Extra Crunch Friday: Leading VCs discuss how COVID-19 is impacting real estate & proptech

Extra Crunch Newsletter

Friday, March 27, 2020 • By Walter Thompson

Welcome to Extra Crunch Friday I’m not smart enough to envision all of the potential effects the pandemic will have on society, but a narrow focus on a single issue helps me wrap my brain around some of the implications. With that in mind, our latest VC survey gathered responses from six investors in proptech and real estate to learn more about the long- and short-term impacts COVID-19 is having on these sectors. “Once the immediate adjustments are made, there will be winners and losers,” said Andrew Ackerman with Dreamit Ventures. Businesses will always require office space, “but the WeWorks of the world are in for tough times as struggling startups and small businesses look for cheaper (or free) options.” To get a sense of these opportunities and hazards, we reached out to: Christopher Yip, RET Ventures Nima Wedlake, Thomvest Ventures Stonly Baptiste, Urban Us Merritt Hummer, Bain Capital Ventures Micah Kotch, Urban-X Andrew Ackerman, Dreamit Ventures According to Baptiste, “real estate and proptech, in many ways, will never be the same, especially for startups.” Thanks very much for reading Extra Crunch. Have a good weekend, and stay safe.   Walter Thompson Senior Editor, TechCrunch @yourprotagonist Read more

Lime's valuation, variable costs and diverging categories of on-demand companies Image Credits: (Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images) / Getty Images Ride-hailing companies like Uber and Lyft have seen their share prices rebound from 52-week lows, but personal mobility company Lime is reportedly cutting its valuation so it can raise emergency funds. At best, “scooters appear headed for a pothole,” writes Alex Wilhelm. Read more

Download Eliot Peper's "Version 1.0" on Kindle: free offer expires on Sunday, March 29 Sponsored by TechCrunch Read the first book in a trilogy VC Brad Feld describes as "a gripping roller-coaster ride through the world of tech entrepreneurship." Read more

TechCrunch's favorite companies from 500 Startups' latest demo day Image Credits: The unveiling of the Masked Singer may attract more viewers, but 500 Startups’ Demo Day has its own drama, surprises and crowd-pleasing moments. Alex Wilhelm, Natasha Mascarenhas, Jonathan Schieber and Greg Kumparak spill the tea on their favorite startups in 500’s current cohort. Read more

Longtime LP Chris Douvos shares how COVID-19 could shake up venture industry “I think the venture industry as a whole is going to get, you know, kind of resized over the coming years,” says Chris Douvos, managing partner at boutique fund manager Ahoy Capital. Because he has nearly 20 years of experience, Connie Loizos reached out to get his thoughts about what a pullback in funding from big institutions might mean. Read more

The future of collectibles is digital Image Credits: Joern Bielewski / "Vincent" A baseball trading card printed more than a century ago once sold for $3.12 million, but now that we’re living in a digital age, the market for collectible goods is shifting to virtual spaces. Given that the global collectibles market is $370 billion, the new medium of digital collectibles is making inroads with consumers — and speculators who are driving up prices. Read more

Public optimism doesn't convert to checks, founders report Image Credits: gonin / Getty Images Instead of using VC Twitter as a barometer to measure optimism in the venture community, Senior Editor and daily columnist Alex Wilhelm collected anonymous stories from founders who are fundraising during the pandemic. His findings? “Deals were kaput and few (if any) investors are writing checks,” and “while the investing market had slowed, it was still moving some, if only a little.” Read more

Leading VCs discuss how COVID-19 is impacting real estate & proptech Image Credits: Talaj / Getty Images We interviewed more than 20 top real estate VCs last fall to find out which trends and topics excited them. Since then, COVID-19 has flipped the sector on its head, so we reached out again to six of them to gather their thoughts on the current landscape. Read more

Inside Udaan's push to digitize India's B2B retail market Image Credits: Getty Images About four years ago, B2B platform Udaan was using free cloud credits from Microsoft India to spin up its business. Today, the company is valued at about $2.7B after raising nearly $900M from investors like Lightspeed and Tencent and is one of Microsoft India's biggest clients. Read more

What we've learned from building 40,000+ links for clients Image Credits: Tom+Hall/EyeEm / Getty Images If you want to build quality links, start with quality content. Give people strong reasons to link back to your site: develop content using credible methodologies, channel emotion, and master the art of tangential content. Read more

Declining ad rates may signal a reset for startup SEM strategies Image Credits: Bill Oxford / Getty Images Advertising is the first line item companies look at when it’s time to cut costs in uncertain times. Managing Editor Danny Crichton studied search engine results for more than 100 U.S.-based tech unicorns to see how many are dialing back their Google Ad spending and found that “keywords have fallen off a cliff.” Read more

Monday.com surpassed $130M ARR before the remote-work boom Eran Zinman (co-founder and CTO) and Roy Mann (CEO) of project-management company Monday.com swung by TechCrunch HQ to chat with the Equity podcast crew about their business and growth. Put on your headphones and listen to their conversation in full or read an excerpt of the interview on Extra Crunch. Read more

Slack's slowing growth turns around as remote work booms Image Credits: Drew Angerer / Getty Images Many companies that enable remote work are seeing a boom, but “these are truly historic times for the enterprise darling” known as Slack, writes Alex Wilhelm. Read more

Canceled conferences will force startups to focus on scalable lead-generation Image Credits: SOPA Images / Getty Images More than 35 million people have had to cancel or change their plans to attend an event in recent months. Many of these were founders who were expecting to attend conferences where they’d share a handshake that would change their lives forever. But no one’s shaking hands these days. Founders should use this pause to re-assess processes and strategies; what’s the actual ROI on attending a conference, and what’s the opportunity cost? Read more

Smart telescope startups vie to fix astronomy's satellite challenge Image Credits: MARK GARLICK/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY / Getty Images As more private companies put satellites in low-earth orbits, astronomers and casual skywatchers have noticed that these man-made objects interfere with what were unobstructed celestial views. There’s no international regulations or industry consensus on how to address what many consider to be light pollution, but some startups are developing “smart telescopes.” Can this new technology keep pace with plans to blanket the skies with internet-beaming satellites? Read more

Read more stories on TechCrunch.com

View this email online in your browser Privacy Policy | Terms of Service | Unsubscribe © 2020 Verizon Media. All rights reserved. 110 5th St, San Francisco, CA 94103

45 doctors with coronavirus are dead in Italy, Amid a critical shortage, pandemic ventilator inventor makes..

View in browser Switch to weekly Unsubscribe
Try Feedspot for Business   Start Your 7 Day Free Trial
Are you a Marketer or Business owner? Try Feedspot Marketing Solutions.New
Hi ateebhassan000.ravian, This daily digest contains latest stories from the sites you've added on Feedspot. Customize
Reddit - World News • 113 Stories − Remove
	45 doctors with coronavirus are dead in Italy submitted by /u/Nothing_But_Despair [visit reddit] [comments] − /u/Nothing_But_Despair • 3 mins ago ★ Save
Amid a critical shortage, pandemic ventilator inventor makes his design open source • 3 mins ago ★ Save
Private clinics in the UK are reselling COVID-19 test kits at £125 despite only cost... • 3 mins ago ★ Save
Scientists find bug that feasts on toxic plastic: A bacterium that feeds on toxic pla... • 3 mins ago ★ Save
16-year-old girl becomes France's youngest coronavirus victim • 3 mins ago ★ Save
Stingo & Kush − Promoted Stingo Da Dingo & Kush Da Koala are Australian born and breed stoners who love a good billy, an easy..
Google News - World • 991 Stories − Remove
	De Blasio: Trump is 'not looking at the facts' of coronavirus crisis - POLITICO De Blasio: Trump is 'not looking at the facts' of coronavirus crisis  POLITICO Why New York is the epicenter of the American coronavirus outbreak  CNN Kellyanne Conway blames Bill de Blasio for coronavirus spread  New York Post Mayor Says T... 5 mins ago ★ Save
Do you want more traffic, leads and sales? Try Feedspot Marketing Solutions Free for 1 week. Continue
Members of Congress race back for $2.2tn stimulus vote amid fears of delay - The Guar... • 5 mins ago ★ Save
NFL rumors: Why Roger Goodell made smart call on 2020 NFL Draft - SILive.com • 5 mins ago ★ Save
New York hospital ready to split ventilators among patients: report | TheHill - The H... • 5 mins ago ★ Save
New York: man killed and at least a dozen hurt in subway fire, officials say - The Gu... • 5 mins ago ★ Save
Top stories - Google News • 1182 Stories − Remove
	Boris Johnson tests positive for coronavirus - CNN Boris Johnson tests positive for coronavirus  CNNView Full Coverage on Google News 21 mins ago ★ Save
Live Dow feed: U.S. stocks signal steep fall after massive three-day rally - Washingt... • 21 mins ago ★ Save
USNS Comfort Prepares For Deployment To New York City | NBC News NOW - NBC News • 21 mins ago ★ Save
'Too many people are dying alone.' A New York doctor's story - WJW FOX 8 News C... • 21 mins ago ★ Save
New York: man killed and at least a dozen hurt in subway fire, officials say - The Gu... • 21 mins ago ★ Save
BBC News » World • 63 Stories − Add Site
	Coronavirus: Deaths rise sharply in Spain while infection rate stabilises With strict measures in place to fight coronavirus, officials believe the outbreak's peak is close. 1 hour ago
Coronavirus: India 'super spreader' quarantines 40,000 people • 2 hours ago
The New York Times | World • 44 Stories − Add Site
	After Exposing Corruption in Russian Courts, He's Now in Jail Himself Pretending to be a senior official, Sergei Davydov induced judges to fix cases, then revealed the conversations. Then the system struck back. 2 hours ago
Of 'Covidivorces' and 'Coronababies': Life During a Lockdown • 2 hours ago
BuzzFeed » World • 17 Stories − Add Site
	Australia Will Quarantine All Overseas Arrivals In Hotels For Two Weeks "Our numbers have not been helped by a recent cruise ship," said chief medical officer Brendan Murphy. View Entire Post › − Lane Sainty • 11 hours ago
I Replaced Social Activities With Livestreams For 24 Hours While In Coronavirus Lockd... • 14 hours ago
Al Jazeera • 131 Stories − Add Site
	Volunteers step in to fill health system gaps in Sudan With no treatment or vaccine for coronavirus, volunteers say they will continue to provide the services they can to fight the disease. 24 mins ago
Chaos and hunger amid India coronavirus lockdown • 24 mins ago
Defence Blog • 4 Stories − Add Site
	Boeing suspends production of newest Pegasus and Poseidon aircraft Boeing, the world's largest aerospace company and leading provider of commercial airplanes, defense, space and security systems, announced a two-week suspension of production operations in all facilities in the Seattle area amid the coronavirus pan... − Dylan Malyasov • 1 day ago
U.S. Army selects Bell and Sikorsky to build new lethal rotorcraft • 1 day ago
Global Issues • 11 Stories − Add Site
	Can Eswatini's Traditional Healers Encourage HIV Testing Among People Not Accessibl... MBABANE, Mar 26 (IPS) - Doctor Khalishwayo is a traditional healer based in Nhlangano, a town in the Shiselweni Region, in southern Eswatini. His clients are people who consult him when they are suffering from different ailments. And he in turn diag... − Global Issues • 4 hours ago
Chinese vs. Western governance: The case of COVID-19 • 16 hours ago
The Cipher Brief − Add Site
	Getting Clean: 8 Initial Steps Toward Cyber Hygiene This expert-driven national-security insight can't be generated for free.  We invite you to support quality content by becoming a  Cipher Brief Level I Member .  Joining this experienced security-focused community is only $10/month (for an annu... − Suzanne Kelly • 1 day ago
Yahoo News - World • 147 Stories − Add Site
	Coronavirus: Trump delays call with China's President Xi for 90 minutes to phone Fo... Donald Trump postponed a planned phone call with Chinese president Xi Jinping on Thursday night so he could be interviewed by Fox News host Sean Hannity.The president was due to discuss the ongoing coronavirus pandemic with his Chinese counterpart at... 38 mins ago
Political turmoil in Kabul dogs negotiations with Taliban • 38 mins ago
CNN » World • 31 Stories − Add Site
	The art I love: MACAAL president Othman Lazraq's tour of his museum's formidable Afri... My dad Alami Lazraq, founder of real estate firm Groupe Alliances, started collecting art from Morocco 40 years ago and then, gradually, began collecting pieces from the rest of Africa as well. He transmitted this passion to me, and now I am helping ... 2 hours ago
Remember when Fred Rogers swapped his sport coat for a knit cardigan? • 2 hours ago
Times of India » World • 27 Stories − Add Site
	UK police use drones to stop dog walkers during crisis Civil liberties group Big Brother Watch said the police must behave within the rule of law after it also emerged that road checkpoints had been set up to quiz drivers about their journeys. Social media users compared Britain's police actions to "the ... 1 hour ago
Hungary orders two-week lockdown to fight coronavirus • 2 hours ago
The Guardian » World • 159 Stories − Add Site
	Matt Hancock reveals he has coronavirus and is self-isolating – video In a video posted on Twitter, the health secretary has confirmed he has tested positive for coronavirus after developing mild symptoms. Hancock added he had been working from home for the past few days and would now be self-isolating. 'I just want to... 49 mins ago
CUSTOMIZE YOUR FEEDSPOT DAILY EMAIL - CHANGE TIMING, SELECT SPECIFIC SITES AND MORE OPTIONS
Take me to Feedspot
You received this email because you signed up at Feedspot. Unsubscribe from daily emails or Switch to weekly or Change Email Settings Feedspot.com, 303 Cape Court, Mill Valley, CA 94941
Click here to view this email in your browser