What's going on with Seattle startup funding, a Kalshi setback, Impinj's long game, and a smartphone detox
GeekWire
GeekWire
4.8 • 128 Ratings
🗓️ 25 July 2026
⏱️ 39 minutes
🔗️ Recording | Apple Podcasts | RSS
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
This week on the GeekWire Podcast: Seattle startup funding drops 40% in the first half of the year while AI money floods everywhere else. We dig into the numbers and the implications for the region. Plus: a Seattle judge deals Kalshi a setback, Impinj marks a decade on the Nasdaq after a 26-year climb, and nearly 40 Seattleites trade their smartphones for flip phones for five weeks.
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Seattle judge deals blow to Kalshi, rejects prediction market's federal defense
How Impinj has survived 26 years in a market that's 'just getting going'
Ditch your smartphone for a flip phone for a month?
With GeekWire co-founders Todd Bishop and John Cook. Edited by Curt Milton.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This sort of led to what I would call the quote of the week from Kalshi. |
| 0:06.7 | We're disappointed to see Washington State continue wasting taxpayer dollars. |
| 0:12.2 | So the citizens of the state can go waste their dollars on Kalshi. |
| 0:26.1 | Welcome to Geekwire. I'm Geekwire co-founder Todd Bishop. |
| 0:27.8 | And I'm Geekwire co-founder John Cook. |
| 0:31.5 | We are coming to you from Seattle, where it's a little hot and muggy this week. |
| 0:33.8 | I love it. I just love this heat. |
| 0:34.7 | Feels like the Midwest. |
| 0:35.3 | Yeah. |
| 0:39.4 | Well, it's also where we get to report each day on what's happening around us in business, |
| 0:40.9 | technology, and innovation. |
| 0:44.3 | What happens here matters everywhere and every week on this show. |
| 0:48.9 | We get to talk about some of the most interesting and important stories and trends in the news. |
| 0:55.9 | John, coming up this week, Seattle venture funding drops 40% while AI money floods pretty much everywhere else across the country, especially the Bay Area. A judge rules against your favorite online |
| 1:02.0 | platform, Kalshi. That joke will become apparent later in Seattle and rules that the |
| 1:09.9 | prediction market may not be able to continue |
| 1:12.1 | operating here. |
| 1:13.7 | One company's 26 year long only in Seattle story from startup to public company and nearly |
| 1:19.8 | 40 Seattleites are giving up their smartphones for five weeks in exchange for flip phones. |
| 1:27.4 | Could you do this at this point? |
| 1:29.1 | No. |
| 1:29.7 | I think that's a big ask. |
... |
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