My Billionaire Christmas Wish ListDec 22
pirate wires #152 // a lot of you’ve been asking how to spend your money, and I have a few ideas
78 Likes
7 Comments
Dawn of the Shell-qui-hire
big tech's newest weapon, the partial acquisition, threatens to violate the social contract that makes startups work
Jake Cooper
Jul 17, 2025
Definition
shell-qui-hire (noun). A pseudo acquisition in which a company is “acquired” by partially poaching the team.
Recent examples: Scale (Meta poached its founder). Windsurf (Google poached its brain trust and licensed its IP, with Cognition acquiring the rest). Character AI (Google licensed its IP and hired its cofounders).
My Billionaire Christmas Wish List
State Capacity Isn't FascismDec 19
tech companies give the government, historically dumb and slow, cutting-edge tools to enforce the law of the land. don't like it? change the law, don't blame the toolmakers.
45 Likes
4 Comments
The Data Center Water Crisis Isn't RealDec 18
one guy is single-handedly correcting the ai water doomerism with a calculator and a chatbot
61 Likes
6 Comments