Featured Article
VCs are increasingly buying shares of late-stage startups on the secondary market as they try to get pieces of the hottest ones — especially AI companies. But they are also increasingly doing so through financial instruments called special purpose vehicles (SVPs). Some of those SPVs are becoming such hot commodities…
For some businesses, there is a clear path to growth that doesn’t involve acquiring other companies or expanding organically: franchising. The U.S. has more than 800,000 franchise businesses, according to…
In 2020, Kathryn Wu launched a side hustle while she was working as a product engineer at Pinterest. Wu started a milk tea company, OhTea, with the hopes of connecting…
The release of ChatGPT in November 2022 sparked a new wave of AI companies. It also brought attention to the companies that were already building…
Startups
Rippling’s Parker Conrad says founders should ‘go all the way to the ground’ to run their companies
This is just one area of leadership where Parker Conrad takes a contrarian approach. He also said he doesn’t believe in top-down management.
When Keith Rabois announced he was leaving Founders Fund to return to Khosla Ventures in January, it came as a shock to many in the venture capital ecosystem — and…
What is the right way to build a software business? Many startup advisers say that B2B software should solve one pain point, gain customers, then add features as their company…
The one and only Parker Conrad stopped by TechCrunch’s Found this week to talk to us about his company Rippling, as well as the X…
Search engine optimization (SEO) has been top of mind for brands for more than a decade to ensure their websites and products capture as many eyeballs as possible by ranking…
Featured Article
Avi Schiffmann, the founder and CEO of Friend, told TechCrunch over email that the purchase has already paid for itself.
AI was prominent in the news cycle this week — yet again. In this Friday’s episode of TechCrunch’s Equity podcast, Kirsten Korosec, Mary Ann Azevedo…
AI
Cohere co-founder Nick Frosst thinks everyone needs to be more realistic about what AI can and cannot do
AI companies are gobbling up investor money and securing sky-high valuations early in their life cycle. This dynamic has many calling the AI industry a bubble. Nick Frosst, a co-founder…
Startups
From Skims to Stripe, here are the startups that are likely — or definitely — not having IPOs this year
Last year’s investor dreams of a strong 2024 IPO pipeline have faded, if not fully disappeared, as we settle in to the second half of the year. This year delivered…
When Nick Frosst was in college over a decade ago, he was worried he was a little late to the AI game. Frosst, a co-founder…
COVID-19 pushed people to take up outdoor activities. Now, startups are helping companies and consumers keep up with demand.
Venture
How filming a cappella concerts and dance recitals led Northzone’s newest partner Molly Alter to a career in VC
Molly Alter wears a lot of hats. She’s a mocumentary filmmaker working on a project about an alternate reality where charades is big business. She’s a caesar salad connoisseur and…
The San Jose-based startup raised $60 million in a round that values it lower than the $500 million valuation it garnered in its most recent round, according to multiple sources.
Farms produce a lot of data. From machines to irrigation systems, farms generate a lot of information that could be helpful to both them and the companies that serve them.…
The popularity of refurbishing technology has only increased these past few years and with it, the understanding of how important sustainability is in the industry. …
Government websites aren’t known for cutting-edge tech. GovWell co-founder and CTO Ben Cohen discovered this while trying to help his dad, a contractor, apply for building permits. Cohen worked as…
Welcome back to another recap of Equity, TechCrunch’s flagship podcast about the business of startups. This episode is packed with some significant fundraises, a potentially…
Farmers have got to do something about pests. But nobody really likes the idea of using more chemical pesticides. Thomas Laurent’s company, Micropep, thinks the answer might already be in…
After hearing that a U.S. Navy submarine ran into an underwater mountain, Joe Wolfel was surprised to find out just how little both government and…
TechCrunch Disrupt 2024
Andy Dunn talks the importance of founder mental health at TechCrunch Disrupt 2024
Hustle culture is embedded into the Silicon Valley startup ethos, but the expectation to grind all the time can be detrimental to a founder’s mental health. We’re pleased to welcome…
Nathan Rosenberg, the founder of farm automation platform Farmblox, said if there is one thing to know about trying to sell technology to farmers, it’s that you can’t tell them…
Startups
17-year-old Eric Zhu’s startup was built in a high school bathroom — now it’s raised $2.3M and is emerging from stealth
Eric Zhu started building Aviato, an analytical platform for private market data, in a very atypical place for an entrepreneur: the bathroom in his Carmel, Indiana, high school. Now the 17-year-old’s…
Alphabet, the parent company of Google, is in advanced talks to acquire cybersecurity startup Wiz for $23 billion, the Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday. TechCrunch’s sources heard similar and…
When Tade Oyerinde first set out to fundraise for his startup, Campus, a fully accredited online community college, it was incredibly difficult. VCs have backed for-profit education companies in the…
When Jaclyn Rice Nelson and Noah Gale launched AI talent and services company Tribe AI in 2019, they had to convince companies that having an AI strategy mattered. After the…
Community colleges aren’t immune from the current reckoning higher education is facing. Student enrollment is declining while institutions keep raising tuition prices, which can prevent…
