Startups Weekly: Airbnb’s growing pains

Hello and welcome back to Startups Weekly, a weekend newsletter that dives into the week’s noteworthy startups and venture capital news. Before I jump into today’s topic, let’s catch up a bit. Last week, I wrote about Uber’s new “money” team. Before that, I told you about how SoftBank is screwing up. Remember, you can send me tips, suggestions and feedback to kate.clark@techcrunch.com or on Twitter @KateClarkTweets. If you don’t subscribe to Startups Weekly yet, you can do that here. Brian Chesky, chief executive officer and co-founder...

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Instagram to test hiding Like counts in US, which could hurt influencers

{rss:content:encoded} Instagram to test hiding Like counts in US, which could hurt influencers https://ift.tt/32tb5Oj https://ift.tt/2NSzasG November 09, 2019 at 01:25AM “We will make decisions that hurt the business if they help people’s well-being and health” says Instagram’s CEO Adam Mosseri. To that end, next week Instagram will expand its test of hiding Like counts from everyone but a post’s creator to some users in the United States. But there are major questions about whether the change will hurt influencers. Mosseri revealed the plan at...

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Instagram to test hiding Like counts in US, which could hurt influencers

“We will make decisions that hurt the business if they help people’s well-being and health” says Instagram’s CEO Adam Mosseri. To that end, next week Instagram will expand its test of hiding Like counts from everyone but a post’s creator to some users in the United States. But there are major questions about whether the change will hurt influencers. Mosseri revealed the plan at the Wired25 conference today, saying Instagram “We have to see how it affects how people feel about the platform, how it affects how they use the platform, how it affects...

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Ex-Facebook CPO Chris Cox now advises on climate & campaign tech

Chris Cox’s motivational speeches were at the heart of Facebook’s new employee orientation. But after 14 years at the social network, the Chief Product Officer left in March amidst an executive shake-up and Facebook’s new plan to prioritize privacy by moving to encrypt its messaging apps. No details on his next projects were revealed. Now the 37-year-old leader will be putting his inspirational demeanor and keen strategy sense to work to protect the environment and improve the government. Today at Wired25 conference, Cox finally shared more about...

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Inside StockX’s authentication center

Joshua Luber runs a sneaker empire valued at more than $1 billion, but he thinks they’re just now scratching the surface. The consumer marketplace recently expanded to include a fifth category (collectibles). “It’s an evolution of eBay that works similar to the stock market,” Luber states, “but at the core, it’s around the concept of true market price.”  We visited StockX’s 15,000-square-foot facility in Detroit to get a peek into their authentication process, and sat down with Luber to chat about humble beginnings, business expansion and...

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Facebook’s first experimental apps from its ‘NPE Team’ division focus on students, chat & music

This July, Facebook announced a new division called NPE Team which would build experimental consumer-facing apps, allowing the company to try out new ideas and features to see how people would react. It soon thereafter tapped former Vine GM Jason Toff to join the team as a product manager. The first apps to emerge from the NPE Team have now quietly launched. One, Bump, is a chat app that aims to help people make new friends through conversations, not appearances. Another, Aux, is a social music listening app. Aux seems a bit reminiscent of an older...

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Extension on early-bird sale to Disrupt Berlin 2019

We won’t bury the lead on this news, startup fans. We’re giving all you professional procrastinators and time-delayed decision makers an extra week to pull yourselves together and score early-bird savings on passes to Disrupt Berlin 2019 (11-12 December). Early-bird pricing remains in play until 15 November at 11:59 p.m. (CEST). Don’t let this last-chance clock run out. Beat the deadline, buy an early-bird pass to Disrupt Berlin and keep up to €500 in your wallet. One of the many awesome aspects of Disrupt is the opportunity to learn from...

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Facebook’s first experimental apps from its ‘NPE Team’ division focus on students, chat & music

{rss:content:encoded} Facebook’s first experimental apps from its ‘NPE Team’ division focus on students, chat & music https://ift.tt/2K6kqp4 https://ift.tt/2K3Eg4m November 08, 2019 at 10:05PM This July, Facebook announced a new division called NPE Team which would build experimental consumer-facing apps, allowing the company to try out new ideas and features to see how people would react. It soon thereafter tapped former Vine GM Jason Toff to join the team as a Product Manager. The first apps to emerge from the NPE Team have now quietly launched....

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Alpaca nabs $6M for stocks API so anyone can build a Robinhood

Stock trading app Robinhood is valued at $7.6 billion, but it only operates in the US. Freshly-funded fintech startup Alpaca does the dirty work so developers worldwide can launch their own competitors to that investing unicorn. Like the Stripe of stocks, Alpaca’s API handles the banking, security, and regulatory complexity, allowing other startups to quickly build brokerage apps on top for free. It’s already crossed $1 billion in transaction within a year of launch. The potential to power the backend of a new generation of fintech apps has attracted...

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Popular Android phones can be tricked into snooping on their owners

{rss:content:encoded} Popular Android phones can be tricked into snooping on their owners https://ift.tt/2Q3eH75 https://ift.tt/2CssjRg November 08, 2019 at 07:00PM Security researchers have found several popular Android phones can be tricked into snooping on their owners by exploiting a weakness that gives accessories access to the phone’s underlying baseband software. Attackers can use that access to trick vulnerable phones into giving up their unique identifiers, such as their IMEI and IMSI numbers, downgrade a target’s connection in order to...

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Badoo’s Andrey Andreev sells his stake in Bumble owner MagicLab to Blackstone, valuing the dating apps at $3B

Bumble, the popular and profitable dating and networking app built around the ethos of women calling the shots on how connections get made and developed, has made a deal for some independence of its own. Andrey Andreev, the founder of Badoo, the controversial London-based company that owns a series of dating apps and was the main backer and builder of Bumble, is selling his entire stake in MagicLab, the company that owned both Bumble and Badoo (and other dating apps), to Blackstone and will step away from the business. Whitney Wolfe Herd, Bumble’s...

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African logistics startup Lori Systems raises Series A led by Chinese investors

African on-demand trucking logistics company Lori Systems has raised a Series A round led by Chinese investors Hillhouse Capital and Crystal Stream Capital. Other participating investors included Nigeria and U.S. based EchoVC, Flexport CEO Ryan Petersen, and Nigerian founder Iyinoluwa Aboyeji. Lori Systems is not disclosing the amount of the Series A. DealStreet Asia reported the round amount at $30 million earlier Friday, but Lori Systems’ CEO Josh Sandler would not confirm that. That figure was “something lost in translation” and “a mischaracterization...

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Andreessen Horowitz launches free crypto startup school

Last month, Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) general partner Chris Dixon announced at TechCrunch Disrupt that the VC firm would run a free crypto startup school. And the company is officially launching its school today. Applications are now open and you have four weeks to apply. With this initiative, a16z wants to democratize cryptocurrencies. Dixon and the a16z has been involved in the cryptocurrency/blockchain space for 7 years, and the firm now wants to share some of its learnings with entrepreneurs. This way, it could give a boost to the crypto community,...

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Every startup is a bank–or wants to be

Hello and welcome back to Equity, TechCrunch’s venture capital-focused podcast, where we unpack the numbers behind the headlines. This week we did something just a little bit new. Kate was in studio at TechCrunch’s SF HQ. Alex was in his dork cave in Providence. And we had a guest in the studio as well. We’ve done similar setups before, but never with video all around. So, welcome to a slightly new chapter in Equity’s production history (all praise to Chris for making it work, video will be out today on TechCrunch’s YouTube page). Our guest...

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Prices increase tonight: Buy Disrupt Berlin 2019 early bird passes now

We get it. You’re deep in the weeds starting your startup, building your business, expanding your empire. Startuppers are frequently overworked, prone to procrastination and last-minute decision making. We’re here to tell you today’s the last day you can score early bird savings to Disrupt Berlin 2019. The early bird deadline ends tonight at 11:59 p.m. (CEST). Don’t pay more than necessary. Beat the deadline, and buy your early bird pass to Disrupt Berlin right now. As usual, we have a great lineup of speakers, and you’ll learn from the best at...

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Sinclair leads $10.3M investment in rideshare advertising startup Octopus

Octopus Interactive, a startup bringing an interactive TV and ad experience into Uber and Lyft rides, has raised a $10.3 million funding round led by Sinclair Digital Group. Backseat TVs mixing show snippets and commercials have become a common part of the taxi experience in New York City and elsewhere. Octopus is offering something a more interactive version of this concept to rideshare drivers, who can use it to keep their passengers entertained and also earn extra money. Octopus says it provides drivers with tablets that combine games (which...

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Legislators from ten parliaments put the squeeze on Facebook

The third session of the International Grand Committee on Disinformation, a multi-nation body comprised of global legislators with concerns about the societal impacts of social media giants, has been taking place in Dublin this week — once again without any senior Facebook management in attendance. The committee was formed last year after Facebook’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg repeatedly refused to give evidence to a wide-ranging UK parliamentary enquiry into online disinformation and the use of social media tools for political campaigns. That snub encouraged...

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