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☆ 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.

☆ 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.

☆ 27 women in venture capital who made partner or higher at firms like Andreessen Horowitz and Lightspeed in 2022
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( Melia Russell | Stephanie Palazzolo | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

But more firms made moves to close the gender gap in 2022, hiring and promoting female partners and general partners. PitchBook data indicates that the share of women in decision-making roles at venture firms held steady year over year, with women representing 16% of general partners at firms with over $50 million in assets. To toast their success, Insider is recognizing the women in venture capital who made partner or general partner for the first time in 2022. You can read more on Europe's new female partners here. Let us know who we missed — investing partners or general partners only, please — by contacting Melia Russell at mrussell@insider.com

☆ Andreessen Horowitz just led a $43 million round into real estate financing startup Setpoint after seeing this 10-slide pitch deck
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( Callum Burroughs | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Setpoint, a property tech startup that provides financing for real estate, has raised $43 million. The Series A round was led by US investing giant Andreessen Horowitz. Setpoint provides access to financing for single-family residences (SFR), fractional ownership, and rent-to-own housing and works with property tech companies like Flyhomes. Setpoint's Series A funding round was led by Andreeseen Horowitz with participation from Stonecroft, 75andSunny, Fifth Wall, 645 Ventures, NextView Ventures, LiveOak Venture Partners, Vesta Ventures, and ATX Venture Partners. "Venture investors are certainly being more cautious, but in our experience, companies that have found great product-market-fit are getting funding," Wall added.

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.

☆ Amazon's cloud unit faces cost-sensitive customers as economic fears mount
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-03 | by ( Jordan Novet | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Peter Kern, CEO of online travel company Expedia Group , sees the cloud as an area where his company can reduce its fixed costs. Amazon leads the market in cloud computing, with an estimated 39% share. Selipsky said that moving IT jobs to the cloud could help budget-strapped organizations save money, citing customers Agco and Carrier Global . It offers Graviton computing instances based on energy-efficient Arm-based chips, a less expensive alternative to instances using standard AMD and Intel processors. He said AT&T 's DirecTV unit was able to eliminate 20% of computing costs by adopting current-generation Graviton chips.

☆ Big Tech workers who've been laid off finally get a vacation
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-02 | by ( Jordan Parker Erb | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

For some laid-off tech workers, that thought isn't confined to just daydreams — some employees told us that since they've been laid off, they've taken the opportunity to finally go on vacation. In Big Tech, getting laid off can mean taking a fancy vacation. While the typical US worker receives little to no severance pay when they get laid off, firms like Facebook, Snap, and Twitter have been relatively generous. Some laid-off tech workers have racked up few years of sky-high pay, frequent bonuses, generous stock awards, and now, decent severance — so some are thinking, "why not travel?" See where other "freed" tech workers are headed.

☆ Andreessen Horowitz's buzzy tech publication Future is shutting down
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-01 | by ( Rob Price | Melia Russell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +12 min

A source familiar with Andreessen Horowitz's content strategy confirmed to Insider that Future is shutting down. An Andreessen Horowitz spokesperson declined to comment on the record. Joe LonsdaleIn this new climate, many tech and venture firms' media strategy has shifted from glorified marketing to a more full-fledged editorial operation. In 2021, an army of more than two dozen marketers at Andreessen Horowitz doubled down on this approach. Disclosure: Melia Russell's husband is a former employee of Andreessen Horowitz.

☆ Amazon thought Alexa would be the next iPhone. Turns out it's a 'glorified clock radio.'
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( Jake Swearingen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Amazon's Alexa was Jeff Bezos' pet project; now it's a target for the company's cost-cutting. The Amazon Echo debuted in 2014 and was the company's first real success as a hardware manufacturer. The stand-alone voice assistant was immediately useful, and by 2018, the company sold more than 100 million Alexa-enabled devices. It even licensed the Alexa voice assistant to other manufacturers, hoping to make the assistant ubiquitous throughout people's homes. But as Amazon faces a new era of cost discipline, a "glorified clock radio" can't lose $10 billion a year or employ 10,000 people.

☆ VC firm IVP warns startups to 'surgically pare down expenses' with a looming recession. Here's the deck it shared with execs.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-24 | by ( Melia Russell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

In a new presentation, the VC firm IVP tells startup leaders to batten down the hatches. Insider has exclusive access to the firm's deck, titled, "Thriving in a Bear Market: A CFO's Guide." That has ripple effects for venture-backed, private companies that rely on outside investment to operate and grow. In the first half of 2022, venture firms raised $83 billion in new funds — the highest amount over a six-month period for the industry, according to a recent report by Silicon Valley Bank. "The market environment is definitely going to favor companies with real market differentiation," Vashee said.

☆ Analysis: Twitter was already in disarray. Trump's return will only make it more chaotic
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-20 | by ( Seth Fiegerman | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

(He also noted Trump’s return comes a day before the World Cup is set to kick off, a high-traffic event for the platform.) Instead, Musk tweeted a poll Friday, asking followers to vote whether or not to restore Trump’s account. But Trump also made Twitter into the center of the known media and political universe. Celebrities, world leaders, and a long list of critics and supporters often engaged with Trump directly on Twitter. But one answer seems clear: Musk appears to be betting that if users can’t turn away from the platform, neither can advertisers.

☆ Kraken exec Ankur Ranshid just exited the high-profile crypto exchange. Here's why he left, and exclusive details on his new a16z-backed gig's $200 million funding round.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-16 | by ( Morgan Chittum | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Matter Labs announced a $200 million Series C round, led by Blockchain Capital and Dragonfly. Kraken, which has a reported valuation of $10.8 billion, is trying to fill C-suite-level roles such as chief product officer, chief commercial officer, chief technology officer, and a chief compliance officer, Forbes reported last month. (The firm, however, told Insider in an email that the only existing vacant C-suite positions were chief product officer and chief compliance offer. Matter Labs' $200 million raiseFounded in 2018, Matter Labs is best known for developing a scaling protocol, or zero-knowledge rollup called zkSync. Matter Labs says nothing about the company's funding round or executive appointment has changed following this news.

☆ Andreessen Horowitz bets millions on emerging startup MotherDuck to build data analytics tech for companies that don't need all the oomph pushed by cloud giants
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-15 | by ( Matthew Lynley | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

CEO Jordan Tigani says it won't replace Snowflake but can carve its own niche in the data market. DuckDB, an open source database and analytics technology, was launched by the DuckDB foundation in 2019 to tackle this problem. It's designed for work with smaller chunks of data, which is the size most companies are actually typically analyzing, Tigani said. The round comes at a $175 million valuation with combined a $35 million series A funding round led by Andreessen-Horowitz and a $12.5 million seed funding round led by Redpoint. It could also be compared to the emerging Snowflake-endorsed data technology Iceberg (3,600 stars).

☆ In a tech downturn, breakout stars of venture capital are going abroad to hunt for funding. Here's why.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-14 | by ( Melia Russell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

The flow of capital motivated more investors to split from established firms and raise their own funds, but it hasn't always been easy. For years they've gone abroad to raise capital from limited partners, mostly wealthy individuals and family offices. This isn't new territory for international investors. He continues to use his personal wealth to back startups and venture funds mostly stateside, including Sequoia Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, and Brianne Kimmel's Worklife Ventures. Even those with ties to international investors may struggle to raise funds as fears of a global recession escalate.

☆ The rise of Snowflake created a hole in Salesforce's long-dominant ecosystem, and now startups are rushing in to seize the opportunity
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-14 | by ( Matthew Lynley | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

A new category called "reverse ETL" is emerging as startups race to fill a gap created by Snowflake. But in recent years, a substantial shift has emerged in the way companies manage their data, dovetailing with the rise of cloud providers like Snowflake and Databricks. How reverse ETL was born to fill a hole that Salesforce left wide openThe notion of a reverse-ETL pipeline isn't necessarily new. The future of reverse ETL might not be where it startedMany investors who did not invest in reverse ETL who spoke with Insider said they were surprised the friction was so large that it was able to support a single company, much less three. "We partner with great tools like Hightouch and Census for reverse ETL to SaaS applications."

☆ After FTX's collapse, VCs across industries are finally admitting to crypto's failures — and they're preparing for 'more blows to come'
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-14 | by ( April Joyner | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Investors stuck to crypto startups they considered "safe bets," but FTX's failure challenges that idea. Crypto startups held yacht parties through the summer and into early fall at events such as NFT.NYC and Messari Mainnet. "The whole crypto space is a high-leverage space, and it's susceptible to cascading failures." The events of the past week are unlikely to whet risk-averse LPs' appetite for crypto, investors told Insider. Even so, several investors who have backed crypto startups told Insider that despite the industry's recent travails, they remain believers in the technology.

☆ 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.

☆ FTX's blowup is a turning point for Wall Street's crypto adoption journey
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-11 | by ( Dan Defrancesco | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

But first, where does Wall Street go from here? A warning sign for Wall Street to get out now before it's in too deep. Insider's Rebecca Ungarino and Danielle Walker examined what the knock-on effects of FTX's blowup mean for Wall Street's crypto plans. A key part of Wall Street's adoption of crypto was working with intermediaries bridging the gap between the two worlds. Read more on how FTX's blow up might impact Wall Street' long-term crypto plans.

☆ Tiger Global, Coatue, and other hedge funds tried to upend venture capital. It backfired and now they're 'licking their wounds,' VCs say.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-11 | by ( Darius Rafieyan | Melia Russell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

New investments by Tiger Global and Coatue fell 60% and 67%, respectively, this year. "They're licking their wounds," said Nihal Mehta, a founding partner at Eniac Ventures, whose portfolio includes the marketing-tech startup Attentive, a crown jewel of Tiger Global and Coatue's portfolios. Speaking to founders, Mehta hears crossover funds come up less and less in conversation, and partners at some crossover funds tell him they're pulling back from new deals, though crossover funds haven't disappeared altogether. Crossover funds found themselves with billions of dollars in deployed capital and few exits in sight. Last month, Tiger Global and Coatue both revealed they are seeking to raise new funds earmarked for early-stage startup deals.

☆ A16z-backed financial wellness benefits provider Brightside raises $33 million in Series B funding with plans to hire hundreds of employees
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-10 | by ( Emilia David | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Brightside works with employers to provide financial wellness benefits to employees. Brightside, which sells its financial wellness platform to businesses for use as an employee benefit, is currently based in Arizona and only serves US businesses. The latest round brings Brightside's total funding to $75 million, after a $35.1 million in Series A funding round in June 2020. Financial wellness became a big topic for employees as companies aim to provide more benefits to entice them to stay. And roboinvestment company Betterment hinted at looking to acquire financial wellness companies as it seeks to expand beyond investment.

☆ Elon Musk sells at least $3.95B of Tesla shares after Twitter takeover
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-09 | by ( Lora Kolodny | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +1 min

Elon Musk sold $3.95 billion worth of shares in his electric car company Tesla after closing his $44 billion acquisition of Twitter. According to filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Musk sold 19.5 million shares of Tesla. On August 9, 2022, Musk told fans he was done selling shares to fund a possible Twitter take-private deal. Since he has taken over Twitter, Musk has pulled dozens of Tesla engineers in to assist him at Twitter with code review and other work. Please check back for updates.

☆ Andreessen Horowitz just backed a startup that specializes in company director insurance. Here's the 13-slide pitch deck Anzen used to raise $10 million.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-08 | by ( Callum Burroughs | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A startup focusing on insurance for company directors and officers just raised $10 million. Check out the 13-slide pitch deck Anzen used to raise the new capital below. Anzen, a US insurance startup focused on executive liability, has raised $10 million in fresh funding. Anzen's funding comes from Andreessen Horowitz, alongside Japanese insurance companies MS&AD Ventures and, Tokio Marine. In addition, AmTrust Financial and Greenlight Re joined the round as insurance partners for the company along with Everest Re.

☆ Scoop: Andreessen Horowitz beats out Benchmark and NEA to lead Series A funding round for Partiful, the 'Eventbrite for Gen Z'
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-08 | by ( Ben Bergman | Melia Russell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Andreessen Horowitz beat out other firms to lead Partiful's series A round, according to sources. Neither the cofounders of Partiful nor Andreessen Horowitz responded to a request for comment. After an intense bidding war, Andreessen Horowitz beat out rival VC firms, including Benchmark and New Enterprise Associates, to lead Partiful's series A funding round, according to three people with knowledge of the financing who were not authorized to speak publicly. Andreessen Horowitz also did not respond to a request for comment. Venture investors, eager to find the next buzzy consumer app, have marveled at Partiful's growth.

☆ Elon Musk sells at least $3.95 billion worth of Tesla shares after Twitter deal
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-08 | by ( Lora Kolodny | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Elon Musk has sold at least another $3.95 billion worth of shares in his electric car company Tesla after closing his $44 billion acquisition of Twitter. According to filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission published Tuesday, Musk sold 19.5 million more shares of Tesla. Musk sold almost $22 billion worth of Tesla shares in 2021, a year when the stock jumped over 50%. This year, he sold over $8 billion worth of Tesla stock in April and another roughly $7 billion worth in August. On Aug. 9, Musk told fans he was done selling Tesla shares to fund a possible Twitter acquisition.

☆ Thousands of tech workers were laid off last week. Experts say it's just the beginning.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-07 | by ( Jordan Parker Erb | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

We've got a lot to get to today, so I'm going to get straight into the news, starting with why experts are warning that tech layoffs are just beginning. Thousands of workers were laid off last week. A Tesla alum used this pitch deck to raise a $2.5 million seed round for his startup. We got a look at the pitch deck its founder used to raise seed funding — check it out here. Plus, check out our full, searchable pitch deck database here.

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