YouTube is launching a version of Shorts that’s only for members, allowing creators to share short-form videos exclusively with their paying viewers.
The new feature gives paying subscribers access to additional content, on top of their current membership perks, which include things like custom emojis, badges, livestreams and more.
YouTube says creators can use the new option to share a special announcement, product drop or limited-time deal.
The expansion means regular creators will be able to post exclusive videos that only paying subscribers can view.
The exclusive content will be displayed with a star icon, indicating that it’s only available to paying subscribers.
Startups are hiring fewer workers, and paying out less in equity compListen here or wherever you get your podcasts.
Hello, and welcome back to Equity, the podcast about the business of startups, where we unpack the numbers and nuance behind the headlines.
This is our Wednesday episode, in which we dig into critical startup news to stay abreast of what founders and venture capitalists are working on.
Today on the podcast, we got through the following:
As cybercriminals continue to reap the financial rewards of their attacks, talk of a federal ban on ransom payments is getting louder.
Since then, just as talk of a potential ransom payment ban has gotten louder, so has the ransomware activity.
Is a ban on ransom payments the solution?
For a ban on ransom payments to be successful, international and universal regulation would need to be implemented — which, given varying international standards around ransom payments, would be almost impossible to enforce.
Given the brazen nature of these attackers, it’s unlikely that they would be deterred by a ban on ransom payments.
If you hurry, you can get $40,000 off a 2023 Toyota Mirai, a fuel-cell vehicle which retails for $52,000.
Toyota’s discount comes on the heels of Shell’s announcement three weeks ago that it’s closing its hydrogen filling stations in California.
Of those that remain, about a quarter are offline, according to the Hydrogen Fuel Cell Partnership.
So why are Toyota and Honda (and Hyundai and others) still so bullish on hydrogen?
If today’s hydrogen startups succeed, and if they’re able to build enough capacity to satiate industrial and shipping demand, then it might make sense to start selling fuel-cell vehicles to the masses.
The U.S. government has sanctioned two key members of LockBit, the Russian-speaking hacking and extortion gang accused of launching ransomware attacks against victims across the U.S. and internationally.
The U.S. sanctions announced Tuesday are the latest round of actions targeting the hackers behind LockBit and other prolific ransomware gangs.
In 2022, Russian-Canadian dual national Mikhail Vasiliev was arrested on allegations of launching multiple LockBit ransomware attacks.
A third suspect, Russian national Mikhail Pavlovich Matveev, was accused of involvement in several ransomware operations, including LockBit.
Security researchers say that ransomware victims who pay a ransom are more likely to experience subsequent ransomware attacks.
Why are ransomware gangs making so much money?
2023 was a lucrative year for ransomware gangs, fueled by an escalation in threats and tacticsFor many organizations and startups, 2023 was a rough year financially, with companies struggling to raise money and others making cuts to survive.
While 2023 was overall a bumper year for ransomware gangs, other hacker-watchers observed a drop in payments toward the end of the year.
Record-breaking ransomsWhile more ransomware victims are refusing to line the pockets of hackers, ransomware gangs are compensating for this drop in earnings by increasing the number of victims they target.
The company also predicts that a ransom payments ban would lead to the overnight creation of a large illegal market for facilitating ransomware payments.
The investors surveyed clearly aren’t the only ones who are excited about a potential Stripe exit in 2024, either.
According to secondary data tracker Caplight, there has been an absolute flurry of buyers looking to get shares in the company in recent months.
On Tuesday, literally the day after New Year’s Day, a secondary sale closed that valued Stripe shares at $21.06 apiece; that values the startup at $53.65 billion, according to Caplight data.
There are a few reasons why this deal is worth paying attention to.
For one, Stripe’s $53 billion value marks an increase from the company’s most recent primary round last March, when Stripe was valued at $50 billion.
” argon Hall thrusters are an innovative piece of technology that will help power the Starlink V2 mini satellites, one of SpaceX’s many innovations acquired from Swarm Technologies in 2021.”…
