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Happy 20th of April, 2022, which has no significance, and we are not making any jokes. It has been a strange day, but we have some great stories for you to peruse. Alex andNatasha are talking about startup myths and assumptions on the Equity podcast.
Found was nominated for a Webby for best technology podcasts. We need your help with some votes, so vote today. Voting closes tomorrow.
It's time for car enthusiasts and those who like to talk about all things movement related to secure their tickets for the next month. We will have a co-CEO join us for a chat. There is something for everyone, even university students with good mobility ideas. You should grab a ticket for October's TechCrunch Disrupt.
Christine and Haje will see you tomorrow.
The TechCrunch Top 3
- NFT shoppers unite!: Coinbase’s long-awaited NFT marketplace launched in a beta form for those who find joy in trading digital collectibles. The company aims to make this a “web3 social marketplace.” Get in all the buying and selling you can before Coinbase starts charging transaction fees. And look out for the future collection drops.
- If you thought the Flutterwave drama was over, you would be wrong: Earlier this month, Tage brought you the story of a former Flutterwave employee accusing CEO Olugbenga ‘GB’ Agboola of bullying and harassing. Well, in the wee morning hours, Tage laid out more of the story based on an employee email obtained by TechCrunch. In it, Agboola addresses the allegations that include sexual harassment and how he initially started the company. However, we note there are still a few things not addressed, like fraudulent activity accusations. Get the broom; it’s a mess!
- Bringing beauty salons into the digital era: The beauty industry is not often one venture capital firms flock to, so that’s why it’s great to see a company like Colombia-based Morado, a digital beauty marketplace supplying salons with all the gadgets and gizmos needed to operate, get some attention from some big names like Tiger Global, a16z and H2O Capital.
Startups and VC
NFTs are all the rage, and a small subset of people are raking in the cash in the process. Jacquelyn wonders how the market is going to survive the volatility and the outliers-driven market dynamics. If you haven't given our subs team the $50 worth of annual subscription token yet, you're missing out on a fascinating and well worth a read.
Yesterday, we listed a firehose of new funds. One day late, they announced a $30 million aimed fund for minority founders.
In the most life-imitates-art ( looking at you), I have written a story about Social Local Mobile Commerce.
More? Do you want more? I gotchu.
Study up on churn rate basics to set customer and revenue benchmarks
Every company that relies on recurring revenue watches its Churn Rate closely.
Sid Jain, a senior analyst at ChartMogul, says Churn is complex and confusing, but for early-stage companies, it is one of a few real-time metrics that can help founders run experiments and gather feedback.
Jain explains the differences between customer and revenue Churn, shares formulas for calculating benchmarks, and answers the question: "What is a good monthly Churn Rate?"
Please read and share if you are starting to think about recurring revenue.
Techcrunch+ helps founders and startup teams get ahead. You can sign up here.
Study up on churn rate basics to set customer and revenue benchmarks
Big Tech Inc.
- Netflix had everyone buzzing today, and not because it is April 20. Nope, the company is cracking down on sharing accounts and is also considering an ad-supported plan. The whole reason to subscribe to Netflix is because it doesn’t have any ads. Yes, yes for the content, because otherwise we would not know why “Shake” should have read the “Love is Blind” fine print, but it was refreshing to watch an entire season of “Emily in Paris” without interruption.
- Across the pond, the U.K. announced a reform package for how it will manage consumer protection and competition, essentially targeting fake reviews and killer acquisitions. It will make it illegal to pay people to write a fake review, and platforms that fail to address these could be fined up to 10% of their global annual turnover. Also, the European Union is working to standardize how mobile gadgets are charged.
- Apple had a few things going on today, including welcoming Ace Hardware as a new cashback partner. Apple is launching DJ mixes in spatial audio with Dolby Atmos on Apple Music.
- IBM’s first-quarter earnings look good.
- Google city searches will now come with some air quality information.
