TechCrunch Startup News

Latest Episodes:

Why you should naturalize — now, not later Jul 05, 2019

Show notes

It’s no secret that America thrives on tech-savvy immigrants who put down permanent roots: Three in five of the country’s biggest tech companies —Apple, Facebook, and Google among them — were founded by first- or second-generation immigrants. Those giants combined boast a market cap of over $4 trillion and employ nearly two million workers.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

HQ Trivia lays off ~20% as it preps subscriptions Jul 05, 2019

Show notes

HQ Trivia is struggling after a mutiny failed to oust its CEO. Downloads per month are down 92% versus last June according to Sensor Tower. And now four sources confirm that HQ laid off staff members this week. One said about 20% of staff was let go, and another said six to seven employees were departing. That aligns with Digiday reporter Kerry Flynn’s tweet that 7 employees were let go bringing HQ to under 30 (shrinking from 35 to 28 staffers would be a 20% drop).

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Pod Foods gets VC backing to reinvent grocery distribution Jul 04, 2019

Show notes

Larissa Russell and Fiona Lee founded a cookie startup called Green Pea Cookie in 2014. The cookies were 100% natural, vegan and “handcrafted with love.” The company failed but not because the cookies weren’t selling. The business couldn’t keep up with the antiquated wholesale food distribution system’s steep costs. Two incumbent players, United Natural Foods Inc. and KeHE Distributors, essentially controlled its only pathway to grocery stores across the country.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Fast Forward raises new war chest to fight Silicon Valley’s inequality machine Jul 03, 2019

Show notes

San Francisco is a city of extremes, with multi-billion dollar glass-cladded obelisks piercing the SoMa sky while thousands of the city’s long-term residents fail to find even the basic rudiments of housing and other social services. The tech industry has created the world’s greatest inequality machine, solving every one of our problems except the ones like housing affordability, education access, and healthcare availability that might lead to greater agency and equality.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

TikTok is being investigated in the U.K. for how it handles children’s data and safety Jul 03, 2019

Show notes

TikTok is being investigated in the U.K. for how it handles children’s data and safety TikTok is being investigated in the U.K. for how it handles the safety and personal data of underage users. According to the Guardian, information commissioner Elizabeth Denham told a parliamentary committee that the probe started in February, after the U.S. Federal Trade Commission levied a $5.7 million fine against TikTok for breaking children’s privacy law.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

AR headsets promise new enterprise productivity, but can the startups building them survive? Jul 02, 2019

Show notes

Just as the bluetooth headset ushered in an era of hands-free calling, AR startups are trying to convince manufacturing startups that AR headsets will bring new efficiencies with hands-free computing. As Magic Leap and Microsoft have dropped hundreds of millions trying to spend their way into new tech modalities for enterprise customers, smaller players are relying on less ground-breaking hardware and hoping that easy-to-use software can drive new customers into their arms.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Tara.ai, which uses machine learning to spec out and manage engineering projects, nabs $10M Jul 01, 2019

Show notes

Artificial intelligence has become an increasingly important component of how a lot of technology works; now it’s also being applied to how technologists themselves work. Today, one of the startups building such a tool has raised some capital, Tara.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Google finance head joins Postmates board ahead of anticipated IPO Jul 01, 2019

Show notes

Google’s vice president of finance, has joined Postmates’ board of directors, the latest sign that the on-demand food delivery startup is prepping to take the company public. Postmates announced Friday that Kristin Reinke, vice president of Finance at Google, will join the San Francisco startup as an independent director. Reinke has been with Google since 2005. Prior to Google, Reinke was at Oracle for eight years.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

DoorDash double downs on controversial pay model Jun 28, 2019

Show notes

There’s seemingly no end in sight for DoorDash’s compensation model where it subsidizes driver wages with customer tips. The mildly bright side, however, is that DoorDash is now providing more transparency after each completed delivery, DoorDash CEO Tony Xu wrote in a blog post today. “With our current pay model, Dashers see a guaranteed minimum — including tips — prior to accepting a delivery,” Xu wrote.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Wedding dress customizer Anomalie raises $13M as bridal stores crumble Jun 28, 2019

Show notes

David’s Bridal once owned 50% of the $36 billion wedding gown market before it filed for bankruptcy last year. Brides were growing sick of the lack of styles and sizes plus high prices at expensive brick & mortar shops. The industry was destined for disruption by software that would replace overhead costs and inflexibility with direct-to-consumer personalization. That’s why I profiled a new custom wedding dress startup back in 2016 called Anomalie despite little funding or traction.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Our TOPPODCAST Picks

Follow Us

Stay Connected

Related Podcasts

Links

Stay Connected