to enable rapid development and deployment. A key point for them is that they build their own propulsion systems in-house, enabling more flexibility and proprietary technology.
#4: Spiro
Description: Spiro is a creator of electric motorcycles.
Why Is This Company Interesting? Spiro recently raised $215M in venture capital funding. Spiro is dedicated to creating a new electric motorcycle that can enable the larger-scale electrification of mobility across Africa. These motorbikes reduce carbon emissions and promote a cleaner environment. As a country that has rapidly increased its share of motorcycles over the last century, this will be a critical change to its environmental stance.
#5: Impulse Space
Description: Impulse Space is a developer of highly maneuverable spacecraft.
Why Is This Company Interesting? Impulse Space recently raised $500M in venture capital funding. Impulse Space is creating space infrastructure vessels, including LEO and HEO distance vehicles. Their supply chain is vertically integrated, with in-house manufacturing of valves, battery packs, electronics, and bladed assemblies. They’re already booking up flights into 2028, which shows their demand is incredibly high.
Pittwire: Wind Energy is Not Bad For Your Health, New Research Shows
Previously, studies and media reports have suggested that wind turbines can cause all manner of health problems, including sleep disturbances, up to suicide. New research sought to determine the accuracy of these claims, finding that turbines are not associated with any detectable adverse health outcomes. It’ll be interesting to see the long-term effects of newer technologies, but there could be hope for wind.
Reuters: Russia Signs $16.5B Deal to Build First Nuclear Power Plant in Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan is the world’s biggest producer of uranium and a major player historically in Soviet nuclear testing. Now they have the opportunity to create their first nuclear power plant, further integrating nuclear into their ecosystem. The Russians are getting export credits in exchange for financing the plant.
The New York Times: 2025 Wildfires Were the Costliest Ever, Researchers Say
Even though the total area burned in 2025 was relatively small, it was the most economically damaging wildfire year on record. The study estimates worldwide losses of around $54B. Given current climate changes, this trend is expected to continue over time. This is why there have been many startups founded recently surrounding wildfire prevention.
Pitchbook: At $1.8T, Why Bother With Price Discovery?
With the SpaceX IPO looming, analysts are struggling to reconcile the price with the company’s fundamental attributes. Most sizable IPOs undergo a roadshow where underwriters gauge market interest to help price the deal. Here, SpaceX is foregoing this practice, signaling to investors that it has confidence in the prices set.
The New York Times: This Is Why Your Groceries Are So Expensive
Food prices continue to rise, with estimates indicating around 20-30% increases in certain staple items over the last year. Why? Firstly, geopolitical conflicts and other dynamics have had a large influence. However, the most important factor influencing these prices is the increasing extreme consolidation within these industries, as seen in the beef, bread, and carrots industries, among others.
Forbes: 3 Philosophy Books for Leaders’ Summer Reading Lists
Summer reading lists are full steam ahead. Here is one author’s list of 3 essential philosophy books for leaders this summer:
The Book of Dead Philosophers by Simon Critchley
I’ve Been Thinking by Daniel C. Dennett
Beyond Stoicism: A Guide to the Good Life with Stoics, Skeptics, Epicureans, and Other Ancient Philosophers by Massimo Pigliucci, Gregory Lopez, and Meredith Alexander Kunz
Vox: You Can Do Everything Right, and Things Can Still Go Wrong
Moral luck is an interesting philosophical concept that concerns situations in which a person is assigned moral praise or blame for an action, even though significant factors determining the outcome were beyond their control. This factor makes it much more difficult to judge people, given that many of the consequences of their actions may lie beyond their influence.
Big Think: The Hidden Bias in Every Life-Changing Decision You Make
Some of life’s biggest decisions can’t be made easily, and in the way we make other decisions. These generally include big milestones such as having a child, falling in love, going to war, etc. This philosopher explains that this is because there is an epistemic wall, with a barrier between who you are now and what you’ll become. The only thing that could ever teach us how to make these decisions is the experiences themselves.
I saw a wonky thought on social media this week about time.
This person discusses how the possibility that time is not linear is disturbing to them. Traditionally, time is seen as a linear construct, moving from history to the present to the future.
However, if you think of it as anything but linear, it quickly becomes incredibly convoluted. If time is nonlinear, it exists simultaneously for all of eternity.
This creates a complicated paradigm that people and scientists are still searching to wrap their heads around.
There’s so much more to think about here; this is only the surface.
That’s a wrap on this week’s roundup.
Drew Jackson
Founder & Writer
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