Twilio CEO: Laying off 11% of company’s workforce is 'wise and necessary'

TechCrunch Newsletter

By Christine Hall and Haje Jan Kamps Wednesday, September 14, 2022

Oh heeeeeey. So excited to see you again, glad to have you with us. It's been a busy news day on the site, and we're particularly excited to share our iPhone 14 review with y'all. Oh, and did you know we've managed to convince our marketing team to let you have 15% off TechCrunch Disrupt tickets, just for being a Daily Crunch reader? Use this link, or pop “DC” into the promo code box when you buy your passes to the hottest startup event of the summer. See you there!  — Christine and Haje Image Credits: Bloomberg / Getty Images

The TechCrunch Top 3 Shedding event: Twilio announced it was laying off 11% of its workforce. CEO Jeff Lawson said the layoffs were "wise and necessary" for the company as it walked the path to profitability. Kyle has more. Biting into the Apple iPhone 14: It's rare that we get a Panzer story, so we were delighted to see it do so well. Perhaps you Daily Crunch fans were also excited to see his name grace a story, or because you were eager to hear a review about the iPhone 14. Don't worry, if it is the latter, we won't tell. This “island” is not tropical: iPhone fanatics may have doubted the usefulness of "the notch" on the iPhone X, but Ivan writes that the new "Dynamic Island" feature for iPhone 14 is anything but.

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Startups and VC Somehow, 'twas the season for audio companies raising money, as we have a stereo pair of stories today: Romain reports that high-end speaker manufacturer Devialet raised $50 million, and Brian and Haje report that Nomono, maker of the $3,000 podcast mic array, raised $3.6 million. Things come in pairs in the transportation industry as well, it appears. Rebecca reports that TruckSmarter comes out of stealth with a free load board for truckers, and Kyle has a story that Nyshex loads $25 million into its bank account to match shippers with ocean carriers. In non-sound and non-shipping startup news: A stealthy flow state: Period tracking app Flo has released a new "Anonymous Mode" setting that gives users the option to access the app without personal and technical identifiers, Aisha reports. Panchromatic onboarding: Chameleon raises $13 million to help SaaS companies build better onboarding experiences, Kyle reports. Unshackled from previous commitments: This consumer investor is switching VC firms after making partner last year, Natasha M writes. That's a tasty burger you've grown there, Doctor: Christine reports that cultured meat startup Prolific Machines unveils its “Henry Ford approach” to cell growth. That'll zap some life into the industry: EV charging platform Monta raises at a $155 million valuation to expand into the U.S., Haje reports.

Dear Sophie: Is there a way to keep working in the US after my J-1 visa expires? Dear Sophie, I'm a Fulbright scholar on a J-1 visa. I've been told that after my J-1 ends, I'm required to return to my country for two years. Is there a way I can stay in the U.S.? Can I apply for an O-1A or green card even if I have to go back to my country? — Seeking to Stay (TechCrunch+ is our membership program, which helps founders and startup teams get ahead. You can sign up here. Use code "DC" for a 15% discount on an annual subscription!) Read More Image Credits: Bryce Durbin/TechCrunch

Big Tech Inc. It was a busy news day for our big tech companies. We start with some lights, camera, action…uh, action from Haje, who writes on DJI's new Osmo Action 3 camera. Presenting your new best friend for taking underwater photos down to 16 meters in depth. Some news out of South Korea: Both Google and Meta were collectively fined $71.8 million by the country's authorities for allegedly violating South Korea's privacy law, Kate reports. In addition, Manish writes about Terraform Labs founder Do Kwon having an arrest warrant out for him regarding the company's two tokens losing $40 billion in value in a span of days earlier this year. As a result of that news, the price of Luna, the new token of the revived ecosystem, dropped to $2.23 apiece. More layoffs: Continuing from the Twilio news above, Amanda has more on Patreon laying off 17% of staff, while Lauren reports on Netflix downsizing its animation department. More Google: Google had a mixed day. The search giant was not successful in overturning a €4 billion Android antitrust decision, Natasha L writes. But, as Ivan reports, it now has 31 new emojis. Find out which one "shook" him. Meanwhile, Sarah reports some bad news from Google’s Area 120 R&D division — a "reduction in force" — and also walks us through Google's new redesigned Memories feature and creative tools. More creator tools: Speaking of getting creative, Canva unveiled a new suite of products in hopes of shedding its purely graphic design image, Amanda writes. More creepy AI: Devin delights us with "a terrifying AI-generated woman lurking in the abyss of latent space." More charging stations: At the Detroit Auto Show today, Biden announced $900 million for EV charging stations, Rebecca reports.

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Xeneta raises $80M to build out its real-time analytics platform for shipping and air freight

TechCrunch Newsletter

By Christine Hall and Haje Jan Kamps Tuesday, September 13, 2022

The incomparable Mike Butcher just celebrated 15 years at TechCrunch. You get less for murder these days, so that's a hell of a milestone, and (as far as we know) he didn't even seriously maim, far less murder, anyone. Awesome work, Mike. Glad to have you here with us! — Christine and Haje Image Credits: xPACIFICA / Getty Images

The TechCrunch Top 3 Crowdsourcing the shipping world: Backers delivered $80 million to Xeneta, on a $265 million valuation, for the Norway-based company's crowdsourcing approach to determining air and sea freight rates, Ingrid reports. Xeneta has already acquired 300 million data points from over 100 of the world's biggest shipping companies to figure out the market rate for certain routes. Sound on: Floor sound just got elevated — Sonos's new Sub Mini subwoofer drops October 6 in some markets. Darrell has more. Keep reaching for that wallet: The digital wallet just got some open source love, Paul reports. The Linux Foundation has created the OpenWallet Foundation to develop interoperable digital wallets and evolve them from just a place to keep your currency into basically a physical wallet replacement.

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Startups and VC Meta Platforms is looking at India's burgeoning startup ecosystem as it bolsters its bet on the metaverse. The social juggernaut has partnered with the Indian IT Ministry's startup hub to launch an accelerator in the country to broaden innovation in emerging technologies, including augmented reality and virtual reality, Manish reports. Following this week's closing of the Ultimaker/MakerBot merger, the combined company is announcing a new name. The entity will be known as [drumroll, please] UltiMaker. Yes, really. As far as merged names go, it's not a particularly exciting one, as Brian comments in his article — but the executive shakeup has some more juicy details in it: MakerBot CEO steps up and Ultimaker CEO steps down. Watt a big investment!: Ex-Googler's TeraWatt raises $1 billion to expand commercial EV charging, reports Rebecca. Wait, where are you calling from this time?: Digital nomads can work from anywhere, much to the utter chagrin of HR departments everywhere. This startup just raised $12 million to try to make things a little bit less confusing, Mike reports. Have you tried turning it off and on again?: InsightFinder raises fresh capital to predict when IT problems might occur, Kyle reports. A bank would still smell as sweet by any other Neem: Pakistan's Neem raises $2.5 million to serve underbanked communities with its embedded finance platform, Jagmeet reports. Box, meet boat. Boat, box: Kyle reports that MyCarrier raised $22 million to match small shippers with freight carriers.

You've sold your company. Now what? Scaling a company from conception to acquisition is a real accomplishment, but it’s not the finish line, according to investor and frequent TC+ contributor Marjorie Radlo-Zandi. “You may wonder if the acquirer truly understands your products, values, culture or the customer needs that drive the business,” she writes. “Staff will wonder if there'll be a place for them as a part of another company.” In her latest column, she shares “six guiding principles that will set a transaction up for success” and help you achieve your full earnout. (TechCrunch+ is our membership program, which helps founders and startup teams get ahead. You can sign up here. Use code "DC" for a 15% discount on an annual subscription!) Read More Image Credits: Nodar Chernishey/EyeEm / Getty Images

Big Tech Inc. It's a Twitter kind of a day! Elon Musk may be regretting one of his choices, but today, most of Twitter's shareholders were confident about theirs — they gave the green light to Musk's proposed $44 billion buyout offer, Taylor writes. Paul tells us that Twitter and Musk are due in court on October 17 to see if the social media giant can make Musk carry out his purchase. In other Twitter news, we enjoyed Zack's look into what was uncovered about the company when Peiter Zatko, who can now go by "Mudge" and people know who that is, testified to Congress. Also today, Aisha reported on Twitter rolling out podcasts to Blue subscribers. Get your read on: Brian brings us a look at Amazon's basic Kindle features, including USB-C, improved display and blue color. That photo tho!: China may not like cryptocurrency, but that has not stopped many of its citizens from being Ethereum enthusiasts. Rita reports on why "The Merge" may be good for them. Patch up: Apple releases iOS and macOS fixes to guard against vulnerabilities, including a new zero-day under attack, Carly writes. Your Facebook community just got Discorded: Amanda has your look at Meta's new "Community Chats" coming soon to Messenger and Facebook Groups near you. Sizzle!: Peloton announced late yesterday that co-founders John Foley and Hisao Kushi resigned amid company shakeup. Brian has more.

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