Steve Case is excited about speed.
Specifically, a Mach 5 aircraft that will be capable of flying from New York to London in 90 minutes, about twice as fast as Concorde and five times the speed of current transatlantic flights.
But what makes Mr Case, the co-founder of AOL, really excited is that Hermeus, the hypersonic aircraft he’s backing, was founded by a Georgia Tech graduate and is based in Atlanta – not New York or Silicon Valley.
“What they are doing is crazy,” Mr Case said on Thursday during an event at Pegasus Park, a campus in Dallas for biotech companies.
The company is tapping into the knowledge and skills of Georgia Tech and the fact that Atlanta is a centre for aerospace, he said.
“There’s a reason to be there as opposed to 10 years ago when those graduates probably would have felt they had to go to California or some other place to start the company.”
Hermeus is just one piece of a wider argument Mr Case has been making for years. Now running investment firm Revolution, he invests in places outside of traditional venture hubs.
It’s a move that seemed counterintuitive when all the money was to be made in Silicon Valley in the past decade, but now appears more prescient after the Covid-19 pandemic reshaped where people live, work and raise money in the US.
“It will end up being an important tipping point where there was an acceleration of start-ups in these ‘Rise of the Rest’ cities,” Mr Case said in an interview, referring to his 2022 book and also the name of his fund at Revolution.
Mr Case started Washington DC-based Revolution in 2005, a few years after stepping down as chief executive of AOL, the media giant he built before merging the company in a much criticised move with Time Warner.
For the past decade, Mr Case has been building up Revolution and making the case for injecting money outside of traditional venture capital powerhouses, making more than 200 investments across the US.
These include Carbon Robotics, a Seattle-based company that uses artificial intelligence to help farmers control weeds; there’s Meati Foods from Boulder, Colorado, while in Dallas, Revolution has backed Arcade, a platform to boost productivity of sales teams, and Gig Wage.
The San Francisco Bay area, New York City and Boston continue to be dominant in venture capital. The three areas collectively made up about half of total venture investment last year, according to Dealroom.
But Texas, which received only 2 per cent of all venture capital funding nationally about 10 years ago, is now at 4 per cent, Mr Case said, citing the impact of the pandemic.
The Sunbelt has been aggressive in luring major corporations, frequently offering plentiful space, lower living costs and zero income tax.
Tesla relocated its headquarters from Palo Alto to Austin in 2021, software company Anaplan announced last week that it will move its base to Miami after 10 years in San Francisco and Oracle moved its head office out of Redwood City to Austin in 2020.
While there’s been a frenzy of headlines around major corporate moves, the start-up scene has been less recognised in places such as Dallas.
Mr Case said legacy companies would need to join forces with start-ups to create the future digital economy.
“Often we see in cities that there’s sort of this divide where start-ups are over here, the big companies over there and not much happens in between,” he said. “That’s a missed opportunity.”
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The five pillars of Islam
1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
Abu Dhabi racecard
5pm: Maiden (Purebred Arabians); Dh80,000; 1,400m.
5.30pm: Maiden (PA); Dh80,00; 1,400m.
6pm: Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan National Day Cup (PA); Group 3; Dh500,000; 1,600m.
6.30pm: Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan National Day Cup (Thoroughbred); Listed; Dh380,000; 1,600m
7pm: Wathba Stallions Cup for Private Owners Handicap (PA); Dh70,000; 1,400m.
7.30pm: Handicap (PA); Dh80,000; 1,600m
Who was Alfred Nobel?
The Nobel Prize was created by wealthy Swedish chemist and entrepreneur Alfred Nobel.
- In his will he dictated that the bulk of his estate should be used to fund "prizes to those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind".
- Nobel is best known as the inventor of dynamite, but also wrote poetry and drama and could speak Russian, French, English and German by the age of 17. The five original prize categories reflect the interests closest to his heart.
- Nobel died in 1896 but it took until 1901, following a legal battle over his will, before the first prizes were awarded.
If you go:
The flights: Etihad, Emirates, British Airways and Virgin all fly from the UAE to London from Dh2,700 return, including taxes
The tours: The Tour for Muggles usually runs several times a day, lasts about two-and-a-half hours and costs £14 (Dh67)
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is on now at the Palace Theatre. Tickets need booking significantly in advance
Entrance to the Harry Potter exhibition at the House of MinaLima is free
The hotel: The grand, 1909-built Strand Palace Hotel is in a handy location near the Theatre District and several of the key Harry Potter filming and inspiration sites. The family rooms are spacious, with sofa beds that can accommodate children, and wooden shutters that keep out the light at night. Rooms cost from £170 (Dh808).
Sri Lanka squad
Dinesh Chandimal, Dimuth Karunaratne, Kaushal Silva, Kusal Mendis, Angelo Mathews, Lahiru Thirimanne, Niroshan Dickwella, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Rangana Herath, Suranga Lakmal, Nuwan Pradeep, Lakshan Sandakan, Vishwa Fernando, Lahiru Kumara, Jeffrey Vandersay, Milinda Siriwardana, Roshen Silva, Akila Dananjaya, Charith Asalanka, Shaminda Eranga and Dhammika Prasad.
More Iraq election coverage:
Crops that could be introduced to the UAE
1: Quinoa
2. Bathua
3. Amaranth
4. Pearl and finger millet
5. Sorghum
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The National Archives, Abu Dhabi
Founded over 50 years ago, the National Archives collects valuable historical material relating to the UAE, and is the oldest and richest archive relating to the Arabian Gulf.
Much of the material can be viewed on line at the Arabian Gulf Digital Archive - https://www.agda.ae/en
The specs: 2018 Maxus T60
Price, base / as tested: Dh48,000
Engine: 2.4-litre four-cylinder
Power: 136hp @ 1,600rpm
Torque: 360Nm @ 1,600 rpm
Transmission: Five-speed manual
Fuel consumption, combined: 9.1L / 100km
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The more serious side of specialty coffee
While the taste of beans and freshness of roast is paramount to the specialty coffee scene, so is sustainability and workers’ rights.
The bulk of genuine specialty coffee companies aim to improve on these elements in every stage of production via direct relationships with farmers. For instance, Mokha 1450 on Al Wasl Road strives to work predominantly with women-owned and -operated coffee organisations, including female farmers in the Sabree mountains of Yemen.
Because, as the boutique’s owner, Garfield Kerr, points out: “women represent over 90 per cent of the coffee value chain, but are woefully underrepresented in less than 10 per cent of ownership and management throughout the global coffee industry.”
One of the UAE’s largest suppliers of green (meaning not-yet-roasted) beans, Raw Coffee, is a founding member of the Partnership of Gender Equity, which aims to empower female coffee farmers and harvesters.
Also, globally, many companies have found the perfect way to recycle old coffee grounds: they create the perfect fertile soil in which to grow mushrooms.
Herc's Adventures
Developer: Big Ape Productions
Publisher: LucasArts
Console: PlayStation 1 & 5, Sega Saturn
Rating: 4/5
Gifts exchanged
- King Charles - replica of President Eisenhower Sword
- Queen Camilla - Tiffany & Co vintage 18-carat gold, diamond and ruby flower brooch
- Donald Trump - hand-bound leather book with Declaration of Independence
- Melania Trump - personalised Anya Hindmarch handbag
GIANT REVIEW
Starring: Amir El-Masry, Pierce Brosnan
Director: Athale
Rating: 4/5
White hydrogen: Naturally occurring hydrogen
Chromite: Hard, metallic mineral containing iron oxide and chromium oxide
Ultramafic rocks: Dark-coloured rocks rich in magnesium or iron with very low silica content
Ophiolite: A section of the earth’s crust, which is oceanic in nature that has since been uplifted and exposed on land
Olivine: A commonly occurring magnesium iron silicate mineral that derives its name for its olive-green yellow-green colour
The specs
Engine: 3.5-litre twin-turbo V6
Power: 380hp at 5,800rpm
Torque: 530Nm at 1,300-4,500rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Price: From Dh299,000 ($81,415)
On sale: Now
