Extra Crunch Roundup: RapidSOSEC-1, How to Prepare for an M&A Exit, Inside Genki ForestOne estimate states that Americans call 911 approximately 240 million times per year.Although it sounds simple to send emergency services to the right place, each 911 call goes through one of thousands call centers called public safety answering points (PSAPs).Each 911 center is unique and each one serves a different community, according to Karin Marquez (senior director of public safety at RapidSOS).One PSAP serves New York City. It is a 450,000-square foot blast-resistant cube on nine acres. But there are also agencies in rural America that only have one person who works 24/7 and can answer three calls per day.RapidSOS was founded eight years ago and processes over 150 million emergency calls each year across 5,000 PSAPs. RapidSOS' technology allows call centers to integrate requests from mobile phones, landlines, and IoT devices.Its technology is almost certain to be integrated into your smartphone and many other devices, writes Danny Crichton, Managing Editor. He has written a series of four parts that examines the company's history and subsequent success.Members only have access to the full Extra Crunch productsGet 20% off your one-year or two-year subscription by using the discount code ECFridayPart 1: Why a consumer app company turned towards govtech and integrated technology services for device companies.Part 2: RapidSOS' pivot and the reasons its current business model is so successful.Part 3: RapidSOS created a number of partnerships between individuals and corporations to transform 911 services.Part 4: The future of RapidSOS and 911 in the light of limited infrastructure funding.RapidSOS has a lot of signed partnerships. Danny, the original author, said that he had never seen a company like it.It has closed many partnerships and business development agreements with some of the most prominent names in tech. How did it do it? This is the story about how it created a successful BD engine.Thank you for reading Extra Crunch this Week!Walter ThompsonSenior Editor, TechCrunch@yourprotagonistHow to prepare for M&A. This is your most likely exit route.Although headlines may be filled with IPOs, IPOs, and SPACs, the reality is that you will likely exit your startup through a smaller merger or acquisition. Ben Boissevain writes in a guest article.Although the IPO market is recovering, M&A still accounts for 88% of exits. According to Boissevain (founder of Ascento Capital), there have been 503 IPOs so far this year and 5,203 deals.It is important to aim for a billion-dollar sale, a successful IPO, or a SPAC deal. However, it is more practical to prepare your startup to handle a smaller transaction.Duolingo raises IPO price target to benefit edtech startupsDuolingo, a U.S. edtech firm, raised its IPO price range Monday morning. It now targets $95 to $100 per share. This is up from the previous guidance of $85-$95 per share.Alex Wilhelm points out that Duolingo has raised its IPO price range to indicate that we are more likely to have a strong offering rather than a weak one.China's Genki Forest became a $6B beverage powerhouse in five years thanks to data-driven iterationMany Extra Crunch readers won't have heard of China's fastest-growing bottled beverages company, Genki Forest. This direct-to-consumer startup started selling sodas, milk teas, and other products in China just five years ago.The company's products are currently available in 40 countries. It hopes to generate $1.2 billion in revenue by 2021. Genki Forest has been valued at $6 billion after its most recent funding round.Industry watchers often compare the start-up to giants like Coca-Cola and PepsiCo, but founder Binsen Tang is a techie, having founded ELEX Technology, a social-gaming company that has found international success.China does not need more platforms, Tang stated to his team in 2015. However, it does require good products.Genki Forest has sold more than 30% of its products online, thanks to China's strong distribution network, lightning-fast manufacturing capabilities, and a large pool of data that allows holistic digitization.Anna Fang, a VC investor, stated that everything feels right about the company. They embody the new Chinese consumer brand through the space, their founder, their products, and the backend.Sequoias Mike Vernal discusses how to create feedback loops when searching for product-market matchSequoias Mike vernal, from Sequoias, joined TechCrunch Early stage: Marketing and Fundraising for a discussion about how founders approach product-market fit. He emphasized tempo.It does not mean speed in an uncontrolled, reckless, or crashing manner. It means fast in a sort of consistent, maniacal, get-a-little-bit-better-each-day kind of way. It is actually something we evaluate when evaluating a team.Tech companies are affected by China's changes in regulationsAlex Wilhelm spent last week's end and this week's beginning looking at Chinese regulations affecting its edtech sector. He wanted to know exactly what was happening with these regulatory changes.Startups won't feel the impact of regulatory changes. In fact, many Chinese startups will not be affected by what we have seen so far. However, overall it seems like China's risk profile has increased.The battery anxiety of automakers has led to them taking over the supplyAutomakers are looking for joint ventures to ensure that they have a constant supply of batteries.Imagine if you own a VW and say that we will go 50% electric in whatever year. But then the batteries don't show up, youre bankrupt or dead. Gene Berdichevsky, Sila Nano CEO, said this in a recent interview.Their scale is so great that even though their cell partners promise them delivery, automakers fear that they will not.Pro tips from the Kickstarter team behind the most funded appAlex Ruzh (CEO of memoryOS) writes that the team spent hours searching down the rabbit hole for crowdfunding tips and techniques before the app became the most funded on Kickstarter.Because we understand how difficult it is to launch your product, we are sharing our strategies and secrets to creating a successful crowdfunding campaign.SOSV partners share their secrets for successful fundraises by deep tech startupsFor many reasons, startups that are developing deep tech find it difficult to raise capital.TechCrunch Early Phase: Marketing and Fundraising was the topic at which two experienced investors, SOSV Partners Garrett Winther and Pae Wu, addressed startups that are facing difficult fundraising challenges.The key to frictionless B2B E-Commerce is CheckoutAlthough electronic payment processing is a great option for credit and payments authorizations, it's not the only way to go.Volume sellers, for example, prefer to use traditional accounts payable systems over paying service fees that smaller businesses accept as a cost of doing business.Andrew Steele, an investor with Activant Capital, said that the combination of identity protection and fraud creates a strong network. This network can be used to build trust and enable one-click transactions at scale.Cowboy Ventures Ted Wang: CEO Coaching is about having another set of eyesTechCrunch Early Phase: Marketing and Fundraising Ted Wang from Cowboy Ventures spoke at TechCrunch about why he encourages founders to work with executive coaches.
