Contrary Research Rundown #15
The Final Rundown of 2022, Breaking Down OpenAI, and More
Research Rundown
Just a few short months ago we launched Contrary Research. Since then we've published over 225K words across 60+ memos, 4 deep dives (publishing our 5th today), and grown to thousands of subscribers and followers! We appreciate everyone's support and feedback as we build the definitive starting point for understanding any private company. And we're just getting started! We're looking forward to more companies, more trends, and more analysis in 2023!
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OpenAI: Shaping The Modern World
Typically, we call our company-specific coverage "light memos." Some have commented that they're not always particularly light, but they're the same apples-to-apples comparison of each company with the same sections and basic types of analysis (i.e. product quality, market size, competitive landscape, and more.) But with the rapid advances in AI we saw our light memo of OpenAI continue to grow. Not only that, but we saw the pivotal role they were playing in the evolution of the entire space. So we dug in and shared an even more in-depth analysis of the company than our usual. You can read our full deep dive on the business here.
While everyone has been talking about OpenAI and ChatGPT, the company has been busy putting together a fundraising round that would value the company at $29 billion. Microsoft is already a large investor, and recently announced that they would be leveraging ChatGPT to level-up their search engine -- Bing.
We often talk about the world of defense, having written about companies like Anduril and Hadrian. One of the most prolific investors in defense tech is Josh Wolfe at Lux Capital. This week, The Information unpacked his investment thesis and why he's looking to accelerate the defense-tech race.
One category that is closely aligned to defense is aerospace. We've written before about SpaceX, and they had a big week this week. In the market for secondary shares of highly valued private companies, we've seen demand for businesses like Stripe, Bytedance, and Epic Games collapse. One of the only companies that seems to still be drawing significant interest? SpaceX. On the back of a recently announced partnership with Impulse Space for last-mile space delivery, the company announced they were raising a $750 million round at a $137 billion valuation.
Aerospace and defense aren't the only sectors continuing to ride strong tailwinds. In the world of data infrastructure we've written about how giants like Databricks and Snowflake are increasingly starting to clash, as both vie for the right to be the center of gravity for every customer's data. Over the holidays, Ari Kaplan announced he was joining Databricks as their first dedicated Head of Evangelism. The race for data mindshare continues to heat up!
Contrary Research Fellowship
At Contrary Research our vision is to cover hundreds of companies. We can't do it alone, nor would we want to. We focus on bringing together a variety of different perspectives.
That's why we're opening applications for our Research Fellowship. In the past we've worked with software engineers, product managers, consultants, and more. If you're interested in researching and writing about tech companies, apply here!