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nice [time of day] dear [name]. Do you know what we are thinking? TC Disrupt’s agenda has fallen, and it will be the perfect transmitter of events. Aaaah. Check out what’s happening on our four (count them! FOUR!) stages, and check out our amazing lineup of speakers. Then get your tickets and book your flights – it will be great. see you there! – Christine And came
TechCrunch’s Top 3
- FacetimeWhile Mark Zuckerberg is promising better Metaverse avatars, Estonia-based Ready Player Me is offering it. Andreessen Horowitz led the company’s recent $56 million in funding for a company that builds dynamic animated game models for virtual worlds. Ingrid He wrote.
- Driving in secret: Rita He wrote a juicy piece about a former Apple employee who went above and beyond the best wishes of his former colleagues. Xiaolang Zhang pleaded guilty this week to stealing confidential driving data from a tech giant and then working for an electric vehicle company.
- Turn it onOn TechCrunch+, Tim U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin has reportedly told automakers that they will either move more lithium-ion battery supply chains from China or give up some tax incentives as part of the inflation-reduction bill. Tim writes that this could backfire, or that “the United States is finally poised to become a major player in the battery industry.”
Startups and VCs
The world has reached a critical point in privacy and data protection, but in most cases business models based on personalization have struggled to keep up in one form or another. Today, a Paris-based startup called Ravel Technologies is coming out of hiding with what it believes may be the missing link between the two. Ingrid Reports.
Although widespread adoption is difficult for new consumer social apps, 9count’s apps (friend finder Wink and dating app Summer) have already seen some traction — and investors have invested $28 million more, he wrote. Sarah.
We enjoyed five more today.
Should Founders Announce Rounds? This PR professional has nothing to hide.
Image Credits: Ysr Dora (Opens in a new window) / Getty Images
If your house was damaged in an earthquake, would you be embarrassed?
Likewise, founders shouldn’t feel bad about receiving funding that lowers their valuation, advises Kate Johnson, VP of PR at BLASTmedia.
“Instead of pretending that low self-esteem doesn’t happen, change your mindset,” she writes.
“You have nothing to hide. From a PR standpoint, no news is good news. So focus on adjusting expectations.”
(TechCrunch+ is our membership program, which helps founders and startup teams get ahead. You can register here..)
Big Tech Inc.
After reading about an ex-Apple employee, we have more ex-employees in the news today as Twitter’s former chief security officer, Peter “Mudge” Zatko, blew the whistle on the allegations surrounding the social media giant’s handling of cybersecurity. That was through. CarlyBut the team started working on different angles, and here are the fruits of their labor:
Meanwhile, in the land of flow, Lauren He wrote about both “Thor: Love and Thunder,” coming to Disney+ next month, and HBO’s “Dragon Home” series premiere, which hit 10 million viewers. Also, check out Netflix’s popular “Heads Up” game; Aisha Reports.
