5 Fascinating Details to Know About Cloudflare as It Heads Toward an IPOSan Francisco-based Cloudflare is among the next crop of billion-dollar startups going public this year.The internet security and content delivery network (CDN) company serves as the Web infrastructure backbone for 18 percent of the top 10,000 websites in the world. Among its customers: Ivy League universities like Yale; business software provider SAP; retail juggernauts Walmart and Starbucks; fitness company Peloton; Amazon-owned smart doorbell company Ring; oh, and about 10 percent of the Fortune 1,000. So, when Cloudflare's service goes down, as happened twice this summer, it affects a huge number of websites and millions of people who use them. [ INC ] The Technology 202: Venture capitalists aren't laughing about Andrew Yang's 'freedom dividend' proposalAndrew Yang's debate-stage announcement that he would give 10 American families $1,000 per month to test his plan for universal basic income sparked Twitter jokes, legal questions and even accusations that the tech entrepreneur-turned-presidential candidate is trying to buy votes. But Yang's risky strategy resonated with at least one group -- venture capitalists. [ The Washington Post ] Reddit's Alexis Ohanian: What I Wish a VC Had Told Me (Web Summit 2018)ContextTV presents "What I Wish a VC Had Told Me" by Alexis Ohanian at Web Summit 2018. Web Summit is a global conference held in Lisbon, Portugal, primarily focused on technology and venture capitalism. 11 big things: It keeps getting worse for WeWorkJust seven days ago, startup watchers were in shock that WeWork's valuation might fall to as low as $20 billion in its upcoming IPO. How young we were then. How naïve. VC in NYC: The Big Apple's booming exit environmentThis post is the first in a three-part series exploring New York City's expanding venture capital scene. Incredible Health’s hiring platform for nurses gets $15M led by Andreessen HorowitzAndreessen Horowitz has led a $15 million Series A in US-based job matching platform for nursing vacancies, Incredible Health. Other investors in the funding round include NFX, Obvious Ventures, Precursor Ventures and Gingerbread Capital. To date the recruitment startup has raised a total of $17M. [ Tech Crunch ] Venture Capitalist Tim Draper: The Year-One Survival Guide (Web Summit 2018)ContextTV presents "The Year-One Survival Guide" by Tim Draper at Web Summit 2018. Web Summit is a global conference held in Lisbon, Portugal, primarily focused on technology and venture capitalism. How Austin’s failed attempt to regulate Uber and Lyft foreshadowed today’s ride-hailing controversiesUber, Lyft, and the places where they operate still can’t quite agree on how to regulate the companies’ relationship with their thousands of employees — sorry, the independent contractors whose cars, time, and energy make the companies run. Uber has also spent hundreds of millions on marketing to get out from under the #DeleteUber campaign after the company incentivized drivers to work during taxi boycotts after Trump’s travel ban; 14 women just filed a case against Lyft claiming they were sexually assaulted by drivers; and both are pouring tens of millions of dollars into supporting a ballot initiative in California to carve out a special form of non-employment for drivers to help them avoid paying benefits and the minimum wage. [ Vox ] Startups Weekly: Part & Parcel plans plus-sized fashion empireHello and welcome back to Startups Weekly, a weekend newsletter that dives into the week’s noteworthy startups and venture capital news. Before I jump into today’s topic, let’s catch up a bit. Last week, I wrote about Stripe’s grand plans. Before that, I noted Peloton’s secret weapons. Remember, you can send me tips, suggestions and feedback to kate.clark@techcrunch.com or on Twitter @KateClarkTweets. If you don’t subscribe to Startups Weekly yet, you can do that here. [ Tech Crunch ] This AI can pass a 12th-grade standardized science testLast week, researchers at the Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence demonstrated in a new paper that an AI they’d designed could ace an eighth-grade multiple-choice science test with more than 90 percent correct answers — and do quite well on a 12th-grade science test, too, with more than 80 percent correct answers. [ Vox ] SexTech, Kobalt, sales efficiency, philanthropy and ethics, Brexit, and startup growth tactics
WeWork considers even lower valuation amid investor concernsWeWork has released a revised S-1 document detailing governance changes in response to a dwindling valuation and negative investor sentiment. Additionally, the workspace provider confirmed it will trade on the Nasdaq under the symbol WE. CryptoKitties Creator Raises $11 Million from Warner, A16z to Launch BlockchainWarner Music is collaborating with Dapper Labs, the company behind CryptoKitties, to create a new blockchain called Flow. According to a story in Forbes Thursday, Dapper Labs has garnered $11 million in funding for the project, including investment from Warner. The round is led by Andreessen Horowitz, with other major venture firms like Union Square Ventures, Digital Currency Group, Venrock and Accomplice also participating. [ coindesk ] Which US companies had the biggest IPO haircuts?Not every startup with a meteoric rise in its private valuation has had a fairy-tale journey to the public markets. Enterprise Women VCsAs an enterprise investor at Array Ventures I am looking for other investors to follow our deals ie. Series A+ investors. Often our founders are asking for enterprise investors that are woman so I decided to gather a list I can share with entrepreneurs when they are raising their follow-on rounds. No excuses for there aren’t enough enterprise women investors! We have a really amazing list of women here. Most of them highly technical and have amazing exits under their belt! And just to keep it manageable we are only listing women/fund that can lead deals. [ Medium ] MMC Ventures AI masterclass: StrategyAt MMC's recent AI Masterclass, Founder and CEO of Peak, Richard Potter, answers questions including, how do I develop an AI strategy? And, how can you make AI affordable? Adora Cheung - How to Prioritize Your TimeYC Partner Adora Cheung shares her framework for how founders can efficiently make use of their time. She covers ways to identify and prioritize tasks, in addition to how you can measure their impact on your company. E975 Machine Zone CEO Kristen Dumont on growing mobile gaming unicorn, creating global contentMachine Zone CEO Kristen Dumont on growing her mobile gaming unicorn, journey from advisor to COO to CEO, iterating to the best business model, creating exciting content for a global market, attracting celebrity talent, & optimizing for employee productivity at the highest level The Year Of The Unicorn, Venture Capital Of The FutureDuring the venture capital panel at the Trusted Insight Summit 2019, asset managers and entrepreneurs discussed what it takes to build a unicorn company; the next metropolitan areas to produce the most unicorns; and the concept of "Blitzscaling" and startups that can benefit from this approach. Using Product Led Growth as an Indicator for Investment w/OpenView Venture Partner, Ashley SmithCongratulations you’ve built a product that’s proven itself in the marketplace! So how can you leverage that product’s success to obtain the valuation and funding you need to scale? Ashley Smith, Venture Partner at OpenView provides insight on what investors are looking for in product metrics and growth indicators so you can capitalize on your product's story for funding. |