Pusher, the London startup that provides tools and cloud infrastructure for developers to add real-time functionality to their apps, such as push notifications and messages, has launched a new product dedicated to making it easier to roll various chat features. Read More
Social media stocks like Twitter (NYSE: TWTR) have been in the news recently as they went to court to present their side of the story regarding Russian involvement in the US elections. Twitter also...
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November 2, 2017
The third edition of Venture Deals is now available on Audible. Itâs the unabridged version read by me and my partner/co-author Jason Mendelson with guest appearances by Matt Blumberg.
Weâve been getting requests for an unabridged audio version of Venture Deals since we first came out with the book in 2012. We like to think that it has now aged like a good wine.
If you are an audiobook person, you can know hear the dulcet tones of Jasonâs voice alongside the scratchy whine (which has aged) of mine while learning how to be smarter than your VC and your lawyer.
Also published on Medium.
Glint, a startup that helps companies improve their employee retention rates, announced today that it has raised $20 million in Series D funding. The round, which includes participation from returning investors Bessemer Venture Partners, Meritech Capital Partners, Norwest Venture Partners and Shasta Ventures, brings Glint’s total funding so far to $80 million. Read More
Instart Logic has raised $30 million in Series E funding. The company describes its technology as a “digital experience platform.” If that sounds vague, it’s partly because Instart Logic actually has a broad range of products, covering everything from performance optimization, image optimization, application firewall and its own content delivery network. Founder and CEO… Read More
Are ICOs here to stay? After producing so many headlines in 2017, the future of token sales is still filled with uncertainty. That’s why it’s going to be exciting to listen to Melonport co-founder and CEO Mona El Isa and ICONOMI co-founder Tim Zagar at TechCrunch Disrupt Berlin talk about cryptocurrencies, token sales, their own ICOs and their perspective on the evolution of… Read More
Sramana Mitra: Lift yourself to the 30,000 foot level and look at the AI universe. What do you see on the horizon as in trends and open problems that you could point other entrepreneurs to? Akshay...
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TransferWise, the international money transfer company and one of Europe’s better-known unicorns, has announced $280 million in new investment today.The Series E round is led by asset management firm Old Mutual Global Investors, and Silicon Valley VC firm IVP, and I understand also includes some secondary share dealings, meaning that not all of the cash will register on its balance sheet. Read More
After months of preparation, startups will gather at St. James Palace in London to compete in the Pitch@Palace pitch-off. TechCrunch will be broadcasting the competition live here beginning at 5:30 p.m. PT.The Pitch@Palace competition has toured a number of cities, including Aberdeen, Bristol and Oldham, giving startups an opportunity to hone pitches and be selected to compete at St. Read More
Trip.com, a travel discovery app formerly known as Gogobot, is getting acquired amid a flurry of activity surrounding trip discovery tools and companies — and the emerging presence of Airbnb’s foray into finding experiences. The acquisition comes amid the specter of Airbnb, which has been explicit about looking to become an “experience” engine. If you go to Airbnb… Read More
Google has been going all-in on AI and machine learning for some time now, and part of that is, of course, nurturing the growing ecosystem around it, from developer tools to startups. Their latest effort targets one vertical at a time, fostering startups looking to make deep changes to industries lagging behind the cutting edge; the first batch is aimed at the data-rich medical world. Read More
Agtech has largely seemed underserved by emerging startups, though farmers have largely proven more receptive to adopting new tech than most might assume. Ceres Imaging has a fairly straightforward pitch. Pay for a low-flying plane to snap shots of your farm with spectral cameras and proprietary sensors, and soon after get delivered insights that can help farmers determine water and… Read More
With one day left to go in the federal fiscal year, the department had renewed funding for a longstanding reading program for the disabled, and it had chosen Benetech for the third time to run the five-year, $42.5 million project. That meant Benetech could continue to operate Bookshare, which provides digitally materials to 500,000 students with reading disabilities, including blindness and… Read More
Do you like to party? Do you like money? Friend, have I got a startup for you. Tuurnt is based on the concept of rent parties, parties folks used to hold to pay rent at the end of the month. The idea is simple: plan the party, announce a cost and let your friends chip in. Then you can, in the parlance, get tuurnt. Founded by Fabrice Mishiki, the app is already popular on college campuses.… Read More
When Greg Mark takes his 3D printer to VCs he gets blank stares. The Boston-based CEO of Markforged, a 3D printing company that specializes in printing carbon fiber and metals, has found that few of them could understand his technology. “The composite business is profitable, and we are scaling at 300% year-over-year,” said Mark. “We have an incredible product roadmap, and… Read More
Moving is one of the most stressful life events you can go through. But Clutter, the on-demand storage startup based in LA, is looking to make that a little more pleasant. Today, Clutter is announcing its expansion into the world of moving, offering in-city moving for $65/mover/hour. The company currently employs more than 270 people, many of whom are W2 movers who handle Clutter’s… Read More
You know what’s cool? Not just being worth over $1 billion, but saving your customers $1 billion. Today, zero-fee stock trading app Robinhood announced that it’s hit 3 million registered accounts, $100 billion transacted in its app, and $1 billion in saved commissions considering competitors like E*Trade cost $7 per trade.And now, Robinhood is getting a web version where beyond… Read More
October 31, 2017
Amy and I are financially supporting a new movie about mental health, depression, and suicide called The Weight of Gold. Jeremy Bloom (Olympic skier, pro-football player, CEO of Integrate, and awesome human) introduced me to the creator of the film Brett Rapkin.
THE WEIGHT OF GOLD / Sizzle Reel from Podium Pictures on Vimeo.
While the focus of the storytelling is around Olympic athletes, it highlights a challenge that one in five Americans struggles with. Our goal for supporting films like this is to help eliminate the stigma around mental health and depression. Itâs an enormous challenge in our society and one that I think is worth working hard at.
Also published on Medium.
This feature from TechCrunch analyses the seed funding trends in 2017. Although seed-stage funding was down sharply in contrast to 2016, investment was mainly in the Midwest area and hard tech like...
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I just finished the near-final draft of Cat Hokeâs upcoming book Second Chance. It is incredibly powerful on multiple levels.
Iâve gotten to know Cat reasonably well over the past year. I first heard of her through the Techstars Foundation, where we gave her organization â Defy Ventures â one of our very first grants. I first met her a few months later in my office. After hearing her pitch for 15 minutes, I said âCat â Iâm all in â no need to sell me. What can I do to help?â
Cat, in her inimitable style, said, âThe first thing you should do is to come to prison with me.â
A few months later I spent the day at California State Prison, Los Angeles County in Lancaster with Cat, 50 EITs (Entrepreneurs-in-training), and 75 volunteers. I wrote about it as one of my top ten life experiences in my post Understanding Privilege â My Experience in Prison. Amy and I made a significant gift from our foundation (the Anchor Point Foundation) immediately after the trip and I joined the Defy Ventures board two months later.
Since then Iâve gotten to know Cat, her husband Charles, and the Defy Ventures organization. While Iâve learned a lot about prison, the criminal justice system, and the concept and experience of privilege, Iâve learned even more about myself. And I have Cat, Defy Ventures, and all of the people around Defy (both inside and outside of prison) to thank for that.
But, as Cat so eloquently says, she doesnât scale. When I first heard of Defy, it was about 20 employees. Today itâs over 50 going to 100. Like many fast-growing startups, the CEO (Cat) has to evolve in her role. While itâs hard, Cat is doing a magnificent job of it. It was logical that sheâd write a book about herself, her own second chance, Defy, the work that it does, and how/why it matters and impacts people and society.
Writing this book must have been incredibly challenging. Cat is an extremely hard worker. She travels constantly. Her work is emotionally intense and she puts 100% of herself into it. So, when I was on about page 80 of Second Chance, I thought to myself, âThis is incredible. I canât imagine how much extra energy of Catâs went into this.â
She had one of the best guides in the world â Seth Godin. Iâve been friends with Seth since the mid-1990s when I met him doing diligence for SoftBank in conjunction with Fred Wilson on the investment that SoftBank and Flatiron Partners (Fred and Jerry Colonnaâs new VC firm at the time) made in Sethâs company Yoyodyne (later acquired by Yahoo!). I felt a deep connection to Seth from day 1 and even though we donât spend much time together, ever interaction with him is treasured by me.
I can see Sethâs fingerprints all over this book. As an enormous fan of Catâs, Iâm so glad Seth took this project on. I expect their collaboration will have an important and lasting impact on the world.
Youâll get more specifics, and a full review, once Catâs book is published. Until then, if you are interested in learning more about Defy Ventures or getting involved in any way, just
Also published on Medium.
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