Crunch Network
The best thoughts on the current and future state of technology, entrepreneurialism and investment.
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Why Bitcoin Matters
The most epochal financial transaction of this century, to date, occurred on May 22, 2010. It did not involve Wall Street, or the City of London; it took place in Jacksonville, Florida. It did not feature collateralized debt obligations, or credit default swaps. It was a purchase of two Papa John’s pizzas, in exchange for a payment whose present value currently exceeds US $4 million. Read More
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The Unicorns Of Southeast Asia
I have spent most of my life living and traveling in Southeast Asia; the last two years as the mentor to Asian startups. Southeast Asia — home to 620 million people across 11 countries  — has been skyrocketing with tremendous growth; case in point, the 16 percent increase in Aggregate Investment Deal Value, to US$1.05 billion in 2014. Read More
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The First International Beauty Contest Judged By Robots
Robots are starting to appear everywhere: driving cars, cooking dinners and even as robotic pets. But people don’t usually give machine intelligence much credence when it comes to judging beauty. That may change with the launch of the world’s first international beauty contest judged exclusively by a robot jury. Read More
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If At First Your Acqui-Hire Sucks, Try Again
It took back-to-back acqui-hires for me to learn there’s a right way and a wrong way to do them. We had made it. Despite running low on money and having little traction, my company was acqui-hired by Yahoo in October of 2013. I was thrilled to have a large salary at a well-respected company. Seventeen months later, I was laid off. Read More
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Why Silicon Valley Should Bring Unsexy Back
Neckties embedded with QR codes. Pants that make drum noises. “Uber for medical marijuana.” These are just a few of the goofy startup ideas that have cropped up in Silicon Valley in recent years. I can’t be the only one who’s disappointed with this. The Valley is the birthplace of game-changing innovations, like the microprocessor and the PC. It’s home to… Read More
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What’s The Half Life Of A Unicorn?
Cybercorns are companies that have surpassed the magical $1 billion valuation. Several of these extraordinary ventures are Okta, Sophos, Tanium, Palantir, FireEye, Splunk, Zscaler, Lookout, CloudFlare, Illumio and AVAST. But in a world where technology is changing rapidly, and in which attackers are agile and focused, which of these unicorns will survive? What is the half-life, perhaps measured… Read More
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How To Unplug For New Year’s Weekend
New Year’s is a time where we turn off work for a little while. We meet friends and family, reflect on the prior year, and begin to imagine possibilities for the coming year. For many of us involved with startups, however, taking time to unplug can be difficult. Unplugging is challenging because startups are often very busy. Read More
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The Federal Vision For Healthcare IT: A Dystopian Paradise
In a year not too distant, Loretta, a woman in her late 20s, hears a pleasant tone from her watch and checks to see a text. The message isn’t from a friend or work, it’s from the watch itself: “You’re pregnant.” Loretta is surprised; conception was merely days before. But pregnancy is one of the many tests constantly checked by her wearable and household technology. Read More
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How To Stem The Global Shortage Of Data Scientists
Data scientist might be considered the “sexiest job of the 21st century,” with many companies eager to hire data science talent. But 20 years ago the term was barely used, save for a few academic articles. Even a decade ago, explaining data science to employers was challenging. Few people understood the value of a skill set that combines computer science, statistics, operations… Read More
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Artificial Intelligence Poses A Greater Risk To IP Than Humans Do
Substantial thought and angst has been expended over the fact that artificial intelligence (AI) is coming to your workplace to take over blue- and white-collar jobs, alike. But a major risk of AI has been almost entirely ignored: the threat to companies’ intellectual property (IP). Existing laws are insufficient to protect against the unique threats posed by AI. While I am no fan of… Read More
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The 5 Best Mid-Range Phones Of 2015
When it comes to phones, the word “flagship” was tossed around a lot in 2015. We saw it get attached to devices that are priced at the midrange, as well as certain top-performing devices that were priced far lower than the usual “flagship” phones. Read More
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Facebook’s Plan to Monopolize The Internet In India Should Be Defeated
Despite rebranding its free Internet.org ‘walled garden’ of apps plan in India under the new name of “Free Basics,” Facebook remains in direct violation of an open internet. Facebook’s first attempt with Indian carrier Airtel was rolled-back soon after its release in April thanks to huge public outrage on social media, ironically. Read More
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The Middleman Strikes Back
One of the great promises of the Internet — a democratic, transparent, open network that would disintermediate entrenched industries, remove fee-taking middlemen and thereby lower the costs of goods — has seemingly been realized. And yet, just as surely as we thought they were gone for good, middlemen have come surging back to life — rebranded as our best friends: the… Read More
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Recognizing Probabilities In Budgeting And Forecasting
Based on practical experience with hundreds of early stage companies over many years, we generally recommend the following budgeting best practices. We call it the Bessemer Optimal Budget, and it involves explicitly recognizing probabilities in budgeting and forecasting. Read More
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The Indian Startup Scene In 2015
India has now become one of the largest bases for startups in the world after the United States, the United Kingdom, and China. It is also the youngest with more than 72 percent of its startups founded by entrepreneurs younger than 35. These two trends are driving an increasingly online and mobile new internet entrepreneurial culture. Read More
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Crunch Network
Microinsurance Is The Answer To The Insurance Industry
Let’s be real. The insurance industry has barely evolved since Benjamin Franklin introduced the concept in the late 1700s. You’d think after three hundred years and a market size of $1 trillion in the United States alone, insurance companies like MetLife and AIG would have nailed it. But they haven’t. Instead, they’ve left millions of Americans paying toward… Read More
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A Wake-Up Call To Fight Government Surveillance
Look around any crowded place nowadays and it’s quite clear that many of us have literally become prisoners of our own devices: smartphones, tablets, laptops — anything and everything with an Internet connection. Our lifestyles practically require us to always be on, and connected to everyone else. Read More
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Crunch Network
Scorecard: 2015 Digital Media Predictions
Last year on TechCrunch I made eight predictions about digital media. This post compares those predictions to the reality that is digital media in 2015. Read More
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Crunch Network
What Will The Internet Of Things Be When It Grows Up?
An old proverb advises, “Keep a thing seven years, and you’ll find a use for it.” Well, it’s been about seven years since there were officially more “things” connected to the Internet than people. It looks like they’re keepers, and we’ve found countless uses for them. Now that the IoT seems to be firmly embedded in our lives, 2016 may be that… Read More
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How Psychology Is Adapting To The World Of Tech
With the increased use of online therapy and wellness-based mobile applications, the field of mental health is following in the path of physical health initiatives in the design of more accessible and convenient platforms. While these programs provide services through different platforms, to a different audience and from a greater distance than ever before, it remains to be seen how these… Read More
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