What do we hear? Is it Friday, May 20, 2022, on the calendar and the soft, seductive song of the sirens of a weekend just around the corner? Why, yes, that must be it!
Our events team is busy putting together a great TechCrunch Disrupt, and we’re excited about Startup Battlefield, where winners will walk away with a $100,000 check to continue building the future they’re building. visualization. Here’s how to run. – Haje and Christine
TechCrunch’s Top 3
- UST UGH: The founder of Terraform Labs, Do Kwon, is involved in the special financial crime unit of Korea, which opened an investigation into the collapse of Terraform’s stablecoin TerraUSD (UST) and token its sister Luna earlier this month. Prosecutors may be first, but the line is growing, with investors filing lawsuits against Kwon and his co-founder Daniel Shin over allegations of fraud and other violations of regulation other financial arrangements. Also joining the group were the advisors of the Luna Protection Foundation, who told Jacquie they hadn’t heard from Kwon in weeks.
- Deadlock: We love reading CarlyThis section outlines what happened to Costa Rica’s ransomware attacks – the Conti gang is trying to overthrow the government – and who could be next. As of the time of our newsletter, the ransom is still going on. The deadline is set for May 23.
- Klarna konundrum: The latest supposed payment company should be fine lowering its value and in its case, have some capital attached. We think Alex sums it up very well, saying, “No one likes a round of drops. They’re diluted, messy, and demoralized. But they’re also a lot better than not raising money and dying, so companies go up. them when requested.” He dives into why Klarna joining an insider round at a low valuation is worth it.
Start-ups and VC
Today, we’re a little excited about Haje’s somewhat pompous statement about The new Coca-Cola bottle caps do not separate from the bottle, in the context of a green wash.
We also love Brianis a passage about Pebble founder Eric Migicovsky’s love for small phones. “If no one else does, I guess I’ll be forced to do it myself,“Migicovsky lamented.
Also, Brian and Haje tagged on a pair of articles about Sony’s new earbuds. Brian self-covering the buds (“As someone who has tested a lot of headphones over the course of a year, the LinkBuds S are some of the best sounding and most comfortable I have had in my ears”), and Haje double-clicked. Endel sound scene maker app.
Put on your dance shoes, have a real dance party with more news coming your way:
We also have a recap of some of the great stories coming from our Mobility events:
Three things to remember when diversifying your startup’s cap board
Image credits: redmal (Opens in a new window) / Beautiful pictures
Just as the sales team builds and refines their funnel, early-stage founders in fundraising can create a channel of investors that will help sustain their company for years to come.
Oriana Papin-Zoghbi, CEO and co-founder of women’s health startup AOA Dx, shared her investor breakdown with TC+:
- 35% private investors
- 34% women (female investors or women-led funds)
- 26% venture capitalists
- 23% of family and friends
- 18% of international investors
- 15% angel group
“When building an investor channel, saying what you want is an important factor in finding the right investor,” says Papin-Zoghbi.
“Finding the right investors is like finding the right team members – you need to be upfront about your expectations and address what you want them to bring to the table.”
(TechCrunch+ is our membership program that helps founders and startup teams rise to the top. You can register here.)
Big Tech Inc.
- Deposit 25 cents: If you’re a gamer, we assume you have some thoughts on God of War: Ragnarök. Devin’s view is that the game is “probably the most accessible title ever, and that’s saying something.” It’s nice to see Microsoft create a game that offers customizable features for people with some specific disabilities, like visual or hearing impaired.
- Snaps family together: For every parent who wants to know who their kids are interacting with on Snapchat, the social media giant is about to launch a parental control feature, “Family Hub.” For those of you who don’t use Snapchat or don’t have kids, Sarah Let us know this is very important as this is one of the few social networks where you cannot see someone’s friends list.
- Divine Poké Ball!: Now available as a Poké Ball bonus for being both a Pokémon GO player and an Amazon Prime member.
- Dating Update: Looks like Match Group, the parent company of the dating apps Tinder, Hinge and OkCupid, has a good relationship with Google. Crisis prevention?
