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It’s Monday, May 16, and I’m back again, like a renegade master. I have a fantastic over caffeine and am sitting at a standing desk today, so it’s a dance desk for the occasion. Because, I mean, you’re trying to sit still while listening to this thumping beat.

This week I’m excited to head over to blog line Sessions: Mobility in San Mateo to get the full story on which cars will drive themselves and which companies will enter our hearts — or from the nearest cliff. Get your tickets now – we still have a few available.

In other news (casts), we especially enjoyed Lucas and Anita’s Chain Reaction podcast, which looked at how crypto VCs can’t rely on spending their way to loyalty.

In other news, I re-read my blog line contract, which states that unnecessary obscenities are not allowed, so rest assured that this newsletter only contains strictly necessary swear words. Lots of love and sunshine and all! – Haje

bitcoin

The blog line Top 3

Ack — moar layoffs: Natasha and Amanda break the current limitation in startups with an overview of releases over the past week, including an analysis of what happened at Section4, Carvana, Latch, DataRobot, and hiring freezes at some of the technicalities stalwarts, including Meta, Twitter, and Uber. They also did a roundup last week, in case you missed it. Meanwhile, Alex analyzes general data from layoffs.FYI, layoff tracker. Problems in Unicorn Town: Continuing on TC+, Alex considers how SaaS valuation multiples have taken a further plunge, now clocking in at some numbers. As he sums up, “A startup that sold stock last year with an ARR multiple of 50x would have to double and then double again before it would have a multiple comparable to today’s public market standard.” crypto? More like crypt-no: Anita reports that 30-year-old crypto billionaire Sam Bankman-Fried is swapping at Bitcoin, saying it has no future as a payment network.

Startups and VC

Every once in a while, startups raise money for missions that worry me about our current timeline. Sure it makes sense to get some cash for your time, but also… just, ugh. Today’s episode of that theme comes from Mr. Butcher, MBE, on WeAre8’s crowdfunding campaign for a social media app that pays users to view apps..

I loved this interview that Aria did with the high-flying (geddit…) startup Astra. It became the fastest company in history to hit orbit in November, six years after its founding, and its CEO says it aims for daily launches sooner rather than later.

Developers, developers, developers:

He took the opportunity: Kevin Rose is a partner at VC firm True Ventures. His latest project is an NFT startup called Proof Collective, which recently launched a much-hyped 10,000 NFT collection of pixelated owls. Lucas’ interview with the startup veteran is fascinating. The grocer’s five-horned unicorn: Germany’s Flink buys French Cajoo for about $93 million in a landmark deal, with the latter valued at $5 billion, a big increase from Flink’s most recent valuation of $2.85 billion. The era of the horny bus: Public transport has seen a revival with the return of city life after COVID-19, and Optibus is building technology to make it run smoother. It picked up a Series D with a valuation of $1.3 billion. wowzahs. Where the food flows freely: Twiga told Annie that it has started producing horticultural products such as onions, tomatoes, and watermelons on its 650 hectares of land, with an estimated production of 150,000 tons of fresh produce per year. Indie brands, Made in China: 404 is the HTTP error code for “page not found”, so I can only surmise that Body404 is a platform for people who can’t quite find their bodies. In any case, Rita reports that it celebrates the diversity of Chinese indie brands. Charge it forward: Paypal alum trio Jeremy Jonker, Jay Ganatra, and Mario Ruiz have raised a $158 million fund and have already invested in 11 companies from the fund, Mary Ann reports. Spendin’ through the downturn: While last week was arguably the worst week for crypto asset performance in a very long time, eFounders seems unstoppable. The software-as-a-service startup studio is launching a new sub-studio called 3founders, Romain reports.

5 Lessons From ‘Star Wars That Can Transform Startup Executives’ Strategies And Tactics

The ‘Star WWarssaga is based on a story structure developed by Joseph Campbell, a writer ,and literature professor who conceived ‘the hero’s journey’.

Its 12-stage archetype calls for a protagonist who leaves ordinary life behind after hearing the call to adventure – you can imagine why it’s a popular metaphor among tech investors.

According to Scott Lenet, president of Touchdown Ventures, Jedi Knight Obi-Wan Kenobi offered five discreet lessons for founders and investors.

For example, “‘I have a bad feeling about this’ is a recurring joke in the franchise – almost every main character pronounces the line at one time or another,” writes Lenet.

“These are also words to live by for business and startup leaders, as they are emblems of awareness and proactiveness.”

(blogline+ is our membership program that helps founders and startup teams get ahead. You can sign up here.)

Big Tech Inc.

You might not think of “games” when you hear Hulu, but the latest partnership with Xbox changes that – Lauren reported that it just signed a new deal that gives US Hulu subscribers three months of PC Game Pass as Fa riends with Benefits- initiative. Great name aside, maybe it’s time to wipe down my gaming rig (Who am I kidding; I don’t have time to play games. Too busy tweeting about coffee and my slow-circulating-the-drain sanity ).

Following EU pressure, it appears Apple is getting closer to introducing Apple iPhone models with a USB-C port. As someone with USB-C cables strewn through every surface, room, nook, and cranny of my house, that would be wonderful for me — but Apple has withstood the pressure for a long time, so we’ll see what happens on that front. Happens. I’m sure Darrell will keep us updated on the shape of the iPhone splits.

Excuse me, Robot, are you my Uber? Uber Eats is testing autonomous deliveries with Serve and Motional. I hope the robots eat their vitamins, find love, and find some time for walks in the woods. I wrote this, I like this: Twitter is testing a new “Found by Author” label that appears when the creator of a tweet wants your reply, Aisha reports. Da, da, da, say goodbye to your data: A new report from the Irish Council for Civil Liberties states that a real-time bidding system is ‘the biggest data breach ever’. All things, all places, anytime, on the streetnear you: Uber unveiled a host of new platforms and features at its global product event. Rebecca reports that the new products include Uber’s ride-hail and delivery services and are designed to increase passenger numbers, open new industries, encourage drivers to go electric, and more.

Author

I have been blogging since August 2011. I have had over 10,000 visitors to my blog! My goal is to help people, and I have the knowledge and the passion to do this. I love to travel, dance, and play volleyball. I also enjoy hanging out with my friends and family. I started writing my blogs when I lived in California. I would wake up in the middle of the night and write something while listening to music and looking at the ocean. When I moved to Texas, I found a new place to write. I would sit in my backyard while everyone else was at work, and I could write all day.