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Optibus taps $100M at a $1.3B valuation for its AI-based mass transit operations platform

TechCrunch

Optibus , which uses AI to help public transportation bodies and their mass transit partners plan and operate their networks, has raised $100 million, funding that it will be using to continue expanding its product set and wider business footprint, CEO and co-founder Amos Haggiag said in an interview in London this week.

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How Bounce beat pandemic disruption and bagged a16z to lead its Series A

TechCrunch

“We basically just chased the opportunity wherever it was,” he tells TechCrunch, summing up how Bounce tackled the last two years of pandemic disruption. “This is especially useful to them compared to PO Boxes or Amazon lockers because it provides a single nearby location where the customer can get all their packages.

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Virtual HQs race to win over a remote-work-fatigued market

TechCrunch

By drawing on multiplayer gaming culture, the startups are using spatial technology, animations and productivity tools to create a metaverse dedicated to work. In the middle sits a mix between work and play, which is where Branch hopes to live. So for me, it’s not hard at all to use it. The biggest challenge ahead?

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How capital-as-a-service can help you get your first check in 2021

TechCrunch

“A lot of founders mix up raising money with making money.” Flexing its “20-minute term sheet” the startup uses an algorithm to shift through a startup’s data, and if it has positive ad spend and positive unit economics, they make an investment worth anything from $10,000 to over $10 million. Mobility-as-a-service.

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Daily Crunch: Twilio CEO: Laying off 11% of company’s workforce is ‘wise and necessary’

TechCrunch

Oh, and did you know we’ve managed to convince our marketing team to let you have 15% off TechCrunch Disrupt tickets, just for being a Daily Crunch reader? Use this link, or pop “DC” into the promo code box when you buy your passes to the hottest startup event of the summer. More Google : Google had a mixed day.

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The Book that Reveals 10 Steps to Solving Any Complex Problem

Entrepreneurs' Organization

In their book Cracking Complexity , David Komlos and David Benjamin share the steps to working through any complex business problem—both quickly and using existing talent, not consultants. Fixing a car is complicated; fixing a city’s transportation infrastructure is complex. Chemical reactions happen when substances mix.

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Mistaking performance for competence

TechCrunch

I’d be lying if I told you that every week was an embarrassment of riches here at Actuator HQ (a one-bedroom in a Queens office managed by a mischievous lionhead rabbit mix), but I’ve thus far been happy with the flow of news. Rodney Brooks (Rethink Robotics) at TechCrunch Disrupt NY 2017. I’ve become less enamored with that over time.