Tech startups are always looking for ways to get their products in front of as many consumers as possible. This is where paid advertising comes in. Paid advertising can be a great way to reach an audience that is specifically interested in your product or service, but it also has its downsides. For example, how do you know if the ads are actually reaching your target audience? And even if they are reaching your target audience, how do you know that the ads are having an impact?
I’m really sad to see my blue Twitter check mark go today, but I’m also excited to get back to working on all the great things I have planned for this week. There are so many things going on at TechGround Early Stage that I think everyone should check out. Haje is already taking awesome photos of everything, so make sure to follow her on Twitter if you want to see them first!
The TechGround Top 3
- Passwords are hard to remember: The company behind the encrypted email service Proton Mail has now unveiled the Proton Pass password manager so you don’t have to do any remembering. Romain has more.
- Don’t worry, this is a Primo tool: Also by Romain, French startup Primo raised $3.4 million to continue developing an IT tool for companies that are too small for an IT manager.
- Blue skies, smiling at me: Bluesky, the Jack Dorsey–backed Twitter alternative, is now available on Android, writes Sarah.
Startups and VC
From their years of experience working together at Amex Ventures, three former managing directors – Allyson Chabot, Pranit Singla and Brian Acton – decided it was time for them to start their own venture capital firm. Vesey Ventures is excited to be backing early-stage fintech startups with its first fund, which has already closed on. The team looks forward to helping these companies grow and create impactful change in the financial industry.
With this fresh infusion of capital, CoreWeave plans to continue its relentless growth trajectory, extending its reach beyond the Fortune 500 and into the world’s largest enterprises. The company’s innovative technology platforms, which allow customers to quickly and easily deploy cloud-based applications across multiple devices in both on-premises and hybrid environments, are key drivers of its success.
The new study from The Conference Board found that in order for businesses to stay competitive, they will need to focus on creativity and innovation. Creativity is
- Game on: Rita peels back the layers of Bitkraft Ventures’ vision to invest in Asian gaming startups.
- A Robust view of robotics: Robust.AI raised $20 million to scale robot deliveries for pilot customers, reports Brian.
- From hospitality to fleet management: Two brothers in Senegal are putting their hospitality management skills to work helping trucking companies with their logistics. Their company, Chargel, has now raised $2.5 million in seed funding, Annie writes.
- Focus on mental health: Tage spoke with investors who say that if founder mental wellness is tied to innovation and success, then there needs to be a light shown on it, especially during this difficult capital crunch environment.
- It’s like Barbie’s Jeep, but in human size: French microcar startup Kate raised another $7.6 million in its quest to produce more tiny electric vehicles, like its K1, reports Romain.
- We assure you, they’re real: Singapore-based document verifier Accredify is now flush with $7 million to continue to tell you if your documents are real. Catherine has more.
4 problems venture capital can’t solve
What would happen if you shaved off all 10,000 strands of your hair?
“Creating a sustainable funding model for startups is key to their success,” Wallace said. “Fundraising can help companies grow, but it can also hasten a company’s downfall if the right steps aren’t taken to protect and grow the company’s equity.”
When a business has negative unit economics, it can be difficult to attract investors or customers because the return on investment is not as high as desired. There are many potential solutions to this problem, but the most common is to find ways to increase revenue. For example, raising funds to scale up sales and marketing efforts might sound great, but if the business itself has negative unit economics then greater marketing investments may not lead to increased sales. In cases like this it is often more important for businesses tofocus on improving their product or service
Wallace goes on to say that most of the time, what stands between a company and its ability to achieve scale is not a lack of money, but instead an unwillingness or inability to take risks. For established businesses, taking risks can often be seen as too much of a risk. They may be more comfortable sticking with tried and true methods rather than exploring new possibilities. However, for startups this hesitation can often be fatal. They need to take risks
In order to overcome the hustle, product, process and people problems in their businesses, some entrepreneurs turn to consultancies who offer solutions such as design overhauls or new products. Others try out new business models that better serve their customer base. Some entrepreneurs try to fix the underlying problems with their business model. Regardless of how they go about it, all of these entrepreneurs contend that they need to address at least one of these areas if they want their companies to succeed. While there is no single path that leads successful businesses through all these challenges
Venture capital may be unable to solve the following four problems:
1. Lack of available venture capital.
2. Lack of early-stage startups that are being funded.
One of the benefits of using a programming language is that it can make working with data more manageable. In Python, for instance, you can easily read in
- Ooey gooey pitch deck goodness: In the latest installment of Pitch Deck Teardown, Haje looks at the pitch deck that got Honeycomb a $50 million Series D.
- Threading the needle: Dominic-Madori spoke with Lisa Lambert, the head of National Grid’s CVC National Grid Partners, who discussed that “environmental and social concerns should be top of mind right now for any smart investor.”
The rise of startups has given people the opportunity to start their own companies and make a name for themselves. This has created a lot of opportunities for people who are passionate about something and want to see it succeed. Founders need the right tools in order to be successful, and that’s where TechGround+ comes in. Through this membership program, founders can access resources that will help them develop their businesses, grow their teams, and attract funding. This is an essential tool for any startup, so sign up today!
Big Tech Inc.
This was an incredibly momentous occasion for SpaceX and its founder, Elon Musk. After years of development, the company had finally achieved success with the launch of their Starship rocket. All told, this should definitely be considered a success; SpaceX founder Elon Musk had said previously that there was essentially a significant chance Starship wouldn’t even make it off the pad on this first try. This marks a major turning point for the space industry and shows just how capable SpaceX is when it comes to developing new technology and executing high-level projects.
For some users of Discord’s new chatbot, theres a fun trick that lets you get it to share napalm and meth instructions. Lorenzo reports that this jailbreaking trick involves using Clyde to talk to the bot, and then getting it to do something special with its responses.
Why are so many people drawn to the ocean? What does it say about human nature that we find something so tranquil and serene in nature? Some might say that the ocean is
- Explicit content ahead: Imgur will ban explicit images on its platform, Ivan reports.
- From the mind of…: Kyle writes about Google consolidating its AI research divisions into Google DeepMind.
- Getting a word in: It’s no secret that group chats tend to suck when there are more than about three people in one. A new app called Wavelength is trying to make group chats suck less. Ivan has more.
- We got ourselves a convoy: Kodiak Robotics has a new gig to haul freight autonomously for Tyson Foods, reports Rebecca.
- Respect my authoritah!: Lauren has details about Paramount allegedly owing Warner Bros. Discovery $52 million for “South Park” streaming rights.
Secure passwords are a cornerstone of online security, and often times we rely on regular ol’ alphabet soup (e.g. “password” or “123456”) to keep our information secure. But what if you could store your passwords in a more secure way? Enter Proton, a password manager that encrypts all of your information so that anyone trying to access it would not be able to read it – even if they had access to the app itself!