What Shutting Down Your Startup Feels Like – Avni Patel Thompson of Poppy with Kat ManalacAvni Patel Thompson founded Poppy, which helped parents book the best caregivers. They went through the YC Winter 2016 batch and recently shut down. Avni asked to come on the podcast to talk about what the process of shutting down was like. Kat
Manalac is a partner at YC. Bud raises $20M to connect banks to fintechs and other financial servicesBud, the U.K. fintech that helps banks connect their apps and data to other fintech companies and financial service providers, has closed over $20 million in further funding. The Series A round sees the company pick up backing from a number of banks: HSBC (which, via First Direct, it also counts as a customer), Goldman Sachs, ANZ, Investec’s INVC fund, and InnoCells (the corporate venture arm of Banco Sabadell). [ Tech Crunch ] Spotify is in talks to buy Gimlet for more than $200 million. That’s a big deal for the podcasting world.Spotify, which has been trying to branch out of the streaming music business, is getting ready to make its first big move into podcasting: It plans to pay more than $200 million to buy Gimlet Media, the startup behind popular shows like Reply All. Sources say Spotify is in advanced talks to acquire Gimlet, the Brooklyn-based company which produces a network of popular shows and makes shows for advertisers like Gatorade. Gimlet has also been moving into TV production, including a deal that turned Homecoming, which started out as a scripted podcast, into an Amazon TV show starring Julia Roberts. [ Recode ] Startup founder Melissa Hanna says more Silicon Valley investors need to be courageous and invest in people 'who are not like them'
Nutanix CEO Pandey Talks ‘Standing Up’ To VMware And ‘Archaic’ vTax“Somebody had to respond to this bullying. The customers felt a little helpless because obviously they are running a business,” said Nutanix CEO Dheeraj Pandey, regarding his recent ‘Stop Being A Bully, VMware!’ blog post. Bird CEO on scooter startup copycats, unit economics, safety and seasonalityBird’s electric scooters were on full display at the Upfront Summit in Malibu last week, a two-day event that brings together the likes of Hollywood, Silicon Valley and Washington, DC’s elite. Not only were a dozen or so brand spanking new scooters available to ride throughout the event but Upfront general partner Mark Suster, an investor in the startup, was seen riding a Bird on stage to the tune of Chamillionaire’s ‘Ridin’ Dirty.’ Plus, Bird founder and chief executive officer Travis VanderZanden was on site to mingle with attendees before closing the summit with a fireside chat with Suster himself. [ Tech Crunch ] Chat app Line injects $182M into its mobile payment businessJapanese messaging app company Line is pumping 20 billion JPY ($182 million) into its mobile payment business as it tries to turn things around following a challenging year in 2018. The company announced the infusion
into Line Pay, a subsidiary that it fully owns, in a filing which stated that the new capital is “necessary funds for its future business operation.” No further details were provided. [ Tech Crunch ] Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s artist-collaboration platform HitRecord raises $6.4MIn the early 2000s, actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt was frustrated with the roles he was being offered. Instead of starring in critically acclaimed indies, he was typecast as “the funny kid on TV” due to roles like Tommyfrom “3rd Rock from the Sun.” So like anyone who matured alongside the internet, he created a website where he could ideate, produce and share his work. More than 10 years later, he wants to turn that pet project, called HitRecord, into a full-fledged technology company. [ Tech Crunch ] |