Tech News

U.S. safety regulators have opened a preliminary investigation into the robotaxis developed and operated by GM self-driving subsidiary Cruise.

The National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration said it opened the investigation after learning of incidents when these robotaxis “may have engaged in inappropriately hard braking or became immobilized while operating on public roads.” The preliminary investigation covers all Cruise AVs.

Reuters was the first to report the formal safety probe.

Cruise has received the proper permits from California regulators to operate and charge for driverless rides in certain areas of San Francisco. The company is awaiting the last remaining approval from the state’s Public Utilities Commission to expand its service area to all of San Francisco.

As Cruise has ramped up its driverless operations, so has the public’s attention. While numerous videos and posts focus on the thrill of riding in a driverless car, not all of the public’s documentation has been positive. Numerous videos and images have been posted on social media, Reddit and other public forums documenting Cruise robotaxis seemingly stuck in intersections and blocking traffic in San Francisco.

However, NHTSA didn’t learn of the hard-braking crash events from social media. Cruise reported the events via the agency’s Standing General Order, which requires manufacturers to report certain crashes involving vehicles equipped with automated driving systems or SAE Level 2 advanced driver assistance systems. This is the third investigation NHTSA has opened into an automated driving systems developer; the first two were for Pony.ai (a recall query and an audit query), according to the agency. There have been multiple investigations into Tesla’s advanced driver assistance system.

NHTSA said three hard-braking crashes were reported by Cruise through the Standing General Order. Two crashes involved injuries. Cruise said in all three of these incidents, the vehicle was supervised, which means there was a trained safety operator behind the wheel. None of the incidents resulted in police citations, according to the company.

Cruise also said it has already met with NHTSA to discuss each one of the events mentioned in their filing, and provided the agency with briefings and the information they requested. The agency said the investigation was launched to determine the scope and severity of the potential problem and fully assess the potential safety-related issues posed by these two types of incidents.

“Cruise’s safety record is publicly reported and includes having driven nearly 700,000 fully autonomous miles in an extremely complex urban environment with zero life-threatening injuries or fatalities,” Cruise spokesperson Hannah Lindow wrote in an emailed statement to TechCrunch. “This is against the backdrop of over 40,000 deaths each year on American roads. There’s always a balance between healthy regulatory scrutiny and the innovation we desperately need to save lives, which is why we’ll continue to fully cooperate with NHTSA or any regulator in achieving that shared goal.”

Lindlow noted that in each of these instances, the robotaxi was predicting and responding to the behavior of aggressive or erratic road actors, and was working to minimize collision severity and risk of harm.

NHTSA didn’t provide further insight into the cases of immobilized Cruise vehicles. However, Cruise told TechCrunch that the company designed its technology to err on the side of being conservative. Whenever the technology isn’t extremely confident in how to proceed, the vehicle will turn on hazard lights and come to a safe stop. If needed, Cruise personnel are physically dispatched to retrieve the vehicle as quickly as possible, the company said, adding this is rare and has not resulted in collisions.

The robotaxi may become immobilized because a door is left open, there’s an issue with vehicle hardware or software or there is an out-of-ordinary external event on the road like a spontaneous fireworks display in the street, according to the company. A spokesperson said the company communicates with the CPUC and the state’s Department of Motor Vehicles, the agency that regulates autonomous vehicles, around how, why and when it does this.

Cruise’s autonomous driving tech comes under scrutiny from safety regulators by Kirsten Korosec originally published on TechCrunch

Wow, that was quick.

When Elon Musk bought Twitter and took it private in October, I figured we’d have a while before things took a turn. Then, after he laid off about half the company’s employees, that estimate shortened a bit.

Now, after last night’s Spaces brouhaha, during which Musk confronted journalists he banned for retweeting links about the ElonJet tracker and then abruptly killed the feature entirely, that timeline has moved up considerably.

To be clear: Twitter isn’t going to die tomorrow or next week or even next year. But given how the last few days have gone on the platform, I’m not quite sure how long Twitter will remain a viable platform. It’s turning into the China of social media, full of censorship, arbitrary bans and groups of users/accounts that leap to Musk’s defense whenever they feel his narrative is being undermined.

Censorship, lockdowns, arbitrary bans — Twitter is turning into the China of social media by Tim De Chant originally published on TechCrunch

Despite shrinking investment into startups in 2022, venture capital funds of all sizes are still being raised. However, not many of these are led by solo general partners (GPs), and although that trend is on the rise, even fewer are led by women or people who don’t come from venture capital.

The above makes Nichole Wischoff something of an exception: Her solo venture capital firm Wischoff Ventures closed a second fund of $20 million, a sizable increase from her first $5 million fund. Her target is to invest in 25 to 30 U.S. startups at the pre-seed or seed stage.

Wischoff purposely capped her previous fund because she was still working full-time until March as a startup operator, she told TechCrunch. Now that she is solely dedicated to her fund, she plans to write larger checks of up to $1 million, up from a previous $300,000 cap.

This new fund will also be “leaning in heavily on B2B,” Wischoff said. “I tell people I invest in unsexy businesses!”

She’s particularly interested in companies that apply an AI/ML or embedded fintech component to large legacy industries. “However, I have a very big soft spot for industrial automation. Everything that makes up the majority of the GDP in the U.S., I am very interested in.”

Beyond fintech

Wischoff’s existing portfolio includes companies such as Coast Pay, Loop, Nuvo, Trustlayer and Vesta – a heavy fintech leaning owing to Wischoff’s background. However, the second is set to broaden this scope. “I know fintech well, but I don’t want to be pigeonholed into fintech,” she said.

Before becoming a solo GP, Wischooff was an early employee at lending platform Blend Labs, which went public in 2021, and part of the founding team at One Finance, a neobank acquired by Walmart earlier this year.

One’s acquisition resulted in a “huge financial outcome” for Wischoff, which led her first into angel investing while working at construction fintech Builtbefore launching her own fund with external LPs.

Backers of this new fund include Peter Thiel, Lee Fixel, Yahoo co-founder Jerry Chen, Bain Capital, Byers Capital, Cendana Capital, Crossover, Insight Partners and others.

Several of these angels and funds had also backed Wischoff’s first fund, but the profile of her limited partners (LPs) has evolved over time.

According to a summary of an analysis that Wischoff conducted, family offices now account for more than half of her second fund, compared to about a third of her first fund. For instance, her most recent fund is backed by Four More Capital, the family office of late American industrialist and philanthropist Henry Crown.

“I wish VCs were more open about their LP construction,” Wischoff said in an email. In the same transparency spirit, she added that it took her seven months to raise her second fund, compared to two months for the first one.

The first investment out of her second fund went to Stell, a engineering-focused startup founded by two women with a background in aerospace and defense, whose goal is to help hardware engineers and buyers “reduce defects and get parts faster.”

If Wischoff’s next investments are anything like Stell, her portfolio might be on track to support what she describes as “American dynamism … the real one”— a topic we plan to explore with her shortly in a separate interview.

Solo GP Nichole Wischoff raises $20M fund backed by Peter Thiel to invest in ‘unsexy businesses’ by Anna Heim originally published on TechCrunch

Amazon announced today that it signed a deal with Games Workshop (GAW), giving it IP rights to the “Warhammer 40,000” universe, a massively popular tabletop miniature wargame. This is the first deal of its kind for Amazon, the company claims.

“Warhammer 40,000” takes place in the distant future, where humanity is threatened by aliens and supernatural beings. Launched nearly 40 years ago, the game is continuously expanding and GAW has many miniature figures, tabletop games, video games, animations and books.

The agreement will allow Amazon to deliver films and TV series, among other content based on the IP. This is a notable move for the company as the “Warhammer 40,000” universe is epic in scale and has a massive worldwide fanbase.

“Warhammer 40,000 has captured the imagination of fans of all ages, from all walks of life, and all over the world,” said Jennifer Salke, head of Amazon and MGM Studios, in a statement.

“Man of Steel” and “The Witcher” actor Henry Cavill is set to star and executive produce the ‘Warhammer 40,000’ franchise. Knowing that Cavill will have a hand in the new ‘Warhammer 40,000’ content is likely comforting to some since he’s known to be a hardcore ‘Warhammer’ nerd.

In an Instagram post, Cavill wrote, “For 30 years, I have dreamt of seeing a Warhammer universe in live action. Now, after 22 years of experience in this industry, I finally feel that I have the skill set and experience to guide a Warhammer Cinematic Universe into life… Having a home like Amazon will give us the freedom to be true to the massive scope of Warhammer. To all of you Warhammer fans out there, I promise to respect this IP that we love. And I endeavor to bring you something fantastic that is, as of yet, unseen.”

Alongside Cavill, Vertigo Entertainment will also executive produce, along with Amazon Studios and GAW’s global head of marketing and media, Andy Smillie, and global IP and product design director, Max Bottrill.

It’s worth adding that it was recently confirmed Cavill wouldn’t be returning as Superman. Fans have been outraged all week, and nearly 4,000 people are signing numerous petitions that beg for his return. Cavill is also leaving Netflix’s “The Witcher” after three seasons, retiring his role of Geralt of Rivia and passing the torch to “The Hunger Games” actor Liam Hemsworth.

Amazon acquires film/TV rights to ‘Warhammer 40,000’ IP by Lauren Forristal originally published on TechCrunch

When a cat is scared, it may hide under the couch; a startled fish will swim into a dark hole. And when humans feel uneasy, we tell ourselves stories.

An example: “growth at all costs” is a fairy tale made possible by cheap money that helped venture capitalists set expectations for founders — and each other — for years.

Similarly, “everyone needs 18-24 months of runway” is a nice motto, but when it takes three times longer to raise a round than it used to, it may no longer be useful advice.

“These ‘VCisms’ borne out of an era of plenty have permeated boardrooms and investor meetings everywhere,” notes Neotribes Ventures partner Rebecca Mitchem in a TechCrunch+ post this morning.

Full TechCrunch+ articles are only available to members
Use discount code TCPLUSROUNDUP to save 20% off a one- or two-year subscription

“It’s time to ask ourselves if these VCisms are still relevant or if it’s time to change.”

In a data-driven piece that looks at post-money valuations, deal sizes and dilution rates going back to 2012, Mitchem says we’re now heading into a new era where the tech industry will embrace “growth at reasonable costs.”

Founders can continue to water down their ownership by pursuing fat rounds, or they can decide to grow more slowly, which will leave everyone involved with a larger stake over time.

“While it may feel counterintuitive, given the recent market environment, the value of the equity for all parties — investors, founders and employees — is higher in the more conservative growth scenario,” says Mitchem.

Thanks very much for reading TC+ this week,

Walter Thompson
Editorial Manager, TechCrunch+
@yourprotagonist

6 investors discuss why AI is more than just a buzzword in biotech

Biotech firms widely use AI and machine learning to reduce R&D spending and bring products to market faster, but “the bigger question for investors is getting a better understanding of what exactly AI is attempting to model and predict,” says Shaq Vayda, principal at Lux Capital.

In her latest investor survey, Anna Heim spoke to six biotech investors about where AI creates value, short-term market shifts, and how they’d like to be approached by founders:

Robert Mittendorff, M.D, general partner and head of healthcare, B Capital
James Coates, health and human performance principal, Decisive Point
Shaq Vayda, principal, Lux Capital
Franck Lescure, partner, Elaia Partners
Francisco Dopazo, general partner, Humboldt Fund
Sarah Guo, founder, Conviction

Which Instagram ad placement is more cost-effective: Reels, Feed Posts, or Stories?

Consumer-facing startups are spending more on platforms like TikTok and Instagram to reach customers, but which ad products offer the best return?

In a case study based on Instagram campaigns for a site that facilitates bookings for freelance beauty professionals, digital marketer Angelina Liparteliani looked at Instagram Reels, Feed Posts and Stories.

Her highly detailed breakdown includes examples of the ads used in various campaigns, the process she used for optimizing creative materials, and a cost-per-click analysis that shows how she reduced CPC from $1.51 to 17 cents.

“Definitely don’t chase trends,” advises Liparteliani. “Diversify your ad strategy, test different ideas and don’t give up if your ad doesn’t show results right away.”

Pitch Deck Teardown: MedCrypt’s $25M Series B deck

Many medical devices are just as vulnerable to cybersecurity threats as other IoT products, which is why Y Combinator graduate MedCrypt creates software to protect patients.

The company predicts that manufacturers will need to secure $1 trillion of “new and legacy” devices over the next three years, a truly tantalizing TAM.

After redacting some customer adoption details, MedCrypt’s founders shared with TC+ the 12-slide deck that helped it raise a $25 million Series B:

Cover slide
Problem slide
Target audience/market size slide
Opportunity slide
Mission slide
Product slide: Vulnerability tracking
Product slide: Behavior monitoring
Product slide: Cryptography
Product slide: MedISAO
Team slide
Summary/traction slide

Dear Sophie: When can I register my employee for the H-1B lottery?

Dear Sophie,

We’re a pre-seed startup thinking about sponsoring an early employee’s H-1B visa to stay in the U.S. and work for us.

How does the process work?

— Seeking in San Mateo

A guide to navigating your first 90 days as a new CISO

I’m used to working under pressure, but taking a job as a chief information security officer sounds extraordinarily stressful: people are far more likely to learn about your failures than your successes.

Managing the cybersecurity needs of an entire organization is “a big job that touches just about every part of the organization,” says Heather Gantt-Evans, CISO at SailPoint.

She’s written a guide for incoming CISOs that contains a framework for setting goals, creating action plans and, most importantly, documenting risk.

“The first 90 days of a new CISO’s term are critical,” writes Gantt-Evans. “They’re the best chance you’ll ever have to research, gather documentation, and assess where things stand and how they can be improved.”

In a turbulent market, it’s time to get methodical about sales

Many SaaS sales teams haven’t worked in an environment where so many customers are cutting back on spending, and it shows: When everyone’s in the mood to buy, it’s less important to develop a critical understanding of your customer’s needs.

“Sellers shouldn’t hop right into pushing features,” advises Steve Goldberg, chief revenue officer at Salesloft. “They should illustrate the unsustainable nature of a customer’s current behaviors and processes.”

In this post, Goldberg looks at MEDDPICC and design thinking, two sales methodologies that are “particularly effective when times get tough.”

TechCrunch+ roundup: New VC rules, AI biotech investor survey, Instagram ad case study by Walter Thompson originally published on TechCrunch

Although we’re in a period of economic uncertainty, I come bearing good news: All signs point to IT spending going up in 2023. By all rights, that should be outstanding tidings for startups. But it’s not all rosy, however, because in times of turbulence, startups really have to prove their worth.

Companies recognize that they must keep one eye on the future and that innovation tends to happen at new companies, not those supposedly trusty older ones. Sure, the tried and true may have solid balance sheets, but they also perhaps stagnated in the idea department sometime around 2012.

CIOs need to balance established players with startups as they set their IT budgets for next year. And startups building essential services in an innovative way should have fewer worries.

Execs clearly want to invest in your startup’s innovation, but they are wary, especially in times like this, of putting all their eggs in your startup basket. It’s understandable, so you have to show that you’re in it to win it.

We spoke to a number of CIOs, venture capitalists and analysts to get their perspective on what’s coming for enterprise startups in 2023.

With IT spending forecast to rise in 2023, what does it mean for startups? by Ron Miller originally published on TechCrunch

It seems like a lot of startups are born from an idea someone had while in college. But what if, instead of being honed years later at an accelerator, that initial idea was supported on campus while the dreamer was still enrolled?

For example, David Lin started food delivery service Duffl two years ago while an undergrad at the University of California Los Angeles. The company went on to be a part of Y Combinator and raised $13 million. Oculus co-founder Brendan Iribe was a University of Maryland student before dropping out to launch a startup. Some of the research on image-generating AI models came out of the University of Maryland as well, and the quantum chip technology behind EeroQ stemmed from Michigan State University research.

We’ve all heard success stories about schools like Harvard and Stanford churning out startup founders. While schools don’t often set out to be the next YC, they do seek ways to get some of the best research-based technology out of tech transfer offices and into the marketplace. That’s why schools, including the University of Maryland, Michigan State University, The Ohio State University and UCLA, are sinking resources into entrepreneurship programs and centers.

The original thought for many of these hubs may have been technology transfer — the process by which university-supported research is taken to market — but as entrepreneurship became a more viable career path and more people sought to work for a startup, many schools added tailored support for student founders and their community at large.

I spoke with representatives from those four universities about their entrepreneurial programs to learn how they have found success.

Michigan State University

Jeff Wesley, executive director of Red Cedar Ventures, the venture investment subsidiary of the Michigan State University Foundation, said its infrastructure — and its depth and breadth of team and services – is what makes MSU unique.

“Between the venture creation group and the statewide efforts with funding organizations like Michigan Rise, we have invested in 60 companies now at an early stage, some from the university and some from the Michigan network,” Wesley told TechCrunch. “It’s very active and focused on the early-stage, and we run two accelerator programs.”

It also taps into a lot of entrepreneurs-in-residence, who can bring both the knowledge of how to grow a company and the ability to leverage new ideas from faculty, staff and students and turn them into new companies.

In terms of investment, the foundation is one of the leading investors in the state — the state of Michigan gives Red Cedar a tranche of funds to invest — with its capital investment activity doubling in the past few years, Wesley said.

While there are similar programs across the country, Wesley said it was only recently that universities in the Big 10 came together to share ideas. In November, he traveled to Chicago for the inaugural Big 10 Venture Summit to learn from all of the other creation arms, including how states and college alumni are supporting these efforts.

“I couldn’t believe we had never done this before,” he said. “We shared notes and looked at best practices, and after all of that, decided to continue doing events like this where we could actually share opportunities and learn the approaches taken by different programs.”

As with everything startup-related, funding continues to be a challenge. “Even with success, early-stage investing is different,” Wesley said. Though many schools are tapping alums and seeking more support from university administration and different avenues within the state, “frankly, there is not enough funding to support efforts, especially with cancer therapeutics, which take a lot of capital,” he added.

Wesley is often asked by other universities how to get a similar program started and how to invest in companies. His biggest advice is to create infrastructure around the campus’ research arm and to focus on places where they could get initial funding, either from alumni or the state.

Collegiate entrepreneur hubs look to provide first support for would-be startups by Christine Hall originally published on TechCrunch

Global audit firm Mazars has deleted the website that hosted proofs-of-reserves work for cryptocurrency exchanges. The company told Bloomberg that it is suspending its work with crypto companies on proofs-of-reserves reports going forward.

Mazars appeared a few times in crypto news over the past few weeks because it started issuing those reports for cryptocurrency exchanges. The idea is that exchanges could reassure their users after the FTX downfall. Mazars also used Merkle trees so that users could check that their crypto assets are included in the report by entering a hash.

Clients of the audit firm include Crypto.com and Kucoin. But the most prominent client was Binance. Mazars certified last week that Binance held enough bitcoins and wrapped bitcoins to cover all users’ balances on the exchange as of November 22 at 23:59 UTC.

But when Binance and Mazars announced the proof-of-reserves report for the exchange’s bitcoin reserves, many people were quick to point out that this report only covered a small portion of Binance’s activities.

It could be seen as a step in the right direction, but it doesn’t mean much when it comes to Binance’s handling of all crypto assets across all its products. Similarly, it’s hard to see whether user assets are separated properly from Binance’s own balance sheet.

As long as Binance doesn’t share the full picture, it’s impossible to say with 100% certainty that Binance currently holds user accounts in segregated crypto wallets without any market exposure.

Mazars’ move doesn’t mean that the reports were wrong. It just means that the audit firm doesn’t think working with crypto firms for these reports is worth the risk. People have paid a lot of attention to these reports, which means that Mazars is putting its reputation on the line if one of those exchanges fail in one way or another.

Building trust requires a lot of effort and these auditing reports appeared a bit too quickly after the collapse of FTX. While they were a step in the right direction, proving that user assets are safe will require a more thorough approach.

Audit firm Mazars ceases proof-of-reserves work for Binance and others by Romain Dillet originally published on TechCrunch

Members of the general public will be able to take a Waymo robotaxi, with no human safety operator behind the wheel, between downtown Phoenix and Sky Harbor International Airport starting Friday. Waymo will also be doubling its service area in downtown Phoenix following an initial launch of driverless rides in the area to the public last month, the company said.

The developments come a month after Waymo first began offering its robotaxi service to the airport — or rather an airport shuttle stop at the 44th Street Sky Train station — for trusted testers, riders who have been vetted by the company and have signed non-disclosure agreements.

“This is the only service of its kind in the world carrying passengers from a busy airport, especially during the holiday season, all the way to a downtown fully autonomously,” said Saswat Panigrahi, chief product officer at Waymo, during a press briefing. “All people have to do is just download an app. No wait time. No NDA. 24/7 from the airport to the downtown.”

Waymo also said Friday it is now driving fully autonomously across all of San Francisco. In most of the city, anyone with the Waymo One app can hail a driverless ride for free. The core downtown area is restricted to Waymo employees and their guests for now.

The autonomous vehicle company recently received a permit from the California Department of Motor Vehicles to begin charging for driverless services, like delivery, but it still needs to secure a separate permit from the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) before it can ask robotaxi riders to cough up a fare. Waymo finally applied for that permit earlier this week so it can catch up to competitor Cruise, which has been charging for driverless robotaxi rides at night since June and recently began offering rides during the day, as well.

As 2022 comes to a close, the strategies of both Cruise and Waymo appear to be diverging slightly. Cruise has said it aims to launch in Austin and Phoenix by the end of this year, and scale to “hundreds of thousands” of its yet-to-be-launched purpose-built Cruise Origin AVs across major U.S. cities in the coming years. Waymo, while certainly not averse to scale, seems to be focused more on hitting new use cases in existing markets.

“Instead, what I would say we’re focused on is the markets were are in — which is now two serious ride-hailing markets,” he said. “As we’re launching the service, making the service more useful, getting more of the trip occasions…Now it’s more important to us that where we are in Phoenix and San Francisco, we’re serving more kinds of riders…which is why the airport occasion really matters in Phoenix.”

Aside from reaching airport customers — which is vital for the success of any ride-hailing business, autonomous or otherwise — Panigrahi said by simply expanding its surface area in existing cities, Waymo can hit new businesses and residences, and can also create more stickiness with existing customers who might have previously used another app to get to a desired location.

A Waymo spokesperson also noted to TechCrunch that this is why operating 24/7 has been an important marker for Waymo.

Of course, with a new airport service, there will be issues with demand and wait times, so expect Waymo to go through some growing pains. Panigrahi said Waymo has practiced moving supply to more in-demand locations and that the company has “hundreds of vehicles there to be working with.”

“I think the pool of hundreds of vehicles gives us enough flexibility to be able to dynamically increase the number of available fully autonomous vehicles at times of demand, and in other times, just make sure we’re getting value from test mileage and other kinds of experiments we’re running,” he said.

While Waymo won’t have to deal with ride-hail drivers who might cancel a fare because it’s going somewhere inconvenient, like the airport, the company will still have to make decisions as to where to send vehicles — which customers it makes wait and which it helps get to a location on time. Panigrahi said multiple factors will play into that decision, like which rider is closest, who Waymo expects it’ll be able to give better service to and how much the ride will cost.

Speaking of costs, Panigrahi said Waymo is experimenting with different pricing methods, but that he expects costs for a robotaxi to be comparable to “other ride-hailing options.”

Another risk factor with the new service is incidents on the road. Videos have surfaced of both Cruise and Waymo vehicles randomly stopping in the middle of the street and, in the case of the former, having strange interactions with law enforcement. If something like that happens when a rider is on their way to the airport, it could mean trouble for Waymo.

Panigrahi said he hopes those events will be rare, but when they do happen, it’s because the vehicle is prioritizing safety by not attempting an unfamiliar task. If a Waymo car stops, a “life support agent” will reach out to the rider in the car and carry them through the process. In the background, the vehicle will reach out to fleet response to ask for help interpreting a situation.

“I’m gonna be very clear, this is not somebody remotely driving the car,” said Panigrahi.

Whatever response is given might help the vehicle make a decision on how to proceed around whatever situation or obstacle arose. If not, then Waymo will deploy a team to manually disengage the car.

How long that could take is anybody’s guess. Waymo said response time depends on a variety of factors, but roadside assistance is typically within a few minutes reach if needed. The company didn’t specifically say how it might help a customer who’s trying to get to a flight on time and is stuck in a non-responsive AV.

“In the event a vehicle stops and cannot proceed, our rider assistance team will do all they can to get the rider to their destination on time,” a spokesperson told TechCrunch.

Waymo opens Phoenix airport rides to the public, doubles downtown service area by Rebecca Bellan originally published on TechCrunch

How hard is it to do things? Often it turns out to be pretty hard.

There’s an infamous Hacker News thread about Dropbox that crops up whenever there’s a conversation about how difficult it would be to build a replacement for a well-known service. The forum note, which you can read here, comes from back in 2007, when Dropbox was a “YC app” that had a very simple pitch: “Throw away your USB drive.”

The poster argues that what Dropbox built at the time was something potential users could replicate “quite trivially by getting an FTP account, mounting it locally with curlftpfs, and then using SVN or CVS on the mounted filesystem,” provided they are on Linux. The commenter helpfully included instructions for Windows and Mac as well.

This is my last Exchange for some time. Starting Monday, I am on leave for a few months.

Thankfully, my amazing colleague Anna Heim — who already co-writes with me weekly — will be at the helm.

Back soon! — Alex

Perhaps the comment was right at the time; Dropbox’s core user group when it was just a little YC company was likely tech-heavy. And some of them must have had the chops — and interest — to build a Dropbox clone on their local machine.

It was a small group in the end. Dropbox grew to become a massive company, went public, and in its most recent quarter (Q3 2022) posted $591.0 million worth of revenue. That’s nearly $200 million permonth.

The real argument that we might pick with the Hacker News scribbler is that building a single piece of software for one’s own use may be, at times, doable as an alternative to using a paid, hosted service. Hats off to folks who tinker, build, and write their own code; may you make really cool things that are beloved.

But for us who don’t get paid to noodle with code, we’re going to use services that abstract away the technical challenges, as well as all the complicated company-building work that comes with highly usable and portable digital systems.

On Dropbox, Slack pings and Twitter moderation by Alex Wilhelm originally published on TechCrunch