Scoop: Uber and Lyft held talks to buy group ride startup SkedaddleUber and Lyft each held talks to acquire Skedaddle, a startup that creates group bus rides by matching customers headed in the same direction, Axios has learned.
Why it matters: Ride-hailing companies have long touted carpooling, and a service like Skedaddle could help them tackle the "groups" category (e.g., charter buses to sporting events). [ Tech Crunch ] YC-backed Buttermilk brings easy-to-prepare Indian meals to your doorstepWhen Mitra Raman went off to college, all she wanted was a bowl of her mother’s homemade rasam. The daughter of Indian immigrants, Raman grew up eating traditional South Indian cuisine almost every day, but didn’t quite know how to make it just like mom when she left home. [ Tech Crunch ] VCs are fleeing ex-Facebook exec Chamath Palihapitiya's firm to launch an offshoot fund: 'It's like Social Capital without Chamath'
A New Generation Of Indian Startups Is Here -- And These Specialist VCs Are Driving ItThe startup story in India has, in the past, been defined by consumer-driven ventures like Flipkart and Snapdeal, which eventually became e-commerce giants, drawing billions in funding. Lately, however, there has been a gradual shift in that ecosystem as India's startups begin to focus on technology and product innovation, moving away from the consumer. Specialist VCs On The Rise This has led to the creation of specialist early stage funds, focused on grooming product innovation startups and headed by venture capitalists with domain expertise as well as entrepreneurial and operational experience. These specialist funds are playing a key role in co-creating scalable businesses, while bridging the funding gap between angel and series A investments in the venture capital spectrum of India. This Study Says You Shouldn't Let Your Employees Meditate. It's Totally Wrong--Here's WhyTo everything there is a season. And to every cultural trend there is a backlash. And now the backlash has come for meditation. Once confined to the lifestyle or health pages, you're now as likely to read about meditation in the business, sports or entertainment news. And just last week, there was news that the app Calm hit a valuation of $250 million, amid what TechCrunch called "an explosion of interest in Mindfulness apps." So it was no real surprise when we saw the New York Times opinion piece last week entitled "Hey Boss, You Don't Want Your Employees to Meditate." [ Fast Company ] This Silicon Valley Startup Says It Can Disrupt Your HangoverWe were promised jetpacks, etc., but the latest hype in techland surrounds something more workaday: Morning Recovery, a 3.4-ounce drink that purportedly beats hangovers. The formula is the product of 82 Labs, a Los Angeles-based startup founded by former Tesla engineer Sisun Lee. After visiting his native South Korea and witnessing go-getters down supplements that enabled them to wake up reasonably refreshed after a night of heroic drinking, Lee wanted to bring a similar product to the United States. His research led him to Jing Liang, a USC professor who had spent years researching hangover cures. Together they developed a concoction aimed at mitigating the effects of a night of excessive alcohol consumption. [ Fast Company ] China VC has overtaken Silicon Valley, but do aggregate numbers tell the whole story?The evidence is increasingly clear: 2018 is the year of the Chinese venture deal. With half of the year now complete, China is driving ahead of Silicon Valley and the rest of the United States on venture capital dollars invested into startups, according to a number of data sources including Crunchbase, China Money Network, and Pitchbook. [ Tech Crunch ] A $6 billion China startup wants to be the Amazon of health careIn Q2 2018, Global VC Scales Tipped In Favor Of Chinese Startups Over North America Uber Is in Talks With Careem to Merge in Middle EastCEO of Hong Kong’s hottest startup: ‘I’m the bottleneck of the company’Genderless Makeup Brand Jecca Is L'Oréal's Latest Startup SqueezeLeading Organizations: What Really Matters?What does it take for a team, business, or nonprofit to achieve audacious goals? Venture capitalist John Doerr argues that success has everything to do with how organizations — starting with their leaders — establish thoughtful objectives and transparent and measurable key results. With inside stories from Google to the Gates Foundation, from start-ups to giants, and from our families to our government, Doerr shares how to measure what matters most. AWS Startup Day 2018 New York: How to Build & Fund an Enterprise Startup in Today’s Tech EnvironmentAWS Startup Day 2018 - New York: The VC for Me |