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I know it’s probably unfair to assume that angels’ approach to investors is the same as professional, institutional pre-seed investors. And yet, amateur investors could certainly do with taking a few cards out of the pro playbook. In this thinly veiled sarcasm, which certainly comes from someone who doesn’t have enough money to do angel investing on any meaningful scale and so is anyone who writes an angel check or two on a regular basis. While this would easily be overlooked, let me break down some of the mistakes I see angels make all the time.
OK, with that somewhat relevant-to-startups criticism out of the way, let’s see what else has been troubling our crafty club of company correspondents this fine week. , ,
another slice of apple
Image Credit: Haje Comps/Midjourney
Unless you’ve been hiding behind a stooped humanoid robot (or an android if you prefer) all week, you’ve probably noticed that there have been some new apples grown in our friendly neighborhood orchard. The new iPhones – in the form of the iPhone 15 and titanium-clad iPhone 15 Pro – now come with USB-C. In fact, there’s a whole bunch of Apple products in the USB-C lineup these days. On the front of the phone, the cameras are better (and can now shoot 3D video). There was a new Apple Watch (even in pink!) and much more.
A fun story we never saw coming was Olivia Rodrigo releasing a brand new video – “Bring her back!” — Filmed on iPhone 15 Pro. Of course, it looks amazing.
Look, I know everything Apple does isn’t always relevant to startups, but you’d be a fool indeed not to pay attention to what the most valuable company in the world is doing. Darrell had a bigger perspective on this: as the iPhone becomes more powerful, he argues that it becomes more and more viable as a game console for higher-budget titles.
I’m sure you’re curious what our most-read Apple stories are, yes? Well, I’m pretty sure this is proprietary information that the editors will get Hatred I’m sharing with you, but everyone is preparing for Disrupt next week, so I’m sure no one will notice me hiding this in the newsletter:
roundup: You all love a good “just tell us what matters” story, so it’s no surprise that Christine’s summary of the event went really well: Apple Event 2023: Everything Announced So Far.
iPhone 15 launch: Of course, everyone will be extremely curious about what the iPhone 15 has in store. Brian tells the whole story, Apple’s iPhone 15 comes with USB-C (finally). Brian’s iPhone 15 Pro post was also extremely popular.
goodbye electricity:Ok, ok, maybe I just wanted to make this list because I noticed one of my stories got a little popular: Apple ditches the Lightning connector in favor of USB-C after exactly 11 years.
What is happening in the fintech sector?
Image Credit: Haje Comps/Midjourney
After the 2008 global financial crisis, central banks cut interest rates to near zero. As a result, money flooded elsewhere – and a small amount of it flowed into LP funds, from there into VC funds, and from there into promising young startups. Michael Sindcich argues that this has allowed the emergence of business models that, under any other circumstances, would be completely unviable, asking whether perhaps a time of reckoning is coming: will the house of cards collapse? Used to be?
Entrepreneurs are going to be entrepreneurs, so why not create a company to help other companies close faster and cheaper? It’s a bold proposition, but it seems there’s a market for it — SimpleClose raised $1.5 million in less than a day to help flailing startups pull the plug with more urgency.
Some fintech startups offer a ray of hope from the gloom:
neobank development: Many startups looking for new equity investors are still feeling the chill of funding winter, but things are heating up in the world of debt: UK neobank Zopa raises another $93 million, hitting the 1 million customer mark Are.
Competing Coinbase and Binance:After the collapse of FTX, crypto traders are looking for decentralized, non-custodial, and secure ways to execute orders and store their assets. BrineFi just raised a $100 million valuation to help fill that gap.
inclusion is hot:Banking the underbanked and supporting the underprivileged is a tough business, but Alza has emerged from stealth to provide affordable and inclusive financial tools to immigrants.
Why, coordinator?
Image Credit: Krisanapong Detraphiphat/Getty Images
It was Y Combinator Demo Day last week, which means another wall of investment opportunities at VC firms is coming rolling in like salmon swimming down the proverbial fallopian tubes of pregnancy. , , Well, this mixed metaphor has officially gone too far. Some investors skipped the YC Demo Day this year. Here are our favorite startups from day one and two of YC. We spoke to a group of founders who have done YC multiple times to find out the importance of going back to the well.
Elsewhere in startup news, we’re excited about AI reading coach startup Elo raising $15 million to boost child literacy.
In line with education, I tore out a pitch deck from Tomorrow’s University, which, despite being designed to offer an MBA program, read like a manifesto rather than a pitch deck. Don’t get me wrong, I love a good manifesto – my most (and least) favorite manifestos were written in German – but they’re generally not very helpful when it comes to raising money.
Some funding rounds to keep an eye on:
Hey, Siri, print a house for me: Kyle reports that Mighty Buildings raised $52 million to build 3D-printed prefab homes.
This seems like a good investment:Perfios, an Indian fintech that provides real-time credit underwriting solutions to banks and non-banking financial institutions, has raised $229 million in a new funding round as it looks to deepen its expansion in North America and Europe, Manish’s report.
security third: Fresh from Burning Man, it seems fair to highlight that The Thing in the Desert operates on a “safety third” motto. The rest of the world, not so much, and Kyle reports that compliance and risk management startup Serta has raised $35 million.
Read the top articles on TechCrunch this week
Here are this week’s hottest, most-read stories:
Snake-eyes: Looks like MGM Resorts is having some problems; It blamed a “cybersecurity issue” for the outage that lasted at least four days.
trucking on:Tesla’s Cybertruck is moving toward production. One was spotted this week with an updated interior. There was also a robotaxi concept that looks somewhat like a two-seater Cybertruck.
you can drive the truck immediately: In a blow to the autonomous trucking industry (but a boon to the 6% or more of the US population who drive trucks for a living), the California Senate passed a bill on Monday that would require a vehicle to be present at any time. Trained human safety operator is required. A self-propelled, heavy-duty vehicle operating on public roads in the state. In fact, the bill bans driverless AV trucks.
a cheeky subscription: Charging a subscription to turn on your seat warmers cost BMW dearly (and became the butt of many a joke). Pretty silly, and the German carmaker eventually stopped charging for cheek warmers.
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