Say what you want about the alleged nepotism behind 23andme, but this genetics startup founded by Anne Wojcicki (recently married to Google co-founder Sergey Brin) sounds sweet. According to Forbes, clients send in a cheek swab, get back info on their DNA, including information on their ancestry and even distant relatives. I bet that sensitive information is behind a lot of security, right?
Whom the gods would destroy, they first make mad. I'm not sure if Euripides, the Greek playwright, had Google's management team in mind when he wrote that, but it sure fits. Google, despite the occasional lost deal, billion-dollar lawsuit, and PR black eye, continues to succeed spectacularly as a business. "Somehow they continue shitting more money than you or i could realistically comprehend," writes one Valleywag reader. Indeed. And that money is driving the people who run Google insane. CEO Eric Schmidt's cosseting of girlfriend Marcy Simon with a plum PR job is just the latest, most blatant sign of that madness.
As new husband Sergey Brin stands watch, 23andMe's Anne Wojcicki, recently married to the Google cofounder, shows photos from her recent wedding to home-style guru Martha Stewart, at this weekend's Science Foo Camp nerdfest. No wedding bells, at the moment, for Stewart, who's merely going steady with early Microsoft employee Charles Simonyi.
The Valley styles itself as gay-friendly. But how many queer venture capitalists can you think of? Here's a sign, in the month of gay pride, of change in the wind: NEA's Patrick Chung recently held a commitment ceremony with partner Matthew Burt, a church choir director. After the jump, more on Chung and Burt's Valley links, and a photo of the wedding party.Following a honeymoon in what Chung describes as "the Far East," the couple will be hard to ignore in Sand Hill society. Chung and Burt, known for throwing the occasional croquet party, are well-connected. Burt directs music at Christ Episcopal Church in Portola Valley, a hotbed of venture capitalists. Chung is on the board of wireless startup Loopt and is also involved with the NEA-backed 23andMe. 23andMe, of course, is the biotech startup founded by Anne Wojcicki, the wife of Google cofounder Sergey Brin. As a wedding gift, Castro Confidential recommends his-and-his iPhones. We suspect Brin, at least, can afford them.
TIM FAULKNER — Fortune reports that Anne Wojcicki's 23 And Me, a genetic genealogy startup, is getting press attention for something other than her billionaire husband, Sergey Brin, and connections to his company, Google. The firm has determined that Warren Buffett, billionaire investor and philanthropist, and Jimmy Buffett, beach bum singer and restaurateur, are not related as they had long suspected... at least not in the last 10,000 years. Considering how Sergey has been wielding his power and influence, one wonders if the Brins are trying to wedge their way between the Buffett-Gates friendship or if they were trying to get Jimmy to host their recent wedding at an island locale more exclusive than the Bahamas. [Photo Credit: Fortune.]
