Tuesday, June 7, 2022

Oracle dives deeply into healthcare after closing $28B Cerner acquisition

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By Christine Hall and Haje Jan Kamps

Tuesday, June 07, 2022

Hi there, and welcome to another Daily Crunch, this time for Tuesday June 7, 2022. The past 24 hours have had a lot of Apple news in them, and we've got comprehensive coverage on that front — but we also have a veritable cornucopia of other news from across the startup-o-sphere, so let's get right into it! — Haje and Christine

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Image Credits: Kim Kulish/Corbis / Getty Images

The TechCrunch Top 3

  • Oracle's done deal: Oracle quietly wrapped up its acquisition of Cerner, which goes into effect Wednesday. Electronic health records is big business, and while this merger gives Oracle a major seat at the table, it is not yet known how these companies will mesh or whether Cerner will be lucrative for Oracle. Whatever happens, can this be a step closer to enabling medical records to be more easily accessible and transferrable for patients?
  • One thing to rule them all, one thing to find them, one thing in the darkness to charge them: As fans of climate and the environment, and as people with an infinite number of chargers in drawers, we're all for EU's new rules that dictate that most devices need to be able to use the USB-C charging standard. We're curious how this will affect startups in particular; different chargers and giving users the option not to receive a charger with their device is going to make supply chains and SKUs a lot more complex.
  • Grab the Wite-Out: Alex and Anna look at venture capital activity in Latin America and sense that a decline is in the cards for the second quarter, alluding to a possible correction.

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Startups and VC

Best known for its open source microcontrollers that have been wildly embraced by the developer community, Arduino now has its sights firmly set on the enterprise world, Brian reports. Specifically, the company believes it's well positioned to gain a foothold among Gen Z and millennial engineers in the workforce.

Let's check out what else there is:

The guide to great metrics: Product-led principles

Imagine a world where founders boasted about how much growth they’ve driven, as opposed to their fundraising prowess.

The ability to raise capital is less impressive than finding sustainable ways to build a growing base of paying customers. The right coaching and a strong network can help many founders land a sizable seed round, but that money reflects investor confidence, not market demand.

In a post for TC+, Curtis Townshend, senior director of growth at OpenView, shares 11 product-led growth tactics that foster “customer acquisition, retention and expansion.”

After surveying 14 public B2B software companies, Townshend says firms that built for discoverability and deployed usage-based pricing had a median growth rate of 141%, compared to 21% for traditional SaaS.

These companies were also much more efficient with regard to the Rule of 40 and retaining revenue. “Across the board, the variance in metrics is stark,” says Townshend.

(TechCrunch+ is our membership program, which helps founders and startup teams get ahead. You can sign up here.)

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The guide to great metrics: Product-led principles image

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Big Tech Inc.

With WWDC in full swing, let's take a bite out of some Apple news first, shall we? Some interesting new security features for macOS 13 Ventura (or as we dubbed it "Mace Ventura") are coming down the pipeline here; for example, when you plug a device into the USB-C port, it will automatically be blocked until you give it the green light. Apple is also fixing an annoying "tapback" problem when an iPhone user dares to text with an Android user. Some developers are probably rejoicing, too, as some restrictions are being loosened on what can be published on the App Store. Meanwhile, iOS 16 brings with it some redesigned and reimagined features, like better photo-sharing abilities and editing tools.

Next, we reported on a little shake-up happening over at Peloton, which tapped Amazon Web Services executive Liz Coddington as its new chief financial officer, effective next week. She takes over for Jill Woodworth, Peloton's first CFO, who is leaving the company. As you might recall, earnings were not so good, which has the company “pedaling” to manage its supply-and-demand issues.

In money news, PayPal took a hint from its crypto-enthused users and unveiled a way for them to move their cryptocurrency from PayPal to other users, wallets or exchanges.

Here is some more news to gobble up:

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Monday, June 6, 2022

Apple unveils two new laptops, a new OS, the M2 chip and more at WWDC

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By Christine Hall

Monday, June 06, 2022

Today is Monday, June 6, 2022, and in case you didn't know, it is also Apple's WWDC conference, which is what Haje and our other colleagues are focused on today, so you get me solo. See all the tidbits and trappings by these excellent writers below. Also, Lucas's and Anita's newsletter featuring "the arrest heard 'round the crypto world" is one you must check out. Lastly, we give you five reasons you won't want to miss the TC Sessions: Climate, kicking off next week, so get your ticket today. — Christine

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Image Credits: Apple

The TechCrunch Top 3

  • All things Apple: As mentioned, this week our team will be bringing you everything WWDC related, from the live keynote to unveils like the M2 silicon chip to the redesigned MacBook Air to the new name for macOS (Ventura, "Mace Ventura") and all the new features you can stand. Alrighty then, we even have a special WWDC 2022 page where you can access all the Apple goodness throughout the week.
  • Elon Musk is not happy: When we aren't writing about Apple, we are writing about our favorite billionaire's journey to purchasing Twitter. Today, Musk's legal team made an SEC filing that says Musk is not happy that Twitter won't comply with his data request regarding the number of "spam and fake accounts" the social media giant has, and if he doesn't get those numbers, he is going to take his toys and go home, figuratively speaking.
  • Unicorns may be losing their magic: In this episode of "The Exchange," Alex debates glut versus jam and why the past 2 years were somewhat of a "unicorn bonanza."

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Startups and VC

There's not a day that goes by where we don't hear of a new cybersecurity threat or hack, so it's no surprise that companies like AppOmni continue to rake in big bucks to help solve the problem — in this case vulnerabilities in SaaS app stacks.

Another company conjuring up some capital is Magical, which is out to prove that robotic process automation isn't ready for consolidation, and there are still a few rabbits left to pull out of its hat.

Over in software, Alex writes that software startups have some things to be happy about, even in this venture capital slowdown.  

Would you like some more? Happy to comply:

Fighting the "copycat" stigma in SaaS: Three tricks that work

In a world where ideas are cheap, it's not hard to be labeled a "copycat" if your product is even within a country mile of your competitor's domain, no matter the value you provide.

"It always stings to hear a prospect say, 'Oh you're like a cheaper/newer version of [your biggest competitor].' It stings even more when you know you have a superior product," writes Sachin Gupta, the CEO and co-founder of HackerEarth.

Drawing from his own experience, Gupta explains three ways founders can set their company and product apart:

  • Lean into and promote your data.
  • Double down on your product.
  • Revisit and reinvent your marketing.

(TechCrunch+ is our membership program, which helps founders and startup teams get ahead. You can sign up here.)

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Fighting the "copycat" stigma in SaaS: Three tricks that work image

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Big Tech Inc.

  • Lots of big news in our newsletters, from Mary Ann's story on Affirm and Stripe working together to give Stripe's U.S. consumers a way to pay in installments to Kirsten's story on Ford's new sales process and Sarah's look at the number of App Store and Google Play downloads.
  • Etsy is making a $25 million investment toward a new purchase protection program for buyers and sellers that will hit the online marketplace August 1. At its core, the new program means buyers can get a full refund if items "don't match the item description, arrive damaged or don't arrive at all." We don't think sellers maliciously try to pull the wool over anyone's eyes, but it does sound like sellers will need to be careful what they post.
  • IBM said it is acquiring Randori, an offensive security startup. Carly called this move "yet another sign of the company's continuing shift away from its legacy business to cloud software and AI-powered cybersecurity services, which it recently bolstered with its takeover of endpoint security platform ReaQTA."
  • It may be Apple's big day, but as Brian put it, "a Google Pixel feature drop waits for no one." Some of the new features for the phone include the ability to add a shortcut from the homepage to a vaccine card screenshot and Conversation Mode for Google's Sound Amplifier.

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Friday, June 3, 2022

Tesla shares drop after leaked CEO email reveals hiring freeze, plans to cut 10% of staff

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By Christine Hall and Haje Jan Kamps

Friday, June 03, 2022

Happy Fri-yay the 3rd of June 2022. Or, as this cursed pandemic is still doing its thing, perhaps it's March 824, 2020, who knows. Whatever is happening in your world, we hope that you are experiencing peace and that you know the source of peace. Can you tell we've been reading some hippie literature recently? Those folks do seem pretty peaceful — maybe they're onto something. Happy weekend and catch you on the flip side! — Haje and Christine

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Image Credits: Scott Olson / Getty Images

The TechCrunch Top 3

  • Brrrr, it's cold in here — there must be some hiring freezes in the atmosphere: It's been quite the week for layoffs and hiring freezes, as you will see farther down in our fair newsletter. So perhaps it is not a surprise that after telling Tesla employees to get thee into the office, it has now come out that Elon Musk told executives to freeze hiring for salaried workers. Not only did the news do a number on Tesla shares, but it also gave President Joe Biden some fodder for his jobs report.
  • The delivery kids aren't all right: Delivery startups, once the "darlings" of venture capital investment as Kyle put it, found their stride when none of us could go places over the past 2 years. But it seems the faster the delivery times got, or the promise of it, the more certain companies failed to, well, deliver. Sources say correction is a comin'.
  • “Inflation and layoffs and supply chain problems, oh my!”: That was Ron's evaluation of what is going on out there. However, as he found out while listening to Salesforce's first-quarter performance call, CEO Marc Benioff revealed his company did not see the downed quarter as some other companies did.

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Startups and VC

Sometimes, you come across companies that speak with a forked tongue. I'm not saying that's the case for Blackbaud's self-proclaimed 'social good' cloud provider business, but it's definitely a little whiffy to have had the National Rifle Association as a customer since 1997, as Devin reports.

A propos calling bovine excrement when we see it; the A team (Amanda and Anita, obvz, that other A-team has a lot less finger-on-the-pulse cred) argue that perhaps we should just cool it with the 'girlboss' moniker.

But wait, there is more:

Black Founders Matter presses VCs to pledge commitment to diversity

In an interview with new TechCrunch reporter Dominic-Madori Davis, Marceau Michel, founder and managing partner of Black Founders Matter VC Fund, spoke about a new initiative to boost diversity in tech.

"This is about changing the power dynamics in venture capital," he told TechCrunch. "You have to start at who is left behind and bring them to the starting line."

Under the 25 by 25 Pledge, investors would promise to direct 25% of their funds to BIPOC women founders by 2025.

"If a fund does not want to do this pledge … the question is why," Michel said. "The status quo just doesn't hold up anymore. Keeping people that look like us out of the picture just doesn't work."

(TechCrunch+ is our membership program, which helps founders and startup teams get ahead. You can sign up here.)

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Black Founders Matter presses VCs to pledge commitment to diversity image

Image Credits: Marceau Michel

Big Tech Inc.

Microsoft said it thwarted a plan by a Lebanon-based hacking group, believed to be working with Iranian intelligence, to allegedly target Israeli organizations. The group, called Polonium, was creating Microsoft OneDrive accounts and then using them to attempt the hacks.

Amazon's long-time consumer division CEO Dave Clark said he was stepping down from the company in July after 23 years with the company. It's unclear why he is leaving after having only taken on the role two years ago, but Clark did tweet that "it's time for me to build again."

In new features news:

You may have missed these gems from yesterday, but Coinbase surprised us by announcing that it was freezing its hiring process. Initial reports said the company was rescinding offers to new employees that were already accepted, but those people had not yet started. Now we are getting word that their jobs are safe. Don't worry, we are on it and will hopefully be able to clear this up soon. Next up, General Motors' autonomous vehicle unit Cruise is now able to charge for driverless robotaxi rides in San Francisco. And we take a look at a report showing just how hard it is to get an app at the top of the App Store.

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