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Midweek greetings to all, as we unveil the 297th chapter of Weekly Olio — a delightful concoction of laughter, insight, and a sprinkle of mystery. Within these pages, you'll discover a handpicked selection of fascinating finds from the vast realms of the internet.
Keep your eyes peeled for this week’s Publisher’s Parmesan, arriving this Sunday!
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The Quote 💭
“Productive failure beats premature help.”
The Tweet 🐦
Sequoia partner Pat Grady shares a rough, informal ~15-minute recording of his reflections on AI. He originally prepared it as a test run for Boston College’s Investment Committee (his alma mater and a Sequoia LP) but his partners encouraged wider sharing. It is explicitly not a sales pitch—just observations on what Sequoia is seeing in the space (including views that AGI-level agent capabilities arrived around late 2025, a massive services-market opportunity far beyond traditional software, and extremely rapid valuation moves in recent deals).
The Infographic 💹
What does an AI factory actually look like? This cutaway maps the power, cooling and networking systems that keep rows of GPU racks running. From substations and backup generators to chilled-water loops, it shows the physical industrial machinery behind a boom usually described in stock prices and model releases.
DIT AgTech Doesn’t Need to Sell Hardware to Make Money.
DIT AgTech turns one free hardware installation into years of recurring supplement revenue. Ranchers commit to a three-year nutrition plan, while methane-reducing nutrition creates carbon credits that generate an additional revenue stream for both ranchers and DIT AgTech. Proven in Australia. Now scaling into the massive U.S. livestock market.
𝘐𝘯 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘪𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘴 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘦𝘹𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘶𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘭𝘶𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘬𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘷𝘰𝘭𝘷𝘦𝘥. 𝘋𝘐𝘛 𝘈𝘨𝘛𝘦𝘤𝘩 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘧𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘢 𝘍𝘰𝘳𝘮 𝘊 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘦𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘌𝘹𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘊𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘱𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘮𝘢𝘺 𝘣𝘦 𝘰𝘣𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦: https://bit.ly/4bzuWCi
The Short Read 📝
The Index Fund Turns 50: How Jack Bogle Changed Investing Forever - by Morning Star
Morningstar’s Allan Roth recounts how Jack Bogle launched the first publicly available S&P 500 index mutual fund on August 31, 1976. The idea grew from Bogle’s belief that mutual funds could not reliably outperform the market. After being fired from Wellington Management, he founded Vanguard as a company owned by its funds—and, ultimately, their investors—rather than outside shareholders. The fund’s start was rocky: Bogle hoped to raise $150 million, but collected just $11.3 million, prompting critics to call it “Bogle’s folly.” He pressed ahead, and within six months Vanguard eliminated sales commissions, reinforcing its low-cost approach.
Today, the fund’s share classes hold $1.67 trillion, while index funds and ETFs collectively exceed actively managed US stock funds in assets. Vanguard estimates indexing has saved investors about $570 billion through 2025. Roth argues that Bogle’s firing may have made this unconventional launch possible. Someone else might eventually have created an index fund, but perhaps through a conventional, profit-seeking firm. Bogle’s investor-owned structure helped make steadily lowering costs—and benefiting fundholders—the priority. Read more…
The Long Read 📜
Inside Larry Ellison’s Wide Web of Power, Money and Politics - by Vanity Fair
The Vanity Fair profile portrays Larry Ellison as building a far-reaching “octopus” of influence across technology, media, politics, and private life. Oracle is the most financially risky arm: Ellison is steering it into AI data centers, heavily reliant on OpenAI, while the company takes on substantial debt and its cash flow and share price suffer. The article presents this as a potentially transformative bet—and a dangerous concentration of risk. Through his son David, Ellison has also helped assemble a major Hollywood empire, including Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery, while Oracle gained a role in TikTok’s US operations.
The author argues that these business interests intersect with Ellison’s growing access to President Trump, his large political donations, support for Israel, and funding of Tony Blair’s policy institute. Yet the profile cautions that Ellison may not have a single, coherent political program. Lanai, the Hawaiian island he largely owns, serves as a miniature example of his power: he funds housing and amenities, but residents’ lives and workplaces can feel closely monitored. The article also links his late-life drive to build and influence institutions to grief over friends’ deaths and an ambition to improve healthcare. Overall, it depicts Ellison as immensely powerful but increasingly withdrawn, with an empire whose reach may exceed its founder’s ability to control the risks. Read more…
Blu Dot surpasses 2,000% ROAS with self-serve CTV ads
Home furniture brand Blu Dot blew up on CTV with help from Roku Ads Manager. Here’s how:
After a test campaign reached 211,000 households and achieved 1,010% ROAS, the brand went all in to promote its annual sales event. It removed age and income constraints to expand reach and shifted budget to custom audiences and retargeting, where intent was strongest.
The results speak for themselves. As Blu Dot increased their investment by 10x, ROAS jumped to 2,308% and more page-view conversions surpassed 50,000.
“For CTV campaigns, Roku has been a top performer,” said Claire Folkestad, Paid Media Strategist, Blu Dot. “Comping to our other platforms, we have seen really strong ROAS… and highly efficient CPMs, lower than any other CTV partner we've worked with.”
Using Roku Ads Manager, the campaign moved from a pilot to a permanent performance engine for the brand.
That’s all for this week. If you enjoyed this edition, we’d really appreciate if you shared it with a friend, family member or colleague.
We’ll be back in your inbox 2 PM IST next Wednesday. Till then, have a productive week!
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