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Hey, people! Kyle is filling in for the stalwarts. Unlike a certain megalomaniac billionaire who shan't be named, I won't use aggressive language about committing to "hardcore" work culture. You won't have to pledge your loyalty by pressing a button.
The event that took place in Miami this week was related to the collapse of the FTX exchange. We swore we didn't plan that. Did you attend the event? It's great! We have reviews of all the major sessions if you don't. Here, you can check them out.
If you would like to take a break from the current news cycle, please consider reading this feature from Ron Miller andAnita Ramaswamy. You will need a subscription in order to use it. It takes a higher level look at web3 and tries to answer the question: "Is web3 truly innovative or a simple repackaging of existing tech?" You might be surprised by the answer.
Here is a rundown of this week's events.
The TechCrunch Top 3
masochists who signed up for the service within the past few weeks will have to wait before they can get a blue check and other benefits. New accounts will have to wait 90 days before they can buy blue, according to a policy change reported by Ivan. It is likely to stem the tide of impersonations that have been pervading the platform recently.
Taylor Swift fans are not happy with the way Tickemaster handled the pre-sale for the megastar's tour. Regulators aren't either. The attorney general of Tennessee is looking into whether the company violated consumers' rights and antitrust regulations by subjecting customers to technical problems and long wait times.
It's coming to Only Fans. OnlyFans creators will be able to list physical products on their profile pages thanks to the platform's partnership with Spring. OnlyFans isn't taking a cut of the transactions, but the feature encourages creators to integrate their businesses more deeply within the platform
Startups and VC
Is it still a good place for creators to make money? Fanfix believes that it isn't. SuperLink is a tool for existing apps that displays a creator's FanFix page. One-year-old Fanfix sees SuperLink as a way to grow its base of more than 9.6 million users, which are reportedly earning millions of dollars on the platform. There is plenty of room for expansion. In the last two years, the creator economy, that is, adults who participate in "creative activities" and post and promote their work online, has grown by over 165 million worldwide.
India's first private rocket made a successful liftoff this week. Skyroot, which was founded by former Indian Space Research Organization scientists, was behind the launch of the rocket, according to Jagmeet.
There are other news items.
- Layoffs in self-driving: Nuro, the autonomous vehicle delivery startup backed by SoftBank, Google and other titans in tech, is laying off about 300 people, or 20% of its workforce, in an effort to preserve cash amid a stormy economic outlook. Kirsten has the exclusive.
- Revenue drivers: Jumia, the Pan-African tech startup built around a marketplace, logistics service and payment service, is cutting products and overhead as the company’s new management chases profits. Tage has the details.
- Power up: Electric vehicle startup Nio is accelerating its expansion in Europe. The premium EV maker just launched its first power-swapping station in Varberg, Sweden, Rita reports.
- Reducing headcount for profit: Indonesia’s largest internet company, GoTo, cut 1,300 jobs on Friday as the firm attempts to trim costs and improve finances. As Manish writes, GoTo joins scores of local and global peers in its decision to cut workforce to navigate the economic slowdown.
- Connecting citizens with aid: Beam, a startup that helps citizens access government financial aid, has raised $6.4 million in Series A funding. Andrew dives into the business model, which involves partnering with governments and operating as an end-to-end cash assistance administration system to handle applications, ID verification, case decisions and payments.
- I always feel like somebody’s watchin’ me: There’s cash in layering AI tech on top of CCTV feeds. Spot AI is the perfect example — the company raised $40 million this week for its cloud-based analytics system that “reads” camera footage for insights. Ingrid has the scoop.
- Would you surrender your home equity stake in exchange for a bigger apartment? Virgil thinks you will. The French startup — which invests in apartments alongside home buyers before they even get the keys for their new home — raised $15.6 million in its recent funding round, Romain reports.
- Monetizing AI-generated porn: Amanda and I took a deep dive into the fascinating — and terrifying — new world of AI-generated porn. One group is trying to monetize it. Whether they’ll be successful is unclear, given the legal, ethical and technical challenges ahead.
How much tax will you owe when you sell your company?
It's hard to get a startup off the ground, so asking them to prepare for an acquisition may sound silly.
If you want to start a startup, you must also be prepared to sell it.
A framework for calculating taxation upon an exit is offered by the managing director of Keystone Global Partners.
To maximize the opportunity set that is presented to you, you will need to plan for your tax situation.
How much tax will you owe when you sell your company?
There are more from the team.
- What we stand to lose with Twitter: In a fabulous column, several TechCrunch staffers contributed what they would miss most if Twitter went away — while hoping it’ll still be up tomorrow. The high-level takeaway? Twitter has value beyond driving traffic for journalists and other users, despite what some critics would have you believe.
- Taking action on open source security: Javier writes about the Securing Open Source Software Act, a bipartisan legislation in the U.S. that acknowledges the importance of open source software and states that the federal government should play a supporting role in ensuring its long-term security.
- Measuring the e-commerce shift: Is it possible to quantify the global e-commerce slowdown? Alex and Anna give it their best shot, examining how pandemic stressors on e-commerce businesses have slowly begun to lift and change the way those businesses operate.
The membership program helps startup teams get ahead of the game. This is where you can sign up. You can get a 15% discount on an annual subscription.
Big Tech Inc.
In the last few years, there has been a proliferation of loan apps in both Nigeria and Kenya. 40 loan apps are under investigation by the office of the data protection commissioner because of data breach complaints from users. New laws in countries that regulate the industry have led to the removal of bad loan apps from the Play Store. I would say that is good news.
The FCC announced this week that it will require broadband providers to show a nutrition label with all fees, catches and caps clearly stated for any plan they offer. The labels will show things like price and contract length, whether the price will change after a certain period and "typical" download and upload speeds. The FCC rules need to be reviewed by the Office of Management and Budget and published in the federal register before labels can be put on internet plans.
The rest of this week is listed here.
- New chips abound: Qualcomm debuted its latest flagship Snapdragon chip and a new AI platform at the company’s annual Snapdragon Summit, Brian reports. The Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, as the chip’s called, boasts improved AI processing and computational photography like recognizing and segmenting different aspects of an image before the photo is taken.
- Get crunchy: Thanks to a partnership between the two companies, Discord users can now display the movie or TV show they’re watching on Crunchyroll via their personal Discord profile. Lauren notes that Crunchyroll is the latest media company to support “Rich Presence,” Discord’s “now playing” functionality that automatically displays the video you’re watching, game you’re playing, song you’re listening to and more right in Discord.
- Privacy first: Jagmeet and Manish cover India’s proposed data privacy law that will mandate how companies handle the data of its citizens, including permitting cross-border transfer of information with certain nations. It comes three months after the country’s regulators abruptly withdrew the previous proposal following scrutiny and concerns from privacy advocates and tech giants.
- Hydrogen powered: Hyundai on Thursday at the Detroit Auto Show revealed a hydrogen fuel cell hybrid concept vehicle called the N Vision 74 that the company says demonstrates the performance sub-brand’s vision for electrification. The car’s hydrogen W fuel cell converts hydrogen to electricity to charge the internal 62 kWh battery — a clever concept. But, as reported by Abigail, Hyundai wouldn’t say whether this kind of powertrain will go into production.
