AI | OpenAI rolled out GPT-5 this month, a faster, more capable model that blends traditional LLMs with new “reasoning” approaches. The model promised fewer hallucinations and stronger performance in coding and health tasks. Access is broad but tiered: free users can try GPT-5 with a quota before dropping to a lighter “mini,” subscribers can set GPT-5 as default, and Pro tiers get unlimited usage plus a higher-capacity variant. Basically, users get a shorter time from idea to working response, and early internal reports show significant improvements on standard AI benchmarks (including OpenAI’s ridiculously crafted graph). Regardless of model, OpenAI’s distribution power is compounding. Since its May 2023 launch, ChatGPT’s mobile app has generated roughly $2 billion in global consumer spend. Year-to-date, it stands at approximately $1.35B, representing a 673% increase from the same period in 2024, or nearly $193 million per month on average. That dwarfs rivals on mobile economics: Grok sits near $25.6M YTD and around $3.6 million per month, roughly 2% of ChatGPT’s run rate. Monetization at that scale buys more experimentation, better support, and faster product velocity.

HOUSING | New typically costs more than old when it comes to housing, with fresh builds usually commanding a 15 to 20% premium, but not this cycle. As of July, the median new home sold for $403,800, undercutting the $422,400 median for existing homes nationwide. That price flip is a rarity, and it signals where the market’s pressure points sit today. The most apparent culprit is supply. New construction is piling up, with more than nine months of inventory to clear, the highest in 15 years outside the pandemic period, while existing homes sit at 4.6 months. Builders are blinking first, leaning on incentives like mortgage rate buydowns of around 5% and widespread price cuts. On the resale side, owners are anchored to yesterday’s money. Two-thirds of outstanding mortgages carry rates below 4%, making today’s 30-year fixed rate at roughly 6.72% a nonstarter for anyone considering a move. The result is a market freeze. Existing home sales fell to their slowest pace in nearly three decades last year and slipped again in June to a 10-month low, muting the usual spring bounce and clouding hopes for a 2025 thaw. Only 3% of homeowners told Bankrate that they would be comfortable selling next year if rates stay at 6% or higher. After a decade of near-zero policy rates, today’s near-7 percent mortgage rates feel steep, yet history reminds us that the 1980s saw double-digit rates. Until rates ease or wages and prices realign, expect a two-track housing market, where builders clear their backlog with incentives and smaller footprints, while the resale supply remains tight. For operators and investors, watch inventory duration, incentive depth, and the share of smaller plans. Those will be the early indicators of whether the new-home discount is a brief clearance sale or the new normal. 🏡

VENTURE CAPITAL | Angel List’s H1 State of US Venture Report is here! The significant findings brought some numbers to the trends many investors and founders are already seeing/know of. AI and ML dominated early-stage investing in the first half of 2025. They accounted for 41.5% of deal volume, nearly double their share in 2024. Robotics accounted for a significant portion of dollars deployed, capturing 29.0% of capital with only 3.3% of deals, outpacing AI/ML in terms of spend. By deal count, Developer Tools accounted for 8.3%, Healthtech for 8.2%, and Fintech for 4.3%. On the capital side, after AI/ML and Robotics, Aerospace held 7.5%, Healthtech 6.0%, and Developer Tools 3.7%. In aggregate, roughly half of all deals and about 60% of capital on AngelList went to AI/ML and Robotics.

OUT WITH ALCOHOL | America is sobering up fast 😳. After a quarter century, with at least 60% of adults reporting they drink, the share has declined from 62% in 2023 to 58% in 2024, and now stands at 54%, a record low in Gallup’s 90-year trend. For the first time, a majority says even one or two drinks a day is bad for health. Young adults led the pullback, dropping from 59% in 2023 to 50% today, with declines also evident across older groups. Drinkers also report cutting back on both the frequency and the amount they drink. This shift is less a march to virtue and more a remix of release. Consumer investment firm Bullish attributes this trend to a growing appetite for healthy hedonism and offline experiences, and the numbers support this narrative as well. Dry January drew 15% of adults last year, and a third of Americans said they wanted to drink less in 2024, yet non-alcoholic options still account for about 0.47% of alcohol sales. So even though Americans are drinking less than ever, less drinking isn’t resulting in an increasing appetite for N/A options.

BACK TO SCHOOL SPENDING | Pencils? Check! Binders? Check? LLM & ChatGPT+ Subscription? Check! Back-to-school season is in full swing, and so is spending. Spending for K–12 back to school is projected to hit $39.4 billion, with families averaging $570 per child across clothing, shoes, supplies, and electronics according to Deliotte’s Back to School Survey. The lift is coming from bigger baskets in apparel and tech, even as price worries linger. Demand looks durable. Nearly three in four families expect to spend the same amount or more than they did last year, according to Deloitte, a sign of resilient priorities around education. Outside of brick-and-mortar and online shopping, social media is now a primary channel driver of back-to-school spending. About half of millennial parents and three-quarters of Gen Z parents plan to use social media in their shopping journey, and those who do typically spend 1.8 times more than non-social shoppers. For retailers, the playbook is clear: meet younger, tech-savvy households where they are with creator content, targeted offers, and early promotions.

Wugen, based in St. Louis, secured a $115M Series C

Pantomath closed a $30M Series B led by General Catalyst, based in Cincinnati, Ohio

CompanyCam, based in Lincoln, closed an undisclosed Series C led by B Capital

Chicago-based GeoWealth closed a $38M Series C

Jocasta Neuroscience completed a $35M Series A raise

Bolingbrook, IL-based Mycocycle wrapped a $2.1M Seed round

Ohio-based AI company Pitz completed a $2M pre-seed round

Waterly closed a $4M Series A round

KC-based Trially wrapped a $4.8M Seed Round

Chicago-based DataForge closed a $20M Seed led by Sequoia

Soil Action wrapped a $5.2M Seed Round

Unemployment in Missouri was on the rise this month to 4.0%, while the National Average slipped to 4.1% ✅

The Midwest Consumer Price Index rose slightly this month at 3.7%, while the national rate is up 3.0% on the year ✅

Bessemer’s State of AI 2025

The incredible disappearing sub-$5M round

American Power is American Power

Box Group’s Greg Rosen on being collaborative at scale, avoiding adverse selection, and what it’s like being the Switzerland of VC firms [45 min]

Sleeping in McDonald’s parking lots to $250M in revenue [1 hr 36 min]

Dylan Field, Founder of Figma, on the future of design [40 min]

Joined our friends across the ecosystem for an emerging investor dinner in Chicago! Thanks to our hosts, Hyde Park Venture Partners, Mairs & Power Venture Capital, SVB, and Cooley LLP, for making the night possible. 🤩

We are heading to Austin, TX, for Drive Capital’s TAM event 🤠

We hosted an investor gathering with our friends at Integrity in STL this month! Thanks to the team at Integrity, Erin Sucher-O'Grady, Ed Morrissey, and John Simanowitz, for partnering with us! 🥂

Mizzou Alumni Association is hosting a two-part series on Angel Investing with our team. Register for Session #2

If Morning Brew’s CEO Alex Lieberman was planning a 12-month, weekly entrepreneurship class, here's how it'd go...

Actually good fundraising advice straight from a founder

The only market sizing guide founders will ever need

What to include in a data room 🗄

Early Stage Financial Template 💰

Need some examples? Check out these 50 pitch deck examples from successful fintech startups

➡️ +200 Non-VC Funding Sources for SaaS Founders

Thinking of raising some capital? Here’s the Due Diligence Checklist every founder should see 👀

YC's essential startup advice

Brian Chesky on when to hire 🧍🏼‍♀️

Metrics 101: What VCs look at while evaluating startups

Get started to build an outbound sales motion with these 130 SaaS Cold Email Templates

🤖 Why code is no longer a moat

A list of low/no code tools to get your company off the ground 🚀

Marc Andreessen on how to hire the best people

The complete guide on How to Interview and Hire ML/AI Engineers (one of our favorite reads on hiring out there)

One of the largest VC lists with over 18k investors 🫰

Founder who 120 VCs—he closed $2.7M in 5 weeks with demand for $5M+. Here's his step-by-step guide to close a round. 💰

📊 All-In-One Startup Metrics Guide - What to track, when and why

Resource page for founders we made here 📒