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Good morning and happy Saturday! ☕
Hope you're having a great weekend. The Top 5 of this week!
Grab your coffee and settle in.
Here are the 5 stories that defined the week.
⏱️ Read time: 4 minutes
The 5 Stories:
SpaceX IPO + Secondary Market Boom - The $800B → $1.5T trajectory and what it means for the IPO drought
Trump's Fed Chair Pick (Kevin Warsh) - Political warfare over interest rates and Fed independence
Blue Origin Pauses Space Tourism - Pivoting from billionaire joyrides to multi-billion NASA Moon contracts
iPhone's Record Quarter - Apple crushing it in China and India despite predictions of doom
Bluesky Transparency Report - The brutal reality of moderating a fast-growing social network
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1️⃣ SPACEX IPO COULD OPEN THE FLOODGATE: SECONDARIES BOOMING IN THE MEANTIME
Founderscrowd's Take: SpaceX is lining up four major Wall Street banks for a potential 2026 IPO that could finally end the years-long IPO drought—and the secondary market is going absolutely bonkers while everyone waits.
The details:
SpaceX recently completed a tender offer at $800 billion valuation
Secondary market platform Rainmaker Securities reporting massive demand well above the tender price
Trading activity approaching the $1.5 trillion expected IPO valuation
2025 was Rainmaker's biggest year ever—over $1 billion in secondary transactions
Other hot secondaries: ByteDance, Stripe, Databricks, OpenAI, Anthropic
Why it matters: Here's what nobody's saying out loud: the private markets are now so big that they're creating their own liquidity without needing to go public. SpaceX at $800 billion would be a top-30 S&P 500 company, yet it's still private. The secondary boom isn't just about SpaceX—it's proof that late-stage companies are staying private longer and creating alternative liquidity paths. When SpaceX finally goes public, it won't just be a big IPO. It'll be a signal that the floodgates are open and every other mega-unicorn waiting in the wings can finally pull the trigger.
The simple version: SpaceX is getting ready to IPO at $1.5 trillion while secondary shares are trading like crazy. When this rocket launches, every other unicorn waiting on the sidelines is going public too. The IPO drought ends with the biggest bang in history.
2️⃣ TRUMP NOMINATES KEVIN WARSH TO REPLACE POWELL AS FED CHAIR
Founderscrowd's Take: President Trump nominated Kevin Warsh to replace Jerome Powell as Federal Reserve Chair when Powell's term ends in May—ending months of public feuding but potentially creating an even bigger confirmation battle.
The details:
Warsh is a former Fed governor (2006-2011) who served during the financial crisis
Known as more hawkish on inflation than Powell (ironically, not what Trump wants)
Trump has waged months-long pressure campaign against Powell to cut rates faster
DOJ launched criminal investigation into Powell over Fed headquarters renovation costs
Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) vowing to oppose all Fed nominees until DOJ probe resolved
Legal requests to the Fed jumped 5x in 2025 (1,470 requests vs 238 in 2024)
Why it matters: This isn't about economics anymore—it's raw political warfare. Trump wants lower interest rates to juice the economy, so he's replaced an independent Fed chair with someone from his orbit. But here's the twist: Warsh historically opposed rate cuts and warned about inflation that never materialized during the 2008 recovery. If Trump thinks Warsh will just slash rates on command, he's in for a surprise. The real risk? The Senate confirmation battle could drag for months while uncertainty hammers markets and undermines Fed independence even further. If Warsh gets blocked, Trump might nominate someone even more compliant.
The simple version: Trump fired Powell (effectively) and nominated Kevin Warsh to run the Fed. Markets are hoping Warsh protects Fed independence. Trump's hoping Warsh cuts rates aggressively. Both can't be right, and the confirmation fight will be brutal.
3️⃣ BLUE ORIGIN PAUSES SPACE TOURISM TO FOCUS ON THE MOON (FOR 2+ YEARS)
Founderscrowd's Take: Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin is hitting pause on space tourism flights for "no less than two years" to go all-in on lunar missions—a massive strategic pivot that concedes the space tourism race to Virgin Galactic while chasing NASA contracts.
The details:
New Shepard completed 38 flights, carried 98 humans to space
Space tourism flights paused indefinitely (minimum 2 years)
Redirecting all resources to New Glenn rocket and lunar lander development
Third New Glenn launch scheduled for late February
Trump pressuring NASA to land astronauts on Moon before end of second term
Blue Origin competing for NASA's Artemis program contracts
Why it matters: Blue Origin just admitted defeat in the space tourism game and pivoted to where the real money is: government contracts. Here's the math: space tourism makes millions. NASA lunar contracts? Billions. Blue Origin spent a decade proving they could send billionaires to space for four minutes of weightlessness while SpaceX lapped them on reusable orbital rockets. Now Bezos is betting everything on beating SpaceX to the Moon via NASA's Artemis program. The risk? If New Glenn fails or the lunar lander has issues, Blue Origin has no revenue stream for 2+ years. The reward? Lock in multi-billion-dollar NASA contracts and own the lunar economy before SpaceX even gets there.
The simple version: Blue Origin stopped selling space tourism tickets to billionaires so they can focus on winning NASA's multi-billion-dollar Moon contracts. Either this is the smartest pivot ever, or Bezos just bet the entire company on beating SpaceX to the Moon.
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4️⃣ IPHONE JUST HAD ITS BEST QUARTER EVER — CHINA AND INDIA EXPLODE
Founderscrowd's Take: Apple crushed Q1 2026 with iPhone's best quarter in history, $85 billion in iPhone sales (up from $69B last year)—driven by massive growth in China and India that nobody saw coming.
The details:
iPhone revenue: $85 billion (Q1 2026) vs $69 billion (Q1 2025)
Greater China sales jumped from $18.5B to $25.5B (38% increase)
All-time revenue records in China, India, Americas, Europe
China store traffic up "strong double digits" year-over-year
India set quarterly revenue records for iPhone, Mac, iPad, and Services
iPhone 17 significantly more popular than iPhone 16 at launch
Why it matters: Everyone thought Apple was dead in China after years of declining market share and government pressure to buy local brands. Everyone was wrong. The iPhone 17 is a monster hit in China, and India is finally delivering on its promise as the "next China" for Apple. Here's what changed: Apple Intelligence features, better localization, and aggressive pricing in emerging markets. The broader takeaway? Don't bet against Apple. Ever. They've been left for dead in China half a dozen times, and every time they come roaring back with record quarters. If iPhone can grow 23% year-over-year in a "mature" market, that means the smartphone replacement cycle just got supercharged by AI features.
The simple version: Apple just posted iPhone's best quarter ever thanks to China and India going crazy for iPhone 17. Turns out, reports of Apple's death in China were greatly exaggerated. Again.
5️⃣ BLUESKY RELEASES FIRST TRANSPARENCY REPORT, MODERATION NIGHTMARE UNFOLDS
Founderscrowd's Take: Bluesky published its first-ever transparency report, revealing the brutal reality of moderating a fast-growing social network: 9.97 million user reports, 2.44 million takedowns, and legal requests up 5x year-over-year.
The details:
User base grew 60% (25.9M → 41.2M users)
9.97 million moderation reports (up 54% from 6.48M in 2024)
2.44 million items taken down (accounts + content)
Legal requests jumped 518% (238 → 1,470 requests)
3,619 accounts removed for suspected Russian influence operations
16.49 million labels applied to content (200% increase)
Top report categories: Misleading/spam (44%), harassment (20%), sexual content (14%)
Why it matters: This is what happens when you try to build a "Twitter alternative" that isn't a cesspool: you inherit all of Twitter's moderation nightmares without Twitter's resources. Bluesky is trying to prove you can scale a social network while maintaining community standards, but the numbers are terrifying. They're taking down 2.44 million items with a skeleton crew while X has gutted moderation entirely and Threads relies on Meta's army of contractors. The legal request spike (5x) suggests governments are taking Bluesky seriously as a threat to surveillance-friendly platforms. If Bluesky can't raise massive capital to fund Trust & Safety at scale, they'll either become the next 4chan or collapse under moderation costs.
The simple version: Bluesky released a transparency report showing they're drowning in moderation work—10 million reports, 2.4 million takedowns, and legal demands up 5x. Turns out, building a "better Twitter" means inheriting all of Twitter's worst problems.
💬 WHAT THIS WEEK TELLS US
Five stories. One theme: The private markets are eating the public markets alive.
SpaceX staying private at $800 billion while secondaries boom. Blue Origin chasing NASA billions instead of tourism millions. Apple printing cash in "mature" markets. Trump weaponizing Fed chair appointments. Bluesky fighting an impossible moderation war.
Every story this week is about companies, governments, and platforms realizing the old rules don't apply anymore.
Question for you: If you could invest in ONE of these stories right now—SpaceX pre-IPO, Apple at all-time highs, Blue Origin's Moon bet, or Bluesky's decentralization play—which would it be? Hit reply and let us know.
That's it for this week's top 5.
Alberto.
💬 QUICK HITS
🚀 SpaceX secondary shares reportedly trading at $350B valuation — Up from $255B in June 2025. Demand remains insane. More here [For premium members]
🤖 Anthropic reportedly in talks for Series G at $200B+ — Just 4 months after $183B Series F. AI lab valuations showing no signs of slowing. More here [For premium members]
💰 Databricks extends secondary window through Jan 15 — Last chance to buy at $62B before likely IPO in Q2 2026. More here [For premium members]