David Rosenthal (left) and Ben Gilbert, co-hosts of the Acquired podcast. (Acquired Photo) The hosts of the popular business and technology podcast Acquired are raising a new fund to invest in startups. GeekWire spotted a new SEC filing today that revealed the fund. Ben Gilbert and David Rosenthal, the longtime techies and hosts of Acquired, already do personal investing in companies they know from their work on the podcast. Now they’re creating a more formal mechanism to do so. “The fund is just a vehicle with a small set of LPs that let us fully utilize those allocations when they’re of ..read more

Zillow Group CEO Rich Barton. (Zillow Group Photo) [This story originally appeared on Real Estate News.] SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — When looking toward Zillow’s future, CEO and co-founder Rich Barton emphasized the company’s tech-influenced past — and tech-heavy present — while speaking at the T3 Leadership Summit. “Our roots, our genes are back at Microsoft,” he told the audience, referring to his early experience working at the software giant during the ’90s. “So we know and love the super geeky people, and we know how to create an environment where they thrive.” A digital, integrated Zillow ..read more

LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman — the entrepreneur, author, podcaster, venture capitalist and Microsoft board member — is on the front lines of the artificial intelligence revolution.  Even as a pioneer in the AI field, it was a bit unusual (yet informative) today to see Hoffman sit down for a 14-minute interview with a virtual AI twin of himself —  informed by a customized GPT trained on 20 years of Hoffman’s podcasts, speeches and books.  Call it Hoffman on Hoffman.  In the second half of the interview, the real Reid Hoffman addressed a number of topics presen ..read more

Electronic Good to Go! tolling on the Tacoma Narrows Bridge. (WSDOT File Photo via Flickr) The Washington State Department of Transportation is warning Good to Go! customers to be on the lookout for fraudulent emails or texts seeking payment for past due toll bills. In an email to customers on Wednesday, WSDOT said scammers are claiming to be from a collections agency working on behalf of Good To Go!, the program that allows drivers to automatically pay fees for toll roads in Washington, such as SR 520. “We would like to reassure you that under no circumstances do we disclose individual c ..read more

Amazon has gone to court several times in the past to enforce non-compete agreements with departing employees in Washington state, home of its Seattle-area headquarters. (GeekWire File Photo / Kurt Schlosser) Like it or not, the Federal Trade Commission’s ban on non-competition agreements could force a change in mindset inside the companies that use them — ultimately improving their ability to hire and retain talented employees. That’s one take from critics of non-compete deals after the FTC announced a new rule Tuesday that prohibits companies from using the clauses in new employment contract ..read more

Mike Amundson of Tacoma, Wash., after checking out the Hyundai Ioniq 6 EV at the Seattle International Auto Show last November. (GeekWire File Photo / Kurt Schlosser) Washington leaders on Tuesday announced a $45 million program aiming to make electric vehicles more affordable for the state’s low-income residents. The Washington EV Instant Rebates Program will provide rebates at the time of purchase for eligible consumers who buy or lease a new or used EV. The deal applies to residents earning up to $45,180 a year for a single person or $93,600 for a family of four. The state’s Department of C ..read more

Radical’s co-founders, CTO Cyriel Notteboom and CEO James Thomas, carry a solar-powered demonstrator aircraft that flew continuously for more than 24 hours during a test flight last year. (Radical Photo). Seattle-based Radical says it has raised $4.5 million to support the development of solar-powered, autonomous airplanes that can beam down connectivity and imagery during long-duration, high-altitude flights. The seed funding round was led by Scout Ventures, with additional funding from other investors including Inflection Mercury Fund and Y Combinator. According to Pitchbook, Radical previou ..read more

(98point6 Photo) Seattle-based digital healthcare startup 98point6 has conducted a new round of layoffs, the company confirmed Tuesday. 98point6 did not provide details on the number of employees affected. A number of posts from affected workers began showing up on LinkedIn last week. One affected employee told GeekWire that a majority of staff was let go. Another worker who joined the company more than six years ago called her layoff an “unplanned departure.” The company has around 100 employees in the U.S., according to LinkedIn. In a statement to GeekWire, 98point6 called the workforce redu ..read more

Arisa Chattasa Photo via Unsplash. Goodbye, non-competes. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission today released its final rules addressing non-compete clauses by banning all future agreements. Non-competes have traditionally restricted workers from taking jobs with a competitor or starting a competing business. The employment clauses — which are applied to wide-ranging businesses — have been particularly contentious and polarizing in the technology sector. The FTC and others portray the clauses as stifling innovation and harming workers while some argue the agreements are necessary protections for ..read more

Totally Reliable Delivery Service. (tinyBuild Image) Bellevue, Wash.-based game publisher tinyBuild has sold the rights to Totally Reliable Delivery Service to the French corporation Atari, which intends to use the acquisition to revive a legacy brand. The game, which tinyBuild published for PC, console, and mobile in 2020, was developed by We’re Five Games in Minneapolis. It’s a deliberately chaotic party game for up to four players. tinyBuild subsequently acquired We’re Five Games in February 2021. Now, in an unusual deal, tinyBuild has sold the trademark and rights for TRDS, but not We’re F ..read more