I could spend hours discussing community-based marketing and early-stage startup operations, but deal flow is my blind spot.
Wealthfront, a financial robot-advisor, was picked up by investment banking firm UBS for over a billion dollars.
The company's exit price is a win in that it represents a 2x or greater multiple on its final private valuations.
Alex found that the deal is more than just a next-gen push to reach rich young Americans, as some headlines suggested.
The exit will help other fintechs set expectations, but it will also give a mental boost to people who think they're too late to start.
You can save 20% off a one- or two-year subscription with the discount code.
More than half of Americans own stock, but that figure is still several points lower than it was a decade ago. With more consumers buying fractional shares, I think the robo-advisor race is still going strong.
Alex, who swims through deal flow like a dolphin, agrees with me.
The recent declines in active users on platforms like Robinhood, and the success of fintechs like M1 in the last few years could point to a market more open to robo-advising, but the question is whether their lower-cost model can prove sufficiently interesting to investors.
Wealthfront, for example, takes a 0.25% cut of consumer funds. Robinhood I think was doing a bit better when we considered its PFOF incomes against lower-value customer accounts that were actively trading.
Can the robos present a financial picture that is similarly strong? If they can, they will likely prove less volatile than Robinhood has to date.
It is never too late for a good idea.
This week, I would like to thank you for reading TechCrunch+.
Walter ThompsonSenior Editor, TechCrunch+
Your partner.
Unpacking the UBS-Wealthfront deal
European and North American edtech startups see funding triple in 2021
Pre-pandemic, VCs were hesitant to invest in education-related companies. Today, edtech startups are seeing higher average deal sizes, more seed and pre-seed funding from non-VC investors, and an influx of generalists.
Over the last year, funding for edtech companies based in Europe and North America has tripled, according to the head of research at Brighteye.
The sector is capable of producing the same kind of outsized returns generated in healthtech and other sectors, and even generalist investors are building conviction that the sector is capable of doing so.
European, North American edtech startups see funding triple in 2021
Here’s how far VCs have lowered revenue expectations for seed through Series B
According to a report by Kruze consulting, the average revenue for software-as-a-service companies has seen a decline recently.
The revenue growth goalposts for early-stage startups wanting to fundraise have moved closer in the past couple of years, which means investors are now willing to pour money into companies with slower growth than they were earlier, Alex wrote.
In all, startups are getting paid more and working less. It's a great time to raise, but it's not a good time for venture capitalists who were trained in an era when they got more equity for their dollar.
Here’s how far VCs have lowered revenue expectations for seed through Series B
Dear Sophie: 3 questions about immigration and naturalization
The image is from TechCrunch.
Thank you, dear Sophie.
The F-1 OPT will end in June. My employer will register me in the H-1B lottery in March.
If I'm not selected in the lottery, what are my options?
Gritty Grad.
I'm in the U.S. with an L-1A visa that will run out later this year. My wife has been with me all the time. Can my wife apply for H-1B?
Would she have to leave the country?
Helpful husband.
I have a green card that is about to expire. I have been married to a U.S. citizen for 11 years, but we are in the process of divorcing.
Can I apply for citizenship after my divorce?
New Year, New Life.
Dear Sophie: 3 questions about immigration and naturalization
IBM shrugs off investor EPS concerns, sells growth story
The headquarters of IBM International Business Machine is in Madrid, Spain. The cover is by Cristina Arias.
IBM's earnings report was received positively, but when CFO Jim Kavanaugh declined to share the company's earnings per share expectations on a conference call, the stock quickly tanked.
The blip in the stock price was a result of a narrow focus on selling assets, expanding growth and free cash flow, which puts IBM on track for further growth, according to analysts.
Holger Muller, an analyst at Constellation Research, said that IBM finding back the growth that has been elusive for longer than any investor would have liked was good.
IBM will be able to sail faster with Kyndryl and Watson Health assets being off-load.
IBM shrugs off investor EPS concerns, sells growth story
In blow to unicorns, the global IPO market continues to soften
It is still a great time to be a startup founder. An early-stage startup founder.
WeTransfer's parent company, WeRock, delayed its IPO earlier this week, becoming the latest major software firm to do so.
Many hoped that the IPOs would shoot to the moon, but they didn't.
Alex and Anna wrote in The Exchange that the signals taken with several others suggest that this might not be the best time to go public.
Is the good times ending?
In blow to unicorns, the global IPO market continues to soften
Edtech startups flock to the promise and potential of personalized learning
The image is from smartboy10/DigitalVision.
Everyone learns differently, but parents, teachers and schools tend to forget that important fact in the classroom.
The changes brought about by the Pandemic have led some teachers and parents to realize that personalized learning is key to education.
A new wave of startups promise to deliver curricula that adapt to a student's emotional or educational state.
The extended stay of the Pandemic has caused edtech entrepreneurs and society to view learning outcomes as more than job placement and exam scores.
Edtech startups flock to the promise and potential of personalized learning
3 views: How should startups prepare for a post-pandemic dip?
The image is from TechCrunch.
If the public markets were a swimming pool, it would still be open for business, but there would be signs that the water has gotten a bit chilly.
Mary Ann Azevedo, the co-owner of Equity, shared her predictions for startup funding and due diligence in 2022.
Natasha Mascarenhas: ‘The Lean Startup’ has aged with an asterisk
Alex Wilhelm: Money over bulls**t
Mary Ann Azevedo: Don’t try to be all the things
3 views: How should founders prepare for a decline in startup valuations and investor interest?
Crypto pioneer David Chaum says web3 is ‘computing with a conscience’
David Chaum wrote a thesis in 1982 that described a protocol for implementing a digital asset.
Digital cash and anonymous communication networks have been the result of his research. The company describes xxmessenger as the first quantum-resistant messaging app.
Chaum said that he thought that the creation of something that could no longer be ignored by the market was the reason for the change in the past few years. How can it be brought to the general public in a way that they can easily adopt this next generation of information technology?
Crypto pioneer David Chaum says web3 is ‘computing with a conscience’
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