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Amazon is bringing a TikTok-like shopping experience to its app. The company today announced the launch of Inspire, a new short-form video and photo feed that allows consumers to explore products and ideas and shop from content created by influencers, brands, and other customers. The feature is designed to draw consumers’ attention away from apps like TikTok, where brands can directly market to consumers, in order to drive sales on Amazon.com instead.

The retailer said the shopping feautre will initially roll out to select customers in the U.S. in early Decmeber, and will become broadly available to U.S. customers in the months that follow.

The launch follows tests earlier this year when Amazon had been spotted experimenting with a TikTok-like shopping feed in its app, which then had its own navigation button at the bottom of the Amazon mobile app.In the version launching now, that high-level placement in the main navigation remains the same, however the Inspir feed will now be accessible with a tap of a light bulb icon instead of the diamond icon that was seen in tests.

To get started with Inspire, customers will open the Amazon Shopping app and tap Inspire’s icon. Upon first launch, they’re prompted to choose from over 20 interests, including things like makeup, skin care, pets, gaming, plants, hiking, interior design, travel, running, and more in order to personalize their Inspire feed.

While Inspire focuses on short-form video content, it also offers support for photos, making it something of a hybrid between TikTok and Instagram. Like Instagram, you can double-tap anywhere on the screen to “like” the content with a red heart. However, you scroll through the Inspire experience much like using TikTok’s vertical video feed, where you swipe up from the bottom to see the next video. Engagment buttons are also off to the right side of the screen, as on TikTok.

When you see something you like, you can tap on small buttons at the bottom of the window which link to the product on Amazon. Initially, a tap on these buttons will pop-up the product in an overlay window on top of the video, but a tap on “See all details” will take you to the item’s product page where you can read more, make a purchase, or add it to a list.

Over time, Amazon says the feed will better customize itself as Inspire learns more about the user’s interests by tracking their engagement and likes. Longer-term, the retailer plans to add more shoppable features to Inspire, as well as additional in-app functionality and content, to further improve the product.

“We invent every day to make shopping easy and fun,” noted Amazon Shopping director Oliver Messenger in a statement about the launch. “Inspire is our new shopping experience that connects Amazon customers with shoppable content created by other customers, the latest influencers, and a wide range of brands. In just a few taps, customers can discover new products or get inspiration on what to buy, all tailored to their interests, and then shop for those items on Amazon,” Messenger said.

The company has already lined up a handful of Amazon Influencers to post on Inspire, including Mae Badiyan, Practically Pursia, and others. The creators will be able to earn money from customers’ purchases via the Amazon Influencer Program.

“My audience wants engaging videos that introduce them to new products, which is why I’m excited to use Inspire to spotlight my favorite everyday essentials with the convenience of shopping those items immediately on Amazon,” noted Badiyan.

In addition, brands can post to Inspire, including vendors and sellers enrolled in Brand Registry with an active Brand Store, says Amazon.

Amazon has a long history of taking a popular format from social media in order to engage shoppers and inspire purchases. In previous years, it offered a Pinterest-like feature called Interesting Finds after first testing the idea in other variations, including as Amazon Collections in 2013, then Amazon Stream in 2015. In later years, it hosted an Instagram clone called Amazon Spark, but it finally wound down that program in 2019 after only a couple of years. Spark’s primary stakeholder, Amazon VP of Consumer EngagementChee Chew had also departed at the beginning of 2019.

Elsewhere on the site, Amazon has drawn inspiration from live-stream shopping with Amazon Live and even once tried a YouTube copycat where anyone could upload videos.

Unfortunately, most of Amazon’s takes on social media tended to be fairly bland, as the content only exists to push products. Meanwhile, people browse social sites for more than just ideas about things to buy. They want to engage with creators, learn new things, laugh, and be entertained. It’s not clear if Inspire will be able to deliver on these factors, despite the shift to video.

Amazon Inspire is currently only available in the Amazon mobile app on iOS and Android, initially to select customers.

Credit: Amazon

Amazon launches Inspire, a TikTok-like shopping feed that supports both photos and videos by Sarah Perez originally published on TechCrunch

Twitter is rumored to re-roll-out its flopped Twitter Blue subscription tomorrow, which will once again enable people to pay real cash money to get a blue check next to their name. Hopefully, this time, it won’t lead to mass impersonation and misinformation, but who can say? Yet already, some users are noting that when they click on an existing blue check (not of the $8 variety), they’re served with a pop-up that says, “This is a legacy verified account. It may or may not be notable.”

This is especially funny when it appears on accounts like The White House, or even Elon Musk’s Twitter itself. To be fair, is Elon Musk really notable? He didn’t even found Tesla.

This new messaging hasn’t rolled out to all users yet, which is normal when a feature is testing or not all the way populated — I don’t have it, while a colleague who is on Twitter’s beta TestFlight app does. Meanwhile, Christine broke the news to me that on her Android phone, she sees TechCrunch’s Twitter as being “notable in government, news, entertainment, or another designated category,” whereas my own account “may or may not be notable.”

Listen. I don’t take myself too seriously. As I write this, there are three Pokémon plushies on my desk (one of which can be worn as a hat), and I went to a tabletop roleplaying convention this weekend where I had serious conversations with strangers about how one of my hobbies is pretending to be a warlock. I am also a bit tired because I stayed up too late last night watching a YouTube documentary/investigation about the Disney Channel theme music (which is an excellent piece of journalism that I am jealous I did not produce and definitely made me think hard about the failures of legacy journalism compared to the work of independent creators). What I’m saying is, I know I am Just Some Guy. But somehow, being told that you “may or may not be notable” is worse than just being told that you are not notable. I’m in limbo. Which one is it!?

Then again, my Twitter blue check was always a bit of a fluke, so “may or may not be notable” really feels apt for where I’m at in my career. I only got verified in the first place because my friend worked at BuzzFeed and knew a guy (I was freelancing at the time and did not have those institutional perks). Now, that same friend temporarily deactivated her account only to try to log back in and find that it no longer exists, but that is a different story (…DM me if this has happened to you, too). The point is, the verification system has always been a bit of an arbitrary mystery, especially among journalists — I even know some freelancers who deliberately never applied for verification because they worried it would make people think they’re a bigger deal than they are and thus expose them to more harassment. Unfortunately, I am too ego-driven to have that kind of foresight. What can I say? I’m a Taurus.

I’m still skeptical that Musk’s new verification system will actually work, and won’t just implode into another mess of discourse that somehow draws attention to how the cost of insulin is actually a significant public health issue in the United States that we should really be paying more attention to. Some brands on Twitter have that sweet, grey official badge, and verified accounts can’t currently change their display names (which is why I am #RatVerified forever). But will those safeguards really protect us from the chaos that is sure to unfold?

At least in this state of Schrödinger’s relevance, I’m in good company. What do Donald Trump, Elon Musk and I have in common? We all may or may not be notable. We also all attended the same university, but that’s something I try not to think about too much.

Schrödinger’s blue check: according to Twitter, I may or may not be notable by Amanda Silberling originally published on TechCrunch

Just days ago, Airtable published a memo about how laid off workers can use Airtable to search for jobs. “It’s been an unwelcome theme of 2022—layoffs,” the post said. “Each season seems to usher in a new wave of cuts. Meanwhile corporations cite similar concerns of rising inflation, the looming threat of an economic downturn and the need for stability during turbulent times. For the souls who lost their jobs this year it’s another cruel uncertainty they’ll have to surmount.”

Now, Airtable’s employees are facing the same feeling. Last valued at $11 billion, the no-code leader has conducted a round of layoffs today that impact around 254 employees across business development, engineering and other teams. The company appears to have been hiring just as recently as two weeks ago, and it’s unclear if today’s cuts come alongside a hiring freeze.

Those impacted by Airtable’s layoffs today will get at least 16 weeks of severance pay, accelerated equity vesting, and for those on a visa, support from an immigration counsel, sources say. Employees were given the opportunity to meet 1:1 with a leader at the company, following the news. If Airtable’s previous headcount goal was hit, this round of layoffs could have impacted a quarter of staff, if not more.

In an e-mail obtained by TechCrunch, and first seen by tracker Layoffs.fyi, Airtable founder and CEO Howie Liu said that the company will be evolving from a bottoms-up adopted product to a company that brings connected apps to larger enterprises.

“We’ve rapidly expanded and executed on multiple fronts. At the time, I believed we could successfully pursue all of them in parallel,” Liu wrote in the email. “However, in taking a hard look at our efforts in the current market environment, we’ve identified the teams best positioned to capture the opportunity in enterprise in order to bring complete focus, alignment and accountability in our execution.”

The vision was part of the reason that TechCrunch spoke to Liu in October, as Airtable announced its more integrated, connected-apps approach. Then, the entrepreneur pointed to its $735 million Series F round from 2021 as a fortunate reason that Airtable has been able to stay well-capitalized amid the downturn.

“We have more than enough runway to get to profitability and then some,” Liu then said in an interview with TechCrunch, “We’re a private company so we’re not under the gun to show short-term results of profitability – so we’re very, very fortunate to not be under so much pressure and we would never gloat about that, but I do think it gives us a unique position [to hire talent].”

In today’s internal memo, Liu re-emphasized that Airtable is well capitalized, but slightly shifted in tone by adding that “being a lean organization becomes doubly important in times of economic uncertainty.”

This entire year was full of tech layoffs, but the final quarter has been especially massive as macroeconomic pressure reaches late-stage private companies. Yesterday, Plaid announced that it would officially cut 20% of staff, around a month after one of the most valuable fintechs, Stripe, cut 14% of its workforce. Elon Musk cut around 50% of Twitter’s workforce after he bought the social media platform, one of the largest layoffs percentage-wise that happened since the beginning of the pandemic.

Like others, Airtable is assuming a leaner, more focused business strategy to head into the new year.

The company has been reached for comment and this story will be updated if a response is given.

Airtable, last valued at $11 billion for its no-code software, lays off over 250 by Natasha Mascarenhas originally published on TechCrunch

The next generation of women venture capitalists are rising through the leadership ranks — though there are some caveats to consider.

A new survey looking at compensation for women in the venture industry this year found a higher concentration of women in lower-level firm positions than last year, representing around 43% of directors and principals but only 18% of general partners. Smaller funds tend to be more gender-diverse: Venture groups with less than $100 million in assets under management are more likely than larger firms to have a strong representation of women in high-ranking positions.

The share of women represented in director and principal positions significantly increased in the past two years — from 27% in 2020 to 32% in 2021 to 43% currently. At the same time, the share of women in higher-level positions, such as managing general partner or senior managing director, stands below 25% and has for the past two years.

This indicates that either there is a broken rung hindering the professional mobility of women in the venture workplace and/or that the representation of women at these senior levels is set to increase as more women are hired, mentored and given the opportunity to rise within these firms. Jody Thelander, the founder of the consulting firm that provided analysis for the survey, hopes that this data signals an upcoming change in the industry.

“Right now, we’re seeing greater transparency into compensation, career paths, and succession planning than ever before. And there’s a stronger mandate for D&I, both from the managing directors and their limited partners,” Thelander told TechCrunch. “As a result, more and more women are looking at venture as a serious career path, and that’s why we are seeing them start to show up more in these junior ranks.”

Plus, the report noted, smaller firms having a strong representation of women in high-level positions likely means that more women are branching out to launch their own firms. The share of women who are managing general partners at firms with less than $100 million AUM is 31%, compared to 14% at firms with $500 million or more AUM. Regardless of where a woman goes, however, the issue of fair and equitable pay is always a topic of discussion.

Women are rising through the ranks at VC firms, new survey shows by Dominic-Madori Davis originally published on TechCrunch

Komi, a personalized website page builder tool for influencers and celebrities to create and customize a landing page to promote their projects, today closed a $5 million seed round led by Contour Venture Partners.

Launched in October 2021, Komi is designed to provide content creators, musicians, athletes, celebrities and other creative talent and personalities alike to have a central hub or “home on the internet” where they can customize a landing page that promotes their latest podcast episode, YouTube video, music album, merch drops, tour dates, meet-and-greet opportunities, social media accounts and so on.

“Komi was built to empower creators. Millions of individuals across the world generate revenue from their online profiles, but many lack the digital toolset they need. Komi is working closely with the world’s top creators and their teams to build the ‘all-in-one’ product suite needed to build a deeper, direct and more rewarding relationship with their audience,” said Lewis Crosbie, co-founder and CEO of Komi, in a statement.

The startup has also partnered with major platforms such as TikTok, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, Snapchat, Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, SoundCloud, Twitch and Shopify, allowing users to integrate all their content and products.

In addition, Komi includes backend tools that allow users to gather data, such as total views, earnings, clicks, and average clickthrough rate (CTR).

Komi is currently invite-only yet has plans to open to the public in early 2023. The platform is subscription-based and costs $10 per month. For comparison, website builders Wix and Squarespace charge as low as $16 per month.

While the London-based startup declined to share its total user base, Komi told TechCrunch it expects further global growth in the coming months. Fans engaging with Komi pages has grown 40% month-over-month since launch and user engagement has more than doubled over the same period, the company added.

Several big names use the product, including Lizzo, Elton John, Idris Elba, Matthew McConaughey, Eva Longoria, as well as social media personalities like Zoe Sugg.

Crosbie told TechCrunch that both larger and smaller influencers are encouraged to use Komi. “The whole idea [of Komi] is that you can be a smaller-time influencer, like my friend Conrad. He can do this himself– he doesn’t need a music label or manager to do this. [Komi] is self-serve,” Crosbie said. (For context, Conrad is a lesser-known British singer with 1.07K subscribers on YouTube, nearly 8K followers on Instagram and over 100,000 listeners on Spotify.)

And unlike Wix and Squarespace, which are targeted towards businesses, Komi is purpose-built for creators, so it’s more straightforward to use, Crosbie claims. “Squarespace or Wix provide templates for companies, and creators often get treated like [small and medium-sized businesses], but they’re not. They’re more like consumers. So it needs to be as easy as it would be for you and I,” he added.

As the creator economy grows, with approximately over 300 million creators globally, Komi’s landing page tool could potentially help many, regardless of skill set, from managers with high-profile clients to one-man-band creators.

Music labels Red Light Music Management and Get Engaged Media also participated in the round, as well as noteworthy angel investors like World Cup winner and soccer player Mario Gotze, former Victoria Secret Angel and model Taylor Hill, Ben Lovett from Mumford & Sons and Sven Ahrens, Director, Global Growth at Spotify.

The funding will help Komi improve its platform and eventually roll out more fan engagement and monetization tools, the company told TechCrunch, but declined to provide specific details.

Komi, a landing page tool for content creators, raises $5M seed round by Lauren Forristal originally published on TechCrunch

The IPO window is all but closed right now, but a few things appear still to be getting through the cracks and there are big sums attached to that. Today, Banzai — an engagement marketing startup that provides tools to source and connect with potential sales leads, and tools to build and run online video events — announced that it is going public today, by way of a Spac. Alongside that, Banzai would be acquiring Hyros, a startup that specializes in advertising and marketing attribution.

Banzai is paying $110 million on acquire Hyros, and the combined, listed company said it would have an enterprise value of $380 million — from an equity value of $580 million, minus $207 million in cash and $7 million in debt post-deal. It is also picking up $100 million to fuel future activities. The combined company, called Banzai International, will trade on Nasdaq (specifically its Capital Market tier).

The Spac leading the deal is called 7GC & Co Holdings– a partnership between the 7GC technology growth fund and Hennessy Capital and led by Jack Leeney — which it describes itself as a $230 million special purpose acquisition company that trades under VII.

The pair of deals — listing and Hyros acquisition — underscore not just the ongoing consolidation in the market, but the opportunity that some startups and investors are seeing to take an active role in that process.

“Yes, we’re raising some cash, but we’re also putting ourselves in the best position for M&A,” Banzai CEO Joe Davy told TechCrunch in an email-based interview. “We expect there will be a lot of consolidation in the next 48 months in martech, and that’s a big opportunity for us. When it starts raining gold, you want a wheelbarrow, not a thimble, and we’re looking to set ourselves up with a wheelbarrow.”

Marketing tech and the specific area that Banzai works in has seen a lot of activity in the last couple of years.

Leading into Covid-19, there was already a big opportunity for tech to help sales and marketing teams better leverage the internet and big data to do their jobs better. That really took off during the pandemic, when in-person meetings became impossible and leaning on tech platforms and connecting digitally was basically the only way to go. That gave a huge boost to companies like Hopin too, to create and better manage video meetings, and Banzai also jumped on that bandwagon, acquiring a startup called Demio to bring video meetings and webinars onto its platform.

Some of that exuberance has not been sustained, though. Just as e-commerce has dipped from its dizzying pandemic heights, so too have a lot of the biggest expectations for all of those virtual collaboration and productivity tools. Perhaps one of the biggest examples of that has been Hopin itself, which has seen layoffs, a product pivot, and other examples of decline after being valued at nearly $8 billion at its peak.

Banzai is a significantly smaller company, one that makes it clear it’s focused on marketing more than vide and overall taking a slightly different route.

The company today has around 7,000 customers and prior to this had raised around $120 million per PitchBook data, with investors including Tribe Capital, Growth Technology Partners and Gaingels, among others. That sum includes $100 million arranged earlier in the year from a firm called Global Emerging Markets, in line with this public listing from is also being confirmed today. Notably, Banzai notes that it operates with a gross profit of $16.9 million for the 12 months that ended September 30, 2022, with an annual growth rate of 85% in that period and ARR of $22.1 million. However, Banzai is still not overall profitable, posting a net loss of $8.5 million in the same period.

Banzai’s CEO Joe Davy notes that video is just part of what it offers, and the idea here is to build out a bigger suite of tools for marketing and sales.

“We see ourselves as a sales and marketing platform first, and video platform second,” Davy said. “So, we’re more focused on what are the real day-to-day needs of marketers and sales teams and how can we put those things together in a single package that’s really simple and accessible for our customers.”

He added that just as companies like HubSpot and Marketo made a name by carving out marketing features anchored to email, it’s doing the same for video. Most video products used by sales and marketing teams, he added, were generic and not built for their needs specifically. “We’re building out the marketing features around video, adding data, automation, audience generation, and other things that [sales and marketing teams] need to be successful.”

Raising money as a public company puts Banzai on to a different scale compared to how much it might likely have raised from private investors, especially at the moment. That’s something that likely pushed the company towards the IPO route, too.

“The days of easy money with zero accountability in VC are behind us at least for the foreseeable future. And this is overall a really good thing,” said Davy. “Doing this merger with VII solves several things in one fell swoop. It adds some cash to our balance sheet, gives us a public currency, and allows us to acquire Hyros – which we believe will all be great for our customers and our business long term.”

Banzai, a marketing tech startup, acquires Hyros for $110M, raises $100M and goes public via a $580M Spac by Ingrid Lunden originally published on TechCrunch

It seems that maybe Salesforce co-founder and CEO Marc Benioff was protesting a bit too much when he gave what seemed like a genuinely heartfelt goodbye to his protégé, Bret Taylor, last week, insisting to anyone who would listen that he was heartbroken to lose his friend and mentee.

That might not be the whole story. The Wall Street Journal reported yesterday that there was tension between the two executives over Taylor’s role as co-CEO and his other job as Twitter board chair, a role he held until the end of October, when Elon Musk took over as owner and dissolved the board.

Certainly, the oddest part of the report was that people told the WSJ that Benioff was upset that Taylor wasn’t spending enough time on engineering and too much time with other CEOs and customers, a role that you would think Benioff would want his co-CEO to take on.

This was precisely the kind of thing that former co-CEO Keith Block brought to the job before he left the company in 2020. One would think that if the reason for Taylor’s departure was frustration at being unable to build something, engineering would be where he’d be spending the majority of his time.

The report went on to suggest that people were confused about which co-CEO to report to, which throws into focus the whole idea of the co-CEO role. As former Salesforce executive and current founder and CEO of Skyflow, Anshu Sharma, told TechCrunch earlier this week, it’s not really a role at all.

“What the fuck is a co-CEO and why do you need one? Well, I mean, you have a CEO and four other CXOs. What does a co-CEO wake up in the morning and do that’s not already being done by a CEO?” he asked.

It’s a fair question, and if the WSJ report is accurate, it seems that people inside Salesforce, including Benioff himself, had trouble figuring it out.

It also begs the question of whether those were just crocodile tears from Benioff at the announcement last week. It sure sounds like Taylor’s decision to leave wasn’t just because he had a hankering to return to building, as we had been led to believe.

We sought comment from Salesforce, but the company did not respond to our request by the time of publication. Should that change, we will update the post.

Report indicates friction prior to Bret Taylor’s resignation from Salesforce by Ron Miller originally published on TechCrunch

As uncertainty pervades the economy, maintaining profitability ratios and increasing revenue has never been more important.

This decade is showing signs of becoming one of the most challenging landscapes to grow a business as pressure swells on sales teams to operate as the lifeblood of organizations. Often the tech industry’s unsung heroes, B2B sales teams and the revenue they drive are even more important in times of economic instability.

Yet, projects and vendors are under even tighter scrutiny, with proof-of-concepts installments most likely to get the axe. So how do sales teams make convincing cases on why their product or service is deserving of today’s trimmed enterprise IT budgets?

To adapt, we’re seeing sales professionals become more mindful of budgets and their relationship with customers than the quick sell. Sales reps are more knowledgeable about their solution than ever before and more productive. It’s a lot of change and it’s happening fast, but that does not mean sales teams should shy away from the basics.

Selling with a purpose

Most companies are trying to stretch their dollars further. At the same time, they’re facing a relatively tight labor market and high employee turnover. Sales reps need to respond to this reality by putting value front and center. That means highlighting how their products and services will help companies reduce costs and increase productivity.

For example, reps can point out how their technology increases the capacity of existing teams in a hybrid environment without adding new expenses. Or, they can highlight the fact that more tech is not always better tech and even point to their own use case as a more personal example. In fact, most sales leaders are saying that too many virtual selling tools have negatively impacted their own teams.

By focusing on return on investment, sales reps can help customers seize this opportunity to whittle down their tech stack to the tools that are essential to the business.

There’s also a new trend where customers put deals on hold at the last minute or request that additional team members weigh in. To avoid this roadblock, sales professionals are bringing all stakeholders to the table from the beginning of the cycle. This is where the basics come back to create a map of all individuals at an organization who need to sign off on a deal and make sure the value of their product is apparent to every person on that grid. Planning ahead reduces the risk of frustrating delays near the finish line.

In uncertain times, B2B sales teams must put value front and center by Ram Iyer originally published on TechCrunch

Starbucks today is launching its blockchain-based loyalty program and NFT community, Starbucks Odyssey, to its first group of U.S. beta testers. The new initiative, which includes coffee-themed NFTs that translate to real-world experiences, is an extension of Starbucks’ existing loyalty program, Starbucks Rewards, but leverages web3 technology like the polygon blockchain and NFTs.

Announced to investors earlier this year, the coffee chain giant said it envisioned Starbucks Odyssey as a way for its most loyal customers to earn a broader, more diverse set of rewards beyond the perks they can earn today, like free drinks. Instead, Odyssey introduces a new platform where customers can engage with interactive activities called “Journeys” that, when complete, allow members to earn collectible Journey Stamps — which is Starbucks’ less geeky name for NFTs.

The Journeys are designed to promote the Starbucks brand and teach customers about coffee and the company’s history. They could include any number of activities, like watching videos or taking quizzes, playing puzzles, or even going to the store to try out new drinks the company wants to promote. The latter example is part of what makes Starbucks Odyssey more interesting than some other corporate NFT initiatives, as it’s actually connected to the company’s existing loyalty program, business goals, and mobile payment technologies, rather than functioning as quickly tacked on addition.

In the case of Journeys tied to in-store purchases, Odyssey members would scan their existing Starbucks Rewards card when purchasing the required drink or menu item, and that activity would then be shared back with Odyssey, earning the member points.

At around 500 points, members will earn Stamps — that is, a coffee-themed NFT hosted on the Polygon blockchain. These Stamps also unlock special experiences. There will be three levels of benefits and experiences that can be unlocked. At the lower end, these could be online experiences, like a virtual class that teaches you how to make espresso martinis, or provides access to unique artist merchandise. As you earn more points and NFTs, you may then begin to gain access to real-world experiences, like special events hosted at Starbucks Reserve Roasteries or even a trip to the Starbucks Hacienda Alsacia coffee farm in Costa Rica.

The points accumulate over the course of the year, instead of being redeemed for rewards (like Stars are). At year-end, the points reset and you’d start over. But you’ll still retain your NFTs, which will later be integrated with the Starbucks app, allowing customers to customize their Starbucks Card or perhaps be printed on other merchandise.

As the Odyssey program launches into beta, the first Journey Stamps will include those designed with inspiration from Starbucks’ history, like its first location in Pike Place Market in Seattle; others will feature classic designs and this year’s “Gift-Wrapped Magic” holiday cup art.

The company declined to confirm how many customers have signed up on the waitlist but said the demand had “far exceeded” its expectations. It will now begin to let a portion of those waitlisted users in to test Odyssey and offer feedback on the initial experience, which it will use to adapt the program further. Users will be emailed if they’re being invited into the beta, then have 3 days to join. If they don’t, they’ll return to the waitlist for a future invite.

To enter Starbucks Odyssey after getting an invite, members will need to have an existing Starbucks Rewards account as this program is tied to the company’s larger loyalty initiative. (There are not separate accounts just for Odyssey.)

As members participate in Odyssey, they’ll earn NFTs, which have a point value based on their rarity. That means, in addition to being tied to real-world experiences, the NFTs will be able to be bought or sold on Odyssey’s marketplace, launching in 2023. This part is powered by Nifty Gateway, with NFT ownership secured on the blockchain.

Starbucks is also simplifying the process of purchasing NFTs, as it won’t require that members have a crypto wallet, own cryptocurrency, or have any understanding of the underlying web3 technologies. Beyond dropping the word “NFT” from Odyssey’s lingo, members can buy the “Stamps” with a credit card, as they would any other online purchase.

“It happens to be built on blockchain and web3 technologies, but the customer — to be honest — may very well not even know that what they’re doing is interacting with blockchain technology. It’s just the enabler,” Starbucks CMO Brady Brewer told TechCrunch in an interview back in September.

For the coffee chain, the program allows the company to engage its most loyal customers and build community, but also provides a potential revenue stream. Starting next year, it will release Limited Edition Stamps which members can purchase to support various causes. The artwork on these NFTs is being co-created by Starbucks and outside artists while “a portion” of the sales will support causes chosen by Starbucks employees and customers. (The company wouldn’t yet say how much of the remaining revenue it would keep). These Stamps will be released 4-6 times per year.

While many corporate forays into the NFT market are gimmicky and ill-thought-out, Starbucks has been more cautiously weighing its approach to web3. The company said it had been investigating blockchain technologies for a couple of years, but it has only been involved in this particular project for around six months. Brewer earlier said the company didn’t want to treat its investment as a “stunt” side project, but rather wanted to use the tech to expand its existing loyalty program.

Starbucks also brought in Adam Brotman, the architect of its Mobile Order & Pay system and the Starbucks app, to help serve as a special advisor on Odyssey. Now the co-founder of Forum3, a web3 loyalty startup, Brotman’s team worked alongside the Seattle coffee chain’s own marketing, loyalty and technology teams, the company said.

In a demo of Odyssey, the program looked simple to use. You sign in, pick an avatar, and go through an onboarding experience that teaches you about Journeys and Stamps, then get started. The company says there will always be at least 2 Journeys available at any time.

The first invitations are being sent to a small group of waitlist members today, Dec. 8. In January 2023, Starbucks will begin to send out monthly invitations to a wider group of waitlist members.

Starbucks opens up its web3 loyalty program and NFT community to first beta testers by Sarah Perez originally published on TechCrunch

What do media layoffs and tech worries have in common? Fear about what’s ahead in coming quarters, especially as it relates to advertising revenues.

The advertising business is huge and lucrative. So lucrative, in fact, that for major tech shops, some level of advertising-derived income is unavoidable once they reach a certain scale. Amazon is famed for its mega-scale advertising business (the other side of that coin is here); Apple’s App Store is an ad goliath; Microsoft’s Bing search engine generates material advertising incomes, and the company has even greater ad-focused aspirations; and Meta and Alphabet are advertising-centric businesses by nature.

The Exchange explores startups, markets and money.

Read it every morning on TechCrunch+ or get The Exchange newsletter every Saturday.

Due to major tech companies’ reliance on generating advertising-based revenues, we track the ad market more than we once did. We kinda cannotnot, if that makes sense.

Back to media: It’s a bloodbath out there today, with layoffs arriving in droves and some publications straight-up dying. Underlying the cuts, at least per official corporate talking points, is anxiety stemming from an uncertain economic future.

Just how bad is the Q1 ad market going to be? by Alex Wilhelm originally published on TechCrunch