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Who is back? Is it possible to come back again? After a long weekend, I was able to catch up with the man, and he has a lot of thoughts about socks. Haje, my partner in crime, will be coming back later this week. There are some things going on with the site. The weekly event series is new and improved so learn more and register. The Found team spoke to the CEO of Automattic, Matt Mullenweg, for the latest episode of the show.
The TechCrunch Top 3
- Just a Glance: Manish wrote two of our top stories. The first is a scoop he got related to Glance, which is reportedly launching its lock screen content platform for Android in the U.S. in the next couple of months. He also dug into Twitter’s lawsuit against the Indian government that was prompted by content takedown orders. This is just another in a long line of troubles the company has had in this country.
- No slowdown in climate tech: Paul reports on Climentum Capital’s philosophy behind its new $157 million fund that will go into European startups helping reduce CO2 emissions.
- We gotta figure out our ‘exit scratgety’: You’ll have to go way back into the SNL archives to find that reference, but this is the first of two Haje public announcements for our founder friends. He says you really don’t need that “exit plan” slide in your pitch deck — there are a lot of assumptions and predictions on a founder’s part, and it is hard to know who wants to buy your company, so just get rid of it.
Startups and VC
There are a lot of great stories today. Alex suggests that venture capital firms should put their money to use when they can get more out of it, if they want to raise sweet capital in a sour market. His story from yesterday dives into the company valuations of 2021.
Sequoia Capital has been very busy and some VC firms are still raising funds. According to Rita, global investors are reexamining risks in China amid a COVID-hit economy and an ongoing regulatory squeeze on the country's internet upstarts. Last week, I did a quick hit about the raising of funds in the US.
There is a reminder that not all of us comprehend at the same level, so startup founders should work to attract more bees with simple honey sentences rather than big, complicated fly ones.
There are other things you might like today.
- Show me the money: Kyle reports on Tesorio, which closed on a $17 million Series B to continue developing tools to help businesses automate their payment collection process.
- The opposite of McHard is McEasy: In this case, McEasy is digitizing Indonesia’s logistics, transportation and supply chain industries, and Catherine writes about the company’s plans now that it has $6.5 million in new funding.
- Drink up: I reported on Maolac, an Israeli food tech company that is putting $3.2 million of new capital to work in its protein technology that is taking bovine colostrum and making a superfood for adults.
- If you like it, then you should have put a ring on it: Natasha takes us on a delightful journey looking at Ultrahuman’s new smart ring aimed at “decoding metabolic health.”
- A “Quantum Leap” indeed: Ingrid writes about the U.K.’s Oxford Quantum Circuits, which raised $47 million for its quantum-computing-as-a-service that runs a 3D processor architecture called Coaxmon.
- Drive time: Rebecca interviews Veo’s Candice Xie about the e-scooter company’s steady journey toward profitability.
Without a clear ask, your pitch deck is useless
Most people don't know how to ask for money.
It is difficult to explain how they will spend investors' money on the "Ask" slide. The best way to break through the mental barrier is to start with metrics.
What amount will you increase MAU? Can you tell me when you're going to expand in new markets?
It is easier to know if you are going towards your goals if you are more specific.
Without a clear ask, your pitch deck is useless
Techcrunch+ is a membership program that helps startup teams. You can join here.
Big Tech Inc.
The big news from yesterday was that Meta decided not to go ahead with its wallet. The company isn't getting rid of it completely, so keep an eye on how it could be used.
There are updates on the Play Store for Kakao Talk. The messaging app refused to remove its own payment links. You might remember, but that isn't something that the internet giant likes.
There are three regulation stories over in Europe. The European parliament gave its approval to a set of regulations for digital businesses. The U.K. wants to make Russian information an offense under its online safety bill. The U.K. signed its first data-sharing deal after leaving the European Union.
Take a look at other people.
- Those are some big lenses you have: If you like smartphones with giant camera lenses, then you will love Haje’s report on Xiaomi’s new phone.
- A marriage made in drone heaven: Brian writes about American Robotics’ owner acquiring Airobotics and why it’s a good fit.
- Talk about your front desk fail: WeWork India was found to have exposed the personal information and selfies of visitors, Zack writes.
- Fire up those engines: Rebecca listened in on Tata Motors’ shareholder meeting and found that the Indian automaker aims to sell 50,000 electric vehicles by March 31, 2023.
- Live commerce no more: TikTok is reportedly pulling the plug on plans to expand its live e-commerce unit, TikTok Shop, in the U.S. and some parts of Europe, Aisha writes. It will be interesting to see if live commerce ever does become a thing over in this part of the world.
