<span>Monthly Archives</span><h1>August 2019</h1>
    Tech News

    Apple releases first beta of iOS 13.1, indicating iOS 13 is nearly done

    August 27, 2019

    Surprise, Apple didn’t release yet another beta version of iOS 13. The company released the first developer beta of iOS and iPadOS 13.1 instead.

    This is a curious move, as Apple doesn’t usually share beta versions of .1 updates before the release of major updates. What’s even more surprising is that Apple released new beta versions for watchOS 6.0 and tvOS 13.0 today.

    Chances are that iOS 13.0 is pretty much done by this point. Usually, Apple releases major versions of iOS a few days after announcing the new iPhone — the press event will likely take place at some point in early September. The company might release iOS 13.0 a bit earlier than expected this year.

    Apple removed some minor features in iOS 13 in early beta versions of iOS 13. As MacRumors spotted, many of those features are now back in the beta version of iOS 13.1. Those features include Shortcuts automations and the ability to share your ETA in Apple Maps.

    It’s clear that Apple is trying to make iOS 13.0 as stable as possible, even if it means releasing some features a bit later this fall.

    Source: Tech Crunch Mobiles | Apple releases first beta of iOS 13.1, indicating iOS 13 is nearly done

    Tech News

    Daily Crunch: Smartphone sales decline again

    August 27, 2019

    The Daily Crunch is TechCrunch’s roundup of our biggest and most important stories. If you’d like to get this delivered to your inbox every day at around 9am Pacific, you can subscribe here.

    1. Smartphone sales declined again in Q2, surprising no one

    After years of growth, the smartphone market’s recent slide has continued in the second quarter of 2019, according to Gartner.

    It’s not a huge decline — 1.7% year over year — but this could turn into an ongoing problem for manufacturers. And the biggest hit is coming at the high end of the market, as higher prices combine with longer refresh cycles and fewer compelling features.

    2. Yelp will let users personalize their homepage and search results

    If you’re a vegetarian, or if you’re a parent who’s usually looking for kid-friendly restaurants, you no longer have to reenter that information every time you do a search. Instead, you can enter it once and Yelp will prioritize those results moving forward.

    3. Ron Johnson’s e-commerce startup Enjoy raises $150M, expands in U.K.

    Through partnerships with other companies, including AT&T, Sonos, Google and now EE, Enjoy creates an online mobile store where customers can shop for devices and receive same-day delivery. They can also opt to have an Enjoy expert deliver the item and help them get set up, free of charge.

    Fairphone main Google

    Fairphone 3 running Android 9 out of the box

    4. Can Fairphone 3 scale ethical consumer electronics?

    Fairphone, the Dutch social enterprise that’s on a mission to rethink the waste and exploitation that underpins the business of consumer electronics, announced its third smartphone today.

    5. Facebook is working with HackerOne on a bug bounty program for its Libra cryptocurrency

    Facebook is moving ahead with its cryptocurrency project, even as government regulators have called for the company to suspend it while they assess its legality.

    6. The BBC is developing a voice assistant, code named ‘Beeb’

    Why is a publicly funded broadcaster ploughing money into developing a voice assistant? A BBC spokesperson said the intent is to “experiment with new programmes, features and experiences without someone else’s permission to build it in a certain way.”

    7. How to use Amazon and advertising to build a D2C startup

    In-depth tips from VMG Ignite, a consultancy that’s worked with dozens of direct-to-consumer startups trying to both find product-market fit and achieve scale through Amazon and online advertising. (Extra Crunch membership required.)

    Source: Tech Crunch Mobiles | Daily Crunch: Smartphone sales decline again

    Tech News

    Hulu redesigns its mobile app for better discovery

    August 27, 2019

    At this year’s CES event, Hulu announced plans to trial an updated version of its user interface that would do away with the confusing landing page called “Lineup.” At the time, the company said it was considering both a “Hulu Picks” option or an “Unwatched in My Stuff” screen as a replacement for “Lineup.” Today, Hulu’s new interface is rolling out across iOS and Android devices, the company says, and “Lineup” is gone.

    The Hulu interface launched in 2017 was not always well-liked — something Hulu had acknowledged after a complaint became the most upvoted item on Hulu’s customer feedback forums a couple of years ago. Users felt the interface was too difficult to navigate and the layout was confusing, among other things.

    Some of Hulu’s challenges were around the fact that it was trying to merge an on-demand library with a live TV service, while also finding room to promote its original content.

    But some of its other design choices were just odd — like its decision to make a single piece of content the main focus for many of its screens, for example. Meanwhile, its landing page “Lineup” never really made sense, either. Its name hinted at some form of personalization, but instead, it was more often filled with suggestions of what Hulu was promoting, like “The Handmaid’s Tale.”

    The updated iOS interface ditches “Lineup,” and replaces it with “Hulu Picks.”

    This is more clearly a collection of things to watch that’s curated by Hulu staff, rather than algorithmically derived by user viewing behavior.

    However, the other landing page Hulu had been considering, “Unwatched in My Stuff,” is still available just a few swipes over.

    While Hulu still gives a single piece of content the focus on its main screens on the iPhone, it’s now easier to see there’s more content available if you swipe down, as the top of the next item’s card is peeking up from the bottom of the screen.

    On the smartphone, this means you can see two items at a time. On iPad, you can see two rows totaling six cards on the app’s main screen when in landscape mode.

    This same format applies not only to “Hulu Picks,” but also to neighboring screens like “Live Now,” “Unwatched in My Stuff,” “My Channels” and the genre-based sections like “Sports,” “News,” “TV,” “Movies,” “Kids,” “Hulu Originals” and others.

    Only the “Keep Watching” screen retains the more traditional thumbnails.

    This seems like a small change, but it goes a long way to increase the discoverability of Hulu content, as it reduces how many times you have to swipe to see more suggestions.

    Other changes touted at CES, like adding expanded metadata next to content (genre, rating, year) or the ability to mark content as “unwatched,” haven’t made an appearance. (Plenty of items still lack a rating). The 14-day live TV guide mentioned at CES isn’t available on iOS, either.

    Hulu didn’t publicly announce the launch of the iOS redesign, but did confirm it’s rolling out now, only to mobile devices. They said other devices will get the update “soon.”

    Update: Hulu says the update is coming to Android as well now, but it’s only in A/B testing at present. The post has been updated since publication. 

    Source: Tech Crunch Mobiles | Hulu redesigns its mobile app for better discovery

    Startups

    SAP & Pricefx cover hot topics at TechCrunch’s Sept. 5 Enterprise show in SF

    August 27, 2019

    You can’t talk enterprise software without talking SAP, one of the giants in a $500 billion industry. And not only will SAP’s CEO Bill McDermott share insights at TC Sessions: Enterprise 2019 on September 5, but the company will also sponsor two breakout sessions.

    The editors will sit down with McDermott and talk about SAP’s quick growth due, in part, to several $1 billion-plus acquisitions. We’re also curious to hear about his approach to acquisitions and his strategy for growing the company in a quickly changing market. No doubt he’ll weigh in on the state of enterprise software in general, too.

    Now about those breakout sessions. They run in parallel to our Main Stage set and we have a total of two do-not-miss presentations for you to enjoy. On September 5, you’ll enjoy three breakout sessions –two from SAP and one from Pricefx. You can check out the agenda for TC Sessions: Enterprise, but we want to shine the light on the sponsored sessions to give you a sense of the quality content you can expect:

    • Innovating for a Super-Human Future 
      Martin Wezowski (SAP)       We talk about change, but what are the mechanics and the dynamics behind it? And how fast is it? The noted futurist will discuss what it means to be an innovator is transforming faster than before, and this transformation is deeply rooted in the challenges and promises between cutting-edge tech and humanism. The symbiosis between human creativity & empathy and machine intelligence opens new worlds for our imagination in a time when “now” has never been so temporary, and helps us answer the question: “What is human, and what is work in a superhuman future?” (Sponsored by SAP)
    • Pricing from Day One
      Madhavan Ramanujam (Simon-Kucher & Partners, Gabriel Smith) and Darius Jakubik (Pricefx) A key ingredient distinguishing top performing companies is clear focus on price. To maximize revenue and profits, pricing should be a C-level / boardroom consideration. To optimize pricing, you should think about price when determining which products and features to bring to market; put the people, process and technology in place to optimize it; and maintain flexibility to adjust strategy and tactics to respond to changing markets. By doing so, companies unlock the single greatest profit lever that exists. (Sponsored by Pricefx)
    • Cracking the Code: From Startup to Scaleup in Enterprise Software 
      Ram Jambunathan (SAP.iO), Lonnie Rae Kurlander (Medal), Caitlin MacGregor (Plum) and Dimitri Sirota (BigID) The startup journey is hard. Data shows that 70% of upstart tech companies fail, while only 1% of these startups will go on to gain unicorn status. Success in enterprise software often requires deep industry experience, strong networks, brutally efficient execution and a bit of luck. This panel brings together three successful SAP.iO Fund-backed enterprise startups for an open discussion on lessons learned, challenges of scaling and why the right strategic investors or partners can be beneficial even at early stages. (Sponsored by SAP)

    TC Sessions: Enterprise 2019 takes place in San Francisco on September 5. It’s a jam-packed day (agenda here) filled with interviews, panel discussions and breakouts — from some of the top minds in enterprise software. Buy your ticket today and remember: You receive a free Expo-only pass to TechCrunch Disrupt SF 2019 for every ticket you buy.


    Source: Tech Crunch Startups | SAP & Pricefx cover hot topics at TechCrunch’s Sept. 5 Enterprise show in SF

    Startups

    Only 4 days left until prices go up on passes to Disrupt SF 2019

    August 27, 2019

    Calling all budget-conscious, bargain-loving members of the early-stage startup community. Here’s a real quick way for you to save up to $1,300 on your pass to Disrupt San Francisco 2019 (October 2-4). Buy your passes before early-bird pricing flies the coop. You have until 11:59 p.m. (PST) on August 30. That just four days left to reap serious savings.

    TechCrunch’s flagship event is an epic, three-day startup adventure spanning the tech spectrum. Join more than 10,000 attendees, 1,200 exhibiting early-stage startups and sponsors, take in the world-famous Startup Battlefield pitch competition, the TC Hackathon, the workshops and the Q&A sessions — and so much more.

    Disrupt events are famous for incredible speakers across four unique stages, and Disrupt SF will not disappoint. Let’s take a look at just some of the presentations you’ll enjoy:

    • Getting to IPO: PagerDuty CEO Jennifer Tejada led the company to a successful IPO earlier this year. She’ll join Box CEO Aaron Levie to talk about how these two companies charted their path to an IPO, the pros and cons of doing so and life after ringing the bell on Wall Street.
    • How to Raise My First Dollars: Venture funding may have boomed over the last decade, but the decisions around your initial funding are as tricky as ever. Hear how to take advantage of the current landscape from top Silicon Valley early-stage thinkers, including pre-seed investor Charles Hudson of Precursor Ventures, early-stage investor Annie Kadavy of Redpoint Ventures and Russ Heddleston, CEO of DocSend.
    • When Spies Meet Startups: Since leaving the world of intelligence, former NSA director Adm. Mike Rogers and ex-Israeli cyber-intelligence chief Nadav Zafrir talk shop about what startups need learn about security.
    • The Business and Ethics of Real Tech Diversity: There’s both a moral and a business imperative to building and fostering a diverse and inclusive workforce. Hear from Project Include’s Ellen Pao and Tracy Chou about what it takes to get there, and from Harry Glaser, general manager and CMO of Sisense, on how focusing on diversity has positively impacted his bottom line.

    That’s merely a taste of greatness, and we’ll be adding even more content in the coming weeks. You can check out the full agenda here.

    Disrupt San Francisco 2019 runs from October 2-4. Early-bird pricing ends in just four days — 11:59 p.m. on August 30. Don’t miss out — buy your pass and save up to $1,300.

    Is your company interested in sponsoring or exhibiting at Disrupt San Francisco 2019? Contact our sponsorship sales team by filling out this form.


    Source: Tech Crunch Startups | Only 4 days left until prices go up on passes to Disrupt SF 2019

    Tech News

    Emojivision app turns your iPhone’s camera into a real-time emoji painting machine

    August 27, 2019

    Your iPhone is capable of some impressive feats of computational photography, and a new app created by developer Gabriel O’Flaherty-Chan shows one way all that power can be put to creative use. Emojivision lets you see the world as if it were made up entirely of emojis.

    The free app (which induces an in-app purchase for $2.79 that unlocks more emoji packs) works by breaking down your iPhone’s camera sensor input to its color palette fundamentals, finding its nearest neighbor from a subset of emojis (organized thematically within the app) and then rebuilding the image with a filter that overlays the image, and that can run at 60fps, so you’d be hard-pressed to spot any lag between it and a real-time feed.

    You can use the app to take selfies, interpret photos from your phone’s photo gallery or just mess around with resolution to see how finely detailed, or how abstractly and yet obviously emoji-based, you can get. This isn’t the app to go to if you’re looking for a hyper-realistic or clear visual interpretation of your face, but it is a fun thing to show your friends — and an impressive bit of software engineering, too.

    O’Flaherty-Chan has created some noteworthy mobile software projects in the past — including when he managed to hack a fully playable version of Pokémon Yellow onto an Apple Watch. He’s currently working on building a gigantic real-time strategy game set within a procedurally generated universe – like a “No Man’s Sky” but with a focus on the RTS elements, which should make for a very compelling and evolving approach to gathering resources and expanding your empire.

    Source: Tech Crunch Mobiles | Emojivision app turns your iPhone’s camera into a real-time emoji painting machine

    Startups

    Meet with General Catalyst investors in September

    August 27, 2019

    TechCrunch will partner with General Catalyst for Include Office Hours on September 4th from 1:30pm – 3:30pm. Partners Niko Bonatsos and Kyle Doherty will meet with underrepresented and underserved entrepreneurs to provide key feedback and advice. Founders, apply here!

    Founded in 2014, TechCrunch launched the Include Program in an effort to leverage the extensive TechCrunch network to facilitate opportunities for underserved groups and founders. The Include Office Hours Program is one such initiative.

    TechCrunch collaborates with investors to host private 20-minute sessions with startups, where founders can ask for guidance on critical business issues. During September’s Include Office Hours, General Catalyst will be meeting with 12 lucky companies. To be considered for a session with these investors, fill out this application.

    Unlike previous Office Hours, TechCrunch is looking for startups in the following verticals: Enterprise, B2B, Healthcare, Security, Infrastructure, Big Data, Artificial Intelligence, SaaS, Fintech, Digital Commerce, Travel, Real Estate, Marketplaces, Messaging, E-commerce, Gaming and Crypto.

    Underserved and underrepresented founders include but are not limited to female founders, black, Latino/a, Asian, LGBTQ, veteran, formerly incarcerated and people with disabilities.

    Let’s meet our investors:

    Niko Bonatsos


    Niko Bonatsos is a managing director at General Catalyst, a venture capital firm with approximately $5 billion in total capital raised. Working from the firm’s San Francisco Bay Area offices, Niko focuses his investment strategy on finding first-time technology founders with strong product instincts, a robust appetite for learning and a desire to create innovations with the potential to benefit millions of consumers or business end users.

    In his eight years with GC, Niko has been instrumental in the firm’s investments in Snap (NYSE: SNAP), 6d.ai, Atrium, Audius, Cover, Hive, HubHaus, ClassDojo, Paribus (acquired by CapitalOne), and Wag!, among others.

    Prior to joining General Catalyst, Niko attended Stanford University as a Fulbright Scholar, earning an MS in Management Science and Engineering. He has studied in several countries, earning additional degrees in Manufacturing Engineering & Management and Electrical Engineering & Computer Science, and worked as a part of the R&D team for Yokogawa Electric Corporation in Japan. Find Niko on Twitter and LinkedIn.

    Kyle Doherty

    Kyle Doherty is a managing director at General Catalyst, a venture capital firm with offices in Boston, New York, Palo Alto and San Francisco and with approximately $5 billion in total capital raised. At GC, Kyle focuses on investing in large, greenfield opportunities in consumer internet and software companies. Notable investments he’s made at GC include Canva Common Networks, and GitLab.

    Prior to joining General Catalyst, Kyle worked with Coatue Management, where he helped conceive and launch the firm’s private investment practice and grew it into a leading private technology investment platform. Before Coatue, Kyle spent time as an investor at Morgenthaler and as an equity analyst.

    Kyle studied economics and finance at MIT and earned an MBA from Harvard Business School. Though now living in the Bay Area, he’s stayed true to his hometown roots and remains a big fan of the Celtics and the Patriots. On non-game weekends, he can be found hiking the great outdoors with his family and border collie, Brady.

    If you are an investor, partner or managing director at a fund interested in hosting Include Office Hours, email neesha@techcrunch.com.


    Source: Tech Crunch Startups | Meet with General Catalyst investors in September

    Startups

    Customer success isn’t an add-on – Start early to win later

    August 27, 2019
    Dale Chang & Jay Nathan
    Contributor
    Dale Chang is the Operating Partner at Scale Venture Partners, where he advises portfolio companies on strategies for go-to-market and scaling. Jay Nathan is Founder and Managing Partner of Customer Imperative, where he and his team help SaaS companies scale revenue by operationalizing customer success.

    What comes first: Sales or Customer Success? Many growing startups pressure themselves to start selling as soon as there’s a viable product to sell. “Set up Customer Success functions” goes on the to-do list. After all, we don’t have to worry for another year, right?

    Using the proprietary Scale Studio dataset of hundreds of SaaS startups, we’ll look at the metrics that venture investors use to link your company’s valuation to success in Customer Success — then dive into the tactics for adapting your CS program to your company’s high-touch or low-touch sales model

    A year passes, and the company’s first renewals come due. Everyone from the CEO on down scrambles to do whatever it takes to make those charter customers happy and win contract extensions. After all, those customers aren’t just any customers — they’re the company’s first references, critical to landing new business and raising funds from investors. Every effort goes into making them happy.

    The problem is, of course, that bringing in the CEO and CTO and VP of Sales on every renewal isn’t exactly a scalable process. Nor the basis for a long-term Customer Success strategy. 

    Customer Success — a formal, process-driven, value-creating operational activity — needs to be structured to scale. And it needs to be top-of-mind from day one. Here is a look at the data and strategic rationale for launching CS early in a startup’s growth to avoid inefficiency and mistakes down the line. 

    The case for customer success: Valuation

    To venture investors, a well-run CS operation at an early-in-revenue startup communicates that your company has a sophisticated go-to-market strategy with a customer-centric foundation. This can translate into a valuation boost along two paths: accelerated revenue growth and increased predictability. And growth is a key driver for valuation with venture investors. 


    Source: Tech Crunch Startups | Customer success isn’t an add-on – Start early to win later