I found an old leather jacket in the back of a closet recently. This is a vintage item in fantastic condition, except for a large tear in one of the front pockets.
Two clothing donation centers turned it down, so I decided to see if it was worth repairing. It was expensive when new, but with a little attention and care, it might just find a second life.
Vine, Twitter’s closed video-sharing platform that launched three years before TikTok, looks a lot like my old jacket: In the past, it’s earned raves, but if I wore it now, it’d look like hell.
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In October 2022, incoming Twitter CEO Elon Musk polled his followers: “Bring back Vine?”
Nearly 70% answered yes, which means Twitter developers are “probably now wondering if they should try to revive the old codebase or start from scratch,” writes Marcus Merrell, Sauce Labs’ vice president of technology strategy.
“Reviving parts of a codebase is like changing an airplane engine while it’s in flight,” but rebooting involves an inordinate amount of technical resources.
Merrill draws on his experience as a developer to weigh the costs, benefits, and challenges associated with resuscitating and refactoring old software.
“In both cases, you’re wasting time and resources,” he says. “I bet technology is the least of your problems.”
Thanks so much for reading,
walter thompson
Editorial Manager, TechCrunch+
@yourprotagonist
Learn Growth Marketing: Which Metrics Really Matter?
Image Credits: Rittikrai_PIX (Opens in a new window) / Fake Images
In the final article of a five-part series, growth marketing expert Jonathan Martinez shares key metrics he tracked at Coinbase and Uber, along with a framework for activating and retaining revenue-generating early adopters.
Tracking KPIs like lifetime value and customer acquisition cost is a no-brainer, so the article includes a framework to help you identify which channels and customers generate the most revenue.
“Find out the reasons that make your product or service ‘sticky’ and you’ll save a lot of time,” Martinez writes.
Freemium Product Optimization: Challenges and Opportunities
Image Credits: Richard Rury (Opens in a new window) / Fake Images
Offering a free sample in the hope that the recipient will become a paying customer is a central tactic at food courts, cosmetic counters, and in-house software startups.
Freemium products are everywhere, but unless companies review and optimize their strategy, there is no effective way to optimize for conversions.
“Enabling freemium, especially for established products, can lead to organizational and operational challenges even if it adds value to the business,” writes Konstantin Valiotti, director of product growth at PandaDoc.
In this article, he presents strategies to optimize:
- user activation
- conversion paths
- product changes
- Where to place barriers and limitations
Dear Sophie: What H-1B and other immigration changes can we expect this year?
Image Credits: Bryce Durbin/TechCrunch
Dear Sophie,
I help several startups with HR. I have heard that the application fees for many visas and green cards will increase substantially.
When will these increases take effect? Are there any other immigration related changes this year? Any H-1B update?
— Person passionate about people
The team slide is the most important slide in a starting pitch deck
Image Credits: Malte Muller (Opens in a new window) / Fake Images
Early-stage investors generally know more about the market than the founders who are promoting them.
Newbies are stacking pitch pads with data points from Gartner studies, quotes from TechCrunch articles, and wacky projections from TAM in the hopes that it will burnish their credentials.
None of those are driving factors, but a comprehensive team slide explaining why a specific group of people is qualified to attack a particular problem is much more compelling, writes Haje Jan Kamps.
Which open source startups are skyrocketing in 2022?
Image Credits: Swillklitch/Getty Images
In its annual report ranking the fastest growing new commercial open source companies (COSS), Runa Capital analyzed funding trends in the sector.
Using a methodology based in part on the number of stars in each company’s GitHub repository, the report identifies which companies and universities happen to be the most COSS founders, along with their geographic distribution.
“Purists may also take issue with some of the startups that have been included in the Runa Capital report,” says Paul Sawers, “since some have fairly lightweight open source credentials.”
Launch Pad Teardown: Laoshi’s $570,000 Angel Pad
Image Credits: laoshi (Opens in a new window)
Laoshi’s founders raised an angel round of $570,000 to expand their app, which helps users learn to read and write Chinese.
To help other very early stage founders, they shared 15 slides from their platform:
- deck slide
- problem slide
- market slippage
- solution slide
- competition slide
- roadmap slide
- team slide
- Teacher Growth Slide
- Teacher Retention Slide
- summary slide
- “Contact Us” Slide
- Appendices Deck Slide
- Appendix I: Viral Effect Slide
- Annex II: Business model slide
- Appendix III: “The Question” Slide
