Startups
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AppLovin is selling a majority stake to Orient Hontai Capital for $1.4B
Mobile ad startup AppLovin announced today it has agreed to sell a majority stake of the company to Chinese private equity firm Orient Hontai Capital for $1.4 billion.
We first reported that AppLovin was in talks with a Chinese company for a $1.5 billion acquisition back in August. In his blog post announcing the deal, co-founder and CEO Adam Foroughi wrote:
While this deal is a tremendous… Read More
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Twitter’s Gareth Paul Jones, Amex’s Tamar Shapiro check-in to new senior roles at Foursquare
Now that the dust has settled from Foursquare’s big split, the company is pushing forward with a few new executives and a brand new office in Los Angeles. The company has recently brought on Gareth Paul Jones — former head of mobile partner integrations at Twitter, who previously held positions at companies like Apple, TRUSTe, and Google — as Director of Technology Services.… Read More
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🎶 Can’t wear Snap sunglasses at night 🎶
Unless you plan on bumping into stuff, don’t expect to record after-dark concerts and parties on your Snap Inc Spectacles. The company formerly known as Snapchat (they really should have just changed it to the emoji, Prince-style) confirms to me its new camera glasses are not currently built to be worn at night. Their lenses are like normal sunglasses, so it’d be too shady to… Read More
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Former Rothenberg employees allege mistreatment and cash management problems
As TechCrunch has previously reported, there’s been an exodus of talent from the Rothenberg “ecosystem,” amid claims of a significant breach of fiduciary responsibilities and other unconventional behavior by the venture firm’s founder, Mike Rothenberg. This week, we have learned more details about alleged employee abuses within Rothenberg Ventures, recently re-branded… Read More
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We’re looking at cyberbullying the wrong way
A bully is a bully and a troll is a troll, no matter where you go online. For as long as online mass communication has existed, online bullying has existed. To effectively address the issue of cyberbullying, one must not only question the environments that yield such behaviors, but examine how and why the behavior exists in the first place. Read More
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The hopes and headaches of Snapchat’s glasses
Snapchat is the only company cool enough to possibly dismantle the Google Glass stigma. Awkward, useless, and a threat to privacy are how many think of computers you wear on your face. Can Snapchat show off the masterful marketing and smooth execution required to produce a product that won’t die on stores shelves or in a desk drawer? To quickly recount the basics, a video of… Read More
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Taking a swing for the Grammys with the new Lip Sync Battle app
The art of the lip sync has had a profound impact on the state of our…ok no, but dammit is lip synching fun. For those of you locked in a Faraday cage, pretending to sing has become all the rage these days. You have Michelle Obama doing it for Carpool Karaoke, Tim Cook using it to open up events, and of course the ever entertaining LL Cool J and Chrissy Teigen using it as a platform… Read More
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Hands-on with Pictar, which adds buttons and wheels to your iPhone camera
There’s no denying that your smartphone’s camera is getting better and better for every generation, but what’s a poor photography nerd to do about controllability? Miggo’s Kickstarter-funded Pictar is shipping soon, and might be just the thing to teach your iPhone some additional photography skills. At Photokina, I had a chance to try it myself. Read More
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Tony Hawk, Rob Dyrdek tell us why skateboarders make good startup investors
Skateboarders make great startup investors, according to Rob Dyrdek and Tony Hawk. The legendary skaters spoke to us about a mindset that helps them be on the lookout for the next big thing.
“The skater mentality is you’re always looking at what’s next,” said Dyrdek. He also spoke of the “NBD” or “never been done” philosophy when it comes to… Read More
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Defunct smart jewelry startup Cuff sued by vendors for unpaid work
Cuff, the smart jewelry maker that promised a line of fashion wearables capable of sending emergency alerts to trusted family and friends, shut down earlier this year leaving a number of customer orders unfilled and vendors unpaid. Now, the company is being named in a bankruptcy suit filed by five of its manufacturing partners. Read More
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