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Happy Friday Crunch!
There’s a persistent theory in hardware that manufacturing overseas is the cheapest/best/most efficient option. You manufacture there, assemble elsewhere, and finally approve and get to market in the United States, The wine write in TC+. It turns out that it is possible to manufacture closer to home. With supply chains in the news more than ever, “locating close” is an often overlooked option for startups.
Along these lines, we’re going to drink a beer with a shamrock poured into the foam, for no particular reason. — christina and The wine
TechCrunch Top 3
- Next Stop, Chapter 11: Today, SVB Financial filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, revealing that it has $2.2 billion in liquidity, ingrid reports. “This will mean that SVB Financial can and plans to file an application with the courts to resume business while it finds buyers for its assets, including moving forward with its plans to sell SVB Securities and SVB Capital, and more.” , Ingrid points out. .
- more than we ask– Now US users can add a coveted blue checkmark to their Instagram and Facebook accounts – well, at least get on the waiting list to do it – for a monthly fee, that is, Aisha reports. Nothing in life is truly free, my loves. But there are stickers, so that’s it.
- Just in time: As a serial entrepreneur who has endured some ups and downs, Parker Conrad has pretty much seen it all. Or so I might have thought until last week, Conny reports. Rippling, his workforce management company of six years, would raise $500 million in new funding as a kind of insurance in the very likely scenario that SVB’s collapse was not resolved as quickly as it did.
Startups and VCs
News broke last night that Virgin Orbit was pausing operations for at least a week while it sought funds to support the business. As part of that hiatus, company executives reportedly told staff at a general meeting that they were being furloughed and would not be paid. however, it should never have come to a staff license, Aria writes
Unearthly Materials claimed to have big-name investors, but not everyone agreed, Tim reports on TC+. The startup claims it is on the cusp of a superconducting breakthrough despite the questionable scientific track record.
And we’ve got five more for you, complete with saltier-than-usual comments:
Best Practices for Times of Change: How Founders Should Leverage AI and ML in 2023
Image Credits: fake images
We don’t publish many articles promoting basic best practices. Suggestions like “listen to your customers” and “make decisions based on data” are so general that they are difficult to implement.
But now that AI-powered solutions deliver search results, produce poems and generate illustrations on demand, startups need a framework to create personalized user experiences, according to Ab Gaur, founder and CEO of Verticurl.
“While excessive or useless customer data can clog content pipelines, the right information can drive hyper-personalization at scale,” he writes.
Three more from the TC+ team:
TechCrunch+ is our membership program that helps start-up founders and teams get ahead of the rest. You can sign up here. Use code “DC” to get 15% off an annual subscription!
big tech inc
TikTok had a lot going on the day before: With the assent of several government entities in the United States, New Zealand banned TikTok on MPs’ phones. Ivan has more information about what is going on there. Speaking of the United States, Taylor writes that the government here is increasing its pressure on TikTok to break away from parent company ByteDance or risk being banned in the US unless it is banned in the US. For now, the deal will provide exclusive content and other in-app programming, Aisha writes
And we have five more for you:
