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The SEC jumped in this week and charged 11 people with Forsage, who was conducting a pyramid scheme, according to the government watchdog. I’m not one to embrace drama, but I can’t wait for some of these stories to come out as Netflix documentary series either. This particular case looks a bit like a garbage dump. — hi
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Startups and VC
“It was life-changing: I went to my local shop, found my way to the garden center, reviewed the selection and picked one. I went to the register and paid, and then I drove home. I beamed for days. It was the best big box experience of my life,” jokes Ron on his purchase of a $5 spray head, proving that he… So than customer experience surveys.
Appropriate customer experience, Kylea reports that Sprig, a startup that provides tools for user and software product research, announced today that it has raised $30 million. It brings the total amount raised from the company to $90 million.
If beautiful art is available at the touch of a button, what does that mean for artists? hi wonders in an article where he includes 30+ AI-rendered photos of Batman. If you’ve never seen Batman as a cookie monster, you’re missing out.
According to Redpoint director Annie Kadavy, fewer companies will be started overall in the coming year than in the past two. And, somewhat counterintuitively, the investor thinks the impending slowdown is “a great thing.” Redpoint just raised another $650 million to invest in “technology’s riskiest founders”, Natasha M reports.
More startup universe:
- put me on your mobile: Aisha reports that Locket, a popular app for sharing photos directly on your family and friends’ home screens, has raised $12.5 million in funding.
- How come Louis Vuitton was only $40?: Clothing, accessories and luxury goods are the most popular counterfeit product items, but that’s not where the problem begins and ends: The explosion of digital content has also spawned a large number of digital counterfeiters. MarqVision raises $20 million to catch counterfeiters, report Kate and Ingrid.
- How are you, (hot) dog? Over the past decade, Spread has become the most recognizable name in Japan’s vertical framing ecosystem. Now, after a $30 million raise, it’s looking at strawberries and alternative meats, Brian reports.
- It shows you the door of the cart: Jagmeet reports that Ottonomy, a startup working to solve delivery problems using autonomous robots, has raised $3.3 million to expand its market and deploy robots to existing customers.
Getting acquired is a legitimate strategy to build your business
Image Credits: Constantine Johnny / Getty Images
The difference in probability between selling a startup or making it public is an order of magnitude. The chance of your company being acquired is ten times more likely than your CEO to ring the opening bell on the NYSE.
And yet the startup culture encourages participants to believe that they are on their way to an IPO, regardless of their industry, said Yair Snir, VP and managing director of Dell Technologies Capital.
“My experience is that many founders are more motivated by the potential for impact. For founders like this, my advice is to always consider acquisition as an option,” he says. “It may not be clear at first, but an acquisition could be your best path to mass scale.”
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Big Tech Inc.
The $300 Link is a 4K webcam with a half-inch sensor. The system uses AI to automatically adjust positioning and keep the user in the center of the picture. Think of it a bit like Apple’s Center Stage software, coupled with hardware, Brian reports in his closer look at Insta360’s gimbal-mounted 4K webcam.
A few more nuggets of Big Tech Wisdom:
