Welcome to Startups Weekly — your weekly roundup of everything you can’t miss from the world of startups. Sign up here to receive it in your inbox every Friday.
In the corporate tug-of-war over remote work, CEOs like Andy Jassy and Elon Musk are the old-school gym teachers who insist everyone get back on the field, even though the bleachers are perfect. They argue that remote work feels like relaxation, yet studies and employee sentiment suggest otherwise, stressing that flexibility may just be the secret sauce to productivity and satisfaction.
Meanwhile, the rest of us watch this development like a tennis match, wondering if these executives will ever match their strategies to the realities of modern work preferences. Ron has been working from home as a writer for almost as long as I’ve been alive. No wonder we call him Daddy Ron (we don’t, honestly, although that would be hilarious). In any case, Ron argues that working from home isn’t over, and I can’t say I disagree in any way — even writing this from the local pizzeria. Working from home. Working from a pizzeria. Whatever the office isn’t, dear?
The most interesting startup stories of the week
Very controller. Lots of security. Image Credits: Checkr
Mahbod Moghadam, whose roller coaster career ranged from legal eagle to rap commentator to blockchain enthusiast, died in March at the age of 41. He leaves behind a legacy as colorful and controversial as back alley graffiti. Known for his outrageous antics and intellectual projects like Genius and the Wikipedia-but-on-blockchain Everipedia, Moghadam has been a go-getter trying to shake up the digital content payment scene with ventures like HellaDoge, and even in his latest actions, remained a thorn. the side of the institution he helped create. As the tributes roll in, the tech community reflects on a figure who was both a provocateur and a trailblazer, proving that in the startup world, being memorable is sometimes more impactful than being irresistible.
- Send background workers: Checkr, once Silicon Valley’s background check darling, has decided to cut its ranks by 382 employees, proving that even a $5 billion valuation can’t protect you from the harsh reality of a hiring freeze.
- Is fintech circling the drain?: As Y Combinator’s Demo Days wrap up, it’s clear that the once-bloated slice of the fintech startup pie is on a diet, shrinking from a whopping 24% to just 8% of the cohort in just two years. Maybe it’s just AI eating its proverbial lunch.
- It was not something: Aerospike, the NoSQL darling that started as a humble key-value store for adtech, just raised $109 million to keep playing in the big data sandbox. With its eye on the AI prize, Aerospike is revamping its database with all the modern features, including graphing and vector capabilities.
- Web3 means… beauty?: Kiki World is making your bathroom the next blockchain battleground and has decided that what the beauty industry really needs is more votes and digital tokens. So that’s… a thing.
- Say hello to the newest nearby candle: Guesty, the Airbnb of software platforms (or the software platform of Airbnbs), just raised $130 million to get the vacation rental management party going. Even in a post-pandemic world, investors can’t resist the allure of a good booking spree. With a valuation hovering close to a billion, it’s clear that while you were busy canceling your travel plans, Guesty was plotting global dominance one short-term rental at a time.
Moar transpo
Image Credits: Faraday Future
Look, I do my best to have a balance of everything here at Startups Weekly. It’s not my fault that the transportation team continues to punch way above its weight. Just read all their stuff, ok, all good.
In a twist that’s less weird and more “Muskian,” Elon Musk has denied claims that Tesla ditched an affordable EV for a robotaxi, only to turn around and tout an upcoming reveals robotaxi (even as Tesla throws in the towel on its original price car). critics he answered that it has been promising since 2016, but Full Self-Driving (FSD) continues to be a thorn in Tesla’s side.
Here are some highlights from the past week:
- Tesla Fire Sale: Tesla is slashing prices on its Model Y SUVs like they’re last season’s fad, desperate to clear an inventory backlog that’s become as unwieldy as traffic jams. Cutting prices by as much as $7,000, Tesla’s discount highlights its struggle to balance production with actual sales.
- Apple falls away from the car: Apple, after paying off its electric car project, has let go of 600 employees who were reportedly working on the project. I would pay good money to see the originals…
- An awful claim: Faraday Future, which runs on fumes, is now facing accusations from whistleblowers that it is inflating its already meager sales figures. Against a backdrop of layoffs, near-evictions and federal investigations, the company’s drama seems more suited to a soap opera than Silicon Valley. Pass the popcorn, I guess?
Other Unmissable TechCrunch Stories…
Click click. Image Credits: Frederic Lardinois/TechCrunch
Each week, there are always a few stories I want to share with you that somehow don’t fit into the above categories. It would be a shame if you missed them, so here’s a random goodie bag for you:
- Zero Day Price Increase: Playing the part of a modern-day arms dealer, Crowdfense is pouring millions into hacks that could make iPhones and Androids spill their secrets, all under the guise of aiding government surveillance. Zero-day exploits are the new gold rush, with prices soaring as tech giants fortify their strongholds.
- Fine, you can have my SSN. I wasn’t using it though: Greylock McKinnon Associates (GMA), a consulting firm that is no stranger to sensitive data, recently joined the “Hacked Club” by losing over 341,650 Social Security numbers. While they were busy providing support for lawsuits, the hackers were busy collecting data. Insert gibberish about how dumb are SSNs Anyway.
- Something about keyboards and magnets: Look, I’m as surprised as you are, but if my analysis software is anything to go by, it looks like people have been talking about Frederic’s piece on the magnetic keyboard switches. If the keyboard is your thing, we’re really pushing your buttons here.
- Summoning the drama: Snapchat decided to tweak rather than ditch its ‘Solar System’ friendship ranking feature, which was causing more teenage drama than a high school prom. It’s just another day at Snap, where the solution to tech-induced anxiety seems to be a toggle switch in the settings menu.
- InstaTalk: TikTok’s upcoming rival Instagram photo-sharing app could be called TikTok Notes, according to screenshots posted by users. TikTok also confirmed that the app was under development.
