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Author: Bonnie

Everything You’ve Been Told About Tech May Be Wrong

Everything You’ve Been Told About Tech May Be Wrong

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Image by Tumisu from Pixabay

At the dawn of the Age of Social, tech bros built promised the world  goodness and light – to bring the world closer together; to give everyone a voice – built walled gardens, amassed billions of users, made themselves more or less the only game in town and became a vital part of life. Which made them too big to fail.

Or so we’d been told. Often.

Yet by the end of September, Facebook’s Meta Lost Two-Thirds of Market Cap Value From 2021, NewsMax reported. Mark Zuckerberg Admits He ‘Got It Wrong’ as Meta Lays Off 11,000 Employees. At Least He Signed His Name. Twitter laid off 7500 employees – but at least Zuckerberg signed his name??? Which will no doubt make all the difference, especially once the benefits run out. Read More...

The Demise of Web 2.0: Ignoring Product-Market Fit

The Demise of Web 2.0: Ignoring Product-Market Fit

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Photo by Nicolas Cool on Unsplash

Anyone working on a startup – or an investor deck – knows that one of most important criteria to investors (besides what your company will do to ensure that they’ll see an exit at some point in their lifetime, or at all) is product-market fit, which is especially important at this juncture, given the downturn in the market. Although we will remind you once again that some of the biggest companies emerged during the worst of times.

That said, Big Tech is no more immune to the vagaries of the market and the importance of product-market fit than is anyone else, but one thing that they do have- so far – is deep pockets.

Does that really help? At Alphabet, “Revenue growth slowed to 6% from 41% a year earlier as the company contends with a continued downdraft in online ad spending,” said CNBC. It had missed analysts’ expectations. “CEO Sundar Pichai said in the statement that the company is “sharpening our focus on a clear set of product and business priorities,” while Ruth Porat, the finance chief, said “we’re working to realign resources to fuel our highest growth priorities.” So, does that mean so much for moonshots et al and, instead, sharpening the focus on what people do want, rather than what the company feels that they might or should want? Read More...

This Is Meta Frightening

This Is Meta Frightening

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Photo by James Yarema on Unsplash

If you’re wondering why Mark Zuckerberg has poured some $15B into his metaverse project despite seeing ‘no results,’ according to the tech press, we’re wondering why no one pays attention to the man behind the curtain. Following its developer conference, Meta was roundly slammed for not being further along, given the amount of money their Reality Labs received to develop it, to the point where Facebook’s ‘desperate’ metaverse push to build features like avatar legs has Wall Street questioning the company’s future, as Business Insider reported. The publication also asked “How many more warning signs does Mark Zuckerberg need to see before he pulls the plug on his metaverse?”

This just in: At least one big investor is calling for Mark Zuckerberg to throw in the towel on the metaverse, saying Meta ‘lost the confidence of investors’

Or does Zuckerberg see something we don’t? And where did all that money go?

Meta released a new metaverse-friendly headset, and the price tag aside, Meta’s New Headset Will Track Your Eyes for Targeted Ads, Gizmodo reported, coming yet one step closer to reading your mind. “Whether you’re resigned to targeted ads or not, this technology takes data collection to a place we’ve never seen. The Quest Pro isn’t just going to inform Meta about what you say you’re interested in, tracking your eyes and face will give the company unprecedented insight about your emotions.” Read More...

Don’t Say Gig: California AB5 & How It Will Affect Tech Globally

Don’t Say Gig: California AB5 & How It Will Affect Tech Globally

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Image by Pete Linforth from Pixabay

It looks like California Bill AB5 will be going into effect. To refresh your memory, “Known popularly known as the gig worker bill, it required companies that hire independent contractors to reclassify them as employees,” wrote Investopedia.

Upside: gig workers will now be entitled to minimum wages, health insurance, vacation time and other employee benefits. Downside: they no longer choose their schedules, may be barred from taking other employment. And who ultimately gets the bill for the increased costs? Enactment of the bill was temporarily delayed by trucker protests. “California truckers pledge to continue blockade of Oakland port over controversial labor law,” as it made it difficult for them to work as independent contractors, Fox News reported.

It affects tech, too – big time, so pay attention.

During the lockdowns, some countries required that employers continue to pay their employees, even in cases where the company would essentially need to cease functioning as a result of said lockdowns. If they laid the employees off, they were required to pay three months severance. Both of which drove many companies out of business, especially startups – so everyone was out of a job. Nothing like throwing out the baby with the bathwater. Read More...

The Dangers of Founder/C-Suite Myopia

The Dangers of Founder/C-Suite Myopia

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Image by OpenClipart-Vectors from Pixabay

The tech times, they are a-changing. Companies are laying off big time and basically across the board, meaning companies large and small, or are in hiring freeze mode. Google employees weren’t happy when they were told that their travel and swag budgets were being cut. Oh, in case you didn’t see the memo, the days of Tech Entitlement are over, too. The economy isn’t what it was during the halcyon days of tech and, news flash – the tech sector is not immune.

Speaking of behemoths, Amazon Abandons Home Delivery Robot Tests in Latest Cost Cuts, Reuters reported. Called Scout, “The slow-moving devices, accompanied by human minders during tests, were designed to stop at a front door and pop open their lids so a customer could pick up a package. Amazon said the battery-powered robots were part of an effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in its delivery operations.”

Amazon is feeling the slower sales, too. Then again, the lockdowns are over, and people can go past their doorsteps once again and shop. With many smaller stores shut down in the lockdown era. Amazon was a go-to, and boom! Hockey stick growth. Now, not so much and they’re cost-cutting too, given their now ‘slow growth.’ Did the company think they’d maintain lockdown-level growth or conditions forever? Even hockey sticks have an end point – something tech and tech investors could seemingly never quite grok. Read More...

That Wild, Wild Web: NOT a Tale of Web 3.0

That Wild, Wild Web: NOT a Tale of Web 3.0

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Image by PublicDomainPictures from Pixabay

Tech is and has been referred to as the wild, wild west since the early days of Web 1. Like those pioneers who ventures out into terra incognita when the west was being settled, those web pioneers didn’t know what they’d find, and even in their travels, they were making it up as they went along.

Head’s up: the same goes for investors. There’s no startup handbook, although there are books that bear that title. There’s no investor handbook, either. Which is why founders may hear one thing from one investor, get totally different feedback/advice from another. And yet different feedback/advice from a third, and so it may go, all the way down the line.

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Health Tech and Big Tech: An Unhealthy Alliance

Health Tech and Big Tech: An Unhealthy Alliance

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Image by ElasticComputeFarm from Pixabay

HealthIT funding is up right now,  despite the downturn in global digital health investment, with data collection being such a big part of the reason why investors are all in on the HealthIT sector.  Do note that Big Tech et al is paying close attention to the space and making acquisitions.

Dr. Amazon Will See You Now, said the Wall Street Journal, noting that “Amazon and other companies are trying to disrupt the giant, inefficient U.S. healthcare sector. They’ve made little headway but a crop of upstarts is offering industry giants a chance to buy their way in.

“Amazon.com’s repeated failure to disrupt the industry underscores just how hard it is to make meaningful change.. As hard as healthcare has proven to crack, it is also too big of an opportunity to ignore. That explains why Amazon is trying again: It agreed in July to pay $3.9 billion for One Medical, a concierge-type primary-care service with nearly 200 medical offices in 25 markets… and will give Amazon the foothold in healthcare it struggled to build organically. In a not-too-distant future, your Prime membership may include a free annual checkup.” Read More...

Bye Bye, Mon Unicorn

Bye Bye, Mon Unicorn

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 With the downturn in the unicorn market, founders have lost much of their power with investors. “New unicorns are plummeting. Here’s how volatile markets and shrinking valuations are shifting power from founders to investors, CB Insights reported, and venture funding to startups is ebbing.

Even those certain funds and investors who had ridden to rock star status in the last decade plus with those outsized returns are being scrutinized more closely, especially by the tech press. While new funds are still being raised, existing funds raising follow on funds and investors are still writing checks – albeit more cautiously these days, Adam Newmann and A16z’s investment into Flow aside –  if it’s not full-on investor winter in many quarters, we’re certainly getting close.

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Entrepreneurial Gigolos and B Teams

Entrepreneurial Gigolos and B Teams

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Photo by Sander Sammy @Unsplash

 It’s September. The investors are back from the end of summer break and paying attention again. There are funds to be deployed, and meeting to take, the holidays will be here again before you know it and they’ll once again disappear, so it’s a good time to get that investor deck out and those meetings lined up.

 

We work with founders all the time, helping them to refine/write their decks, since, as we’ve said before, all founders think the 10-15 slide construct is written in stone in terms of the order of the slides, and often bury the lead. Or are so in love with the tech they’ve created, they didn’t bother to include the lead at all. And do keep in mind that your deck is a teaser. Purpose: to get you to that meeting with investors. Read More...