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Contents
The businesskinda.com Top 3
- Brrr, it’s cold in here: manish writes that a “venture capital winter” will last a little longer, according to Masayoshi Son of SoftBank. It’s kind of interesting, though, that a company often known for pumping large amounts of capital into companies, cough, WeWork, cough, seems shocked that companies aren’t willing to give up the high valuations when they raise new funding. In the meantime, Alex gives his opinion in a businesskinda.com+ release that looks at the losses of SoftBank’s Vision Fund.
- Hook, line, but hopefully no sinker: Twilio confirmed that hackers gained unauthorized access to company credentials under the guise of telling employees their passwords had expired, carly reports.
- Another big private equity dealVista Equity Partners to Acquire Automated Tax Compliance Firm Avalara in $8.4 Billion Cash Deal Paul writes. There have been some other major private equity deals this year, including another acquisition Vista made of Citrix earlier this year and Thoma Bravo’s two of Anaplan and Ping Identity.
Startups and VC
So many incredible things were published this weekend, it’s hard to choose what to put in this Ye Olde Lettre of Neues.
We loved today’s Equity podcast, “How to Lose Money, SoftBank Edition.” Rebecca‘s transport and mobility overview, the station, was also particularly good, breaking down what’s happening in the land of micro-mobility and much more. (Also, her update from earlier in the week had a lot more information about Cybertruck’s earnings.)
The collapse of Three Arrows Capital and the counterparties embroiled in the crypto hedge fund’s problems have raised questions about the soundness of the intoxicating investment space for digital assets. For the industry’s survivors, seeing their rivals fall to pieces overnight was an alarming experience. Bitmain co-founder welcomes crypto regulation to help stabilize things, Rita reports.
wooo:
- Enter Cryptic South Korea: Singapore-based cryptocurrency platform Crypto.com has acquired two startups in South Korea for an undisclosed amount, Kate reports.
- Geek+: All your warehouse is ours: Beijing-based warehouse robotics company Geek+ just raised another $100 million in funding (the company calls it a “Series E1,” whatever that means), Brian reports.
- Virtually office-like virtual: Kylea reports that Kumospace closed a $21 million Series A just a year after the company raised $3 million in a seed round, to replace physical offices with virtual ones.
- Data in, data out: Equalum wants to help companies build a data pipeline and closed a $14 million Series C round to do just that, Kylea reports.
- You don’t download a solar panel from the internet, do you? Only online solar seller raises $23 million, promises “dramatically lower prices”, Harris writes in her latest piece.
3 ways to optimize SaaS sales in a downturn
“In a recession, money saved is worth even more than money earned,” meaning SaaS sales strategies must shift from driving growth to helping customers conserve their resources, writes Sahil Mansuri, CEO of Bravado.
“If you can frame your product as a way to increase sales or reduce costs, people will find a budget.”
Mansuri, who started in software sales during the Great Recession, shares multiple strategies SaaS startups can use to “adjust your approach, show potential customers unexpected opportunities, and focus on the money.”
(businesskinda.com+ is our membership program that helps founders and startup teams move forward. You can register here.)
Big Tech Inc.
Google is suing Sonos again for patent infringement. Ivan writes that two new lawsuits “center around different patents related to keyword detection, charging costs using ‘technologies invented by Google’, and determining which speaker of a group should respond to the keyword.” Both companies have won against each other in previous lawsuits, so we’ll see who the court side with this time.
Get ready for more in-car ads if you use Lyft regularly. The ride-hailing company has launched a new digital advertising company called Lyft Media that will put infotainment in cars and promises that some of that advertising revenue will go to drivers. Jaclyn reports.
- “To the public and back”: In the businesskinda.com+ area, Ron talks about “long, weird startup trips” with Andre Durand, CEO of Ping Identity, whose company, as you may have read above, is now in an acquisition deal with Thoma Bravo after going public for several years.
- Maybe steam next time: carly and Anita linked to explain what happened at Tornado Cash, which is being sanctioned by the US Treasury Department after it was accused of laundering stolen cryptocurrency.
- Not into playing games: Netflix finds no subscriber love in its mobile games division. Lauren reports that less than 1% of Netflix subscribers want to play them.
- Get in my self-driving car: Chinese internet giant Baidu gears up to place its fully self-driving commercial robot axi in Wuhan and Chongqing after getting a permit, Rebecca reports.
- Climate technology is changing the world: To stay on top of developments in climate technology, AI and more, sign up for the Emerging Tech Brew newsletter for free.
Janice has been with businesskinda for 5 years, writing copy for client websites, blog posts, EDMs and other mediums to engage readers and encourage action. By collaborating with clients, our SEO manager and the wider businesskinda team, Janice seeks to understand an audience before creating memorable, persuasive copy.