Extra Crunch Tuesday: 15 top VCs discuss upcoming trends in social startups

Extra Crunch Newsletter

Tuesday, April 07, 2020 • By Walter Thompson

Welcome to Extra Crunch Tuesday We surveyed 15 top social network VCs to find out more about the trends they’re seeing and what excites them today: Olivia Moore, CRV Justine Moore, CRV Connie Chan, Andreessen Horowitz Alexis Ohanian, Initialized Capital Niko Bonatsos, General Catalyst Josh Coyne, Kleiner Perkins Wayne Hu, Signal Fire Alexia Bonatsos, Dream Machine Josh Elman, Angel Investor Aydin Senkut, Felicis Ventures James Currier, NFX Pippa Lamb, Sweet Capital Christian Dorffer, Sweet Capital Jim Scheinman, Maven Ventures Eva Casanova, Day One Ventures Respondents predicted which tech will spawn major social networks and apps in the near future and also identified startup ideas they’ve seen fail repeatedly. Come back next Tuesday to get their deep takes on social investing in the COVID-19 era. Thanks for reading!   Walter Thompson Senior Editor, TechCrunch @yourprotagonist Read more

Managing customer discovery when you can't leave the house Image Credits: Aydin Palabiyikoglu / Getty Images (Image has been modified) We may be stuck in our homes, but there’s still work to be done. In his first Extra Crunch guest post, Lean Startup movement creator Steve Blank offers advice for teams that are seeking product-market fit in chaotic times. Read more

Sign up for Extra Crunch and take 20% off Zoom annual business plans Sponsored by TechCrunch Annual and two-year members of Extra Crunch get 20% off list pricing for business plans and 10% off Zoom Phone Read more

How SaaS startups should plan for a turbulent Q2 Image Credits: Getty Images Senior Editor Alex Wilhelm interviewed Menlo Ventures' Matt Murphy about resetting churn expectations and how SaaS startups can position themselves to ride out what will likely continue to be a volatile quarter. Read more

Twilio CEO Jeff Lawson on shifting a 3,000-person company to fully remote Image Credits: Steve Jennings Twilio has thousands of employees distributed across 25 offices, but CEO Jeff Lawson says the startup’s transition to remote-only “has worked pretty well,” all things considered. In an interview with Greg Kumparak, Lawson walks through best practices for video calls, keeping employees engaged and managing people under difficult circumstances. Read more

Longtime VC Neil Sequeira: funding founders without in-person meetings is 'quite difficult' Early-stage VC Neil Sequeira (founder, Defy) sat down with TechCrunch’s Silicon Valley Editor Connie Loizos to discuss valuations, the state of his portfolio and whether he’s seeing any founders make new deals while they shelter in place. Read more

The pendulum will swing away from founder-friendly venture raises Image Credits: Janko Ferlič / Unsplash (Image has been modified) Senior Editor Alex Wilhelm won’t sugarcoat it: the current environment is “an economic catastrophe, and one that won't lead to anything like a V-shaped recovery.” He studied a number of venture trends and recent valuation adjustments to see what the future might hold for “our new, awful economic reality.” Read more

Why AI startups' economics will likely improve over time After venture shop a16z suggested that AI startups “will enjoy strong gross margins, but perhaps not as strong as those posted by SaaS companies,” Alex Wilhelm asked David Blumberg of Blumberg Capital to share his thoughts on the matter. Read more

Pandemic puts the brakes on micromobility Image Credits: filadendron / Getty Images Efforts to curb the spread of COVID-19 “couldn't really have occurred at a worse time in some ways” for micromobility startups, says Ride Report CEO William Henderson. "Operators were already in a place where they needed to get to operational efficiency and profitability and now they're really having to double down," he says. "And I think it's pretty likely that some operators are not going to make it or they'll be consolidating." Read more

R&D Roundup: ultrasound/AI medical imaging, assistive exoskeletons and neural weather modeling Image Credits: EPFL/EarlySight In his latest recap of bleeding-edge tech, Devin Coldewey examines recent innovations in weather reporting, how researchers are combining ultrasound and AI to diagnose heart disease and how machine learning is helping uncover unexploded bombs from past wars. Read more

How Homage is tackling Southeast Asia's growing eldercare need Image Credits: Toa55 / Getty Images Eldercare is a pressing need in many countries with aging populations, but Singapore-based home health care service Homage is addressing the talent pool shortage by matching caregivers with clients. Read more

COVID-19 crisis spurs triple-digit growth for refurbishing startup Back Market Image Credits: Chayapon Bootboonneam/EyeEm / Getty Images Samsung and Apple have closed their retail stores and displaced office workers have spiked demand for refurbished electronics — two factors that have sparked runaway growth for Paris-based Back Market. Read more

This Week in Apps: Zoom has issues, Pinterest founder's new COVID-19 research app, record Q1 spending As ever, the vast universe of software for mobile devices continues to expand and contract. In our latest recap: Zoom addresses security complaints, Houseparty claims to be the victim of a smear campaign, Pinterest’s CEO has launched a COVID-19 tracking app, Apple buys weather app Dark Sky, and so much more. Read more

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