The Daily Crunch 08/11/16 End of an era at GV, old media tries to stave off its own demise, and CVS tries something dumb in mobile payments. All that and more in The Daily Crunch for August 11, 2016. Also, please consider archiving this newsletter in your new 60TB Seagate SSD – you've got plenty of room. 1. Maris out GV (neé Google Ventures) CEO and founder Bill Maris is taking a bow, departing the Alphabet-owned venture investment fund by the end of this week. The departure is sudden, and our own Connie Loizos said it wasn't even hinted at in recent conversations with Maris. He occupied the top spot at GV in more ways than one – every investment made by the fund had to receive his final OK, a rarity in the VC world where partners are typically responsible for their own portfolio. Maris is being replaced by David Krane, a current GV managing partner who used to run comms for Google. 2. Old media wants new blood Turner, owner of archaic television properties like CNN, has led a $45 million funding round into new media publisher Refinery29, which targets a different demographic than most Turner properties, like TNT, TBS and Cartoon Network. The valuation for the web publisher is now at $500 million, and part of Turner's take for putting money in is that it will get connect from Refinery29 aimed at that property's core demo of millennial women. Turner's Christina Miller, president and GM of Cartoon Network and Adult Swim, joins the Refinery29 board, and the new media property will start placing programming in Turner's old media TV channels soon. 3. When will startups learn that no one wants an automated journal I think this is the billionth personal journal app launched, but Fabric at least has some solid talent with founders who used to be Facebook engineers. But FB alum or not, this isn't going to work: No one wants software that helps you log your memories. It might be because the vast majority of users don't travel nearly as much as the average Silicon Valley engineer, so they hardly need a journal of their recurring trips to and from the Safeway, but it might also be because the concept is vaguely creepy. FB also is effectively an automated journal, but dedicated products in that category just don't do well. 4. BMW is making a strong play for the auto tech Iron Throne Car makers are falling over themselves trying to out innovate (or out theatre) one another, but BMW's making a lot of what look like the right moves, at least on paper. The car maker already has two EVs on the market, and plans a third by 2021 – plus major revisions to its i3 and i8 by 2022. It's also looking to put a fully autonomous EV on the road by 2025. Meanwhile, it's making its companion app for BMW owners smarter, with Amazon Alexa integration coming later this year. 5. 60TB is a lot It's ironic that as storage capacities climb, our need for space is probably actually dropping since a lot of what we do is handled in the cloud. But for those who still need it, the limit stretching 60TB SSD from Seagate is a golden god. It's not yet shipping, but when it does, I want one. I don't need it, but I want it. 6. Send Obama some Facebook stickers The White House missed a huge opportunity when they didn't call their new Facebook Messenger bot 'Obamabot,' even if it would only still apply for another few months. But the newly launched chat bot is still cool, letting people send notes to the President, and interacting to make sure that its gets your missive right. And he just might read what you right: 10 are read every night, but that's 10 messages of any kind, including the letters and emails Obama receives. 7. Give up on your own-brand payment schemes, retailers STORE BRAND MOBILE PAYMENT SYSTEMS ARE WRONG AND BAD AND ANTI-CONSUMER AND WILL NEVER, EVER BE A THING. STOP TRYING TO FORCE THEM ON SHOPPERS BECAUSE YOU'RE AFRAID OF APPLE AND ANDROID PAY. Thank you. | 
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.