Who Cares What I Think (WCWIT) #9 : Launch Ticker Highlights…
From the VCs:
— Rob Go encourages founders to conduct due diligence before working with an investor; once a term sheet is offered or expected, a founder should speak with three entrepreneurs that have worked closely with the investor — one preferably from a failed investment; Go covers the critical questions for references — Link
— Alex Iskold explains the different types of network effects and differentiates them from virality, economies of scale and marketplaces; also explains how to check for network effects in a business — Link
1. Lil Wayne on the Blockchain
BitTorrent launches Discovery Fund; aims to provide 25 creators with cash grants ranging from $2.5k to $100k for marketing and distribution; musicians, filmmakers and other creators with finished products can spend the money at their own discretion — not just on BitTorrent — Link
This is fantastic. As a huge proponent of anything blockchain, and relevant art, this seems just… awesome. I’m telling all of my creative contacts, including my bro, who’s album will be releasing soon at ericandhappie.com!
2. Paleontology Plugged In
Fossil’s Q Wander and Q Marshal Android Wear smartwatches will be available Aug 29; pre-orders open Aug 12, starting at $295; each features a 45mm case with always-on display, magnetic charger, interchangeable straps; compatible with iOS and Android — Link
Am I wrong in thinking the last time Fossil was relevant was in about 2002, when my mom took me to an outlet mall for some back to school shopping, and they had the most “chronic” swag to impress fellow middle-schoolers? Just me?
In either case, love seeing legacies last by staying relevant, so good on Fossil.
3. They Live, on the Feed
Facebook updates desktop website to circumvent ad blockers; now makes ads indistinguishable from content: no signifiers to trigger blockers; Facebook says ad blockers would have to analyze the content itself to block the new ads — Link
So. Now, I’m not anti-advertisement. I’m just surprised, dissappointed, frustrated, and sometimes disgusted by the majority execution by the industry to date.
Some content is truly great, like Zillow’s op eds on the data they have access to and regularly release, and some companies release really useful tools that can be supercharged by their monetized product — or are just swag for the top-of-mind real estate — — those are fine.
It’s these “Did you know that Soylent drinkers have 80% higher chances of getting into the GSB?” articles that mislead, distort and just plain bother that are a problem. Facebook won’t have a monetization problem to solve for long, if they completely water down the integrity of their hosted content.
4. This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things
Google delays Fiber construction in San Jose, Mountain View and Palo Alto; Sources for the Mercury News say Google is pursuing wireless broadband in some locations, using technology from WebPass, which Google recently acquired; agrees with previous report from Bloomberg — Link
For some reason, or, for some set of unique cultural, regulatory and economic conditions, Silicon Valley gets no cell towers, terrible on demand service, no infrastructural attention… Walking around under the clear blue sky of Palo Alto will drain your battery and run up your roaming charges faster than a night of selfies in an underground club in NYC.
5. Everything Is a Lie
Former employee of defunct smart motorcycle helmet company Skully sues, alleging founders made her cook the books so they could use company funds for personal expenses; Skully’s board forced the founding brothers out before shutting down the business and claiming bankruptcy — Link
These guys… These besmirchers to the moniker business bro… Again, seeing more and more evidence that the market is barely hanging together in the absense of greater transparency and due dilligence processes and protocol — technological, operational, and or social.
6. Don’t Flash Me, Bro
Chrome browser will block behind-the-scenes Flash starting in Sept; some sites still use Flash for unseen features like page analytics, and it slows performance; in Dec, Chrome will use HTML5 by default; users will have to manually enable Flash for sites that require it — Link
And so plods on the ever nearer death march of Flash. Apple has a killer instinct, and some of their foes die with greater ease than others.
7. <hello-new-world-order />
US Office of Management and Budget issues finalized Federal Source Code policy; requires federal agencies share internally developed code with one another and release 20 percent to the public via code.gov — Link
Nah, this is great. I just couldn’t think of a nice punny title. Really curious to see the code exchange between the NRO and NASA. We recently learned that the NRO has far more advanced telescopes than NASA, far bigger budgets, and about 99.99% opacity about what it is they’re… doing in there… but hopefully the transparency and, not quite technocratic focus, but more tech-oriented moves will be the win-win-win it seems to be.
8. Code-ship Troopers
Bug-hunting firm Exodus Intelligence announces a $500k top award for finding iOS exploits and vulnerabilities; follows the launch of Apple’s own $200k bounty; Exodus purportedly charges its customers a $200k subscription fee for access to its software flaws database — Link
Another great example, following the precedent vLab has been setting in the dev-bounty arena.
9. Press B3 for a Tesla, B4 for a Delorean
Online car retailer Carvana raises $160M C from undisclosed investors; the platform lets users find and purchase used vehicles via their website, which can be collected from a so-called “car vending machine”; raised $300M to date — Link
I don’t know whether I hope that the Total Recall-style vending machine is just a marketing visualization of the on-demand value proposition here, or whether some insane billionaire paid to have that built, in a bunker in the Pyrenees.
10. This Is Basically How Watson Works, Right?
Japan-based Rozetta acquires fellow translation service Conyac for $14M; provides customers with crowdsourced translations — Link
Cool app, will probably see similar results to Wikipedia — which is often discounted for it’s contributional accessibility to the masses — but it’s actually leaps and bounds more accurate and detailed than any other existing encyclopedia to date, on the whole.
11. Let’s Talk About the Floating Head in the Room
Google patents a quadcopter-based “mobile telepresence” system; the filing suggests users could remotely monitor a location via an onboard camera, or even partake in a videoconference; it remains unclear if or when the patent will lead to a product — Link
This is somewhat neat, but the need for a teleconferenced face on a screen to have a stick and wheels, or a lil’ chopper escapes me. I totally get the use in exploring inaccessible structure points, or seeing an event, but… feels gimmicky at this stage.
12. Moonshot Machine Makes *Mike & Mannie
Google’s Daydream Labs showcases various social VR experiments and tools for handling harassment; videos demonstrate the possibilities for antisocial behavior, such as placing digital objects in a person’s field of view; proffers limits on an avatar’s mobility, or removing audio cues if a punch is thrown — Link
*The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress reference — I know, it’s a stretch. This seems great though. A much better analogy is that this is, for all intents and purposes, mechanized “Spidey Senses”. I’ve been secretly hoping for years to see more augmented ability wearables, software, etc, to give us all access to Marvel-esque powers and more. No real need for the vigilanteism, but the personal and societal benefits are practically endless. Cut-to, “one week later”, we see a smoldering city scape…
13. Serving Up Struggle Burgers
Square announces a strategic partnership with restaurant software firm Upserve, lending money to eateries; business owners can apply for a Square Capital loan, with money paid back from daily takings; Upserve will also supply Square with anonymized sales data — Link
This seems relatively awesome, at least on the surface. Square looks like it’s angling to be the Uber of mobile payment. Not to say that they intend to go ODMS, more speaking to the big data play of becoming foundational to as many aspects of commerce and communication as possible, so that the leveraging power and insight is incredibly efficient.
14. iNdia
India has reportedly ratified a proposal that could lead to Apple opening stores in the country; the Bloomberg report claims the technology ministry has moved a step closer to waiving a law that insists 30% of goods sold must be of Indian origin; the approval seemingly comes from the finance minister, who had purportedly blocked previous applications — Link
Opening up markets is always a good thing, so good on India for taking another step away from the protectionist mindset of the post-British occupation loom era, and towards participating and blazing paths in the modern global marketplace and culture. Good luck with those product launch lines though.
15. I Can, Like, Hear Colors, Maaaan
Lily (iOS) lets users compose music via onscreen flowers; each petal represents a musical note, with several lilies offering different sounds; users can record and share their creations — Link
I would wager that playing with interactive synesthesiac games and tools either reinstates or preserves some neuro-plasticity. In either case, this looks like something I could happily lose a lazy Saturday exploring.
Funding Roundup : 11 Deals: $291,550,000
— CVRx, created device to identify heart failure and hypertension: $113M from Johnson & Johnson Innovation.
— NextVR, platform for long-form VR broadcasts: $80MSeries B from CITIC Guoan, NetEase, CMC Holdings, SoftBank Corp, et al.
— MapR, provides converged data platform: $50Mundisclosed from Future Fund.
— Farmer’s Business Network, data-share network for farmers: $20M undisclosed from Acre Venture Partners.
— Iconic Therapeutics, develops protein fusion to combat vision loss: $10M Series C from Xeraya Capital, MPM Capital, HBM Healthcare Investments, et al.
— Smooch, B2C chat platform; $7.6M seed from Real Ventures, iNovia Capital.
— Kepler, satellite-based IoT network for space: $5M seed from IA Ventures.
— Koko, chatbot-based P2P therapy network: $2.5M Series A from Omidyar Network, Union Square Ventures.
— Bossa Studios, develops online multiplayer game: $1.35M undisclosed from London Venture Partners.
— Workit Health, 90-day digital fitness program: $1.1M seed from Montage Ventures, Lux Capital.
— Finexio, B2B payment network for HR: $1M seed from James R. Heistand.
Total funding, week to date: $461,550,000
Total funding, month to date: $1,554,475,000
If we missed anything, post a comment on our public sheet or email fundings@launch.co.
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