DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ Pitch Decks That Advertising Tech Startups Used to Raise Millions
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-10 | by ( Business Insider | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +19 min

Check out these pitch decks that they've used to sell their vision and raise millions from private equity and VC investors. Blocking ad fraudAdtech startup Lunio, announced a $15 million Series A funding round in September 2022. In May 2022, the software-as-a-service startup raised a $30 million Series B round, led by Insight Partners. Marketing in the metaverseAnima, an augmented-reality startup, raised a $3 million funding round from investors in Janury. He raised $50 million in Series D after closing a $34 million Series C last year, bringing its total raised to $100 million.

☆ Amid the rise of ChatGPT and other AI chatbots, venture capitalist Chamath Palihapitiya thinks Google Search will be the biggest loser of 2023
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-06 | by ( Lakshmi Varanasi | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

On the business podcast All-In, Palihapitiya said Google Search will be the biggest business loser of 2023. Amid the rise of chatbots like ChatGPT, Palihapitiya said more companies will engineer competitive search engines. The All-In podcast is a business podcast co-hosted by four tech industry veterans — PayPal COO David Sacks, investor David Friedberg, entrepreneur Jason Calacanis, and Palihapitiya. However, Palihapitiya doesn't think that ChatGPT is the only reason Google's search business might be on shaky grounds this year. With enough time and money, Palihapitiya said companies like Microsoft, Oracle, "Chinese internet companies," and even Facebook could be potential competitors to Google search.

☆ Elon Musk responds to Twitter's first widespread outage under his leadership by saying the platform is working for him
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-29 | by ( Pete Syme | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Twitter faced its first widespread outage under Elon Musk's leadership on Wednesday evening. Musk responded to the reports by tweeting: "Works for me." Twitter staff previously raised concerns about outages after Musk laid-off half the company's staff. Musk responded to some unaffected users discussing the reports, saying: "Works for me." Fears about such an outage began after Musk laid off around half of Twitter's 7,500 staff soon after he purchased the company.

☆ Elon Musk laughed when asked about Twitter layoffs and said a focus on working hard 'was not Twitter's prior culture' before he took over
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-28 | by ( Grace Dean | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Musk spoke about his "roller coaster" first two months at Twitter on the "All-In Podcast." When asked how he decided who to lay off, Musk laughed before saying that "exceptional" staff should stay on. Venture capitalist and podcast cohost Chamath Palihapitiya asked Musk how he decided what "the efficient frontier of employees" needed to be to make Twitter better. He noted that staff also needed to be "up for working hard," adding that that wasn't part of Twitter's "prior culture." Other Twitter workers, meanwhile, chose to quit their jobs, saying Musk had changed the company's culture and they were worried about the site's future.

☆ Elon Musk says Twitter is no longer 'in the fast lane to bankruptcy' – but still isn't 'secure'
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-25 | by ( Sam Tabahriti | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Elon Musk said on Saturday that bankruptcy was no longer an imminent fear for Twitter. After sealing the $44 billion deal, Musk had planted the idea that bankruptcy could be on the cards. "We've got the [Twitter] expenses reasonably under control," Musk then said. "So the company's not, like, in the fast lane to bankruptcy anymore." In a follow-up tweet responding to a user who quoted the billionaire, Musk doubled down: "Twitter isn't secure yet, just not in the fast lane to bankruptcy.

Dec 22 (Reuters) - Tesla (TSLA.O) Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk said on Thursday he will not sell any more Tesla stock for about two years. His comments came after a Tesla stock sell-off deepened on Thursday over worries about softening demand for electric cars and Musk's distraction with Twitter and his stock sales. "I won't sell stock until I don't know probably two years from now. Musk has previously made promises about not selling Tesla stock before subsequently selling it. "(Twitter) is maybe 10% of the complexity of Tesla," Musk said.

Dec 22 (Reuters) - Tesla (TSLA.O) Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk said on Thursday he will not sell any more Tesla stock for another two years. Musk has previously made promises about not selling Tesla stock before subsequently selling it. "I needed to sell some stock to make sure, like, there's powder dry...to account for a worst case scenario," the billionaire said. Musk said that Tesla is close to picking the location of its new "Gigafactory." "(Twitter) is maybe 10% of the complexity of Tesla," Musk said.

☆ Twitter has given new square business badges to some of its staff, news outlets, and a close friend of Elon Musk — but not Musk himself
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( Pete Syme | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Twitter introduced a new square badge to show where company verified accounts are employed. At least 10 Twitter staff have the new badge, but Elon Musk doesn't. Musk himself, however, has not got a square badge, despite owning the company and spearheading the verification changes. Musk retweeted the official announcement for the feature, but is yet to address the poll which saw Twitter users vote for him to step down as CEO. The news outlet Bloomberg also has access to the square badge, which is currently being used for different sections of the outlet's coverage, but not individual journalists.

☆ After Twitter users voted to oust Elon Musk as CEO, he wants to change how polls work
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( Clare Duffy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

New York CNN —When Elon Musk polled Twitter users about whether to reinstate former President Donald Trump’s account, he quickly followed through on the majority’s wish to do so. But since a clear majority of Twitter users voted for Musk to step down as Twitter CEO in another poll on Sunday, Musk has remained conspicuously (and uncharacteristically) silent. After one Twitter user said, “Blue subscribers should be the only ones that can vote in policy related polls,” Musk responded, “Good point. There is no successor.”CNBC reported Tuesday that Musk is “actively searching” for a new Twitter CEO, citing anonymous sources. The most obvious potential candidates for a new Twitter CEO are the Musk lieutenants who have been helping to run the company since his takeover.

☆ Main Street is buying stocks while Wall Street sells: What gives?
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( Nicole Goodkind | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

But not all traders are on the same ride — the large, institutional investors on Wall Street have shuffled away from markets while Main Street’s retail investors are still strapped in. But despite this year’s lackluster market, investors bought $800 billion of Exchange Traded Funds which are baskets of stocks typically purchased by retail investors. However, Main Street is holding on to its stocks while Wall Street is running for the hills. One simple explanation is that institutional investors are responsible for vast amounts of money that belong to other people. “Respect, for retail investors, is in short supply,” wrote Azalea Micottis at Informa Financial Intelligence, in a recent note.

☆ Elon Musk voted out as CEO of Twitter by poll he created
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-19 | by ( Brian Fung | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

Washington CNN —A Twitter poll created by Elon Musk asking whether he should “step down as head of Twitter” ended early Monday morning with most respondents voting in the affirmative. But Tesla shares were up 5% in premarket trading after the poll results were revealed. After taking over Twitter, Musk dissolved the company’s board and its C-Suite emptied out. As the sole board director and owner of the company, Musk can appoint the next CEO – and also tell that person what to do in the role. Shortly after Musk posted his latest poll, Calacanis posted a poll of his own asking who should take over as Twitter’s next CEO: himself, Sacks, or Calacanis and Sacks together as co-CEOs.

☆ Here’s who Elon Musk could pick to be Twitter’s next CEO
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-19 | by ( Clare Duffy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

New York CNN —Elon Musk may soon be on the lookout for a new chief executive to run Twitter. There is no successor.”If Musk were to look for a new Twitter CEO, he’d likely have many willing takers. Jack Dorsey, Twitter founder, CEO of Block and friend to Musk, has previously said he would not return to run the social network. The most obvious potential candidates for a new Twitter CEO are the Musk lieutenants who have been helping to run the company since his takeover. Who is insane enough to run twitter?!?

☆ Chamath Palihapitiya says he's faced privacy concerns over jet-tracking like Elon Musk, and would consider ditching flying private for something 'more anonymous'
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-17 | by ( Britney Nguyen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Chamath Palihapitiya said he's dealt with privacy concerns similar to Elon Musk's jet-tracking. Palihapitiya said the question for him was whether or not to switch to "more anonymous" transportation. Thousands of commercial and private flights around the world are public and can be found on online tracker ADS-B Exchange. In a Twitter Space Thursday night with suspended journalists and Sweeney, Musk reiterated his point that accounts who "dox" people will be suspended. The journalists pushed back on the characterization that they had participated in any doxing, and Musk eventually left the conversation.

☆ A SpaceX director defended Elon Musk after Twitter layoffs, telling employees to show some empathy for the billionaire, report says
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-15 | by ( Kate Duffy | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

A SpaceX director told Twitter staff to show empathy for Elon Musk after mass layoffs, per Bloomberg. Staff have called Gracias and other people Musk has brought into Twitter as "goons," per the report. Twitter employees have referred to these people as "the goons," per Bloomberg. Gracias, Twitter, and SpaceX didn't immediately respond to Insider's request for comment made outside of normal US operating hours. It follows the loss of thousands of Twitter employees through firings, layoffs, and resignations since Musk bought the platform in late October.

☆ Why tech insiders are so excited about ChatGPT, a chatbot that answers questions and writes essays
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-13 | by ( Jonathan Vanian | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

Lately, Zwingmann has been generating lecture notes using ChatGPT, a new chatbot that's quickly become the latest fad in tech. ChatGPT automatically generates text based on written prompts in a fashion that's much more advanced and creative than the chatbots of Silicon Valley's past. Five days after OpenAI released ChatGPT, Altman said that the chat research tool "crossed 1 million users!" ChatGPT is essentially a variant of OpenAI's popular GPT-3.5 language-generation software that's been designed to carry conversations with people. While ChatGPT is free, OpenAI sells access to its underlying language and related AI models for businesses to use.

☆ A janitor laid off at Twitter's headquarters said one of Elon Musk's team members told him he'd be replaced by robots
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-09 | by ( Grace Kay | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A janitor told BBC that a member of Elon Musk's team said his job would eventually be replaced by robots. Four former Twitter cleaners told the publication they were laid off without severance on Monday. Four former Twitter janitors told the publication they were laid off without severance on Monday. Multiple workers told the publication that they are concerned about how they will be able to pay bills in the coming weeks, particularly with the holidays coming up. "Overnight we don't have anything," Adrianna Villarreal, a cleaner who had worked at Twitter since 2018, told BBC.

☆ SpaceX, Tesla, and Boring Company execs are helping Elon Musk at Twitter, records reveal
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( Lora Kolodny | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

Ever since, he has enlisted high-ranking executives and engineers from his other businesses, including SpaceX, Tesla and The Boring Company, to help out at the social media company, according to internal records obtained by CNBC and conversations with recent Twitter employees. Musk has also enabled partners from investment firms who participated in the Twitter buyout access to work within the social media company. In his testimony, Musk characterized Tesla employees' work for him at Twitter as "just a voluntary thing." He also said: "This was sort of an after-hours, just if you're interested in evaluating the -- helping me evaluate Twitter engineering, that would be nice. In addition to Tesla employees, Musk has also enlisted execs and employees from SpaceX, the reusable rocket and satellite internet services company he founded in 2002, to help him at Twitter.

Elon Musk's Twitter profile is seen on a smartphone placed on printed Twitter logos in this picture illustration taken April 28, 2022. Taibbi has an exclusive podcast deal with Musk's friend and Twitter investor David Sacks via his podcasting platform, Callin. Taibbi and Weiss both write newsletters on Substack, which is partly funded by Andreessen Horowitz, a co-investor in Twitter with Musk. Musk has even gone so far as to say that Twitter, which he now owns and leads, interfered with U.S. elections. During a Twitter Spaces discussion, Musk suggested more files would be released regarding how Twitter handled the 2020 presidential election, the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol and the Covid-19 pandemic.

☆ Elon Musk's war with Apple shows just how much power Tim Cook has over how we all use the internet
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-29 | by ( Travis Clark | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Elon Musk is criticizing Apple's App Store policies, and other tech CEOs have voiced support. Now, Musk is loosening Twitter's content-moderation policies and tech observers say Apple could pull it from the App Store, too. (When asked two weeks ago about the possibility of removing Twitter, Apple CEO Cook told CBS News, "They say that they are going to continue to moderate ... Failure to comply with its policies risks Twitter's removal from the App Store, which would undoubtedly harm Twitter's bottom line. Musk is now trying to put Apple in the hot seat, a seat that Tim Cook and Apple have largely tried to avoid.

☆ Elon Musk's 2-year-old son ran around Twitter's office and played with toys while his dad talked to advisors about moderation, report says
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-24 | by ( Grace Dean | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Elon Musk's son X Æ a-Xii was present during Twitter meetings after the purchase went through, WaPo reported. Two-year-old X Æ a-Xii, Musk's first child with Grimes, ran round while he met with Yoel Roth, per WaPo. The Post reported that toys were scattered round the room and X Æ a-Xii ran around. X Æ a-Xii may have been at Twitter's HQ to attend the office Halloween party that day, where some staff brought their children. X Æ a-Xii, who he had with his musician and ex-partner Grimes, was Musk's seventh child.

☆ Check out the pitch document martech startup Primer used to raise $12 million from Elon Musk's top advisor, Salesforce Ventures, and others
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-16 | by ( Elizabeth Pham Janowski | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Marketing tech startup Primer wants to help business-to-business marketers make sense of fragmented data sources. The company just raised a $12 million Series A round, led by Craft Ventures. Primer's tools allow marketers to apply filters across all these datasets to search for more targeted audiences. With Primer's tools, companies are able to hone in on hyper-specific audiences — like women founders with stores on Shopify, or brand managers who work in the media industry. Scroll down for key slides from the Notion document that Primer used to raise its funds.

☆ After Elon Musk fired Twitter staff for criticizing him, some remaining employees are hurriedly deleting Slack messages they fear he won't like
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-16 | by ( Grace Dean | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Twitter staff are removing Slack messages they fear Elon Musk won't like, Platformer reported. This comes after the tech mogul fired some Twitter staff for criticizing him online. Engineers Eric Frohnhoefer, Sasha Solomon, and Ben Leib all appeared to be fired on Sunday and Monday for criticizing Musk. Platformer also reported that some of the fired employees had simply expressed sympathy with Frohnhoefer, Solomon, and Leib. Sources told The Times that some fired staff had shared news of Frohnhoefer's termination in internal chats.

☆ Chamath Palihapitiya said Sam Bankman-Fried once pitched him, but after the investor suggested changes like forming a board, FTX told him to get lost
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-15 | by ( Britney Nguyen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Sam Bankman-Fried once pitched Social Capital, but Chamath Palihapitiya said he "didn't make much sense." After the Zoom meeting, the firm sent FTX recommendations if things were to proceed, including the formation of a board. Palihapitiya said that FTX then told his firm to "go fuck yourself" for suggesting changes. He said Bankman-Fried pitched Social Capital while raising a $17 billion round. Palihapitiya said he still thought Bankman-Fried and FTX were in "the bucket of these guys are unbelievably arrogant and smug."

The public termination came after Frohnhoefer tweeted evidence suggesting that Musk was “wrong” about his claims that Twitter was running, in the billionaire’s words, “super slow” in various countries. Sources have indicated to CNN that employees in recent days had been very candid in criticism of Musk in the company’s Slack. (CNN has attempted to contact fired employees to confirm.) In addition to the public pushback from employees, some Twitter staff appear to have tried to appeal to Musk and his inner circle privately as they weigh numerous disruptive changes to the platform. The paid subscription service was suspended on Friday with little warning.

☆ Meet the members of Elon Musk's inner circle said to be helping him fix Twitter
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-12 | by ( Beatrice Nolan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Picked from Musk's inner circle of allies, friends, and ex-colleagues, these are the people reportedly helping him fix Twitter. Three days after Musk's acquisition, Krishnan tweeted that he was temporarily "helping out" Musk after the takeover. Sources told Insider he was listed on Twitter's company directory as a staff software engineer and was assigned a company email address. Bloomberg reported that Birchall played a key part in securing the financing for Musk's Twitter purchase. Over the past week, Musk's right-hand man has also been among the team strategizing inside Twitter, per The Washington Post.

Search resuls for: "David Sack"

25 mentions found