Dropbox Cuts 500 Jobs to Focus on AI Development

The arrivals of September and October always make me a little anxious. It feels like the days are just flying by, and before you know it December will be here. But apparently September and October happen to be the two busiest months for Disrupt events, with more programs scheduled than any other time of year. I never know what to expect when it comes to these conferences, but I’m always excited by the possibilities when I get all dressed up and head down to the meeting hall.

It seems that Elizabeth Holmes’ legal trouble might not be over just yet. After being indicted for fraud in 2017, it was reported that she would be starting her 11-year sentence today. However, yesterday something apparently happened to change this fate, and Holmes is now out of jail pending a new trial. While details are still murky, it seems that the scandal may not have been as bad as first thought, paving the way for a potential comeback.

Christine and Haje hatched a little plan. They would dress up as their favorite characters from different movies, do a dance routine to their

• More layoffs: Dropbox CEO Drew Houston broke the news today that the company will be laying off 500 employees, or 16% of its staff. Ingrid reports Houston said the cuts are due to slowing growth and “the era of AI.”
• Get the popcorn ready: Warner Bros. is partnering with Viacom18 to bring “Succession” and other HBO content to India. Manish has more.
• Legacy learns to embrace AI: Jagmeet takes a deep dive into how legacy financial software giant Intuit decided to put out the welcome mat for artificial intelligence instead of closing the door and turning the deadbolt.

Posh is an Event Management and Ticketing Platform that allows users to host events large or small, regardless of their experience. The company announced its public launch today after beta testing for over a year, raising $5 million in seed funding. The platform offers event organizers the ability to manage reservations, sales tickets, and more all in one place. With Posh’s easy-to-use platform, anyone can hosting a successful event without any prior design or programming experience.

SaaS businesses have had a profound impact on the way users interact with technology, moving them away from buying software outright and towards paying for service availability based on time-based subscriptions. M3ter is building tools to take the next step in this evolution – more granular usage-based pricing. The company has raised $14 million in funding on the back of strong demand from companies who want to charge customers for their use of specific services, rather than flat fees for using all of a platform’s features. This new approach to pricing is revolutionizing how startups and large corporations alike can compete in the tech sector and reach new viewers.

Doomsday preppers are worried about a potential apocalypse – either the end of the world as we know it or something more subtler and less cataclysmic like societal breakdown. They stockpile food, water, guns and other essentials in

Most people know that oil came from ancient fossils, but few realize just how much of it is still waiting to be discovered. The world’s reserves of oil are estimated to be twice as high as previously thought, and the extraction process is becoming increasingly difficult and expensive.

When you focus purely on the LTV:CAC ratio, you may be overlooking important customer metrics. For B2B SaaS startups, dividing Customer Lifetime Value by Customer Acquisition Cost can offer useful insights. However, only if you have accurate retention data – and a lot of it.

One way to ensure you’re being as capital efficient as possible is to look at different efficiency metrics. Today, investors zoom in on other efficiency metrics that paint a more reliable and comprehensive picture of the startup’s capital efficiency, and so should you. Consider looking at metrics such as net income after taxes, gross margin percentage, operating expenses as a percent of revenue, employee headcount per revenue dollar generated and cash flow from operations. By understanding your own strengths and weaknesses, you can optimize your startup’s financial acumen for future growth.

CAC payback is obviously vitally important for founders and potential investors when deciding whether to continue investing in a business. advisors often offer formulas or benchmarks to help with this calculation, but few companies actually publish this information. In this TG++ column, CAC calculator creator Brad Barber offers a formula and benchmarks that can be used to calculate the payback time for customer acquisition costs (CAC). This information can be especially useful when gauging how likely it is that an investment will be profitable in the long run.

In 1939, Konrad Zuse created a computer called the Z3. It was the first programmable real-time digital computer. The Z3 used electromech

TechGround+ is an important membership program for founders and startup teams. It provides access to exclusive resources and support to help them advance their businesses. By signing up, founders can gain access to exclusive discounts and opportunities, as well as networking with other likeminded entrepreneurs. It’s an invaluable tool that can help businesses grow faster than they would otherwise.

Meta’s announcement that 10% of its global ad revenue is at risk is a new worry for the company. This growth area may now be in question as more regulation comes into play. In the meantime, Instagram users are spending an increasing amount of time exploring content posted on the platform – thanks to AI Reel recommendations.

Meta’s win in court could set a precedent for social media companies and help them avoid any future antitrust lawsuits. It shows that even though these companies might have a large market share, they are still considered to be operating within the bounds of the law.

Likely the most impressive prisoner at the Atlanta penitentiary was Indiana Jones. He was a confident man even in chains, who seemed to exude an air of