Social media startup IRL is shutting down after an investigation by its board concluded that 95% of its claimed 20M MAUs were “automated or from bots”
Last year, the CEO of messaging app IRL repeatedly said it had 20 million monthly active users, who chatted about shared interests and planned real-world events together. LinkedIn:...
Sources: senior Stripe executives asked managers to restart giving lower ratings on performance reviews to 10% to 15% of staff, to prune the company's workforce
After investors bet an estimated ~$100B on self-driving vehicles, startups see little progress, falling back on simulations and remote operators as losses mount
Sources: Twitter agreed to delay a deposition of Elon Musk by its lead litigation attorney on October 6 in Austin, as both sides hash out the $44B deal
Tesla chief and social media group are negotiating end to legal fight to finalise $44bn buyout — Twitter has agreed to delay …
Elon Musk's revived $44B Twitter acquisition could rely on banks providing $12.5B at a time when offloading risky debt is difficult, leading to potential losses
Elon Musk's proposal to proceed with his Twitter bid for $54.20/share hinges on receiving debt financing and the end of all legal actions related to the deal
SEC filing: in a letter to Twitter, Elon Musk revives his original bid for $54.20 per share, aiming to avoid a courtroom fight
Elon Musk is proposing to buy Twitter Inc. for the original offer price of $54.20 a share, Bloomberg News reports.Musk made the proposal in a letter to Twitter …
Adobe argues Figma will help the company rethink design tools for the cloud era; Adobe's competing product, XD, generated just $15M in ARR after seven years
a minuscule fraction of Figma's $400 million annual recurring revenue.' https://www.axios.com/... Ryan Ford / @theryanford : It's not that XD is a bad product. It isn't. It's that ...
Sources: Snap plans to start laying off ~20% of its 6,400+ employees on August 31, 2022, including cuts to its hardware group; Snap stock is down ~80% in 2022
Snap's stock price has declined nearly 80 percent this year — Snap is planning to lay off approximately 20 percent …
Sources: Crypto.com has quietly let go of hundreds more employees since announcing it was laying off around 260 employees, or 5% of its workforce, in June
As the market slumps, Crypto.com is trying to hide the pain — In June, cryptocurrency exchange Crypto.com announced …
Adam Neumann's real estate startup Flow plans to launch a digital wallet for crypto and fiat currencies and may offer a tokenized rewards program
David Jeans / Forbes :
Memo to staff: Meta is reallocating resources from Facebook's News tab and newsletter platform Bulletin, as the company focuses more on the creator economy
to pay Rupert's and the Germans' blackmail, actually—without paying for links. Danny Denhard / @dannydenhard : Most people forget Facebook is ahead of the curve when it comes to wh...
Bolt Financial laid off 185 employees, or about one-third of its workforce; some have to repay loans they took from the company for vested shares within 90 days
The Daily Brief is a free glimpse into the prevailing fundamental … Lindsey Choo / Protocol : Bolt lays off employees in a company restructuring Erin Woo / New York Times : Bolt, t...
An ex-employee alleges Microsoft spends about $200M+/year on bribes and kickbacks via its foreign contracts business; Microsoft says the claims were addressed
In 2016, Yasser Elabd noticed a $40,000 payment to a client in Africa that didn't smell right.
An ex-employee alleges Microsoft spends about $200M+/year on bribes and kickbacks via its foreign contracts business; Microsoft says the claims were addressed
Russell Brandom / The Verge :
Instagram Subscriptions launches as an alpha, initially letting 10 US creators offer their followers paid access to exclusive Instagram Live videos and Stories
Instagram is giving creators more ways to make money with today's launch of Instagram Subscriptions.
How the peer pressure to be a part of the blue bubble iMessage text groups keeps US teens locked into Apple's ecosystem
Good morning! Have you heard of Mukesh Ambani, the hotelier? Alan Friedman / PhoneArena : Google executive accuses Apple of using peer pressure and bullying to sell iPhones Jeff B...
How the peer pressure to be a part of the blue bubble iMessage text groups keeps US teens locked into Apple's ecosystem
The iPhone maker cultivated iMessage as a must-have texting tool for teens. Android users trigger a just-a-little-less-cool green bubble: 'Ew, that's gross.'
Tax preparation company H&R Block sues Block, formerly Square, for trademark infringement, claiming Block's name and logo are “nearly identical” to its own
Spotify removes shuffle play as the default option on albums for premium users, so tracks play in the order artists intended, after Adele requests the change
Adele has persuaded Spotify to take the shuffle button off all album pages so tracks play in the artist's own order.