In today’s big story, we’re looking at startups worth betting your career on.

• Markets: Regional lender NYCB’s plummeting stock price is stoking fears of further banking turmoil.
• Tech: Hundreds of layoffs at Amazon’s One Medical and Pharmacy units.
• Business: A new huge sports streaming service could upend the TV landscape.

That was the prompt for Business Insider’s VC and startups team as it compiled a list of early-stage companies to bet your career on.

The team was armed with plenty of information, having worked on lists identifying the hottest startups and backers. But a challenging startup environment — where layoffs and a funding drought have plagued the industry — made an already tough task even more difficult.

The team still managed to come up with 44 startups across a range of industries. The list doesn’t have specific parameters, Leena Rao, the deputy editor of BI’s VC and startups team, told me.

When it comes to picking a startup to work at, the sweet spot is often a mid- to late-stage company. It offers more job security than a young startup, but better upside (see: equity) than one ready for an exit.

Startups that made the cut include AI community Hugging Face, newsletter platform Beehiiv, and women’s health company Maven, to name a few.

At first glance, things are bad. Like, dinosaurs-staring-at-an-asteroid-careening-toward-Earth bad. Even the people who are supposed to invest in startups are giving up.

But as bleak as the industry looks, some firms are still doing great.

Artificial intelligence is the most obvious sector full of hope, and features prominently on this year’s list.

The success in AI juxtaposed with the issues other startups face has created an even wider gap between the “haves” and the “have nots,” as BI’s Ben Bergman previously wrote.

How that impacts future innovations will be interesting. With so much money pouring into AI startups, founders’ attention will naturally be drawn to the tech when thinking about their next project.

So, if you think AI hasn’t penetrated your industry yet, just wait. Either a startup is working on it, or an investor is looking for one that will.

Meanwhile, the volatility among startups comes at a time of broader instability for the tech industry.

Waves of layoffs hit Big Tech throughout 2023 – and even though the pace of redundancies has slowed down, there’s still a grim feeling in the industry. Executives at Meta and Amazon hinted at not being as aggressive with hiring plans going forward on earnings calls earlier this month.

Meanwhile, some longtime tech employees are questioning whether their companies’ once-beloved culture has changed forever.

All of that creates an interesting ecosystem for talent, as opportunities to work at high-flying startups and more secure roles in Big Tech are on track to become harder to come by.

🔔 Before the opening bell: US stock futures tread water early Wednesday, but Snap shares plunge 31% after its quarterly earnings missed expectations.

2.  Cathie Wood’s Ark Invest hasn’t been a good bet for investors, according to Morningstar. An analysis by the research company found Ark Invest destroyed $14 billion in wealth over the past decade. Ark Innovation, the firm’s flagship ETF, is down 8% on the year and roughly 70% from its peak in early 2021.

3.  Paul Tudor Jones sounds off on the “debt bomb” looming over the US. The billionaire investor said the government’s pace of borrowing and spending is what’s behind the country’s economic growth. “We’ve got an economy on steroids, and it’s unsustainable,” he said in a recent interview.

2. Amazon’s One Medical and Pharmacy units cut a “few hundred” jobs. The layoffs are part of a cost-cutting mandate that could save One Medical $100 million as Amazon exerts more control over the unit.

3. Move over, App Store — there’s a new marketplace in town. OpenAI launched GPT Store specifically for builders to share their generative AI projects. BI’s Samantha Stokes took a look at 13 of the most popular apps available.

2. iHeartRadio’s broken promises (Taylor’s version). Two years ago, iHeartRadio, which owns 850 radio stations nationwide, promised to only play “Taylor’s Version” of Taylor Swift songs. An analysis of data from six iHeart stations shows that the company broke that promise.

3. ESPN, Warner Bros., and Fox are teaming up to launch a new sports streaming service. The three companies revealed their “all-in-one premier” joint venture in a press release cosigned by Bob Iger, Lachlan Murdoch, and David Zaslav on Tuesday. If priced suitably, the platform could kill off cable TV for good.

• House Republicans failed to pass two votes on Tuesday: impeaching Mayorkas and aid to Israel.
• Bluesky is finally open to everyone. But will anyone come? We ask its CEO.
• Even without Trump on the ballot, Nikki Haley loses Nevada GOP primary to ‘None of These Candidates’.

• Today’s earnings: Uber, Alibaba, The Walt Disney Company, and others are reporting today.
• Fortegra is expected to announce its final IPO pricing.

Dan DeFrancesco, deputy editor and anchor, in New York. Jordan Parker Erb, editor, in New York. Hallam Bullock, editor, in London. George Glover, reporter, in London.

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