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Oh heeeey! How are you today? We’ve had quite a busy day on the site today, with a veritable cornucopia of news spreading all over the internet. We have selected some of the most interesting slices for you below. Enjoy it (as long as you can enjoy another day of discount news and whispered advice to try and panic as little as possible). — Christina and haje
TechCrunch’s top 3
- WhatsUp on WhatsApp: The messaging giant has been preparing this moment for us since August, and it’s finally here: the communities! The new group chat allows more people to be included and offers voice and video calls for up to 32 people, plus emojis galore, polls and large file sharing, Sarah reports.
- Maybe you want to switch to polka dots: Stripe cuts 14% of its workforce, and Paul writes that its CEO points out that “overhiring for the world we find ourselves in” caused the reduction. Sadly, it’s kind of a layoff day, so head over to Big Tech Inc. if you can read more.
- Where in the world is Ajit Mohan?: Well, the former head of Meta India is now over there at Snap and will serve as president of the company’s APAC business, pot holder and Jagmeet write.
Startups and VCs
“Most designers don’t have real manufacturing experience, and they design things that aren’t usable from the factory,” Xianfeng Wang, founder and CEO of Pacdora, told TechCrunch. To bridge the gap between designers and manufacturers. Wang’s team developed Pacdora, which is like Canva plus Figma for packaging, Rita reports. The platform offers thousands of packaging designs for all kinds of products, from shipping boxes and coffee bags to lotion bottles and yogurt pouches.
“I was always looking for that software that could help us do that internally,” Juan Meisel said. Christina. He is building a logistics solution with his new startup, Grip. “I started to advise certain companies in parallel. They received their ButcherBox in the mail and were trying to ship anything from frozen milk and chocolate to flowers and pharmaceuticals.
Alright, alright, have another handful of startup articles:
Proptech in Review: 3 Investors Explain How Finance-Focused Proptech Startups Can Survive the Recession
Picture credits: Kuzma (Opens in a new window) /Getty Pictures
How are finance-focused real estate tech investors reacting to the current downturn in public markets?
Senior Journalist Mary Ann Azevedo interviewed three VCs to learn more about how they advise companies in their portfolios, what types of startups are best positioned to weather the recession, and how they manage risk:
- Pete Flint, General Partner, NFX
- Zach Aarons, Co-Founder and General Partner, MetaProp
- Nima Wedlake, Director, Thomvest Ventures
Three others from the TC+ team:
Tech Crunch+ is our membership program that helps founders and startup teams get a head start. You can register here. Use code “DC” to get 15% off an annual subscription!
Big Tech inc.
Come on up, guys! We know you don’t like carrying around a paper grocery list – heck, we know scrolling on that tiny phone screen is a nuisance too. Well, Amazon and Mojo Vision have a treat for you, or rather your eyeballs. Today they introduced a proof-of-concept feature that brian said is “the first major consumer third-party application on a smart contact lens”. That’s right, an Alexa Shopping List integration for a contact lens with a computer interface.
Layoffs, layoffs as far as the eye can see today. Although we’ve already shared the Stripe news with you, and as you probably heard last week, Elon Musk is also downsizing on Twitter. Natasha L reports that he now plans to cut Twitter’s workforce in half. Meanwhile, Kirsten writes that Lyft is laying off 13% of its workforce in an effort to cut operating expenses.
And we have five more for you:
Tech
