Daily Crunch: In one of the largest tech deals ever struck, Broadcom will buy VMware for $61B

Every day at 3 p.m., you'll get a rundown of the biggest and most important stories from TechCrunch. You can subscribe here.

We have a busy day of news on the site today. The gems are in the spotlight.

We're pretty excited about this panel at TechCrunch Disrupt, where VCs will discuss how you can raise money when you're not at one of the major tech hubs. We are running a Memorial Day 2-for-1 deal, so you can get your ticket and bring a friend.

The TechCrunch Top 3

• Confirmed: Broadcom made its proposed merging with VMware official, and with it comes a few kids in the way of some acquisitions VMware made along the way. As we noted earlier in the week, we are still not sure the two companies are a match made in heaven. However, while both are still getting the agreements signed, sealed and delivered, we raise our collective glasses in a toast that regulators will bless this union.
• Gucci, Gucci goo: How do you feed a need for fancier things? Look no further than Oura’s new collaboration with Gucci. The Gucci x Oura Ring is indeed a pretty thing and its charging station is one you’ll want to leave out in view so people can see how fabulous you are, or see that you’re $950 poorer — take your pick.
• Perhaps it paid to be slower: The quest to have the fastest delivery may have been the stone in some quick-commerce companies’ tires. Alex discusses how the race to create business models, like dark stores, to get closer to the customer worked for some, but not everyone, prompting even investors to call the industry “overhyped” in some regards.

Startups and VC

What should a reporter do when they get a pitch from a company that had a name that was stolen by Apple, but they didn't register a trademark because they thought it would be pointless? If that reporter is Haje, he grabs it by its tail and holds it up to the light to see what other startups can learn from the experience. It requires a trademark, you fools.

We keep being surprised when another company raises money to do asteroid mining, but AstroForge thinks it has a new take on the idea, raising $13 million to get to a floating rock and bring back some sweet, sweet zero-G space minerals.

There are a lot of goodies for you to snack on this afternoon. Buen provecho!

• Making you ’appier, one swipe at the time: Friendly Apps raises $3 million to build apps that make you more connected and happier, Sarah reports.
• One carbon, two carbon, three carbon: Consumer products have long been challenged to measure its actual carbon impact, but Planet FWD counted $10 million to help track — and eventually reduce — their carbon footprints, Christine reports.
• Just pollen the room on this real quick: Humble Bee Bio is on a mission to create a biodegradable alternative to plastics by synthesizing the biology of bees, raising $3.2 million to fulfill its mission, Rebecca writes.
• Building building startup startups: Early-stage proptech startups have a potential new source of capital in 1Sharpe Ventures, which recently closed its $90 million inaugural fund, Mary Ann writes.
• Up, up, and a tray: Vertical farming startup Bowery says its newest facility, built on a former brownfield lot in Pennsylvania, is its most technologically advanced to date, Brian reports
• Buy-nance? More like buy-crypto: A group of former executives from Binance, one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges globally, has created a $100 million venture fund, the team told Jacquelyn.

To fully embrace product-led growth, build a strong product ops team

Product managers transform customer needs and business requirements into services and features that make money, but it is a limited role.

Even though PMs interact with customers and internal stakeholders from sales, marketing and engineering, they are rarely given the power to implement best practices, select tools or manage operational aspects of the product line.

As more companies carve out roles for product operations, that is changing.

It is a critical function for any company that wants to make its product, and it is similar to how sales and marketing ops help their departments.

To fully embrace product-led growth, build a strong product ops team

Techcrunch+ helps founders and startup teams get ahead. You can sign up here.

Big Tech Inc.

There was a lot of big tech news today, so let's start with a little regulatory and government intervention. Meta is redesigning its privacy policy so that we can understand it. The U.K. officials are looking into the role that Google may have in antitrust abuses around adtech. The social media company agreed to pay $150 million to resolve allegations that it misrepresented the security and privacy of its users.

Yesterday, we brought you the news that former CEO Jack Dorsey left the board, and that the company's stock jumped when Musk said he still has plans to buy it. Musk is being sued by investors for manipulating the stock price in his favor. We will keep on with this one.

In vroom, vroom news, a couple of executives from the likes of Apple, Nvidia andTesla were brought in to help develop the company's technology. Joby Aviation is one step closer to its goal of becoming a commercial aerial ridesharing service after receiving certification from the FAA to operate a commercial air-taxi operation.

Are you thirsty for more or are you giving up?

• Epic battle: Epic Games filed a new suit against Apple, challenging the tech giant’s use of third-party apps, saying it could compromise the iPhone’s security.
• That’s what friends are for: TikTok is making friends left and right with the likes of Sprout Social, Hootsuite and Sprinklr as part of an extension to its Marketing Partner Program that will enable marketers to manage their TikTok accounts without having to leave third-party content marketing platforms.
• Box-y earnings: Document-sharing platform Box reported its fifth straight quarter of increased growth, and Ron was there with CEO Aaron Levie to get all the details