DIGITAL MARKETING AGENCY DECLARES VICTORY AT FOOD SHOW PARTNERSHIPHELIUM EVOLUTION RAISES $25M; MARKETS REMAIN UNIMPRESSEDHUANG: CHINESE AI GREAT, PLEASE DON'T BAN ITKALANICK RAISES $1.7B ON INDUSTRIAL AI 'GAUZE,' UBER BETS AGAINMENLO'S MURPHY: AI STARTUPS MUST ACHIEVE IMPOSSIBLE GROWTH, LIKE ANTHROPICSPAC HIRES ITSELF TO FIND ITSELF DEALSTESLA DUMPS BILLIONS INTO ROBOTS, ASSURES INVESTORS IT'LL EVENTUALLY WORKTRUMP DEFENDS OPEN AI WHILE ACCUSING CHINA OF STEALING ITDIGITAL MARKETING AGENCY DECLARES VICTORY AT FOOD SHOW PARTNERSHIPHELIUM EVOLUTION RAISES $25M; MARKETS REMAIN UNIMPRESSEDHUANG: CHINESE AI GREAT, PLEASE DON'T BAN ITKALANICK RAISES $1.7B ON INDUSTRIAL AI 'GAUZE,' UBER BETS AGAINMENLO'S MURPHY: AI STARTUPS MUST ACHIEVE IMPOSSIBLE GROWTH, LIKE ANTHROPICSPAC HIRES ITSELF TO FIND ITSELF DEALSTESLA DUMPS BILLIONS INTO ROBOTS, ASSURES INVESTORS IT'LL EVENTUALLY WORKTRUMP DEFENDS OPEN AI WHILE ACCUSING CHINA OF STEALING IT
Est. when term sheets
outnumbered good ideas
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North American VC & M&A News — Unfiltered, Unimpressed, Unprofitable
North America Edition
Sunday, July 26, 2026
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PE Corner

Private equity buyouts, leveraged everything, and the art of calling layoffs "operational improvement".

Opinion

Musk Hits Trillion-Dollar Mark; Reality Still Loading

Axios celebrates a number so divorced from cash that even venture capital is blushing.

💀💀💀💀  4/5 — Pure Valuation Theater
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VC

VC Genius Discovers Secret: Just Have Rich Friends

Justin Ernest bypasses fund-raising by deploying half a billion dollars from a 'captive network,' proving venture capital is networking with better lighting.

💀💀💀💀  4/5 — Networking Arbitrage Theater
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Opinion

AI's Expensive Problem: It Costs Too Much to Do Too Little

After three years of 'this changes everything,' the market discovers that paying billions for AI doesn't actually replace workers.

💀💀💀💀  4/5 — Expensively Useless
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VC

Benchmark Discovers Growth Funds, Only 20 Years Late

The discipline-obsessed VC firm finally abandons its quaint $425M fund cap, proving even legends succumb to FOMO when everyone else is raising billions.

💀💀💀💀  4/5 — Vindication Through Surrender
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Flop

Groq Pivots Away From Hardware It Never Sold

AI chip startup raises $650M to stop making chips, proving the entire thesis was always software theater.

💀💀💀💀  4/5 — Weaponized Pivot
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VC

Anthropic Becomes Worth More Than Toyota, Zero Revenue Disclosed

A $965 billion valuation on $65 billion in fresh capital proves that in 2026, mathematical relationships are merely suggestions.

💀💀💀💀  4/5 — Thermodynamically Impossible
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Opinion

Tech Leaders Discover Surveillance Is Bad, But Only in Canada

A growing coalition warns Bill C-22 will trigger mass exodus—conveniently ignoring where their companies actually operate.

💀💀💀💀  4/5 — Selectively Principled
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PE

Tech PE Discovers Frozen Assets Don't Thaw at 8x Revenue

With buyout value down 82% month-over-month, the industry's favorite financial engineering suddenly requires actual fundamentals.

💀💀💀💀  4/5 — Structurally Dependent on Denial
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VC

Hartz's A* Closes $450M Fund to Back 30 Companies Nobody Wants

Generalist thesis meets mathematical inevitability: spray $450 million at enough startups and something has to work.

💀💀💀💀  4/5 — Diversified Into Irrelevance
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Opinion

Goldman Admits It's a Factory. Promises AI Won't Fire Anyone.

Wall Street's president describes the bank as a 'human assembly line' while insisting the robots will merely 'restructure' the organization—a masterclass in having your layoffs and denying them too.

💀💀💀💀  4/5 — Honestly, We're Confused
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D

About DumbCapital

DumbCapital covers venture capital and M&A in North America with the skepticism these markets have long deserved and rarely received. We are not impressed by large numbers. We are not moved by press releases. All articles are satirical commentary based on real, publicly reported deals. Nothing here is financial advice.

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