https://techcrunch.com Startup and Technology News Fri, 19 Jun 2020 01:30:09 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=5.4.2 https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/cropped-cropped-favicon-gradient.png?w=32 https://techcrunch.com 32 32 136296444 https://techcrunch.com/2020/06/18/tesla-wants-a-68m-property-tax-break-for-its-cybertruck-gigafactory/ https://techcrunch.com/2020/06/18/tesla-wants-a-68m-property-tax-break-for-its-cybertruck-gigafactory/#respond Fri, 19 Jun 2020 01:28:47 +0000 https://techcrunch.com/?p=2005677 Tesla is seeking up to $68 million in property tax abatement from a Texas school district to build a factory that will be used to produce Model Y crossovers for the East Coast market as well as its upcoming Cybertruck pickup.
The application to the Del Valle School District located in Travis County southeast of Austin was made public by the Texas comptroller’s office Thursday and first reported by the Austin Statesman. The property tax abatement proposal, which the school district has agreed to consider, is one of several potential incentives deals aimed at attracting the automaker to the state. Travis County commissioners are also weighing a possible incentives package, which has yet to be made public. And if the process to approve Tesla’s factories in Nevada and New York are any guide, state incentives are also likely. There are other beneficial rewards Texas could offer Tesla such as allowing the automaker to sell directly to consumers, a method that is prohibited in the state.
For now, the Chapter 313 application is the only public document that provides some details about Tesla’s plans. (Under the Texas Tax Code, Chapter 313 permits a school district to give property tax breaks for economic development projects.)
Here are the important nuggets of the Chapter 313 application that the school district has agreed to consider.
- The application is filed by Colorado River Project LLC, a new subsidiary of Tesla that was likely created to help keep its activity under wraps.
- Tesla would receive up to $68 million property tax abatement over a 10-year period
- In return, Tesla would agree to building a 4 to 5 million-square-foot factory that would employ more than 5,000 workers
- About 25 of those workers are categorized as “qualifying” jobs and would be paid a minimum of $74,050, while the remaining would below that figure
- The location southeast of Austin off of Texas 130 is a collection of parcels that equals 2,100 acres in the Austin Green development.
Tesla does not yet own the land, according to the application. The company does have an option to buy the land, CEO Elon Musk wrote Thursday in a tweet correcting a report that the company had already acquired the property.
The purchase of the land is very much dependent on those incentives, according to language in the application. Here’s a key nugget.
“For a project to succeed, it must also have an acceptable rate of return to secure the necessary capital and compete in the automobile industry against some very capable competitors that have been longstanding industry players. Therefore, local and state tax incentives serve a critical role in getting the project approved and operating successfully. This is especially critical in Texas due to the high level of real and personal property taxes relative to other states. Since school taxes are the largest component of property taxes, the Section 313 tax limitation is especially critical to create a level playing field between Texas and other states vying for this project. Therefore, obtaining the 313 limitation is a determining factor in the decision whether to locate the project in Texas.”
The timing of the application, which comes just a few months since Musk tweeted that Tesla was scouting locations for a so-called “Cybertruck Gigafactory,” illustrates the pressure the company is exerting and the speed at which the deal is coming together. If approved, Tesla said it will begin construction in the third quarter of 2020.
It also suggests that all gigafactory roads are pointing to Austin. However, the local business community steered clear of celebrating.
“While we have engaged in multiple discussions with Tesla, the company has not made a final decision regarding its next Gigafactory,” Charisse Bodisch, senior vice president, of economic development at the Austin Chamber of Commerce. “The potential location being explored is an underutilized site that is in clear need of revitalization, and it would be a perfect fit for an environmentally focused organization like Tesla. We are home to a talented and diverse workforce, and we are grateful that Austin is being considered. We will continue to make the case for why this would be a win for Tesla and for our community when it comes to job creation, economic impact and workforce development.”
. Tesla was eyeing Nashville and had been in talks with officials there. Tesla informed Nashville officials in May that the city is out of the running for its gigafactory location.
That leaves Tulsa, Oklahoma as the remaining dark horse in the race to lock in a factory that could employ thousands of workers. And while many believe that Texas is the sure winner, Oklahoma is still pushing forward.
“Tulsa is in the final running to attract Tesla’s giga-factory. We’ve pulled together a compelling, well-balanced and, more importantly, a responsible performance-based incentives package to attract Tesla to Oklahoma,” Sean Kouplen, Oklahoma’s Secretary of Commerce and Workforce Development said in an emailed statement. “Our offer not only includes the standard incentives package presented to companies interested in locating to Oklahoma, but also financial commitments to improve local infrastructure and invest in our workforce, expanding
Kouplen argued in his statement that Oklahoma’s central location, pro-business stance and Automotive Engineer Workforce Tax Credit would make the state the right choice for Tesla.
“We know we can attract engineers to Tulsa. In fact we’ve already shared with Tesla thousands of resumes from qualified candidates who’d move to Oklahoma for a Tesla job,” Kouplen said. “The State, Tulsa and our community partners have rallied to demonstrate that Tesla would be a most welcome addition to our state. Tulsa Mayor GT Bynum expressed it best when he said, “Tulsa is a city that doesn’t stifle entrepreneurs – we revere them!”
]]> https://techcrunch.com/2020/06/18/tesla-wants-a-68m-property-tax-break-for-its-cybertruck-gigafactory/feed/ 0 2005677 https://techcrunch.com/2020/06/18/apex-crossplay-switch/ https://techcrunch.com/2020/06/18/apex-crossplay-switch/#respond Fri, 19 Jun 2020 00:05:20 +0000 https://techcrunch.com/?p=2005722 Respawn just dropped a big ol’ bundle of news about its popular free-to-play Battle Royale shooter, Apex Legends, during a livestream event hosted by its parent company, EA.
The key bits:
- Apex is coming to the Nintendo Switch this fall. Playing Apex up until now has meant camping in front of a TV (or rigging up something on your phone from a cloud streaming service, which… in a game as twitchy and latency sensitive as Apex, isn’t ideal.) This will finally bring some mobility into the mix.
- Also coming this fall: crossplay! Up until this point, playing on PS4 meant playing solely with other PS4 players. Want to play with a buddy who only has an Xbox? Buy an Xbox. Once they fire up crossplay, however, Xbox, PS4, PC, and Switch players will be able to play together on the same servers. Specific details on how it’ll actually work are still a bit light, but it’s officially on the way.
- Previously only made available to PC players via EA’s Origins store, Apex will finally be making its way to Steam.
For the unfamiliar: Apex is a Battle Royale game of a similar vein to games like PUBG or Fortnite — but first person instead of third person, and without Fortnite’s love-it-or-hate-it building system. You squad up with one to two other players – each of you picking from an increasing roster of “Legends”, each with their own distinct abilities – and battle it out until only one team stands. It’s chaotic, fast-paced, controller-throwing fun. And it’s free! Like other titles in the genre, Respawn makes their money on virtual currencies, character/gun skins, and a premium Battle Pass system that lets you unlock bonus goodies as you progress.
Respawn also dropped a first look at an upcoming event they’re calling the “Lost Treasures Collection”. Landing June 23rd, it’ll bring new skins, a temporary new game mode (“Armed and Dangerous Evolved” — snipes/shotguns and Evo shields only), and new in-game locations (Crypto’s Map Room!) to the mix. Here’s that:
]]> https://techcrunch.com/2020/06/18/apex-crossplay-switch/feed/ 0 2005722 https://techcrunch.com/2020/06/18/mail-ru-cofounder-dmitry-grishin-has-a-new-100-million-fund-he-gives-a-look-here/ https://techcrunch.com/2020/06/18/mail-ru-cofounder-dmitry-grishin-has-a-new-100-million-fund-he-gives-a-look-here/#respond Thu, 18 Jun 2020 23:58:11 +0000 https://techcrunch.com/?p=2003593 Grishin Robotics is an eight-year-old, Sand Hill Road venture firm that until now, has focused exclusively on the smart hardware industry. Yet a newly closed $100 million fund from family offices in the U.S. and Europe will see it widen its aperture a bit to include online gaming and interactive entertainment, productivity tools and education.
It only makes sense, says firm founder Dmitry Grishin, who is also co-founder and chairman of the Russian internet and gaming company Mail.ru Group. Grishin, like the rest of the world, has seen what people can accomplish from their homes during this pandemic — and how they’ve managed to remain entertained. He doesn’t think these lessons will vanish.
He certainly seems to has a knack for identifying interesting trends, with exits that include the smart-doorbell startup Ring, sold to Amazon in 2018 for $1 billion; the mesh Wi-Fi router company eero, sold to Amazon for $97 million in 2019; and scooter-sharing firm Spin, acquired by Ford Motor Co. for $100 million, also in 2018.
We talked with him earlier this week about what has his nine-person firm excited right now. Our conversation has been edited lightly for length.
TC: You’ve historically focused on the U.S., with some focus on Europe via an office in London. Where did you wind up investing your last fund — the $100 million vehicle that you closed in 2016?
DG: We’re mostly focused on the U.S. and Bay Area, though we have a few deals on the East Coast. We want to continue what we’re doing, but the idea is while we started in robotics hardware and IT, we want to extend [our scope to include] online gaming and some physical-to-digital gaming because we’re seeing people staying home more and wanting to engage with their devices there. The co-founder of “Guitar Hero” [Kai Huang, who technically co-founded its video game publisher, RedOctane ] is now a senior advisor to our fund, too.
I’m very excited about gaming. I was a gamer all my life, and I have two small kids, and there’s a lot to be done — not just on the iPad but in a way that incorporates the physical [world], too.
TC: As with the Nintendo Wii?
DG: Well, with the Wii, you mostly stayed in front of a TV. With this next generation of games, you can teach someone in a connected way. For example, you’re now seeing huge growth in board games, with people [rediscovering them during lockdown]. If you can combine these games with digital . . .
TC: You were a Series A investor in the scooter company Spin, now sold to Ford. In the meantime, the pandemic has decimated the businesses of the standalone scooter startups. Do you think they will fully rebound?
DG: There’s a lot of debate in terms of what happens for a lot of sharing-economy companies. Maybe it will take time for people to come back to scooters, but I do think we need personal mobility and some solutions [toward that end.] I do think that, like mobile operators, you maybe can’t have five companies but more like two or three. The same is true of food delivery [because of the margins].
TC: Mate Rimac, who founded the car company Rimac Automobili, has been called the Elon Musk of Croatia. You know the hardware space as well as anyone. Who are other founders — far-flung or nearby — who you know to be superstars but who are perhaps undiscovered or underestimated?
DG: Jamie [Siminoff] of Ring is amazing.
TC: Is he still at Amazon or has he started something new?
DG: I think he’s still at Amazon but I hope he’s working on cool stuff. I also think the founders of [our portfolio company] Starship Robotics are really interesting guys.
TC: These are the last-mile delivery robots that look like small refrigerators on wheels.
DG: The whole idea that food delivery should be done by robots, I’m a big believer in that happening. There has been huge interest in them over the last few months; you’ll see them more at hospitals and university and corporate campuses.
TC: How many startups did you invest in through your last fund and which startup received the most money?
DG: We had 17 or 18, and Spin was one of them that received the most money.
TC: Your new fund is the same size as your last. Will check sizes also remain unchanged?
DG: We want to keep pretty much the same, meaning seed and Series A-stage companies in which we invest $3 million to $6 million — somewhere in this range.
TC: You mentioned combining the digital with the physical in terms of games. How interested are you in augmented reality? Obviously, Magic Leap burned up a lot of cash, trying to create a holographic display that people would love.
DG: We looked at the space for some time and longer term, I think it will happen. One of the most important takeaways as an investor is to be careful not just about the big trends but timing. If you think about the dot-com era, all of those businesses [that went belly up] exist now: pet products delivery, food delivery. So I think long term, we’ll see a lot of interesting options, but only once you have 10 or 20 million active devices. That will be the tipping point for [AR and VR], but it has to make sense. There has to be good, high-quality games [to attract customers].
TC: What’s one new investment that has you excited?
DG: Ziva Dynamics based in Canada. Its software was used to animate the dragons in “Game of Thrones.” It’s really cool software for building the next generation of animation. You can now animate almost all dogs, dragons. These are tools that were available only for studios previously. It also has amazing founders.
TC: Have you funded any founders you haven’t met in person over the last few months?
DG: Not yet, but as a company, as a team, we are spending more time on Zoom. [Regarding investments], we try to do many more reference calls. I think we’ll maybe [always] spend more time on Zoom now and maybe in the final stages, we’ll meet with a team.
TC: Have you noticed any other trends in recent months while we’ve all been working from home?
DG: I have noticed more founders actively trying to reach out to VCs. We’re seeing more inbound interest before from founders who want to proactively build relationships and maybe secure extra runway because their fundraising process was delayed or something else happened. A lot of founders, too, say, ‘I have maybe six months of runway, but maybe I need to fundraise earlier.’ That behavior is happening.
And I see a lot of startups pivoting to hot areas, including online education. Definitely, some teams are open to pursuing new areas that they weren’t before.
TC: You mentioned that online education is a greater area of interest now. How has your experience been with your kids in recent months, with schools and most activities closed?
DG: Remote education for young kids is a disaster, in my experience. I’ve been trying to manage myself and my kids and [it hasn’t gone well]. I do think there are a lot of opportunities in online education if you’re based in India or Europe and want to watch lectures at Harvard and Stanford. But young people need physical opportunities [that online schooling doesn’t provide].
TC: What about remote work?
We have discussions with a lot of founders about remote work, and sometimes it’s not about business, it’s more about personality. Some people really like to be on a computer all day; others are extroverts who want to be with people all day. For them, this has been really tough.
]]> https://techcrunch.com/2020/06/18/mail-ru-cofounder-dmitry-grishin-has-a-new-100-million-fund-he-gives-a-look-here/feed/ 0 2003593 https://techcrunch.com/2020/06/18/tiktok-explains-how-the-recommendation-system-behind-its-for-you-feed-works/ https://techcrunch.com/2020/06/18/tiktok-explains-how-the-recommendation-system-behind-its-for-you-feed-works/#respond Thu, 18 Jun 2020 21:46:59 +0000 https://techcrunch.com/?p=2005650 Open up short-form video app TikTok and you’re met with a stream of popular videos, tailored to your own interests. But when your friend launches TikTok on their own phone, they’ll see something different. TikTok calls this main stream of content the “For You” feed because of how it’s personalized to the individual user. But how the recommendation system worked behind the scenes was something of an unknown — until now. Today, the company detailed the factors that contribute to the For You feed, as well as how they’re weighted for each individual user.
It also explains what it’s doing to ensure the system isn’t creating filter bubbles — that is, a feed where you’re presented with a homogeneous stream of videos.
Like many recommendation systems, TikTok’s For You feed is powered by user input.
In its case, the app takes into account the videos you like or share, the accounts you follow, the comments you post and the content you create to help determine your interests. In addition, the recommendation system will factor in video information like the captions, sounds and hashtags associated with the content you like.
To a lesser extent, it will also use your device and account settings information like your language preference, country setting and device type. But TikTok says these factors receive lower weight in the recommendation system compared with others, because they’re more focused on making sure the system is optimized for performance.
Other signals contribute to TikTok’s understanding of what a user likes, as well. For example, if a user watches a longer video from beginning to end, it’s considered a strong indicator of interest. This would be given a greater weight than a weaker signal, like if the viewer and poster were from the same country.
TikTok also confirms that a video is likely to receive more views if it’s posted by an account that has more followers, simply because that account has a larger base of viewers. But it adds that neither the follower count nor whether or not the account has had high-performing videos in the past are considered direct factors in its recommendation system.
That seems to indicate that TikTok’s top users with massive reach — accounts like charli d’amelio, addison rae, Zach King, Loren Gray, Riyaz, Spencer X, BabyAriel and others — aren’t guaranteed to hit the For You page of every user, even if that user follows them.
As you continue to use TikTok, the system takes into account your changing tastes and interests, even noting when you decide to follow new accounts or explore hashtags, sounds, effects and trending topics on its Discover tab. All these will tailor your TikTok experience further.
Users can also signal to TikTok their more explicit likes and dislikes with a long press, where they can either add a video to their favorites or mark it “Not interested.”
Of course, like any app powered by user input and signals, TikTok has to find a way to get over the cold start problem. Upon the app’s first launch, it doesn’t know what sort of content an individual likes. To address this, it asks new users to select categories of interest — like pets or travel — to help tailor the initial recommendations. If users don’t opt to select categories, TikTok shows a general feed of popular videos until it has more input. Once it gains its first set of likes, comments and replays, TikTok will begin to initiate an early round of recommendations.
TikTok says it also understands that catering too much to someone’s personal taste can lead to the development of a limited experience, known as a “filter bubble.” That can lead to an “increasingly homogeneous stream of videos,” it says, and is a concern it takes seriously.
A couple of years ago, a VICE report indicated that TikTok had not yet overcome this challenge. A reporter trained TikTok to show white supremacist content by following a certain set of creators, by searching up related hashtags and by liking only videos that matched this “interest.” TikTok’s failure was more than just one of moderation — it was also an indication that a dedicated user could craft a version of the app filled with hateful content, if that was their goal.
Today, TikTok says it’s working on ways to keep a user’s For You page diverse and fresh. That means removing repetitive content, duplicated content, content you’ve seen before and spam. But it also means making sure you don’t see two videos in a row by the same creator or with the same sound. For safety reasons, the app also won’t recommend videos that some may find shocking — like a medical procedure or the consumption of regulated goods (even if legal).
In addition, TikTok will add videos to your For You feed at times that don’t appear to be relevant to your expressed interests or have amassed a huge number of likes. This is part of its attempts to add diversity — by giving users a chance to stumble across new content categories and new creators, and to allow them to “experience new perspectives and ideas,” the company says.
This is a problem that Facebook, Instagram and YouTube haven’t well addressed. Their algorithms often keep you in your own echo chamber, highlighting more of the same sort of content you’ve previously liked, or even pushing you to more extremist viewpoints over time.
TikTok says it knows this is a downside to personalization.
“By offering different videos from time to time, the system is also able to get a better sense of what’s popular among a wider range of audiences to help provide other TikTok users a great experience, too,” the company says in a blog post. “Our goal is to find balance between suggesting content that’s relevant to you while also helping you find content and creators that encourage you to explore experiences you might not otherwise see.”
The disclosure on how the algorithm works comes at a time when major U.S. tech companies are facing antitrust investigations in the U.S. and EU, and TikTok specifically has been under U.S. congressional review for its ties to China. In more recent weeks, TikTok and other Chinese apps have been under fire in India, as well, due to issues around a border dispute that has led to some Indian officials to ask for the apps to be blocked.
TikTok has been steadily working to change its perception in the U.S. by forming a Content Advisory Council and opening an LA facility, the TikTok Transparency Center, where outside experts can view TikTok’s source code and see TikTok’s moderation practices in action first-hand.
]]> https://techcrunch.com/2020/06/18/tiktok-explains-how-the-recommendation-system-behind-its-for-you-feed-works/feed/ 0 2005650 https://techcrunch.com/2020/06/18/interview-apples-schiller-says-position-on-hey-app-is-unchanged-and-no-rules-changes-are-imminent/ https://techcrunch.com/2020/06/18/interview-apples-schiller-says-position-on-hey-app-is-unchanged-and-no-rules-changes-are-imminent/#respond Thu, 18 Jun 2020 20:49:24 +0000 https://techcrunch.com/?p=2005670 In a brief call today about Basecamp’s Hey email app from the iOS App Store, Apple’s Phil Schiller told me that there would currently be no changes to its rules that would allow the app to continue to be offered.
“Sitting here today, there’s not any changes to the rules that we are considering,” Schiller said. “There are many things that they could do to make the app work within the rules that we have. We would love for them to do that.”
The call came after several days of public scrutiny of Apple’s handling of the Hey app. After an initial approval, the developers at Basecamp, including two of its founders, David Heinemeier Hansson and Jason Fried, took to Twitter to note that an update had been repeatedly rejected, with the core of the argument being that they were not offering an in-app purchase for the full service in addition to offering it on the Hey website.
The current experience of the Hey app as a user downloading it from the App Store is that it does nothing. It is an app that requires you to subscribe to the Hey service on the web before it becomes useful.
“You download the app and it doesn’t work, that’s not what we want on the store,” says Schiller. This, he says, is why Apple requires in-app purchases to offer the same purchasing functionality as they would have elsewhere.
To be clear, this is against the App Store rules for most apps. The exceptions here are apps that are viewed as “readers” that only display external content of certain types, like music, books and movies — and apps that only offer bulk pricing options that are paid for by institutions or corporations rather than the end user.
Schiller is clear on our call that Hey does not fit these rules.
“We didn’t extend these exceptions to all software,” he notes about the “reader” type apps — examples of which include Netflix. “Email is not and has never been an exception included in this rule.”
In fact, Hey’s Mac App was rejected for the exact behavior for which the iOS app is being targeted. Schiller says that the iOS app’s original version was approved in error, and should never have shipped to the store.
The questions, then, really center around whether this should be the case, rather than is there some sort of arcane vision of the current App Store rules that would allow the Hey app to continue to be on the store.
I asked Schiller if this meant Apple felt entitled to a portion of the revenue of every business that had an app, regardless of whether that business was an iOS-first.
“I get why there’s a question here,” he says. “But that’s not what we’re doing.”
Schiller says that there are a number of decisions about how to charge customers that Basecamp could have made to make the app acceptable under current rules. He lists several, including charging different prices in the app and on the web, and offering a free version with additional functions.
But, he says, if you’re going to charge for it and it is a digital service, then Apple wants developers to use the in-app purchase mechanic and Apple payment system to ensure that users have a good experience in the app and that the payment system is secured.
One way that Hey could have gone, Schiller says, is to offer a free or paid version of the app with basic email reading features on the App Store, then separately offered an upgraded email service that worked with the Hey app on iOS on its own website. Schiller gives one more example: an RSS app that reads any feed, but also reads an upgraded feed that could be charged for on a separate site. In both cases, the apps would have functionality when downloaded on the store.
Other options are more familiar to many users, which includes a completely free app with an upsell that is also an in-app purchase.
Unfortunately, of course, the current rules would prevent Hey from advertising or even mentioning any upgraded service, and that would have to be marketed through off-app channels.
The ongoing debate around the issue is summed up well by Sarah Perez on TechCrunch yesterday and I encourage you to read that if you’re not up to date. And just today a story in the Times landed about Facebook’s gaming app having been rejected for rules five times. All of this brewing a perfect storm in advance of Apple’s WWDC conference aimed at developers and nearly day and date with the launch of an EU antitrust investigation.
I’ve been thinking hard about it myself, as someone who covers Apple extensively and has often been witness to the behind-the-scenes anxiety that developers have about whether Apple will reject an app from one moment to the next because of a personal interpretation of the App Store rules.
I think that, for me, it boils down to some simple observations. The fact is that Hey violates app store rules. Which means that the question is not “how can we contort those rules or squint enough to justify it” but instead “should those be the rules”?
As far as to why Apple would look at a situation like this and not see an obvious minefield, I believe that it internally thinks that it is doing the right and just thing. It built the platform, it deserves to profit from that platform which does contribute enormous economic impact to both digital and physical sectors. And there are indisputable security and privacy benefits to Apple controlling the payments platform.
And for those that would say “but surely it sees the optics!” I think that those people often underestimate the power of scale. Apple approves some 100,000 apps every week and the vast majority of rejections are for minor issues quickly fixed. That kind of scale can often bend perception on behalf of an organization and its guiding forces, because they see a vast calm sea with a few breakers — where the media is focused on the breakers alone.
Here’s how I feel about that, though, and where the blind spots may lie here.
- There may be (and my back channel, and other people’s back channels, indicate that there is) a large ground swell of resentment and irritation with the App Store that goes un-expressed because people are afraid and need it to survive.
- Sometimes the source of the criticism matters — Hansson may be annoying and vociferous and take a worst-motivations stance in his public comms, but change and self examination do not always originate with people who we consider to be our friends or allies. And it is twice as hard to apply the change that comes from people who are angry and seemingly unkind — but maybe right.
Call me naive, but I do feel that there is a superset of genuine, core values that Apple does apply to its business in a way that is genuinely unique among big corporations. I’m sure some people will disagree (read: many) but I’ve seen it first-hand in covering the company and in discussions (official and personal) with many, many, many of its executives and rank and file employees over the years. Much like John Gruber I find it hard to square the circle with finding a way forward here that sets aside “we are doing what is right” for “what is the right thing to do”?
Shortly before publishing this interview, Apple provided a letter to TechCrunch that was also sent to Fried and Hey.
The letter reiterates the reasons Apple says that Hey does not comply with current App Store policy. It reads, in part:
“Thank you for being an iOS app developer. We understand that Basecamp has developed a number of apps and many subsequent versions for the App Store for many years, and that the App Store has distributed millions of these apps to iOS users. These apps do not offer in-app purchase — and, consequently, have not contributed any revenue to the App Store over the last eight years. We are happy to continue to support you in your app business and offer you the solutions to provide your services for free — so long as you follow and respect the same App Store Review Guidelines and terms that all developers must follow.”
So for now, no thawing.
Full letter follows:
Hello Jason,
We are writing to let you know the appeal results for your app, HEY Email.
The App Review Board evaluated your app and determined that the rejection was valid. Your app does not comply with the App Store Review Guidelines detailed below. As you are aware, this is the reason your Hey Email app was rejected when it was submitted to the Mac App Store on June 11, 2020.
The HEY Email app is marketed as an email app on the App Store, but when users download your app, it does not work. Users cannot use the app to access email or perform any useful function until after they go to the Basecamp website for Hey Email and purchase a license to use the HEY Email app. This violates the following App Store Review Guidelines:
Guideline 3.1.1 – Business – Payments – In-App Purchase
If you want to unlock features or functionality within your app, you must use in-app purchase. Your app requires customers to purchase content, subscriptions, or features outside of the app, but those items are not available as in-app purchases within the app as required by the App Store Review Guidelines.
Guideline 3.1.3(a) – Business – Payments – “Reader” Apps
Reader apps may allow users to access previously purchased content and content subscriptions. Your mail app is not one of the content types allowed under this guideline for “Reader” apps (specifically: magazines, newspapers, books, audio, music, video, access to professional databases, VOIP, cloud storage, or approved services such as classroom management apps). Therefore, customers must be given the option to purchase access to features or functionality in your app using in-app purchase.
Guideline 3.1.3(b) – Business – Payments – Multiplatform Services
Apps that operate services across multiple platforms may allow users to access content, subscriptions, or features they have acquired in your app on other platforms or on your website, provided those items are also available as in-app purchases within the app. Your HEY Email app does not offer access to content, subscriptions, or features as in-app purchases within the app. In fact, the app does not function as an email app or for any purpose until the user goes to the Basecamp Hey Email website to start a free trial or purchase a separate license to use the app for its intended purpose.
Next Steps
To resolve this issue, please revise your app such that it does not violate any of the App Store Review Guidelines and terms.
There are a number of ways that you could revise your app or service to adhere to the App Store Review Guidelines. Customers who have previously purchased access to content, subscriptions, or features elsewhere may continue to access these items in your app, as long as new iOS customers are given the option to purchase access using in-app purchase as required by the App Store Review Guidelines.
If you would prefer not to offer users the option of in-app purchases, you could consider having the app function as marketed — an email client that works with standard IMAP and POP email accounts, where customers can optionally configure the Hey Email service as their preferred email service provider. This would allow the app to function as an email client without requiring an additional payment to use its features and functionality. Under this approach, what you sell on your website is clearly an email service separate from the function of your app as distributed on the App Store.
We are here as a resource as you explore these or other ideas to bring the Hey Email app within compliance of the App Store Review Guidelines and terms.
Thank you for being an iOS app developer. We understand that Basecamp has developed a number of apps and many subsequent versions for the App Store for many years, and that the App Store has distributed millions of these apps to iOS users. These apps do not offer in-app purchase — and, consequently, have not contributed any revenue to the App Store over the last eight years. We are happy to continue to support you in your app business and offer you the solutions to provide your services for free — so long as you follow and respect the same App Store Review Guidelines and terms that all developers must follow.
We hope to assist you in offering the Hey Email app on the App Store.
Sincerely,
App Review Board
]]> https://techcrunch.com/2020/06/18/interview-apples-schiller-says-position-on-hey-app-is-unchanged-and-no-rules-changes-are-imminent/feed/ 0 2005670 https://techcrunch.com/2020/06/18/gameclub-brings-its-subscription-based-gaming-catalog-to-android/ https://techcrunch.com/2020/06/18/gameclub-brings-its-subscription-based-gaming-catalog-to-android/#respond Thu, 18 Jun 2020 20:12:32 +0000 https://techcrunch.com/?p=2005469 Subscription-based access to mobile gaming content is fueling new services like Apple Arcade and Google Play Pass. Last fall, a startup called GameClub entered the mix, as well, to test the idea that subscriptions could also produce new revenue streams for some of mobile gaming’s greatest hits. At launch, GameClub’s $5 per month subscription service was available only on iOS, offering access to over 100 titles that had seen a collective 100 million lifetime downloads. Today, the service is available to Android users with a catalog that’s grown to now more than 120 classic titles.
The service arrived at a time when the gaming industry had largely shifted to the free-to-play model, and users have become less willing to pay for content upfront — essentially forcing out many other gaming genres from the app stores. GameClub’s selection of games don’t fit this new climate, as they weren’t the type to monetize users through in-app purchases and ads.
As GameClub co-founder and CEO Dan Sherman explained at the time of launch, the free-to-play model only works for a handful of genres, to the exclusion of many genres its service is trying to bring back — like action, adventures, arcade, tower defense and more. Basically, GameClub offers games that can be completed, instead of games being built around perpetual retention loops.
Similar to how Apple Arcade and Google Play Pass work, GameClub users pay a subscription fee to access the full library. With one subscription, up to 12 people can play GameClub’s games across iOS and, as of today’s launch, Android. The games will run both online and offline and won’t include any in-app purchases or ads.
On iOS, the catalog has grown to 87 total games. On Android, there are 40 at launch, but the company is releasing more titles so it will reach parity with iOS. A new game is added every week.
“Subscription is a healthier and less expensive way to enjoy games, eliminating the oppressive ads and loot boxes that define so-called free-to-play,” said Sherman, in a statement about the launch. “GameClub is the only service that brings these benefits to the entire world of iOS and Android gamers. We’re expanding our offering to deliver affordable, skill-based entertainment to gamers everywhere, on nearly any mobile phone or tablet,” he added.
The service’s catalog continues to be curated by Eli Hodapp, the former editor-in-chief of mobile gaming site TouchArcade. Its top titles include Breach & Clear, Paint it Back, Spider: Rite of the Shrouded Moon, Legendary Wars, Monster Wars, Flick Fishing, Pocket RPG, Cursed Treasure 2 and others.
These titles aren’t just redistribute by GameClub after cutting deals. Instead, GameClub’s team of developers also update the apps’ original code to make the games look and feel new — for example, by optimizing them for the latest screen sizes and resolutions.
Though Apple bans iOS apps that sell other apps, GameClub has been allowed to operate on iOS because the GameClub hub isn’t its own app store. Instead, iOS users have to download the individual GameClub games directly from the App Store, where they have their own listing.
Getting Apple’s approval wasn’t easy though. The company says its app was rejected by Apple 127 times before launch and its Developer Account was placed under investigation for a month, during which time Apple stopped reviewing any of its submissions.
Eventually, that investigation ended with no explanation, Sherman says. He notes GameClub’s review process got easier once Apple Arcade debuted, but also says GameClub has never been featured on the App Store, perhaps because of its competitive nature with Apple Arcade.
The company declined to share its total subscriber base or revenues.
“We don’t disclose those numbers, but I can share that we’ve seen double-digit month-over-month growth in all aspects of GameClub since our iOS launch last fall,” Sherman told TechCrunch. “A large segment of the mobile gaming community is searching for true, premium game experiences, and GameClub is delivering the style of gameplay they’re looking for, without intrusive ads, predatory in-app purchases and all the other abuses that have become synonymous with modern mobile gaming,” he said.
With the expansion to Android, GameClub’s library now features over a dozen best-selling games not yet offered on its platform, and several coming to Android for the first time, like Flick Fishing, Puzzlejuice, Swap This!, Zombie Match Defense, ORC: Vengeance, Hackycat, Raid Leader, Wizard Golf RPG, Cubed Rally Racer, Return of the Zombie King and Potatoman Seeks the Troof. A full launch slate is here.
The GameClub Android app is live on Google Play, in addition to iOS.
]]> https://techcrunch.com/2020/06/18/gameclub-brings-its-subscription-based-gaming-catalog-to-android/feed/ 0 2005469 https://techcrunch.com/2020/06/18/plume-is-building-a-healthcare-service-specifically-for-the-transgender-community/ https://techcrunch.com/2020/06/18/plume-is-building-a-healthcare-service-specifically-for-the-transgender-community/#respond Thu, 18 Jun 2020 19:36:28 +0000 https://techcrunch.com/?p=2004553 Plume, the Denver-based startup that provides hormone replacement therapies and medical consultations tailored to the trans community, could not be launching at a time when the company’s services are more needed.
It’s no hyperbole to say that transgender citizens in the United States are under attack. Whether from government policies that are intended to defund their access to insurer-provided medical care, or actual physical assaults, transgender Americans are living in physically and politically perilous times.
That’s one reason why Matthew Wetschler and his co-founder Jerrica Kirkley founded Plume, which provides telehealth services tailored for the transgender community.
The two doctors met and became friends in medical school. From the earliest days, the two were inseparable, Dr. Wetschler recalled. “She and I spent nearly 12 hours a day together,” he said.
Dr. Jerrica Kirkley, Plume co-founder Image Credit: Plume
After medical school, Wetschler moved to the Bay Area to finish his residency at Stanford and then went on to run a consulting firm that worked primarily with digital health startups. Kirkley, who is transgender, focused on gender therapy in the trans community.
A little over a year ago the two began to discuss the potential for creating a primarily telehealth service for the trans community, Wetschler said.
“We have always shared a belief that the healthcare system can do better for patients and doctors,” he said. And almost no population is quite as exposed to the shortcomings of the current healthcare system as the transgender community.
“I had been increasingly interested in the telehealth space and the emerging trend of leveraging mobile technology to provide unparalleled access to clinical care at the touch of a button,” said Wetschler. “And many of the problems [Kirkley] was seeing with her patients involved finding doctors with expertise and safe sources of medications.”
In many instances, despite the duty of care that physicians have to maintain, transgender patients are subjected to discriminatory practices and even the denial of care. Roughly 20% of transgender patients who seek care are either denied that care or harassed because of their gender identity, Wetschler said.
Many patients don’t have access to the medications they need, which can lead to up to 30% of patients seeking out the medications they need on the black market.
It’s an issue for the more than 1.4 million Americans who identify as transgender.
Plume provides a safe, on-demand service for patients that need it, said Wetschler. And does it for $99 per month.
The company doesn’t perform gender reassignment surgeries, but that’s about the only limitation on the care that the company offers. It can recommend local surgeons who will perform those procedures and it will provide consultations for patients or potential patients considering various hormone-related or surgical therapies. A majority of the Plume care team is transgender, according to Wetschler.
“What we’re proud of with Plume is that we offer a way of accessing this way of trans-specific care regardless of policy or insurance coverage,” said Wetschler.
At the heart of Plume’s services is access to gender-affirming hormone therapy. “This is the fundamental medical treatment for the trans community,” Wetschler said. “The trans experience is unique in that for most it involves navigating a gender and cis-normative healthcare system that may not understand their experiences. It can be highly traumatic.”
Plume offers a medical evaluation, ongoing monitoring and lab assignments and prescriptions. Soon, the company will also provide medication delivery, as well.
For most Americans, there’s a presumption that medical care will be delivered in a non-judgmental and safe way (both psychologically and physically). For many trans Americans there’s a lack of comfort and risk that’s inherent in the end-to-end care experience. Plume is trying to solve for that.
Dr. Matthew Wetschler, Plume, co-founder Image Credit: Plume
Investors from the nation’s top venture capital firms, General Catalyst and Slow Ventures, believe in the company’s vision and have backed it with $2.9 million in seed financing. Springbank Collective is also an investor in the company.
“What I was drawn to with Plume is the commitment and conviction Mathew and Jerrica operate with in providing the trans community — a woefully underserved group with access to the health care they deserve,” wrote General Catalyst partner, Olivia Lew, in a statement. “The rollback of healthcare protections for the trans community this past week have only heightened awareness for the dire need for this company. One of the things we’re most excited about in the next wave of health innovation are companies that are using modern platforms like telehealth to serve people’s individual needs with more consumer friendly, personalized experiences.”
These personalized services become even more important for populations at risk, like the trans community, and they’re also more valuable.
“When people take hormone therapy… there’s an opportunity to have an ongoing longitudinal relationship and that’s something that’s highly valued,” said Wetschler.
Currently the transgender population spends around $4.5 billion to $6 billion on medication. And there’s an opportunity to provide better emotional and behavioral support to patients, as well, according to Wetschler.
Plume began providing services in Colorado a year ago, and is now available in California, New York, Florida, Texas, Colorado, North Carolina, Virginia, Oregon, Maine and Massachusetts.
There are roughly 700,000 transgender patients who can now avail themselves of the services Plume offers, but the population, and therefore the need, is growing.
“The estimates on the size of the trans population since a decade ago has been growing 20% year over year,” says Wetschler. “And Generation Z is five times more likely than baby boomers to identify as trans. The full visibility of the trans community is yet to be realized.”
]]> https://techcrunch.com/2020/06/18/plume-is-building-a-healthcare-service-specifically-for-the-transgender-community/feed/ 0 2004553 https://techcrunch.com/2020/06/18/mapillary-facebook/ https://techcrunch.com/2020/06/18/mapillary-facebook/#respond Thu, 18 Jun 2020 19:24:51 +0000 https://techcrunch.com/?p=2005586 Mapillary, the Swedish startup that wants to take on Google and others in mapping the world via a crowdsourced database of street-level imagery, has been acquired by Facebook, according to the company’s blog. Terms of the deal aren’t being disclosed.
The Mapillary team and project will become part of Facebook’s broader open mapping efforts. Mapillary also says its “commitment to OpenStreetMap stays.” Writes Mapillary co-founder and CEO Jan Erik:
From day one of Mapillary, we have been committed to building a global street-level imagery platform that allows everyone to get the imagery and data they need to make better maps. With tens of thousands of contributors to our platform and with maps being improved with Mapillary data every single day, we’re now taking the next big step on that journey.
As Erik notes, Facebook is known to be “building tools and technology to improve maps through a combination of machine learning, satellite imagery and partnerships with mapping communities.” Mapping has immediate use-cases for the social networking behemoth, such as Facebook Marketplaces and its local business offerings, while another application is augmented reality.
This saw it recently acquire another European startup, Scape, news that TechCrunch broke in February. Founded in 2017, Scape Technologies was developing a “Visual Positioning Service” based on computer vision, which lets developers build apps that require location accuracy far beyond the capabilities of GPS alone. The technology initially targeted augmented reality apps, but also had the potential to be used to power applications in mobility, logistics and robotics. More broadly, Scape wanted to enable any machine equipped with a camera to understand its surroundings.
Mapillary is also the latest “open” project to join and now be funded by Facebook. Last December, it quietly acquired U.K.-based Atlas ML, the custodian of “Papers With Code,” the free and open resource for machine learning papers and code.
Returning to Mapillary, the startup is keen to stress that it will continue being a “global platform for imagery, map data, and improving all maps.” “You will still be able to upload imagery and use the map data from all the images on the platform,” says Erik. It is also changing the license to permit commercial use:
Historically, all of the imagery available on our platform has been open and free for anyone to use for non-commercial purposes. Moving forward, that will continue to be true, except that starting today, it will also be free to use for commercial users as well. By continuing to make all images uploaded to Mapillary open, public, and available to everyone, we hope to enable new use cases, and grow the breadth of coverage and usage to benefit mapping for everyone. While we previously needed to focus on commercialisation to build and run the platform, joining Facebook moves Mapillary closer to the vision we’ve had from day one of offering a free service to anyone.
]]> https://techcrunch.com/2020/06/18/mapillary-facebook/feed/ 0 2005586 https://techcrunch.com/2020/06/18/tech-companies-just-found-out-about-juneteenth-and-this-is-what-theyre-doing/ https://techcrunch.com/2020/06/18/tech-companies-just-found-out-about-juneteenth-and-this-is-what-theyre-doing/#respond Thu, 18 Jun 2020 19:17:37 +0000 https://techcrunch.com/?p=2004840 In light of the police killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Tony McDade and Rayshard Brooks, as well as the killing of Ahmaud Arbery, Juneteenth has quickly made its way onto the radar of tech companies.
On June 19, 1865, slaves in Galveston, Texas, became aware of their freedom. This was about two months after Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee surrendered in Virginia and more than two-and-half years after President Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation.
In the last couple of weeks, many tech companies have announced plans to make Juneteenth an official holiday for employees or recognize the day in some other way. Jack Dorsey, CEO of Square and Twitter, was the first major tech CEO to announce that Juneteenth would be a paid holiday for employees. Since then, companies like Facebook, Google, Amazon, Uber and Lyft have announced their own respective plans to commemorate the day.
Today, Lyft announced its plans to host a Juneteenth panel about the importance of Juneteenth and share a Juneteenth bike route map via Citi Bike. This is in addition to giving employees the day off.
“At Lyft, we recognize that we have more work to do beyond a single action, and celebrating Juneteeth is just one step in our journey,” the company wrote in a blog post. “We are committed to do our best in both material and public ways.”
Other plans by companies include encouraging employees to use the day as a time to learn about racial injustice or to officially commemorate the day on Google Calendar. It’s worth noting that Apple added Juneteenth to its iOS calendar back in 2018.
Recognition of such a historic day is good. But the way these companies are publicly announcing their plans, seeking press as they do, suggests their need for some affirmative pat on the back. It’s perfectly acceptable to do the right thing and not get credit for it. It shows humility. It shows that a company is more interested in doing right by its workers than it is in saving face.
Sure, had these companies not gone public with their respective Juneteenth plans, it’s possible other companies would not have followed suit. But beyond deciding to celebrate Juneteenth, making statements about standing with the Black community and donating money, companies need to ensure they take more than just actions to combat racism in tech.
Instead, as Hustle Crew founder Abadesi Osunsade has said, tech companies need to go beyond one-off actions and form habits around racial justice work. Forming habits around hiring Black people, promoting Black employees, paying Black employees fairly, funding Black founders and making room for Black people in leadership positions is what will lead to concrete change in this industry.
Meanwhile, in response to recent events of police violence, many tech companies have made paradoxical statements. Many of the statements of support are devoid of meaning when you consider how some companies fail to create diverse workforces, respond to hate speech on their platforms and/or continue to hold contracts with police departments.
Today, Facebook announced it would spend at least $100 million annually with Black-owned suppliers. Earlier this month, Reddit founder Alexis Ohanian stepped down from the company’s board of directors to make room for a Black person. Meanwhile, folks over at the Kapor Center for Social Impact are encouraging staff to use Juneteenth as a day of service in the Black community. These are all steps in the right direction — steps that can result in lasting change in the tech industry. Let’s see more of those.
“Yes, Juneteenth is just one day, and we have yet to see how the nation will respond to the injustices in the months and years to come,” Kapor Center Chief People Officer Matt Perry wrote in a blog post. “Here’s to hoping the actions that we take this Juneteenth can be a catalyst for sustainable change… and action.”
Full disclosure, TechCrunch recently decided to make Juneteenth a holiday and I’m here for it.
]]> https://techcrunch.com/2020/06/18/tech-companies-just-found-out-about-juneteenth-and-this-is-what-theyre-doing/feed/ 0 2004840 https://techcrunch.com/2020/06/18/introducing-the-techcrunch-list/ https://techcrunch.com/2020/06/18/introducing-the-techcrunch-list/#respond Thu, 18 Jun 2020 18:33:12 +0000 https://techcrunch.com/?p=2005430 Over the past two decades, the venture capital industry has exploded beyond anyone’s wildest imaginations.
What began as a sleepy industry in Boston and Menlo Park has now expanded to dozens of cities the world over. The National Venture Capital Association estimates that VCs deployed more than $130 billion in 2018 and 2019, and thousands of new investors have joined the ranks in recent years to find the next great startups.
All that activity, though, poses a dilemma for founders: Who actively writes checks? Who is a leader in a specific market or vertical? Who has the conviction to underwrite pathbreaking investments? Who, ultimately, do you want to have by your side for the next decade as your startup grows?
There are lists that rank VCs by their exit returns. There are lists that rank young VCs by their potential. There are lists of VCs who claim investment interest in various sectors. There are lists that try to ferret out deal volume, impact and other quantitative metrics. There are internal lists at accelerators that share collective wisdom between founders.
Who actively writes checks? Who is a leader in a specific market or vertical? Who has the conviction to underwrite pathbreaking investments? Who, ultimately, do you want to have by your side for the next decade as your startup grows?
All those lists and rankings have an important function to serve, but for all the compilations of investors out there, we couldn’t find a single one that publicly answered a simple yet vital question: Who are the VC investors who are leaders in specific verticals who should be a founder’s first stop during a fundraise?
Today’s venture industry is made up of thousands of investors with varying specialties, and far too many passive investors that are willing to participate in rounds but don’t actively participate in deals unless other investors have committed. Many don’t actively push to get deals done or don’t actively lead the charge to build a syndicate of investors.
With all that in mind, we’re excited to launch a new initiative that we hope will help answer those questions and help founders find that first check — The TechCrunch List.
Over the next few weeks, we’re going to be collecting data around which individual investors are actually willing to write the proverbial “first check” into a startup’s fundraising round and help catalyze deals for founders — whether it be seed, Series A or otherwise (i.e. out of your Series A investors, the first person who was willing to write the check and get the ball rolling with other investors). Once we’ve collected, cleaned and analyzed the data, we’ll publish lists of the most recommended “first check” investors across different verticals, investment stages and geographies, so founders can see which investors are potentially the best fit for their company.
Founders are used to being specialized; after all, they have to live and breathe their startups every single day. So it can be jarring to start talking to generalist investors who know little about a category and ask shallow questions only to render a judgment with irrelevant advice. One of the greatest impetuses for us to put together The TechCrunch List is that like founders, we also struggle to cut through the noise around the interests of individual VCs.
We’d argue that’s close to impossible. There is more spend on technology than ever before in history. Verticals are getting more competitive — market maps that used to have 10 to 50 companies have expanded to hundreds. The only way to compete today is to specialize, and that has never been more true for VCs.
In all, The TechCrunch List will publish the most recommended “first check” writers across 22 different categories, ranging from D2C & e-commerce brands to space, and everything in between. Through some data analysis around total investments in each space, we believe our 22 categories should cover the entirety or majority of the venture activity today.
To make this project a success and create a useful resource for founders, we need your help. We want to hear from company builders and we want to hear from them directly.
To make this project a success and create a useful resource for founders, we need your help. We want to hear from company builders and we want to hear from them directly. We will be collecting endorsements submitted by founders through the form linked here.
Through the form, founders will be asked to submit their name, their startup, the stage of company, the name of the one “first check” investor they want to endorse and a couple of minor logistical items. We are asking founders here for their on-the-record endorsement. We ask that you limit your recommendations to one (1) person per fundraise round.
While many investors may have helped you in your journey, we are specifically interested in the person who most helped you get a round underway and closed. The one who catalyzed your round. The one who guided you through the fundraise process. The one investor you would ultimately recommend to other founders who are trying to find their VC champion.
Our main goal is to help founders, dreamers and company builders find investors who will invest in them today, and with your help, we think we can. The TechCrunch List is not meant to identify every possible investor under the sun who might make an investment within a space, nor just the big household-name VCs whose reputations can sometimes seem more linked to their follower counts on Twitter as opposed to their bold term sheets.
Our hope is that this can be a go-to resource for founders looking to fundraise going forward, and with that in mind, we are very determined to improve the glaring representation gaps in the venture industry. It’s no secret that the world of VC still looks like a country-club membership roster, dominated by white men with strong opinions and loud voices. Looking at the data, it’s clear that there are groups that are particularly underrepresented, with only a small portion of the industry made up of Black, Latinx and female investors, for example.
We want to amplify these voices and we want to hear particularly from founders of color, female founders and other underrepresented groups. We also want to make sure our recommended investor lists are sufficiently representative and highlight underrepresented investors who might not have had equal opportunities in the past.
We want to help builders wade through the BS politics and fundraising annoyances that founders complain to us about on a daily basis, and help them identify qualified leads that are actually active, engaged and specialized and are the best fit to help founders raise money and grow now.
Thank you for your support. We’re excited to build The TechCrunch List with you — and for you.
]]> https://techcrunch.com/2020/06/18/introducing-the-techcrunch-list/feed/ 0 2005430 https://techcrunch.com/2020/06/18/the-techcrunch-list-rebuilding-vc/ https://techcrunch.com/2020/06/18/the-techcrunch-list-rebuilding-vc/#respond Thu, 18 Jun 2020 18:32:46 +0000 https://techcrunch.com/?p=2005391 The venture capital industry is less transparent today than at any time in recent memory.
For all the talk about expanding access and improving its sordid record on diversity, in reality, it has never been harder for founders to figure out who can even write a check to their startups in the first place.
When I first returned to TechCrunch after my second stint in venture capital, my first piece was entitled “The loss of first check investors.” While working in the venture capital industry, it was maddening to see — particularly at the pre-seed and seed stages — how few investors were really willing to go out on a limb and invest in founders before another VC had committed a check.
It’s only gotten worse in the past two years since that article, and the complexity comes from a number of different places. As our investigation showed more than a year ago, fewer and fewer venture rounds are being announced through SEC Form D filings.
There are almost no publicly accountable datasets left indicating who is writing checks in the venture industry and which companies are receiving those checks. While stealthiness is valid in the early days of a startup, the excuse wears thin after years.
]]> https://techcrunch.com/2020/06/18/the-techcrunch-list-rebuilding-vc/feed/ 0 2005391 https://techcrunch.com/2020/06/18/facebook-trump-campaign-nazi-imagery-red-triangle/ https://techcrunch.com/2020/06/18/facebook-trump-campaign-nazi-imagery-red-triangle/#respond Thu, 18 Jun 2020 18:27:21 +0000 https://techcrunch.com/?p=2005490 Facebook removed a cluster of incendiary Trump campaign ads Thursday for violating its rules against hate group imagery. The campaign’s ads attacked antifa, the decentralized anti-fascist movement and a frequent target of the president’s ire, with imagery of an upside-down red triangle — a well-documented symbol worn by political prisoners held in Nazi concentration camps.
The ads, still viewable on Facebook’s Ad Library, were associated with Trump’s own Facebook page, Vice President Mike Pence’s page and Team Trump, a dedicated campaign account.
Image Credits: Facebook Ad Library
The Trump campaign responded to criticisms from progressive watchdog Media Matters for America on Twitter, claiming that the symbol is both an emoji and “a symbol widely used by Antifa.” While the red triangle symbol is indeed an emoji, the latter claim isn’t true. Antifa’s far more common symbols include three downward arrows and a red and black flag.
“It is not in the ADL’s Hate Symbols Database,” the campaign tweeted.
This is an emoji.
It’s also a symbol widely used by Antifa. It was used in an ad about Antifa.
It is not in the ADL’s Hate Symbols Database. pic.twitter.com/V4fK8QWHKD
— Trump War Room – Text TRUMP to 88022 & get the APP (@TrumpWarRoom) June 18, 2020
Facebook appears to disagree. “We removed these posts and ads for violating our policy against organized hate,” a Facebook spokesperson said in a statement provided to TechCrunch. “Our policy prohibits using a banned hate group’s symbol to identify political prisoners without the context that condemns or discusses the symbol.”
Facebook took down both the ads and the campaign’s organic posts containing the symbol, citing its policy against symbols associated with hate organizations.
]]> https://techcrunch.com/2020/06/18/facebook-trump-campaign-nazi-imagery-red-triangle/feed/ 0 2005490 https://techcrunch.com/2020/06/18/why-the-olympics-should-add-esports/ https://techcrunch.com/2020/06/18/why-the-olympics-should-add-esports/#respond Thu, 18 Jun 2020 17:00:41 +0000 https://techcrunch.com/?p=2004933
I recently sat on a panel for gaming website Pocket Gamer that was focused on esports and the Olympics. We were debating whether esports were filling the gap in sporting events, including the Olympic games, which have been paused due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
It was an interesting conversation that started out like most esports panels. The only difference here is that instead of the typical question, “When will esports catch up to traditional sports?” it was, “Will esports become mainstream enough to make it into the Olympics?” A slightly different question, but the same sentiment: The international games are one of televised sports’ marquee events, and esports companies hope to earn a seat at the grown-up’s table.
In truth, the Olympics have been dropping in ratings relatively steadily in the U.S. for a long time. The only Olympic games that scored in the top five ratings going back to 1992 were the Salt Lake City Winter Olympics, presumably because they were held in the United States. Overall, viewership has been declining in recent years and the games don’t hold the prestige they once did.
Additionally, audiences are slowly becoming worth less and less to advertisers because the age of the average viewer is rising rapidly, a trend we are seeing in almost all traditional sports.
I doubt it would surprise anyone to learn that the average age of almost all traditional sports viewership skews older than esports’ audience. Even then, I think the actual data will be quite surprising. Only one professional sport (women’s tennis) actually saw its average viewers age come down in the last decade or so. Even in that context, the average age of a Women’s Tennis Association home spectator is 55 years old.
The average age of esports viewership looks to be around 26 years old. Think about that from a marketer’s perspective. Traditional sports are just missing young people, by a wide margin.
Where are the kids?
But there are more factors at play than just a lack of interest from millennials and Gen Z driving this trend: There’s also a question of access.
The IOC made the decision in recent years to stream the Olympics (the way most younger people consume content), but it capped the ability to watch online to 30 minutes if viewers didn’t sign in with their cable company (a relationship many millennials don’t have) to continue watching.
Additionally, the IOC made the laughable decision to “ban” GIFs with the press covering the event, which qualifies as one of the more stupid things a governing body has ever tried to do. First, it won’t work. Secondly, and more to the point, it demonstrates how out of touch the IOC is with the ways in which media has evolved in the last 20 years.
However, unlike the Olympics, where no corporation owns the rights to volleyball or the pole vault, all esports companies own the IP associated with the game itself. That means, by default, the IOC would not have carte blanche when making decisions about how to represent the games, programming, licensing rights and other factors it has enjoyed for a long time.
Finally, it’s worth noting that the IOC doesn’t like the idea of “violent” games being added to the Olympic roster. It would prefer to see current sports transformed into virtual competitions. But anyone who knows anything about esports understands that this isn’t how esports works. Before a game ascends to esports royalty, it needs to be a good game. If nobody plays it, it’s unlikely anyone will want to watch it.
Secondly, it has be digestible as a viewing experience. World of Warcraft Arena is a game that draws a lot of players, but it’s almost impossible to know what is going on unless you’re an expert at the game or you have a godly shoutcaster who can translate the on-screen action. You can’t make track and field an esport and hope audiences will want to watch.
The IOC Solution
The IOC has taken steps to try and stave off declining youth viewership trends by adopting sports considered “young” in the past few years. Five sports recently added to the Olympic games include:
- Sport climbing
- Surfing
- Skateboarding
- Karate
- Baseball/softball
The baseball/softball addition notwithstanding, I think you would have to live under a rock if you thought that competitive sport climbing held a candle to Fortnite or League of Legends in terms of generating youth interest. Frankly, this seems like an idea that came from an old person trying to find a way to “get the kids back.”
To the IOC’s credit, it has begun to hold panels and conferences with esports experts and game publishers, but the deals that will come from these will look REALLY different than what they are used to. It seems to me that we have a long way to go here.
For my part of the panel, I argued that the Olympics need esports much more than esports need the Olympics. Media companies are only going to overpay for broadcasting rights for traditional sports for so long. At some point, someone is going to notice that the “inside the demo” group isn’t there and move on.
The thing that esports CAN get from the Olympics is understanding a better way to monetize its audience, something that the Olympics do well and esports doesn’t do well right now. A report from Goldman Sachs shows the audience size and monetization based on that audience, showing that esports dramatically underindex on monetization relative to their more established sports league equivalents. It is clear that esports is immature from a monetization perspective and, while the Olympics aren’t on this chart, I would assume that it punches WAY above its weight, much like MLB does, trading on its reputation more than on actual results these days.
The IOC should act fast, though. It won’t be long until esports figures this whole thing out and once they do, the Olympic games won’t have anything to offer this emerging media powerhouse.
]]> https://techcrunch.com/2020/06/18/why-the-olympics-should-add-esports/feed/ 0 2004933 https://techcrunch.com/2020/06/18/daily-crunch-twitter-rolls-out-audio-tweets/ https://techcrunch.com/2020/06/18/daily-crunch-twitter-rolls-out-audio-tweets/#respond Thu, 18 Jun 2020 16:46:36 +0000 https://techcrunch.com/?p=2005448 Twitter tries to make audio tweets a thing, the U.K. backtracks on its contact-tracing app and Apple’s App Store revenue share is at the center of a new controversy.
Here’s your Daily Crunch for June 18, 2020.
1. Twitter begins rolling out audio tweets on iOS
Twitter is rolling out audio tweets, which do exactly what you’d expect — allow users to share thoughts in audio form. The feature will only be available to some iOS users for now, though the company says all iOS users should have access “in the coming weeks.” (No word on an Android or web rollout yet.)
This feature potentially allows for much longer thoughts than a 280-character tweet. Individual audio clips will be limited to 140 seconds, but if you exceed the limit, a new tweet will be threaded beneath the original.
2. UK gives up on centralized coronavirus contacts-tracing app — switches to testing model backed by Apple and Google
The U.K.’s move to abandon the centralized approach and adopt a decentralized model is hardly surprising, but the time it’s taken the government to arrive at the obvious conclusion does raise some major questions over its competence at handling technology projects.
3. Apple doubles down on its right to profit from other businesses
Apple this week is getting publicly dragged for digging in its heels over its right to take a cut of subscription-based transactions that flow through its App Store. This is not a new complaint, but one that came to a head this week over Apple’s decision to reject app updates from Basecamp’s newly launched subscription-based email app called Hey.
4. Payfone raises $100M for its mobile phone-based digital verification and ID platform
Payfone has built a platform to identify and verify people using data (but not personal data) gleaned from your mobile phone. CEO Rodger Desai said the plan for the funding is to build more machine learning into the company’s algorithms, expand to 35 more geographies and to make strategic acquisitions to expand its technology stack.
5. Superhuman’s Rahul Vohra says recession is the ‘perfect time’ to be aggressive for well-capitalized startups
We had an extensive conversation with Vohra as part of Extra Crunch Live, also covering why the email app still has more than 275,000 people on its wait list. (Extra Crunch membership required.)
6. Stockwell, the AI-vending machine startup formerly known as Bodega, is shutting down July 1
Founded in 2017 by ex-Googlers, the AI vending machine startup formerly known as Bodega first raised blood pressures — people hated how it was referenced and poorly “disrupted” mom-and-pop shops in one fell swoop — and then raised a lot of money. But ultimately, it was no match for COVID-19 and how it reshaped our lifestyles.
7. Apply for the Startup Battlefield
With TechCrunch Disrupt going virtual, this is your chance to get featured in front of our largest audience ever. The post says you’ve only got 72 hours left, but the clock has been ticking since then — the deadline is 11:59pm Pacific tomorrow, June 19. So get on it!
The Daily Crunch is TechCrunch’s roundup of our biggest and most important stories. If you’d like to get this delivered to your inbox every day at around 9am Pacific, you can subscribe here.
]]> https://techcrunch.com/2020/06/18/daily-crunch-twitter-rolls-out-audio-tweets/feed/ 0 2005448 https://techcrunch.com/2020/06/18/amazon-and-valentino-team-up-in-joint-lawsuit-against-new-york-counterfeiter-over-rockstud-knock-offs/ https://techcrunch.com/2020/06/18/amazon-and-valentino-team-up-in-joint-lawsuit-against-new-york-counterfeiter-over-rockstud-knock-offs/#respond Thu, 18 Jun 2020 16:27:54 +0000 https://techcrunch.com/?p=2005324 Amazon is ramping up its efforts to tackle counterfeiting on its platform by aiming for the higher end of the fashion market. Today the e-commerce giant announced that it has jointly filed a lawsuit with Italian luxury brand Valentino against Buffalo, New York-based Kaitlyn Pan Group, LLC and New York resident Hao Pan for copying a famous Valentino shoe style — the Garavani Rockstud, pictured above — and subsequently selling those products on Amazon and Kaitlyn Pan’s own site, “in violation of Amazon’s policies and Valentino’s intellectual property rights.”
Amazon said that any proceeds that result from the suit will go straight to Valentino itself. We’ve asked how much the companies are seeking in damages and will update this post with more information as we get it. We are embedding the suit below the article.
Notably, this is the first time that Amazon has teamed up with a luxury brand to go after counterfeiters in the courts, although it has partnered with other brands in the past. As with those previous cases, it’s important for Amazon to work with the brands to show it’s a friend to legitimate commerce by working actively to stop illicit sales.
Alongside that, however, Amazon has been making huge efforts to raise its game in fashion, and so it’s extremely important that it fights against the image that it’s a fertile ground for selling and buying illegal knock-off items of famous brands.
Getting off on the right foot — so to speak — with Valentino is part of that. The Garavani Rockstud (“Garavani” comes from Valentino’s full name, Valentino Clemente Ludovico Garavani) is one of Valentino’s most iconic styles, with its metallic lines of studs making an appearance on a range of Valentino footwear, including sandals, heels and flats. They were first introduced in 2010 and Valentino has design patents on the style.
Kaitlyn Pan currently sells a number of models that riff on that basic concept. Typically, authentic Valentino Rockstud shoes retail for between $425 and $1,100, while the Pan versions sell for significantly less, around $100.
You can see where the problem lies.
While the shoes are not being sold as Valentino and do not use the Rockstud branding, they could easily be mistaken for them (and may have even been promoted using that keyword when they were still being sold on Amazon):
One thing that isn’t really covered in the Amazon/Valentino suit, but you have to wonder about, is the role that others play in enabling the illicit sales of the items. In the case of Kaitlyn Pan, the site is powered by none other than Shopify, for example.
“The vast majority of sellers in our store are honest entrepreneurs but we do not hesitate to take aggressive action to protect customers, brands and our store from counterfeiters,” said Dharmesh Mehta, vice president, Customer Trust and Partner Support, in a statement. “Amazon and Valentino are holding this company accountable in a court of law and we appreciate Valentino’s collaboration throughout this investigation.”
Amazon said that it shut down Kaitlyn Pan’s seller account in September 2019, and it did not specify how many pairs of Pan’s shoes were sold via Amazon before then. As of today, the Pan models are still being sold directly on Kaitlyn Pan Shoes.
And rather audaciously, despite getting forced out of Amazon’s marketplace and being slapped with cease and desist orders from Valentino, Kaitlyn Pan has applied to the United States Patent and Trademark Office to trademark the style.
Valentino, like other expensive luxury brands, regularly gets copied and counterfeited, and that has been the case for decades. But arguably, the rise of e-commerce, where it can be harder to trace sellers and products have a higher chance of being disseminated more widely, has compounded that problem.
So the company has made a more concerted effort to fight back. In the past three years, it’s worked with United States Customs and Border Protection to seize more than 2,000 counterfeit products and work on a surveillance system to detect counterfeit products on sale in the U.S. market, leading to the removal of more than 7,000 listings across multiple marketplaces, 360 websites and more than 1,000 social media accounts.
“The Maison Valentino is one of the main protagonists of International fashion and plays a major role in the luxury division by sustaining Made in Italy,” Valentino said in a statement. “The brand represents in the global market, one of the Italian excellences in the execution of the industrial process in Italy and of the artisanal and handmade workmanship that are entirely produced in the historic Atelier of Piazza Mignanelli in Rome. We consider Made in Italy to be a fundamental value to be fully endorsed, respected and at the forefront of our business and creations. Valentino is an Italian brand operating globally and is a mirror of society. One of our core missions is to safeguard our brand and protect the Valentino Community by celebrating inclusivity and with creativity at the heart of everything we do. We feel this connection with Amazon will highlight the importance also in fashion for greater awareness, knowledge and understanding by shielding the brand online and its resources.”
Amazon’s role in creating an avenue for counterfeit items to be sold has been a problematic one for the company for years. It has invested in building technology to tackle the problem: In 2019, it said that it had invested over $500 million and dedicated 8,000 employees to work on fraud and abuse (which includes IP infringement and counterfeit goods), and it works with law enforcement and collaborates with authorities to build cases against infringing companies and people. But its critics continue to call out the company and its track record, saying it still has not done enough to address the issue — which of course still results in sales, and thus revenues — on its platform.
We’ll update this post as we learn more.
]]> https://techcrunch.com/2020/06/18/amazon-and-valentino-team-up-in-joint-lawsuit-against-new-york-counterfeiter-over-rockstud-knock-offs/feed/ 0 2005324 https://techcrunch.com/2020/06/18/transform-your-business-to-it-as-code-with-devsecops/ https://techcrunch.com/2020/06/18/transform-your-business-to-it-as-code-with-devsecops/#respond Thu, 18 Jun 2020 16:21:28 +0000 https://techcrunch.com/?p=2004889
Conduct an online search and you’ll find close to one million websites offering their own definition of DevSecOps.
Why is it that domain experts and practitioners alike continue to iterate on analogous definitions? Likely, it’s because they’re all correct. DevSecOps is a union between culture, practice and tools providing continuous delivery to the end user. It’s an attitude; a commitment to baking security into the engineering process. It’s a practice; one that prioritizes processes that deliver functionality and speed without sacrificing security or test rigor. Finally, it’s a combination of automation tools; correctly pieced together, they increase business agility.
The goal of DevSecOps is to reach a future state where software defines everything. To get to this state, businesses must realize the DevSecOps mindset across every tech team, implement work processes that encourage cross-organizational collaboration, and leverage automation tools, such as for infrastructure, configuration management and security. To make the process repeatable and scalable, businesses must plug their solution into CI/CD pipelines, which remove manual errors, standardize deployments and accelerate product iterations. Completing this process, everything becomes code. I refer to this destination as “IT-as-code.”
Why is DevSecOps important?
Whichever way you cut it, DevSecOps, as a culture, practice or combination of tools, is of increasing importance. Particularly these days, with more consumers and businesses leaning on digital, enterprises find themselves in the irrefutable position of delivering with speed and scale. Digital transformation that would’ve taken years, or at the very least would’ve undergone a period of premeditation, is now urgent and compressed into a matter of months.
The keys to a successful DevSecOps program
Security and operations are a part of this new shift to IT, not just software delivery: A DevSecOps program succeeds when everyone, from security, to operations, to development, is not only part of the technical team but able to share information for repeatable use. Security, often seen as a blocker, will uphold the “secure by design” principle by automating security code testing and reviews, and educating engineers on secure design best practices. Operations, typically reactive to development, can troubleshoot incongruent merges between engineering and production proactively. However, currently, businesses are only familiar with utilizing automation for software delivery. They don’t know what automation means for security or operations. Figuring out how to apply the same methodology throughout the whole program and therefore the whole business is critical for success.
]]> https://techcrunch.com/2020/06/18/transform-your-business-to-it-as-code-with-devsecops/feed/ 0 2004889 https://techcrunch.com/2020/06/18/intercom-announces-the-promotion-of-karen-peacock-to-ceo/ https://techcrunch.com/2020/06/18/intercom-announces-the-promotion-of-karen-peacock-to-ceo/#respond Thu, 18 Jun 2020 16:15:00 +0000 https://techcrunch.com/?p=2005276 Three years ago almost to the day, Intercom announced that it was bringing former Intuit exec Karen Peacock on board as COO. Today, she got promoted to CEO, effective July 1. Current CEO and company co-founder Eoghan McCabe will become Chairman.
As it turns out, these moves aren’t a coincidence. McCabe had been actively thinking about a succession plan when he hired Peacock. “When I first started talking to Eoghan three years ago, he shared with me that his vision was to hire someone as COO, who could then become the CEO at the right time and he could transition into the chairman role,” Peacock told TechCrunch .
She said while the idea was always there, they didn’t feel the need to rush the process. “We were just looking for whatever the right time was, and it wasn’t something we were expected to do in the first year or two. And now is really the right time to transition with all of the momentum that we’re seeing in the market,” she said.
She said as McCabe makes the transition away from running the company he helped found, he will still be around, and they will continue working together on things like product and marketing strategy, but Peacock brings a pedigree of her own to the new role.
Not only has she been in charge of commercial aspects of the Intercom business for the past three years, prior to that she was SVP at Intuit where she ran small business products that included QuickBooks, and grew it from a $500 million business to a hefty $2.5 billion during her tenure.
McCabe says that experience was one of the reasons he spent six months trying to convince Peacock to become COO at Intercom in 2017. “It’s really hard to find a leader that’s as well rounded, and as unique as Karen is. You know she doesn’t actually fit your typical very experienced operator,” he said. He points to her deep product background, calling her a “product nerd,” and her undergraduate degree in applied mathematics from Harvard as examples.
In spite of the pandemic, she’s taking over a company that’s still managing to grow. The company’s business messenger products, which enable companies to chat with customers online, have become increasingly important during the pandemic with many brick-and-mortar businesses shut down and the majority of business is being conducted digitally.
“Our overall revenue is $150 million in annual recurring revenue, and a supporting data point to what we were just talking about is that our new business to up market customers through our sales teams has doubled year over year. So we’re really seeing some quite nice acceleration there,” she said.
Peacock says she wants to continue building the company and using her role to build a diverse and inclusive culture. “I believe that [diversity and inclusion] is not one person’s job, it’s all of our jobs, but we have one person who’s the center post of that (a head of D&I). And then we work with outside consulting firms as well to just try and stay in a place where we understand all of what’s possible and what we can do in the world.”
She adds, “I will say that we need to make more progress on diversity and inclusion. I wouldn’t step back and pat ourselves on the back and say we’ve done this perfectly. There’s a lot more that we need to do, and it’s one of the things that I’m very excited to tackle as CEO.”
According to a February Wall Street Journal article, less than 6% of women hold CEO jobs in the U.S. Peacock certainly sees this and wants to continue to mentor women as she takes over at Intercom. “It is something that I’m very passionate about. I do speak to various different groups of up and coming women leaders, and I mentor a group of women outside of Intercom,” she said. She also sits on the board at Dropbox with other women leaders like Condoleezza Rice and Meg Whitman.
Peacock says that taking over during a pandemic makes it interesting, and instead of visiting the company’s offices, she’ll be doing a lot of video conferences. But neither is she coming in cold to the company having to ramp up on the business side of things, while getting to know everyone.
“I feel very fortunate to have been with Intercom for three years, and so I know all the people and they all know me. And so I think it’s a lot easier to do that virtually than if you’re meeting people for the very first time. Similarly, I also know the business very well, and so it’s not like I’m trying to both ramp up on the business and deal with a pandemic,” she said.
]]> https://techcrunch.com/2020/06/18/intercom-announces-the-promotion-of-karen-peacock-to-ceo/feed/ 0 2005276 https://techcrunch.com/2020/06/18/affirming-the-position-of-tech-advocates-supreme-court-overturns-trumps-termination-of-daca/ https://techcrunch.com/2020/06/18/affirming-the-position-of-tech-advocates-supreme-court-overturns-trumps-termination-of-daca/#respond Thu, 18 Jun 2020 16:06:09 +0000 https://techcrunch.com/?p=2005331 The U.S. Supreme Court ruled today that President Donald Trump’s administration unlawfully ended the federal policy providing temporary legal status for immigrants who came to the country as children.
The decision, issued Thursday, called the termination of the Obama-era policy known as the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program “arbitrary and capricious.” As a result of its ruling, nearly 640,000 people living in the United States are now temporarily protected from deportation.
While a blow to the Trump Administration, the ruling is sure to be hailed nearly unanimously by the tech industry and its leaders, who had come out strongly in favor of the policy in the days leading up to its termination by the current president and his advisors.
At the beginning of 2018, many of tech’s most prominent executives, including the CEOs of Apple, Facebook, Amazon and Google, joined more than 100 American business leaders in signing an open letter asking Congress to take action on the DACA program before it expired in March.
Tim Cook, Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos and Sundar Pichai made a full-throated defense of the policy and pleaded with Congress to pass legislation ensuring that “Dreamers,” or undocumented immigrants who arrived in the United States as children and were granted approval by the program, can continue to live and work in the country without risk of deportation.
At the time, those executives said the decision to end the program could potentially cost the U.S. economy as much as $215 billion.
In a 2017 tweet, Tim Cook noted that Apple employed roughly 250 “Dreamers.”
The list of tech executives who came out in support of the DACA initiative is long. It included: IBM CEO Ginni Rometty; Brad Smith, the president and chief legal officer of Microsoft; Hewlett Packard Enterprise CEO Meg Whitman; and CEOs or other leading executives of AT&T, Dropbox, Upwork, Cisco Systems, Salesforce, LinkedIn, Intel, Warby Parker, Uber, Airbnb, Slack, Box, Twitter, PayPal, Code.org, Lyft, Etsy, AdRoll, eBay, StitchCrew, SurveyMonkey, DoorDash and Verizon (the parent company of Verizon Media Group, which owns TechCrunch).
At the heart of the court’s ruling is the majority view that Department of Homeland Security officials didn’t provide a strong enough reason to terminate the program in September 2017. Now, the issue of immigration status gets punted back to the White House and Congress to address.
As the Boston Globe noted in a recent article, the majority decision written by Chief Justice John Roberts did not determine whether the Obama-era policy or its revocation were correct, just that the DHS didn’t make a strong enough case to end the policy.
“We address only whether the agency complied with the procedural requirement that it provide a reasoned explanation for its action,” Roberts wrote.
While the ruling from the Supreme Court is some good news for the population of “Dreamers,” the question of their citizenship status in the country is far from settled. The U.S. government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic has basically consisted of freezing as much of the nation’s immigration apparatus as possible.
An executive order in late April froze the green card process for would-be immigrants, and the administration was rumored to be considering a ban on temporary workers under H1-B visas as well.
The president has, indeed, ramped up the crackdown with strict border control policies and other measures to curb both legal and illegal immigration.
More than 800,000 people joined the workforce as a result of the 2012 program crafted by the Obama administration. DACA allows anyone under 30 to apply for protection from deportation or legal action on their immigration cases if they were younger than 16 when they were brought to the U.S., had not committed a crime and were either working or in school.
In response to the Supreme Court decision, the President tweeted “Do you get the impression that the Supreme Court doesn’t like me?”
]]> https://techcrunch.com/2020/06/18/affirming-the-position-of-tech-advocates-supreme-court-overturns-trumps-termination-of-daca/feed/ 0 2005331 https://techcrunch.com/2020/06/18/youtube-announces-a-new-shoppable-ad-format/ https://techcrunch.com/2020/06/18/youtube-announces-a-new-shoppable-ad-format/#respond Thu, 18 Jun 2020 16:03:11 +0000 https://techcrunch.com/?p=2005361 YouTube today announced a new direct response ad format that will make YouTube video ads more “shoppable” by adding browsable product images underneath the ad to drive traffic directly to brands’ product pages. The introduction of the format comes at a time when advertisers are trying to find new ways to capture consumers’ growing interest in e-commerce shopping, amid a pandemic that’s kept people from shopping brick-and-mortar physical stores for fear of infection.
YouTube, in particular, believes its platform can serve this shift in interest, given that today 70% of people claim they’ve bought a brand’s product because they saw it in a YouTube video.
To use the new shoppable format, brands will first need to sync their Google Merchant Center feed with their video ads. They can then visually expand an ad’s “call to action” button with the best-selling products it wants to feature in the ad in order to generate traffic that sends viewers directly to the product listing on the brand’s own website.
One early tester of the new format was Aerie, which wanted to advertise on YouTube to both boost consumers’ love for its brand and its apparel sales for its Spring 2020 campaign. The company ran targeted ads on YouTube and saw a 25% higher return on ad spend than the prior year, as well as nine times more conversions than with their traditional ad mix, YouTube says.
Related to this news, YouTube also announced “Video action campaigns” — a way to bring YouTube video ads that drive these sorts of calls-to-action to YouTube’s home feed, watch pages and Google’s video partners, from within one campaign. The company says it will also include any future inventory that becomes available, like the What to Watch Next feed.
An early tester for this ad product was the startup Mos, which aims to help students find college scholarships. Over the past few months, Mos saw 30% more purchases for its service at a third of the cost, compared to its previous YouTube benchmarks, said YouTube.
Brands can also use the lead-generation forms along with their video ad campaigns to capture more leads while also running their ads, as Jeep did with its Korea branch leading to a 13x increase in completed leads at an 84% lower cost per lead.
YouTube isn’t the only tech giant that’s focused more heavily serving the needs of brands — and particularly e-commerce brands — in recent months. Facebook and Instagram rolled out Shops in May, to turn business profiles into online storefronts where consumers can buy directly from brands without leaving Facebook’s or Instagram’s app. Snapchat also this month expanded its dynamic ads for e-commerce retailers worldwide, allowing brands to easily run automated product ads on Snapchat’s app by way of templates connected to product catalogs.
But YouTube’s ads are perhaps more similar to those shoppable video ads now appearing on streaming services like Hulu and NBCU’s Peacock, where viewers can transact using their remote control. In YouTube’s case, however, viewers are just clicking and tapping their way through to the advertiser’s site.
Like many, YouTube believes businesses will continue to need solutions like these to find leads, boost their web traffic and drive more online sales, even when coronavirus-driven government restrictions lift and physical stores re-open.
Typically, announcements like this would have been made at YouTube’s NewFronts presentation, but as that event is now online-only due to the pandemic, YouTube has rolled out the news early.
]]> https://techcrunch.com/2020/06/18/youtube-announces-a-new-shoppable-ad-format/feed/ 0 2005361 https://techcrunch.com/2020/06/18/googles-latest-experiment-is-keen-an-automated-machine-learning-based-version-of-pinterest/ https://techcrunch.com/2020/06/18/googles-latest-experiment-is-keen-an-automated-machine-learning-based-version-of-pinterest/#respond Thu, 18 Jun 2020 16:00:25 +0000 https://techcrunch.com/?p=2005264 A new project called Keen is launching today from Google’s in-house incubator for new ideas, Area 120, to help users track their interests. The app is like a modern rethinking of the Google Alerts service, which allows users to monitor the web for specific content. Except instead of sending emails about new Google Search results, Keen leverages a combination of machine learning techniques and human collaboration to help users curate content around a topic.
Each individual area of interest is called a “keen” — a word often used to reference someone with an intellectual quickness.
The idea for the project came about after co-founder C.J. Adams realized he was spending too much time on his phone mindlessly browsing feeds and images to fill his downtime. He realized that time could be better spent learning more about a topic he was interested in — perhaps something he always wanted to research more or a skill he wanted to learn.
To explore this idea, he and four colleagues at Google worked in collaboration with the company’s People and AI Research (PAIR) team, which focuses on human-centered machine learning, to create what has now become Keen.
To use Keen, which is available both on the web and on Android, you first sign in with your Google account and enter in a topic you want to research. This could be something like learning to bake bread, bird watching or learning about typography, suggests Adams in an announcement about the new project.
Keen may suggest additional topics related to your interest. For example, type in “dog training” and Keen could suggest “dog training classes,” “dog training books,” “dog training tricks,” “dog training videos” and so on. Click on the suggestions you want to track and your keen is created.
When you return to the keen, you’ll find a pinboard of images linking to web content that matches your interests. In the dog training example, Keen found articles and YouTube videos, blog posts featuring curated lists of resources, an Amazon link to dog training treats and more.
For every collection, the service uses Google Search and machine learning to help discover more content related to the given interest. The more you add to a keen and organize it, the better these recommendations become.
It’s like an automated version of Pinterest, in fact.
Once a “keen” is created, you can then optionally add to the collection, remove items you don’t want and share the Keen with others to allow them to also add content. The resulting collection can be either public or private. Keen can also email you alerts when new content is available.
Google, to some extent, already uses similar techniques to power its news feed in the Google app. The feed, in that case, uses a combination of items from your Google Search history and topics you explicitly follow to find news and information it can deliver to you directly on the Google app’s home screen. Keen, however, isn’t tapping into your search history. It’s only pulling content based on interests you directly input.
And unlike the news feed, a keen isn’t necessarily focused only on recent items. Any sort of informative, helpful information about the topic can be returned. This can include relevant websites, events, videos and even products.
But as a Google project — and one that asks you to authenticate with your Google login — the data it collects is shared with Google. Keen, like anything else at Google, is governed by the company’s privacy policy.
Though Keen today is a small project inside a big company, it represents another step toward the continued personalization of the web. Tech companies long since realized that connecting users with more of the content that interests them increases their engagement, session length, retention and their positive sentiment for the service in question.
But personalization, unchecked, limits users’ exposure to new information or dissenting opinions. It narrows a person’s worldview. It creates filter bubbles and echo chambers. Algorithmic-based recommendations can send users searching for fringe content further down dangerous rabbit holes, even radicalizing them over time. And in extreme cases, radicalized individuals become terrorists.
Keen would be a better idea if it were pairing machine-learning with topical experts. But it doesn’t add a layer of human expertise on top of its tech, beyond those friends and family you specifically invite to collaborate, if you even choose to. That leaves the system wanting for better human editorial curation, and perhaps the need for a narrower focus to start.
]]> https://techcrunch.com/2020/06/18/googles-latest-experiment-is-keen-an-automated-machine-learning-based-version-of-pinterest/feed/ 0 2005264
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