AI | OpenAI recently shared its performance metrics for the first half of the year, clocking a 16% jump in sales compared to ALL of 2024. The company is now pulling in over $1 billion in monthly revenue and seems on track to hit $13 billion in revenue alongside $8.5 billion in cash burn for 2025. That said, with plans for significant GPU investments and ramped-up data center builds over the next five years, some projections suggest their burn could climb as high as $115 billion by 2029, making the 2025 figure feel like pennies…On another note, Elon Musk has filed yet another lawsuit against OpenAI, this time in federal court in North Carolina. He’s accusing the company of luring away key talent, including a senior finance executive and an engineer, allegedly in an effort to obtain trade secrets. While it’s still unclear if these hires actually joined OpenAI, Elon claims they were approached to share proprietary information. This case adds to the growing list of legal disputes Musk has initiated against Sam over the past couple of years. An Open AI spokesperson shared with Sherwood News, “This new lawsuit is the latest chapter in Mr Musk’s ongoing harassment. We have no tolerance for any breaches of confidentiality, nor any interest in trade secrets from other labs." Yikes Finally, A new OpenAI study was released this month, marking the largest study to date on consumer ChatGPT usage. The study was conducted with Harvard economist David Deming and analyzed 1.5 million conversations. The findings?

INFRASTRUCTURE CONSTRUCTION | Every month, we typically see new AI model launches from the major players. However, September took a different turn with big launches about✨AI data center construction✨! Oracle shared more details about its $500 billion deal with OpenAI, sending its stock prices soaring. The project, named Stargate, includes five new sites: two in Texas, one in New Mexico, one in Ohio, and another in an unspecified Midwest location (maybe Missouri)? 👀 Meanwhile, Nvidia announced a partnership with OpenAI to invest $100 billion in a 10 GB data center buildout. Although the exact location is unknown, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang told CNBC the project is "the largest AI infrastructure project in history." Meta also shared its ambitious plans to construct Hyperion, a city-sized data center in Richland Parish, Louisiana, scaling up to 5 gigawatts, alongside Prometheus, a 1-gigawatt data center in New Albany, Ohio. In the sea of announcements, xAI has already broken ground on Colossus I, completing its first center in South Memphis, Tennessee, in just 122 days. Colossus I was the first to achieve one megawatt of computing power, and xAI is now working on Colossus II in the Memphis area, which will provide an additional gigawatt of power. That said, opinions on this rapid expansion vary widely, depending on who you ask! Some see it as an excessive waste of money, while others argue it’s not happening quickly enough. Data center construction spending in July alone reached an annualized rate of $41 billion, surpassing the total construction costs of all private office spaces in the U.S., a 2,200% increase since July 2014.

JOBS | Jerome Powell recently graced TV screens and news feeds across America as the Federal Reserve announced a quarter-point rate cut earlier this month (that’s 25 bps, if you prefer to “basis points”) 😏. They also signaled the possibility of two additional cuts by year-end, primarily citing growing concerns over the state of the labor market. The Fed described the move as a precautionary step to mitigate risks tied to a slowing job market and to stave off potential recessionary pressures. The August jobs report showed weaker-than-expected growth, with only 22,000 jobs added and unemployment inching up to 4.3%, the highest level in nearly four years (see our Middle America vs. National Macro Trends where we track unemployment #’s every month!) In response, the Fed is opting for what it sees as a more proactive strategy. One bright spot? Healthcare. The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects healthcare support roles to expand by 12.4% over the next decade, citing the sector as a key driver of job growth through 2034.

VENTURE CAPITAL | No new news here…the Venture Market remains as unbalanced as ever. Deal dollars have increased significantly in the first three quarters of 2025, primarily driven by AI, compared to the same period in 2024. However, the number of deals has declined. According to PitchBook, there has been a 42.8% growth in deal dollars in 2025, accompanied by a 31.43% drop in deal volume. Basically, fewer companies are receiving larger investments, creating a wider gap for early-stage companies, those in overlooked regions, or those lacking AI traction, making them less appealing to investors. The lopsided Venture Market is having ripple effects on upstream private and public markets. The global M&A market has seen a 32% rise in deal dollars but a 9% decline in deal volume—mirroring the venture market. This type of deal environment benefits larger, multi-stage firms, but doesn’t necessarily guarantee higher returns on investment. But still the pressure is on to generate returns on the significant capital funneled into a smaller pool of companies.

30u30 | Charlie Javice, founder of Frank, was sentenced this week to 7 years in prison for defrauding JPMorgan. The bank acquired her startup in 2021 for $175 million under the impression that it served over 5 million students at 6,000 colleges; in reality, the customer base was closer to 300,000, and the rest was fabricated. JPMorgan missed it in diligence, Javice was arrested in March 2023, and now she’ll serve time and pay ~$390M in restitution. She joins a growing club of fallen Forbes 30u30 alums, including Sam Bankman-Fried and Elizabeth Holmes, whose résumés read more like Netflix docuseries pitches than career highlights. And while not every headline is federal-court material, the brand isn’t exactly aging gracefully: a founder’s viral tweet this month (1.5M views) described being asked to sign a non-disparagement clause by their own Forbes 30u30 co-founder, prompting YC’s Garry Tan to say there will be consequences for those bullying the founder who left the company. Which begs the question: has the fraud and drama cheapened the status of making the list, or does the Forbes 30 Under 30 badge still carry the same weight it once did?

BULLISH ON BEAR | Look at any index fund right now and you’ll probably see the usual suspects, Apple, Palantir, a sprinkle of Nvidia, but lurking in the mix is an unlikely contender: Build-A-Bear. Yes, the mall staple of childhood has quietly turned into a market darling. Its stock (NYSE: BBW) is up nearly 2,000% over the past five years, doubled in the past year alone, and is already +66% YTD, outpacing some of the biggest names in AI and tech. To put that in perspective: a $100 bet on Build-A-Bear at the start of 2021 would now be worth ~$1,600, about $200 more than if you invested the same amount in Nvidia at the same time. Powering the run is surprisingly, Adults. Analysts estimate that 40% of Build-a-Bears sales now come from “grown-ups,” the same trend that powered Lego’s $4B in sales last year, with adult-targeted sets like their botanical collection and Formula 1 cars. China’s Pop Mart has ridden the same wave of collectible-plush virality with its Labubus, rocketing 350% since its IPO and reaching a $44.2 billion valuation, which is larger than the combined valuations of the next 3 largest toy makers: Hasbro, Mattel, and Sanrio. Pop Mart stock is up 189% this year alone. All in all, we’re bullish on bear. 🧸 (Check out Morning Brew’s Build-a-Bear named Bill Ackman here)

Chicago-based companies closed rounds big and small this month!

Loretta, a Detroit-based ed-tech company, closed a $1M Pre-Seed

Cleveland-based Splash Financial raised a $70M Series C 💰

Brale, a Des Moines-based stablecoin creation platform, wrapped a $30M Seed led by Lightspeed

Detroit-based Nox Metals closed their post-YC Demo day round, totaling $4.6M with participation from Precursor and Mana Ventures

Nestimate, a Lincoln, NE-based insuretech company, raised a $3M Seed

Lots of big wins for Missouri-based companies 🐯

Unemployment in Missouri was once again on the rise this month to 4.1%, while the National Average also rose to 4.3% ✅

The Midwest Consumer Price Index rose slightly this month at 4.0%, while the national rate is up 2.8% on the year ✅

Inflection points → first order → aftershock

Building big companies in non-obvious markets part II @Rabacap

Big funds, small funds, and the changing tide 🌊

Curious Times — From the Information to the Question Age ❓

#599 Sam Altman on This Past Weekend [1hr 33min]

Lessons across 400 portfolio companies with Precursor’s Charles Hudson [37 min]

Amplify’s founders Sunil Dhaliwal and Mike Dauber on their journey from a solo GP experiment to a $900M platform [41 min]

Made a quick trip to Austin for our friends at Drive Capital’s TAM event, as well as Drive’s End of Summer Showcase at their Chicago Office! 🚗

We headed to NYC for a Female Founders & Investors Dinner hosted by Rho & Capital Collective and made a few stops with some portfolio companies & co-investors.

Joined our friends at Chingona Ventures to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month with over 100 founders, investors, and builders at the Micheline Guide featured Taqueria Chingon 🌮

Prepping for Main Street Summit, November 4-6th, and BuildersBackers, November 17th !!

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

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

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Brian Chesky on when to hire 🧍🏼‍♀️

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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 📒