Kindle rival reMarkable unveils new writing tablet | ‘Founder Mode’ debate splits tech industry

Amazon Kindle Scribe competitor reMarkable unveiled its next-generation writing tablet, a color device called the Paper Pro. “Some companies, they put out new products every year just to put out the new product,” said Magnus Haug Wanberg , the reMarkable founder. “We wanted the next step for the paper tablet to be meaningful and significant.” Read more.

How should founders run their companies as they try to scale? The debate over “Founder Mode” is the buzz in tech circles this week. 

• In a new blog post, inspired by a talk given by Airbnb founder Brian Chesky , Y Combinator vet Paul Graham challenges the conventional wisdom that founders should switch from “founder mode” to “manager mode” as their companies grow.
• The track records of Jeff Bezos and Satya Nadella show that there’s no one-size-fits-all approach.
• What’s your take on “Founder Mode”? Respond to this email with your thoughts, or send us a note at tips@geekwire.com.

Zillow added more capabilities to its AI-powered home search tool that lets people use natural language queries to browse listings. Read more.

The company holding the salvage rights to the wreck of the Titanic says its latest robotic survey of the shipwreck site revealed the deterioration of the Titanic’s iconic bow, as well as the location of a long-sought statuette. The 20-day expedition, conducted in July and August, provided the first look at the 112-year-old wreck since last year’s OceanGate tragedy. Read more.

Startup funding news: 

• Seattle startup Revefi raised $20 million to help companies maximize the value they get from data warehouse tools such as Snowflake, BigQuery, Redshift, Databricks, and others. Read more.
• ChopValue , a B.C.-based startup that takes used chopsticks and turns them into furniture, raised nearly $3 million. Read more.

• Stay up to date on the latest startup investments with our handy tracker.

Hot Links:

• Microsoft is hosting an event later this month to reveal the “next phase of Copilot innovation.” (The Verge; LinkedIn)
• Amazon-backed Anthropic released its enterprise plan, ratcheting up competition with OpenAI. (TechCrunch)
• U.K. antitrust officials say they won’t open a formal investigation into Microsoft over its hiring of employees from Inflection AI. (Wall Street Journal)
• Nordstrom’s founding family made an offer to take the Seattle-based retail giant private at a valuation of around $3.76 billion. (CNBC)

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