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Hello and welcome to Daily Crunch on Friday August 27, 2021. What a week! Over the past 24 hours we’ve had some big news from around the world, including the latest regulatory push from China, Apple making modest concessions on the App Store and, of course, plenty of startup news.
Oh, and Canva CEO Melanie Perkins is coming to Disrupt. – Alexis
The Top 3 TechCrunch
- China will crack down on algorithms: The push to regulate and control China’s domestic tech market more tightly continued on Friday with a government body announcing a draft rule set for algorithms. The new rules come as China seeks to limit collection of corporate data and more. The irony, of course, is dead.
- Companies cannot get enough start-up capital: That’s what we get from digging into the recent world record corporate venture capital (CVC) results. CVCs participate in more and larger seed funding rounds. We digged into the why and how of the latest data.
- Apple makes the smallest concession from the App Store: According to a settlement reached today, TechCrunch reports that Apple will now allow apps to “share information on how to pay for purchases outside of their iOS app or the App Store.” Apple called the change a clarification, which was interesting. Apple’s grip on the App Store is still tight, but we can see indicators that its grip is slipping slightly.
Startups / VC
At the top, let’s talk about a16z, the venture capital conglomerate. Of course, it has crypto funds and major funds and other funds in abundance. But today the group announced capital of $ 400 million just for start-up transactions. The size of the fund indicates that a16z expects to pay a lot for start-up equity or that it will make a multitude of bets. We’ll see.
- Rivian files to be made public: In case you are looking for another EV business to add to your personal investments, good news! Rivian has filed a private request to go public! Frankly, we are excited about this deal; Lordstown this is not the case. The company recently closed $ 2.5 billion in outside capital, bringing it to over $ 10 billion in total. We want to know what all of this funding has done for the company in terms of results.
- Forbes is also going public: Via a SPAC, let’s note it, but yes, Forbes the media and magazine company is taking advantage of the rise of blank check combinations to make itself known. We dug into his deck to see what the company has planned and to what extent COVID-19 has impacted its bottom line.
- Toast is also being made public, but yours truly failed to post a post on the topic as of newsletter time. More to come on TechCrunch.com.
- Payroll API start-up Zeal lifts Series A: The integrated fintech space is busy and competitive, which makes what Zeal is building quite interesting. Is there a large enough market for a single payroll API product? A few years ago I would have quibbled, but if the world of OKR startups has taught me anything, it’s not to underestimate the global demand for software.
- Sitenna wants to help telecom operators place 5G antennas: Coming in the next batch of startups backed by Y Combinator, Sitenna is looking for a piece of the wave of capital that will push 5G mobile connectivity into our lives. The startup is neat, so read the post, but also keep in mind that the demo day for YC is next week, so we’re heading into a very busy news cycle over the next few days.
- Sastrify raises $ 7 million: Based in Cologne, Sastrify wants to help businesses buy and manage their SaaS expenses. Why does the world need this? Well, now that all software is a subscription fee, not overpaying and generally knowing what to pay is a big deal. And big business plus a little founder’s work equals a startup. In particular, Sastrify is already a positive cash flow despite his youth.
The pre-pitch: 7 ways to build relationships with VCs
Many founders have to overcome a few emotional hurdles before they feel comfortable presenting a potential investor face-to-face.
To alleviate this pressure, Unicorn Capital founder Evan Fisher recommends that entrepreneurs use pre-pitch meetings to build and strengthen relationships before asking for a check:
It’s the “we’re not actually looking for money; we just want to be friends for now â€which puts you on an investor’s radar so that when it’s time to increase your next turn, they’ll be much more likely to answer the phone because they actually know who you are. are.
Pre-pitches are good for more than just curing nervousness: these conversations help founders get a better idea of ​​how VCs think and sometimes lead to unintended results.
“Investors are opportunists out of necessity,†says Fisher, “so if they like the arrow cut of your business, you never know – the FOMO might start kicking hard.
(Extra Crunch is our membership program, which helps founders and startup teams move forward. You can register here.)
Big Tech Inc.
- The bad week of the peloton: What happens when you have a lackluster income report – by Wall Street standards – and then you are “assigned by both the US Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security”? Well, your stock price is going down and you’re hoping Monday ends up a lot better than Friday.
- Tesla wants to sell electricity: It’s funny. Through one app, the world learned that Tesla wants to sell electricity in Texas under the rubric of being a retail electricity supplier, which means it can “buy wholesale electricity from groups. generators and sell it to customers, â€according to TechCrunch.
- Twitter tried to revive the good old days: By having his service stutter and come down for people today. Remember the good old days, when Twitter was crashing all the time? Personally, I miss the Fail Whale. Twitter, we think, doesn’t.
- In closing, Canonical’s Venky Adivi has some thoughts on open source software and the US government. Spoiler: The news is pretty good.
TechCrunch Experts: Growth Marketing
Image credits: SEAN GLADWELL (Opens in a new window) / Getty Images
We reach out to startup founders to tell us who they turn to for the most up-to-date growth marketing practices. Complete the survey here.
Read one of the testimonials we received below!
Trader: Natalia Bandach, Hypertry
Recommended by: Jean-Noël Saunier, Growth Hacking Course
Testimony: “Natalia is a person with an original approach to engines of growth and experimentation, full of creative solutions and many ideas that she quickly tests through experimentation. Rather than focusing on one area, she tries to verify what makes the most sense for a business and designs experiences that are not only crucial [in the short term] but also [in the long run]. She is an ethical growth manager, loves knowing that the company brings real value, and is ready to turn in all directions, [which] she does it fast – however, with a focus on team well-being, professional growth and always avoiding burnout.
Community
Image credits: Diversion books
Join Danny Crichton on Twitter spaces Tuesday, August 31 at 1:00 p.m. PDT / 4:00 p.m. EDT as he chats with Azeem Azhar about his upcoming book, “The Exponential Age: How Accelerating Technology is Transforming Business, Politics and Society,” due out September 7, 2021 .
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