Hello!
I’m Greg Kumparak.
I’ll be heading up Week in Assessment for the foreseeable future, together with your former host Lucas Matney diving into cryptoland with the launch of a e-newsletter and podcast referred to as Chain Response. He’s not going too far, and I’m positive he’ll cease again in on occasion.
If my identify appears acquainted, it could be as a result of I took over Week in Assessment a number of occasions whereas Lucas was AFK/touching grass/not watching a display. Or it may very well be since you’ve been studying TechCrunch for a very long time. I’ve been round this place for over a decade; I’ve worn a whole lot of hats in that point. (Metaphorical hats. I’ve bought a giant ol’ head, most precise hats don’t match proper.)
That’s all I’ll say about me, for now, as a result of this isn’t the Greg in Assessment e-newsletter. However come say hello on Twitter. Inform me what you want most about Week in Assessment because it has existed to date. I don’t intend to vary a lot in regards to the format, however I’m at all times right down to do extra of what individuals like.
the large factor
Lucas at all times began the e-newsletter off with the week’s “massive factor”… and, properly, the large factor this week was, inarguably, Elon Musk providing $44 billion to purchase Twitter, and Twitter accepting. Should you have been our record of most learn posts for the week, you would possibly suppose it was the solely factor that occurred in tech this week. No joke.
I’m fairly positive nearly all the pieces that may be stated about Elon, Twitter and the mix of Elon and Twitter… has been stated. Scorching takes, not-so-hot takes… all takes, of all temperatures, have already been taken. I’m a believer that in case you have nothing sensible to say, the neatest factor you possibly can say is nothing.
[ … pause for effect]
Fortuitously, I’ve loads of sensible buddies which have stated loads of sensible issues!
Ron was fast out of the gate with some ideas on how Twitter has developed since he joined in 2007, and the place it may go from right here. Natasha identified that, with various Twitter workers all of the sudden much less pleased and certain extra wealthy, this may very well be the beginning of an entire new wave of startups. Devin questioned… properly, all the pieces about it.
Should you one way or the other end up saying “Wait, Elon’s shopping for Twitter?”, right here’s our recap of all the wild journey.
different issues
Imagine it or not, different stuff occurred this week! Like:
PayPal confirmed it’s shutting down its SF workplace: Our personal Mary Ann Azevedo broke the information that PayPal is parting methods with its SF workplace, with the corporate saying it’s evaluating its “international workplace footprint” primarily based on how the pandemic has modified the way in which we work. It seems like SF workers will be capable of work nearly or commute right down to the San Jose HQ.
Snap constructed a selfie drone?: It’s lovely, however I’m having a tough time seeing how this turns into something greater than a goofy aspect mission for the corporate. “Maintain on buddies, don’t take that selfie. Let me get out the drone. Maintain on, let it boot up. One sec. Wait, no drones allowed right here? It’s effective, we’ll be quick. I’m not killing the vibe! You’re. Welp, battery is lifeless, gimme a minute.”
Somebody discovered a Pixel Watch: In information that throws me again to the wild gadget running a blog days of 2010*, somebody discovered what seems to be a prototype of a Google-made Pixel smartwatch sitting forgotten at a restaurant. Google’s massive I/O occasion kicks off in only a few weeks, so I’d anticipate to listen to extra about this then. (* “Oh no, how was the iPhone 4/Gizmodo factor over a decade in the past,” he says to himself as he crumbles to mud and blows away.)
added issues
We’ve got a paywalled part of our website referred to as TechCrunch+. It prices a couple of bucks a month and it’s stuffed with superb stuff! From this week, for instance:
The 9 startups growing tomorrow’s batteries: From constructing smarter units to battling local weather change, we want higher batteries if we wish to maintain transferring ahead. However what’s really taking place within the house? TechCrunch newcomer Tim De Chant kicked issues off with a bang (zap?) with a deep dive on 9 corporations which have collectively raised over $4 billion in hopes of cracking the following period of battery tech. Plus he bought a pun within the headline, which is a win in my e book.
YC’s Dalton Caldwell on learn how to get into YC: Just a few weeks again at our TechCrunch Early Stage occasion, Y Combinator’s Dalton Caldwell led a session on what he appears to be like for when a startup applies. The session and the Q&A thereafter have been stuffed with precise, actionable perception from somebody who is aware of extra in regards to the accelerator’s software course of than maybe anybody else, and on this put up I’ve collected lots of the bits that stood out to me most.
Must you put any of your 401(okay) into crypto? This week Constancy introduced that it’ll enable retirement account holders to speculate as much as 20% of their 401(okay) into bitcoin. However do you have to? The wonderful Anita Ramaswamy explores the dangers and rewards.
