This week's startup news and trends will be the focus of the weekly column. You have to subscribe to get this.
The one that annoyed me the most was: "It's not what you know, it's who you know." The phrase may be intended to make people with imposter syndrome remember the importance of cold emails, but it can also be used to remind people that exclusive networks rule the world.
I hope this is the year that a back channel social media platform takes off. If someone without a stamp of approval gets vouched for, then back channel can help them. The process can help stop predatory investors from winning deals. Some investors still don't like the idea of portfolio companies being asked to review what it's like to work with them, while others are surprised that stories, not Cultureamp surveys, are where honest feedback truly lives. Why? In a world where due diligence is becoming less serious, back channels are going from a deep conversation about strengths and weaknesses to a thumbs up or thumbs down affair.
Some of the most powerful people in tech today have many baskets of eggs, meaning that those who want to speak critically of them can either be financially restricted or emotionally restricted.
My pitch? We finally have a platform that allows back channel to occur in an accessible and fair way. I would love to see an app that would allow anyone to vet a proposed value add.
I wrote a column with Alex and Mary Ann about how due diligence will change in 2022.
Wordle, future revenues as a business model and why I think Y Combinator is reading my text messages will be discussed in the rest of this newsletter. You can follow my thoughts on social media.
Wordle has a word.
The creator of Wordle, a game in which users guess a five-letter word in six tries, chatted with TechCrunch about the rise of the game.
Wordle is a tech born of love.
Owen Williams explains that Wordle's nostalgic feel isn't loved by all. The game is punished by app stores for using the open web. He puts it in his latest column.
Wordle is facing a threat that we haven't seen yet: the game's developer is being punished by app stores for choosing to build using open web technologies, rather than a native app. Wordle doesn't exist because it wasn't built in a native app, and this type of behavior is allowed by the Apple App Store.
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There is no way for a developer of a fully functional, capable web app like Wordle to claim their name in the App Store, nor is there a way for them to list their website to get users to the right place. Wardle doesn't appear to have chosen to do this, but at the time of writing, the Play Store allows developers to upload some progressive web apps. If he wanted to defend his game on the Play Store, he would have a choice.
Consumer love is a thing that can change.
The image is from TechCrunch.
The start of the week is...
Arc! The platform emerged from stealth this week with $150 million in debt financing and $11 million in seed funding. Mary Ann reports that Arc is building a community of premium software companies that will allow them to borrow, save and spend all on a single tech platform.
In Equity this week, we talked about Arc being a startup that couldn't have existed 10 years ago. The company is betting its own revenue on the future assumed revenue of other startups, which is a statement of the maturing of this once scrappy SaaS scene.
Mentions of honorable nature.
The Plastic Pipes Bar Graph has a purple colored background.
Is Y Combinator reading my texts?
Last week, I wrote a newsletter about how the value-add service needs to be refreshed. Y Combinator increased its check size and ownership stake in its companies. My argument now is that YC wants to get more aggressive in the same swing and that the accelerators will need to offer more than they have in the past to stay competitive.
It was controversial among seed-stage investors, who saw the change as more competitive than the broader early-stage community. In Equity, we talked about both sides of the story and why it might be harder for international founders to take the new deal.
The new.
The image is from the genic images.
Around the internet.
You chat about the future of finance at least twice a day. The decentralization of regulation, money and culture is hard to keep up with for the nerdiest of us. DeFi & The Future of Programmable Money will be hosted by TechCrunch on March 30th, 2022. Register for the virtual event soon to learn everything from the basics to the moonshots.
Across the week.
There is a person seen on a website.
The Dorm Room Fund has a new fund.
Be aware that your company is watching you.
Take-Two will acquire mobile gaming giant Zynga.
Meta's head of product will serve as its head of product.
Career karma lands 40 million dollars to become an edtech employee benefit.
There is a person seen on the internet.
What can we learn from Theranos? Have friends.
A guide to allocating equity grants.
Brazil is set to take off with regulatory tailwinds.
I prefer to pay.
The year was a record-setting one for venture capital.
Next time.
N.
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