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Hello, I hope it’s a great Thursday for you so far. For me, it’s the little things that excite me and today is Delta Air Lines’ announcement that SkyMiles frequent fliers, including yours, get free wifi starting February 1st. May you also find something that excites you today. Let’s get into the news. — christina
TechCrunch Top 3
- Even more layoffs: It was yesterday Sales force; today it’s Amazon. Although these layoffs were foreshadowed in recent months, the number of people laid off was a surprise today. Knowing doesn’t take the sting out for employees, I imagine. Pablo takes you inside the cuts.
- Secret secrets hurt someone.: Secret secrets are not fun. Just ask CircleCI customers, who were urged to rotate their passwords and private keys after a breach compromised the company’s system, carly reports.
- Take a bite of this apple: Apparently everyone made a resolution to read more in 2023. Among the announcements Apple made today, the one that got a lot of clicks was the company’s new AI-powered storybook for select titles on Apple Books, Ivan reports. If fitness is more your goal this year, Apple Fitness+ is adding new featureslike kickboxing workouts and sleep meditation, Aisha writes
Startups and VCs
Continuing what appears to be a trend in layoffs, natasha m.The history of is very important to get the perspectives of former employees laid off from startups to see how they are handling things and how their next jobs might evolve. She also asks the question, “Where do the tech workers go from here?” I won’t spoil it for you, but there seems to be a cycle going on.
Now here are four more:
- That next message could be from Fido.: My dog has trouble telling me when he needs to go outside, so I’m watching FluentPet Talking Button System which has programmable buttons that, when pressed, speak voice commands and send you text messages. Sarah has more.
- Virtual reality is not just for the young: Rendever, a huge startup in the VR space, acquired Alcove from AARPshowing “VR Comes of Age”, ingrid reports.
- Neighbors don’t shake hands; The neighbors have to hug each other!: Well, maybe not a hug, but if you live in an apartment complex and want to meet the others who live nearby, you might want to see my story on OneRoof gets some funding to help apartment dwellers feel comfortable with their neighbors.
- Here’s an optimistic metaverse: start conversational AI MeetKai is expanding its offerings Featuring new room scanning technology and a metaverse generator focused on capturing objects and spaces, Kyle writes
Learn growth marketing: how to set up a landing page
Image Credits: light star59 (Opens in a new window) / Fake Images
In the first article in a five-part series on growth marketing fundamentals, Jonathan Martinez explains how to create an essential part of every startup’s sales funnel: a landing page.
This overview includes basic steps for writing a clear headline, providing visitors with social proof that builds credibility, and creating calls-to-action that drive results.
Next week, Martinez, who has helped scale startups like Uber, Postmates, and Chime, will share his tips for launching a paid acquisition channel.
Three more from the TC+ team:
TechCrunch+ is our membership program that helps start-up founders and teams get ahead of the rest. You can sign up here. Use code “DC” to get 15% off an annual subscription!
big tech inc
If you couldn’t tell from his Twitter account, CES is happening. Brian presents CES and how you can get all the juicy details for the rest of the conference. Kyle also helped you by rounding up a list of the best AI powered products seen at the conference.
One of the stories that most caught our attention today was Kylethe story of Ring brings back its Peephole Cam. It was apparently somewhat ahead of its time, with Ring shutting down the product in 2021. Now it’s back in all its glory and can be yours at the starting price of $129.
Here are some favorites from today’s batch of CES stories:
Our team wrote 51 Big Tech stories today, so here’s one more of the usual five:
- Back in the saddle again: who had The former CEO of Stitch Fix resumed the helm on your BINGO 2023 card? Neither? Conny fills in some details about Katrina Lake’s return for an interim term, and builds on a CNBC report that included another round of layoffs, this time 20% of the company’s 1,700 employees.
- You have to fight for your right to communicate in private: And WhatsApp supports you 100%. Aisha reports that the courier giant released a proxy support for users globally so you can maintain access even if your connection is blocked or interrupted.
- Art is in the eye of the beholder powered by AI: Kyle reports on Picsart’s AI-powered SketchAI app that converts images and outlines into digital art.
- And the streaming crown goes to…: lauren write about Roku ends 2022 with a new milestone — more than 70 million active accounts. The streaming company claims it remains the #1 streaming TV platform in the US, Canada, and Mexico for hours streamed.
- Another bytes the crypto dust: jaquelyn reports that the New York Attorney General sued Alex Mashinsky, the former CEO of Celsius, for defrauding crypto investors. He crypto lender filed for bankruptcy during the summer.
- privacy ping: What Natasha L. notes, Apple received a rare fine. France’s data protection watchdog group fined the consumer tech giant some $8.5 million in connection with Apple’s practice of “failing to obtain the consent of local mobile users before placing (and/or or read) ad identifiers on their devices in violation of local data protection law.”
