The Weekly Spill (In Shorts)
Welcome to The Weekly Spill—Silicon Bay Partners’ regularly scheduled download of thoughts, takes, and the occasional side-eye at the world as it actually is (not just as it’s pitched in a deck). Each week, we sift through the noise across current events, politics, startups, and financial markets to bring you what matters—and what’s just pretending to.
We aim to keep things light, even when the topics aren’t. That means a bit of satire where it’s earned, a bit of skepticism where it’s called for, and a commitment to staying grounded in facts even when opinions sneak in through the side door. We won’t always be non-judgmental—but we will always try to be clear-eyed.
Think of this as your informed, occasionally irreverent briefing for the week ahead. Read it for insight, stay for perspective, and feel free to disagree—that’s o.k. too. Fair warning: Sometimes we spill more than once a week!
Sorry, Nancy Reagan & Mr. T, Someone Wasn’t Listening To Your ‘Say No’ Campaign
Some cities are now saying yes to drugs. Their policies that gave
addicts clean needles and places to use drugs were intended to reduce harm. Instead, they created a “zombie apocalypse.”
In downtown Seattle an open-air drug market stretches along the intersection of 12th and Jackson: On one visit the author of this article notes that about 250 people, were smoking fentanyl or bent over in the thrall of the drug, tilting as if in mid-fall. Three women were passed out on the sidewalk, he says. Young boys, schoolbags on their backs, stood on a far corner and watched.
It’s A Bird, It’s A Plane, No It’s Amazon
Remember those delivery drones Jeff Bezos promised were coming, way back in 2013?
Don’t count them out yet. Amazon announced plans Wednesday to significantly ramp up its Prime Air drone delivery service, aiming for airborne deliveries in nearly 500 U.S. cities and towns by the end of this year. The drones can transport virtually any item weighing five pounds or less that can fit in a shoebox-sized container, with free delivery for Prime members who spend $50 or more.
To be sure, the drones are still constrained by various issues: They can’t fly beyond a roughly seven mile radius, limiting their reach, and they operate primarily in suburban locations in order to avoid tall buildings and other tricky obstacles.
First Class? No Better.
From $80,000 scavenger hunts to emergency private jets, a new breed of travel agent will organize anything—provided you can afford it.
Travel agents were supposed to be extinct. Instead, they’ve been reborn as fixers for the super-rich—retrieving forgotten jewelry, staging $80,000 scavenger hunts, chartering emergency jets, and ensuring that “No” is never the final answer.
Is The Grass Really Greener?
Startup PennPoa is using Poa annua, a type of grass long considered a weed, to seed luxury golf courses. Its founder David Huff, a plant science professor at Penn State, developed a strain that delivers a dense, mowable putting surface, in 8-12 weeks compared to the 50 years it would take in the wild. The company is off to a good start: Demand is already outpacing supply, and the 2026 harvest has nearly sold out.