Mon.May 16, 2022

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Investing in Metatheory

Andreessen Horowitz

From Shakespeare to the Beatles, and Star Wars to Fortnite, every generation has a set of entertainment properties that define its culture and shared universe of stories. As we look to the coming decade, we believe the next major creative … The post Investing in Metatheory appeared first on Andreessen Horowitz.

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Three PayPal Ventures alums strike out with their own $158M fund

TechCrunch

A trio of PayPal Ventures alumni has raised $158 million for Infinity Ventures , a new early-stage venture firm dedicated to investing in fintech startups globally. Jeremy Jonker, Jay Ganatra and Mario Ruiz left PayPal Ventures in May 2021 and had their first close last June and final close by October 2021. They left PayPal because they wanted to expand beyond just investing in payments-focused startups and “zero in and focus solely on infrastructure and commerce enablement.”.

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The Real Problem With Being a Solo Founder and How to Overcome It

Entrepreneur's Handbook

Everyone will warn you against being a solo founder, but it’s not as impossible as you might think Continue reading on Entrepreneur's Handbook ».

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Akuity raises $20M to simplify Kubernetes container management

TechCrunch

Akuity , a provider of app delivery software for Kubernetes, today announced that it closed a $20 million series A funding round led by Lead Edge Capital and Decibel Partners, bringing Akuity’s total raised to $25 million. Co-founder and CEO Hong Wang says that the funding will enable Akuity to expand the size of its workforce while contributing to the open source community.

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From Curiosity to Competitive Edge: How Mid-Market CEOs Are Using AI to Scale Smarter

Speaker: Lee Andrews, Founder at LJA New Media & Tony Karrer, Founder and CTO at Aggregage

This session will walk you through how one CEO used generative AI, workflow automation, and sales personalization to transform an entire security company—then built the Zero to Strategy framework that other mid-market leaders are now using to unlock 3.5x ROI. As a business executive, you’ll learn how to assess AI opportunities in your business, drive adoption across teams, and overcome internal resource constraints—without hiring a single data scientist.

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The Key to Becoming a Successful Startup Founder

Entrepreneur's Handbook

Experience is critical for building a startup. Here’s the best way to get it. Continue reading on Entrepreneur's Handbook ».

More Trending

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How to Turn $1,000,000 into $0.43 in Less than a Week

Entrepreneur's Handbook

One of the biggest collapses in crypto history happened last week. Continue reading on Entrepreneur's Handbook ».

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

TechCrunch

Mass transit has made a rebound with the return of city life post-Covid 19, and today a startup that’s building tech to help it run more smoothly is announcing a big round of funding to meet the rush. 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 i

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8 Basic Things Every Entrepreneur Should Know How to Do

Entrepreneur's Handbook

When an emergency strikes, you’ll be glad to swoop in and save your own day. Continue reading on Entrepreneur's Handbook ».

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Daily Crunch: ‘The bitcoin network is not a payments network,’ says FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried

TechCrunch

To get a roundup of TechCrunch’s biggest and most important stories delivered to your inbox every day at 3 p.m. PT, subscribe here. It’s Monday the 16th of May, and I’m back once again, like a renegade master. I’m fantastically over-caffeinated and at a standing desk today, so for the occasion, it’s a dancing desk. Because, I mean, you try to sit still while listening to this thumpin’ beat.

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State of AI in Sales & Marketing 2025

AI adoption is reshaping sales and marketing. But is it delivering real results? We surveyed 1,000+ GTM professionals to find out. The data is clear: AI users report 47% higher productivity and an average of 12 hours saved per week. But leaders say mainstream AI tools still fall short on accuracy and business impact. Download the full report today to see how AI is being used — and where go-to-market professionals think there are gaps and opportunities.

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Australia’s Blinq raises A$5m to build simple, shareable identities

AsiaTechDaily

Bookmark ( 0 ) Please login to bookmark Username or Email Address Password Remember Me No account yet? Register Melbourne-based startup Blinq announced that it has raised A$5 million from Blackbird and Square Peg Capital to revolutionise how professionals share their details and manage ongoing relationships. Blinq lets users share a snapshot of their professional identity, make great first impressions, and manage ongoing relationships.

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Start up solo, or bring on a co-founder? 4 factors to consider

TechCrunch

Russ Heddleston. Contributor. Share on Twitter. Russ Heddleston is Head of Commercial, DocSend at Dropbox. More posts by this contributor. Essential steps to thriving and surviving while fundraising. Pre-seed round funding is under scrutiny: Is VC pandemic posturing here to stay? Every journey to entrepreneurship is unique. I find the world of startups fascinating because the desire to address a problem or need — often one you’ve struggled with yourself — is just too tempting to resist.

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[Hailo in GlobeNewswire] alwaysAI® Partners with AI Chipmaker Hailo to Power Next-Gen AI Applications at the Edge

OurCrowd

SAN DIEGO, May 16, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — alwaysAI, a computer vision platform leader, and Hailo, a leading AI processor for edge devices, have partnered to deliver accelerated computer vision applications on edge devices for their growing enterprise customer base. This partnership allows developers to easily take advantage of Hailo’s high-performance, low-power product using the seamless alwaysAI platform.

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Melbourne-based Blinq wants to make paper business cards obsolete

TechCrunch

Business cards feel almost as outdated as Victorian calling cards, but they are still a networking staple. Melbourne-based Blinq wants to do away with them altogether. The app generates a QR code that shows your professional info, including social media links, as soon as someone scans it, even if they don’t have the app installed. The company announced today it has raised $5 million AUD (about $3.5 million USD) from Blackbird and Square Capital.

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15 Modern Use Cases for Enterprise Business Intelligence

Large enterprises face unique challenges in optimizing their Business Intelligence (BI) output due to the sheer scale and complexity of their operations. Unlike smaller organizations, where basic BI features and simple dashboards might suffice, enterprises must manage vast amounts of data from diverse sources. What are the top modern BI use cases for enterprise businesses to help you get a leg up on the competition?

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[TytoCare in Healthcare Asia] Al-Futtaim Health UAE takes home three trophies at the 2022 Healthcare Asia Awards

OurCrowd

Al-Futtaim Health from the UAE was recognised at the 2022 Healthcare Asia Awards, bagging three trophies for this year’s awards programme: the ‘ Primary Care Provider of the Year’ , ‘ Service Innovation of the Year’ , and ‘CEO of the Year’. Read more here. The post [TytoCare in Healthcare Asia] Al-Futtaim Health UAE takes home three trophies at the 2022 Healthcare Asia Awards appeared first on OurCrowd Blog.

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5 lessons from ‘Star Wars’ that can transform startup managers’ strategies and tactics

TechCrunch

Scott Lenet. Contributor. Share on Twitter. Scott Lenet is president of Touchdown Ventures. More posts by this contributor. 3 lies VCs tell ourselves about startup valuations. Is there a creed in venture capital? As leader of the Jedi council in the “Star Wars” universe, Yoda was essentially their CEO. It was his job to see the future, a talent specifically honed by the visionary warrior monks, and yet he consistently allowed his vision to be clouded by the dark side of the Force.

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[Guild Education in Player FM] How Microsites Elevate Your ABM Approach, with Karthik Chandhramoulie

OurCrowd

At Guild Education, Karthik and his team are executing a highly personalized, ABM approach. Using microsites and retargeting Guild is getting their message in front of some of the largest organizations in the country. Learn how to personalize your storytelling and scale microsites in this fascinating episode. Listen here. The post [Guild Education in Player FM] How Microsites Elevate Your ABM Approach, with Karthik Chandhramoulie appeared first on OurCrowd Blog.

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What’s ahead for crypto startups?

TechCrunch

Hello and welcome back to Equity , a podcast about the business of startups, where we unpack the numbers and nuance behind the headlines. Every Monday, Grace and Alex scour the news and record notes on what’s going on to kick off the week. What was on our minds this morning? The following: Global markets are generally down, albeit nothing too terrifying.

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The GTM Intelligence Era: ZoomInfo 2025 Customer Impact Report

ZoomInfo customers aren’t just selling — they’re winning. Revenue teams using our Go-To-Market Intelligence platform grew pipeline by 32%, increased deal sizes by 40%, and booked 55% more meetings. Download this report to see what 11,000+ customers say about our Go-To-Market Intelligence platform and how it impacts their bottom line. The data speaks for itself!

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[Stellar Cyber in Business Wire] Zyston Adopts Stellar Cyber Open XDR Platform to Deliver Better Managed Security While Accelerating Analyst Productivity??

OurCrowd

SANTA CLARA, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Stellar Cyber, the innovator of Open XDR, and Zyston, a Dallas-based provider of managed security services, today announced that Zyston has adopted the Stellar Cyber platform as the core of its security operations center. Intrigued by the concept of XDR but unwilling to lock itself into a relationship with just one security vendor, Zyston chose Stellar Cyber’s Open XDR platform for its collection of native tools as well as its ability to integrate

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Flink, the German instant grocery upstart, snaps up France’s Cajoo for ~$93M, takes fresh Carrefour funding, sources say at $5B valuation

TechCrunch

Instant grocery startups sprang up and grew like weeds during COVID-19, fueled by consumers opting to practice social distancing and ready to order their food and sundries at the tap of an app, and VCs seeing an gap in the delivery market that had yet to be definitively filled. Now, perhaps inevitably, comes the consolidation. In the latest development, Flink — one of the big instant delivery players out of Germany, backed by DoorDash in the U.S. — is acquiring Cajoo , a large instan

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Learn to Tell Your Stories, to Help Your Influence Grow

Smart Hustle Magazine

Digital evangelist and and author Vala Afshar, a former key executive for Salesforce, recently noted: “Read to improve your writing. Write to improve your thinking. Speak to improve your storytelling.” His remark is profound, and should resonate highly with the readers of Smart Hustle. Think about the many headlines competing for our time and attention as we scan the news every day.

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Classiq raises additional funding for its quantum algorithm design tools

TechCrunch

Tel Aviv-based Classiq , a startup that wants to make it easier for developers to build quantum algorithms and applications, today announced that it has raised additional funding for its service by adding HSBC, NTT Finance, and Intesa Sanpaolo as new investors to its $33 million Series B round, which brings the round to $36 million and the company’s total funding to $51 million.

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How Top Tech CFOs Solve Annual Planning’s Biggest Challenges

Gearing up for 2025 annual planning? Our latest eBook from the Operators Guild is your ultimate guide. Discover real-world solutions and best practices shared by top CFOs, drawn directly from discussions within OG’s vibrant online community. Learn from senior executives at high-growth tech startups as they outline financial planning strategies, align CEO and board goals, and coordinate budgets across departments.

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Hopper CEO on Super-App Ambitions and Designing for Gen Z

Andreessen Horowitz

Hopper, which finds travelers low rates on flights, hotels, and rental cars, is most frequently described as a travel-booking app. It also qualifies as an online travel agency (or OTA), a term that applies to any company selling travel on the internet. OTA is a useful classification because numerous brands in the travel space, including. Read More. The post Hopper CEO on Super-App Ambitions and Designing for Gen Z appeared first on Future.

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Marketing data management platform Claravine nabs $16M

TechCrunch

Claravine , a self-described marketing data platform, today announced that it raised $16 million in a Series B round led by Five Elms Capital with participation from Grayhawk Capital, Next Frontier Capital, Peninsula Ventures, Kickstart Fund, and Silverton Partners. CEO Verl Allen says that the new money, which brings the company’s total raised to $27.9 million, will be used to double Claravine’s headcount to 88 employees by the end of the yea and support product R&D.

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5 Smart Cash Flow Tips from Dun and Bradstreet Exec

Smart Hustle Magazine

Joe Pascaretta knows a thing or two about small business growth. Yes, he heads small business marketing for Dun and Bradstreet but he has also run a landscaping business and he and his team speak to thousands of business owners year. Listen to our interview here on SoundCloud or here on Apple iTunes or other platforms here. Smart Hustle Small Business Podcast · 5 Money Smart Tips from Dun and Bradstreet Exec.

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Nigeria’s Topship raises $2.5M from Flexport and YC to help merchants with international shipping

TechCrunch

African merchants encounter many challenges when it comes to international shipping ranging from logistics and customs to hidden and excessive charges. Digital freight forwarders on the continent have grown to tackle these supply chain issues. In some way, they are taking after the likeness of an $8 billion company and a market leader in the freight space, Flexport; some have dubbed themselves the “Flexport for Africa.” .

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5 Ways You Can Win Faster with Gen AI in Sales

Incorporating generative AI (gen AI) into your sales process can speed up your wins through improved efficiency, personalized customer interactions, and better informed decision- making. Gen AI is a game changer for busy salespeople and can reduce time-consuming tasks, such as customer research, note-taking, and writing emails, and provide insightful data analysis and recommendations.