Startup that sells your salary data to VCs gets bought by SoliumInvestors don’t want their portfolio companies to pay you too much, or too little. So they pay Advanced-HR for its compensation data pulled from 2,500 startups. With a generic name, the service has flown somewhat under the radar since launching 20 years ago. As startups grow more professional while staying private longer, they’re getting serious about how they structure equity compensation plans to retain talent. Solium sells them stock option planning software. [ Tech Crunch ] Lauren Duca became an internet star overnight. Now, she says she’s ‘fireproof.’Towards the end 2016, Lauren Duca was on Fox News for 10 minutes — but that was enough time to completely change her career. Duca, a journalist/activist who had written a mega-viral essay for Teen Vogue titled “Donald Trump Is Gaslighting America,” which she says is “still true” today. Written over a two-day coffee-and-wine bender, the article’s overnight popularity surpassed every expectation she had. [ Recode ] YouTube Promoted Video Fueling Parkland Shooting ConspiracyYouTube was criticized after promoting a video with a title that suggested a teenage survivor of last week’s Florida school shooting was a paid actor, the latest sign of the internet industry’s ongoing struggle to suppress conspiracy theories, fake news and bots. The video shows David Hogg, a student who has spoken out for gun control after the attack that killed 17 in Parkland, Florida, in a Los Angeles TV news clip from last summer. A description of the video read, "DAVID HOGG THE ACTOR...." Below the video, YouTube’s algorithm suggested viewers watch a clip with similar claims. The first video spent several hours at the top of YouTube’s "Trending" section before being removed on Wednesday. [ Bloomberg ] FOR WOMEN IN CRYPTOCURRENCY, A NEW EFFORT TO GROW THEIR RANKSFriday evening in February, a dozen women huddled over flutes of champagne in a corner of the cavernous, trendy Williamsburg Hotel in Brooklyn. Varying in age, nationality, geography, and professional background, some donned the startup uniform of hoodies and sneakers while others looked at home on Wall Street in tailored suits and heels. As they introduced themselves and explained how they knew the event’s host, venture investor Jalak Jobanputra, they emanated nervous energy and a shared enthusiasm for one topic: cryptocurrency. [ WIRED ] Gabi gets $9.5M to help car and home owners find better insurance once it’s availableIf you own a car or home, one of the biggest challenges you’ll face is finding the right insurance plan that’ll cover everything you need and save you some money — but those plans are always changing, and consumers are getting stuck footing a bill they don’t necessarily need, according to Hanno Fichtner. Uber CEO Touts ‘Great’ Talks With Toyota CEO on Autonomous CarsThe world’s largest car maker and the world’s biggest ride-hailing company plan to team up on autonomous driving as technological changes sweep through the transportation industry. On Thursday, Dara Khosrowshahi, chief executive officer of Uber Technologies Inc., posted a photo on Twitter of him and Toyota Motor Corp. President Akio Toyoda, along with Executive Vice President Shigeki Tomoyama at the automaker’s headquarters. The Uber CEO is smiling and holding a black baseball bat from local hero Ichiro Suzuki, while Toyoda laughs at his side. [ Bloomberg ] Coinbase is hiring a CFO — and still fending off interest from investorsCoinbase is moving to hire a chief financial officer in what would be a big move for the cryptocurrency platform’s growth plans. It is also raising questions about the company’s potential plans to eventually go public. Adding an experienced, high-powered CFO is often read as a move that a business is eyeing an IPO. But that’s perhaps a less-revealing tea leaf at a financial services company like Coinbase, which could use help fine-tuning its massive, complicated business model. Coinbase has been in late-stage talks with a number of candidates, according to people close to the company, and hiring a permanent CFO is one of its top priorities this year. Veteran CFO Tim Laehy joined the company last October to serve in the role in an interim capacity, according to his LinkedIn profile, but Laehy is not expected to stay in that role. [ Re/Code ] The Rise And Rise Of Supergiant Rounds
Venture capitalists are investing an ‘unprecedented’ amount of money in tech — but there’s a catchWhen Jennifer Fonstad became a venture capitalist, joining Draper Fisher Jurvetson in 1997, only 10 percent of the companies funded there had prior investors. And back then, she says, there was really just one angel investor — Ron Conway. “Cycle forward 20 years and you have incubators, accelerators, seed funds, angel networks, micro-funds,” Fonstad said on the latest episode of Recode Decode, hosted by Kara Swisher. “The amount of capital available to get a company started is unprecedented.” But just because there’s a lot of money floating around doesn’t mean that it’s spread evenly. Fonstad said most VC money is still directed at nascent companies, or successful ones that are scaling up; not enough is being pledged to help companies cross the “chasm” in which so many startups fail, which is one of the ills Aspect is hoping to address. [ Re/Code ] Some Silicon Valley residents with incomes up to $400,000 consider themselves "middle class"THIS STARTUP’S TEST SHOWS HOW HARASSMENT TARGETS WOMEN ONLINEBike-share startup Zagster raises $15 millionMIT Sandbox’s first acquired startup gives backUpWest Labs just raised $18 million to bring Israeli founders to the USYour startup has passed the early stages. Now what?Silicon Valley is so expensive that people who make $400,000 think they're middle-class — here's what the middle class actually is in the 25 largest US citiesStartup that sells your salary data to VCs gets bought by Solium21 Early-Stage Drone Companies To Watch Out For (Literally)How to build a viral app: TBH founder gives startup advice at UC BerkeleyThese are the best cities for women in techThe top 10 cities for women in tech in 2018 |