Technology

Early-stage investments inherently have a higher risk of failing, but these risks also come with potentially higher rewards — getting in at the ground floor of a startup’s journey gives VCs more negotiation clout. This is particularly true at the very early pre-seed stage, where companies might barely have a functioning product to shout about. […]

‘High conviction, low volume’: Playfair launches $70M pre-seed fund for European startups by Paul Sawers originally published on TechCrunch

Walt Disney Co. has eliminated its metaverse division as part of staff cuts that promise to reduce head count by around 7,000 across the company over the next two months, reports The Wall Street Journal. CEO Bob Iger said Monday that those layoffs would begin this week. Disney’s next-generation storytelling and consumer experiences unit, the […]

Disney cuts metaverse division as part of broader restructuring by Rebecca Bellan originally published on TechCrunch

Tesla is bringing back its referral program to Europe, a strategy that taps into the brand loyalty of customers as it seeks to preserve market share and boost sales before the first quarter of 2023 closes. The referral program follows Tesla’s move to reduce prices in a variety of markets, including Europe, China and North […]

Tesla brings back European referral program as end of Q1 nears by Rebecca Bellan originally published on TechCrunch

If the past few years, and even the past week, has reminded us soundly of anything – it’s that the startup world will never be predictable.  To meet the changing startup landscape, we’re refreshing and re-imagining TechCrunch Disrupt 2023 in a big way with more of what you love and new ways to accelerate your […]

Disrupt 2023 — we’re shipping a big new release by Matthew Panzarino originally published on TechCrunch

It’s been tough to raise funds in the last few years for most sectors, and many VCs will tell you that a startup needs to have a killer product-market fit before getting that check. But Eric Tarczynski of Contrary Capital believes in investing in people over businesses, and the wisdom to this approach has been […]

Why some VCs bet on people over businesses by Rebecca Bellan originally published on TechCrunch

Snap’s head of growth and previously longtime product head Jacob Andreou is leaving the social media company after 8 years to join Greylock as a General Partner. The exec announced his transition plans via a Twitter post noting he would be leaving Snap in May to focus on partnering with the “next generation of consumer […]

Snap exec and head of growth Jacob Andreou heads to Greylock by Sarah Perez originally published on TechCrunch

The Biden administration on Monday announced a new executive order that would broadly ban U.S. federal agencies from using commercially developed spyware that poses threats to human rights and national security. The move to ban federal agencies — including law enforcement, defense and intelligence — from using commercial spyware comes as officials confirmed that dozens […]

Biden executive order bans federal agencies from using commercial spyware by Zack Whittaker originally published on TechCrunch

On Friday, Bloomberg reported that more layoffs could be on the way at Salesforce, quoting chief operating officer Brian Millham, who indicated that the company could be adding to the ongoing job cutting at the CRM leader and in tech in general. If the layoffs happen, it would come on top of the 10% cut […]

More layoff misery could be coming to Salesforce by Ron Miller originally published on TechCrunch