The Sorry State of “Games Are Art” In 2015
With Apple’s banning of games wholesale because of a flag we have yet another example of how games are censored more than other media, how games are devalued and treated as second class media citizens. This at a time when experimental games are under threat from all quarters. Games should be treated as equals. Read More- CRUNCH NETWORK
Where Are The Invisible Apps?
More than a year ago, Matthew Panzarino wrote an article on TechCrunch in which he described a new type of mobile app experience that he coined the Invisible App. He predicted that we would imminently see the rise of a huge number of apps that would live in the background, anticipating our needs based on sensor and contextual data, and do things for us before we even had to ask. What an… Read More - CRUNCH NETWORK
Uber Ruling Is A Harbinger Of The Need For Employment Law Change
The recent ruling by a hearing officer with the California Labor Commission in a case involving an Uber driver is bad public policy. The issue this ruling addresses — whether the driver should be classified as an “employee” or “contractor” — is of crucial importance to Uber and all the on-demand companies that use a similar business model. Read More Onefinestay, A High-End Airbnb Rival, Confirms $40M Raise From Intel Capital, Hyatt And More
As Airbnb closes in on a major round of financing that will reportedly value it at $24 billion, smaller startups riffing on the same model of renting out private homes are also heating up. Onefinestay, a five year-old business out of London that focuses on renting out private luxury homes, has raised $40 million — a Series D round of funding that the company plans to use to keep… Read More- CRUNCH NETWORK
Moving The Economy Beyond The Turing Test And Man Vs. Machine
We need economics that sees dollars as means and improving the connection between people as the meaning. Read More SpaceX’s Failed CRS-7 Mission Had Something To Do With An “Overpressure Event”
It’s not entirely clear what happened during the launch of SpaceX‘s Commercial Resupply Services 7 (CRS-7) mission Sunday morning. A SpaceX cargo ship set out to deliver samples and supplies to the astronauts onboard the International Space Station for its seventh resupply mission this morning. Sadly, that rocket and all supplies exploded mid-air, shortly after blast-off at 10:22… Read More- CRUNCH NETWORK
10 Things That Can Derail A Round Of Funding
We read a lot about the seemingly 50-plus eight-figure venture rounds happening every day. All those great stories; this Razor-a-Day company raising at $600 million, that Valets-for-Pets company raising at $400 million. And we see a lot of advice on how to put together a good deck, do a good pitch, etc. What I’ve rarely seen is founder advice on why deals fall apart post-term sheet. Read More
NEWSLETTERS
Facebook’s Snapchatty New Photo Uploader Lets You Overlay Text And More
Face it. Your photos aren’t all that interesting. But Facebook’s going to help you jazz them up with its shiny new photo uploader, which just began testing on iOS. It lets you add overlaid text in any color, instantly preview filters that you swipe across your photos, or paste Facebook’s stickers on top. Facebook offered more standard filters before and had tested photo… Read More- CRUNCH NETWORK
They’re All P2P Employment Agencies
Instagram is big. But Upwork and YouTube are bigger. Twitter is big. But Uber and Airbnb are bigger. Your startup idea is big. But your startup idea that pays people is bigger. What do YouTube, Airbnb, Uber and Upwork have in common? You can get paid using them. And thousands of people are getting an income from them right now. Read More Approaching Policy After Uber’s Scorched Earth
The blowback to Uber reached a new level of intensity this week with massive and occasionally violent street protests in France. Our very own Romain Dillet walked around Paris snapping photos of the protests, which included overturned cars, smashed windows, and tires set on fire. Even for a nation with a storied past of truculent protest politics, the anti-Uber mobs were notable. It should come… Read More- CRUNCH NETWORK
Why Your Next Package Will Be Delivered By An Uber
Geographic saturation is the key to network effects and profitability in the ridesharing business. The more drivers Uber or Lyft have in a given region, the faster the pick-up times, the better the customer experience, and the more rider demand — which in turn allows drivers to earn more money, and attracts more drivers to the network. Read More SpaceX’s CRS-7 Mission Ends In Catastrophic Failure, Loss Of Vehicle
LATEST: Watch the NASA press conference above, which should begin no earlier than 12:30 PM ET, to learn more about what happened during today’s failed CRS-7 mission launch. Here’s a video of the explosion of the unmanned Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon capsule: UPDATE: The SpaceX rocket seems to have broken apart entirely in what looks like a major mission failure. During the feed… Read More- CRUNCH NETWORK
From Social Networks To Market Networks
Most people didn’t notice last month when a 35-person company in San Francisco called HoneyBook announced a $22 million Series B. What was unusual about the deal is that nearly all the best-known Silicon Valley VCs competed for it. That’s because HoneyBook is a prime example of an important new category of digital company that combines the best elements of networks like Facebook… Read More The Millennial Delusion
The obsession with “millennials” continues to fascinate me. Despite being the most outspoken generation in history, people – very important and powerful people – claim they don’t understand us. We make no sense apparently, as if the actions and career paths of our parents make total and complete sense. There are even consulting firms that specialize in… Read More- CRUNCH NETWORK
Robot Writers Need Something To Say
Robot writers are hot. No, that statement is not a call to fix their air conditioners, much less to date them. It’s to acknowledge that pioneers in artificial intelligence (AI) and automated writing have gotten a lot of media attention (partly because it hits close to home; the deployments are public and noticeable and it invokes the perennial concern about job loss due to automation). Read More Searching For The Next Wave Of Education Innovation
I’m going to come right out and say it: few areas have been as hopeful and as disappointing as innovation in education. Education is probably the single most important function in our society today, yet it remains one of the least understood, despite incredible levels of investment from venture capitalists and governments. Why do students continue to show up in a classroom or start an… Read MoreYC-Backed Cymmetria Uses Virtual Machines To Decoy And Detect Hackers
YC-backed Cymmetria, which is uncloaking from stealth now after around a year working its cyber security startup business, wants to tilt the traditional security odds so it’s hackers who are left feeling vulnerable and on their guard — by giving the businesses whose systems are under attack a ‘home advantage’. Read More- CRUNCH NETWORK
The SaaSing Of The Music Business
The music business is about to undergo another seismic shift. And Apple’s streaming service is the tsunami that will force the industry to rebuild. Again. It was around 2005 when I joined Warner Bros. Records as their new head of technology. I was the 20-something-year-old kid who was supposed to have every answer about all things digital. Read More - CRUNCH NETWORK
The Future Is Here, It’s Just Unevenly Distributed Systems
Hearken to me, my fellow developers. We live in complex and confusing times. Once we sought to make things ever simpler. Then we discovered that simple isn’t necessarily scalable, or efficient, or resilient, and turned to favoring composition over simplicity, deconstructing our systems into multiple independent services. And now–well–now it sometimes seems we have hit upon… Read More - CRUNCH NETWORK
The Berlin Startup Ecosystem Needs An IPO In The U.S.
On the heels of Microsoft’s acquisition of the Berlin startup darling 6Wunderkinder for a price between $100 and $200 million, the debate rages on about whether Berlin startups should be bolder and wait longer for an exit. The consensus in the Berlin startup ecosystem is that we are still missing one extraordinarily big success. Read More
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