I recently found an old leather jacket in the back of the closet. It’s a vintage item in great shape – except for a large tear in one of the front pockets.
A couple of clothing donation centers rejected it, so I decided to see if it was worth repairing. It was expensive when new, but with some attention and care it could probably get a second life.
Vin, Twitter’s closed video-sharing platform that started three years before TikTok, is like my old jacket: it got accolades back in the day, but now if I cry, I’ll sound like a helluva junkie.
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In the year In October 2022, incoming Twitter CEO Elon Musk asked his followers, “Return the vine?” he asked.
Nearly 70% answered yes, which means Twitter developers are “asking themselves whether to try to revive the old codebase or start from scratch,” writes Marcus Merrell, vice president of technology strategy at Sauce Labs.
“Refreshing parts of a codebase is like changing an airplane’s engine mid-flight,” but a reboot involves a significant amount of technical resources.
Merrill draws on his experience as a developer to weigh the costs, benefits and challenges associated with repurposing and repurposing legacy software.
“In both cases, you’re wasting your time and resources,” he says. “I love that technology is the least of their problems.”
Thank you very much for reading
Walter Thompson
Editorial Manager, TechCrunch+
@your main actor
Teach Yourself Growth Marketing: Which Metrics Really Matter?
Image Credits: Rittikrai_PIX (Opens in a new window) / Getty Images
In the final article of a five-part series, growth marketing expert Jonathan Martinez shares the key metrics he’s tracked at Coinbase and Uber, along with a framework for activating and retaining early adopters that drive revenue.
Tracking KPIs like lifetime value and customer acquisition cost is obvious, so the article includes a framework to help identify which channels and customers bring in the most revenue.
“Find the factors that make your product or service ‘stick’ and you’ll save yourself a lot of time,” Martinez writes.
Optimizing Freemium Products: Challenges and Opportunities
Image Credits: Richard Rory (Opens in a new window) / Getty Images
Offering free samples with the intention of the recipient becoming a paying customer is a staple at food courts, cosmetics counters, and software startups.
Freemium products are everywhere, but unless companies revisit and demonstrate their strategy, there is no effective way to optimize conversions.
“Enabling freemium, especially for established products, adds value to the business but can bring organizational and operational challenges,” writes Constantin Valiotti, director of product development at Pandadoc.
In this article, he presents optimization strategies:
- User activation
- Ways to change
- Product changes
- Where to place barriers and restrictions
Dear Sophie: What H-1B and other immigration changes can we expect this year?
Image Credits: Bryce Durbin / TechCrunch
Dear Sophie,
I help a lot of startups in HR. I have heard that application fees for many visas and green cards are going up significantly.
When will these increases take effect? Are there any other immigration-related changes coming this year? Any H-1B updates?
– Loving people
The team slider is the most important slider in the starting pitch deck.
Image Credits: Malti Muller (Opens in a new window) / Getty Images
Early stage investors often know more about the market than the founders who pitch them.
Startups put together pitch decks containing data points from Gartner studies, quotes from TechCrunch articles, and outlandish TAM predictions, hoping it will burnish their credentials.
None of these are driving factors, but a whole group slide that explains why a particular group of people is qualified to attack a problem is more persuasive, writes Haje Jan Kamps.
Which open source startups rock in 2022?
Image Credits: Swilklitch/Getty Images
In its annual report that ranks the fastest growing commercial open source startups (COSS), Runa Capital looks at financial trends in the sector.
Using a methodology based on the number of stars in each company’s GitHub repository, the report identifies which companies and universities have the most COSS founders along with their geographic distribution.
“Purists may balk at some of the startups included in Runa Capital’s report because they have some lightweight open-source credentials,” says Paul Sawers.
Pitch Deck Teardown: Laoshi’s $570K Angel Deck
Image Credits: Laoshi (Opens in a new window)
Laoshi’s founders have raised $570,000 in angel funding to grow their app, which helps users learn to read and write in Chinese.
He shared 15 slides from his deck to help other early stage founders:
- Cover slide
- Problem slide
- Market slide
- The solution slider
- Competition slide
- Road map slide
- Group slide
- Teacher development slide
- Teacher retention slide
- Summary slide
- “Contact Us” slide
- Appendices cover slide
- Appendix I: Virus Impact Slide
- Appendix II: Business Model Slides
- Appendix III: “The Question” Slide
