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Happy Monday Crunch! There’s only one month left to submit entries for Startup Battlefield 200, so if you want to be on the TechCrunch stage and catapult yourself to fame, fortune, and the attention of every startup, investor, and journalist in the room, can -be go!
Oh, and did you know that our Found podcast is up for a Webby award?
TechCrunch’s top 3
- Welcome to our inner circle, made of Swiss cheese: Amanda has a PSA for you: “Don’t post your darkest secrets on your Twitter circle.” There’s a bug (yes, another one) that causes these tweets to be sent to people who aren’t in your “circle of trust.”
- All the benefits, none of the ads: YouTube Premium, the platform’s $11.99 per month version, now has new features including support for Apple SharePlay, higher quality video and ways to manage your queue . Sarah see you.
- I knew the way you know a good melon: Former GoFundMe Chairman and President Rob Solomon is finding his next big digital business success by launching Kite with investment firms Juxtapose and Blackstone. The companies have injected $200 million into the new venture, which will invest, acquire and operate high-potential digital consumer brands, Christina reports.
Startups and VCs
Many insurtechs solve insurance distribution and policy administration. Instead, Axle provides access to real-time insurance data, automated insurance verification, and monitoring of current coverage so customers, like car rental companies, can cut costs. operating, Christina reports.
Things were a bit slower over the holiday weekend, but here are a few more to treat you to:
- AI can do it, probably: Devin attended the Y Combinator demo day and notes that the last batch was definitely a lot of “maybe AI can do…that?”
- Who is a good boy?: Pet influencers are hotter than ever. But how do dogs do taxes? Amanda wonders, then discovers it and shares it with us.
- Like a website for your ears: Don’t miss today’s episode of our Equity podcast, where the team dives into the world of crypto price stability, Uber sells Careem and YC valuations.
- A long, slow walk: More on TC+, Ron examines what happens when your startup fails.
- We are fine thank you: Also on TC+, Anne wonders, what if Scandinavian startups didn’t need Y Combinator?
In the new VC normal, builders will win
Picture credits: LEREXIS (Opens in a new window) /Getty Pictures
Big venture capital firms secure access to deals using a complex mix of strategy, research and relationship building, but “looking deep into each founder’s vision and initiative is the only way forward.” “, says Will Robbins, general partner at Contrary Capital.
Because so much capital is readily available, “we never go back to the days when venture capitalists could win by being the only term sheet on the table,” writes Robbins, who shares his perspective on the collecting deal flow, building a tech stack, and productizing “for LPs thinking about the decade ahead”.
Three others from the TC+ team:
Tech Crunch+ is our membership program that helps founders and startup teams get a head start. You can register here. Use code “DC” to get 15% off an annual subscription!
Big Tech inc.
Please give a big TechCrunch welcome to one of our new writers, Morgan Sung. Today she has her first story on Meta Verified, which gives you a little blue check next to your name. However, to get this check, you must use your legal name, a policy that has raised concerns among sex work circles.
Meanwhile, Uber has sold its stake in super app Careem to Emirates Telecommunications for $400 million. Kirsten writes that Careem was founded in 2012 as a rival to Uber and has since added other delivery features, including food and parcels, bus services and transfers. After the closing of the sale, it will be split into two companies.
And we have five more for you:
- Put them under surveillance: Ron writes that UK regulators might be right about obstacles to cloud portability.
- I’m gonna hug him and hug him and call him George: If you’ve always wanted your own chatbot, now you can create one. Sarah reports on Poe’s chatbot AI app, which lets you build your bots using prompts.
- How did you put that chicken on your head?: Basic virtual backgrounds are so 2021. A chicken on the head or a hug from a koala are so now, thanks to Snapchat lenses, accessible in Microsoft Teams meetings. Aisha see you.
- Where have all the PCs gone?: brian reports that global PC shipments fell by a third in the first quarter, the fourth consecutive decline, by the way.
- If you haven’t had enough of the above Twitter…: We have more for you here. Do you miss those official Russian accounts? Don’t worry, you can find them in search results, Ivan reports. Oh, and there was this whole thing about how Twitter won’t let you retweet, like, or reply to Substack links. Amanda see you.
