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<p>Today is Christmas Day, so I don’t know precisely how many of you are actually here. Hello to the seven of us avoiding our families, I suppose.</p>
<p>But before we’re called back to actually Talk To Other People, let’s talk about two quick things, yeah? Let’s have fun one last time in 2021. Thanks for reading, by the way. I appreciate you.</p><div id="tc-target-mid-article-2250528" class="tc-target-mid-article ad-unit--size-auto"></div>
<p>By far the best story of the week <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2021/12/21/bitcoin-is-religion-web3-is-greed/">wasn’t Jack directly calling bullshit on web3</a>, but a funding round. The round itself wasn’t that fascinating, but the story behind Airbyte’s round was.</p>
<p><a href="https://airbyte.io/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Airbyte</a>, for reference, is an open-source startup that helps customers move data. That’s a big market, frankly, because there is a lot of data out there, and it simply doesn’t stay put. Companies want to move it here and there. And doing so is hard work. I am not going to shout about extract, load and transform (ELT) at this juncture at you as there’s no need, but that’s the general market that Airbyte competes in.</p>
<p>In business terms, the company has a free open source product, natch, and a paid service. The paid version of Airbyte includes the usual enterprise-friendly tooling that you would expect; things like SSO, for example. And hosting. So, a pretty standard OSS play thus far, yeah?</p>
<p>Back to the money. Airbyte raised a seed round in early 2021 <a href="https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/airbyte-b3bb/company_financials" target="_blank" rel="noopener">per Crunchbase data</a>. Then the company raised a Series A in May. At that point the company had landed more than $30 million this year, which was a lot of money.</p>
<p>The sum was also diddly compared to what came next. Airbyte <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/kenrickcai/2021/12/17/data-startup-airbyte-is-set-to-become-a-unicorn-intensifying-showdown-with-rival-company-fivetran/?sh=211453af1f38">closed a <em>$150 million Series B this week at a roughly $1.5 billion valuation</em></a>. And even better, the company has revenues today <a href="https://twitter.com/kenrickcai/status/1471958104623312898" target="_blank" rel="noopener">of less than $1 million</a> (annual recurring revenue, or ARR).</p>
<p>I <a href="https://twitter.com/alex/status/1472972316636295171" target="_blank" rel="noopener">joked on Twitter</a> that the company was flexing a revenue multiple of 1,500x. People found that funny.</p>
<p>Turns out it was only half the joke. After the Airbyte news dropped, I heard that the revenue number is probably a bit more under the $1 million mark than I first thought. That means that Airbyte actually has an ARR multiple of <em>way more</em> than 1,500x.</p>
<p>Effectively it’s infinite. That’s <em>amazing</em> and is where venture capital was always going in 2021. What do I meant by that? Well:</p>
<ul>
<li>Bigger funds have been investing earlier and earlier in the startup lifecycle lately to both deploy more capital and ensure that they can get allocation in later rounds of hot companies.</li>
<li>This means that more startups than ever have been able to raise huge rounds based more on FOMO than revenues than before.</li>
<li>Then 2021 came around and there was <em>even more</em> money floating around, seemingly, and the above two points got exacerbated.</li>
<li>I heard about Series B rounds being done at six-figure ARR, while back in the old days (2019) it was a rule of thumb that to raise a Series A, $1 million in ARR was the <em>minimum</em>.</li>
<li>And now, with Airbyte, it appears that we’re seeing there be <em>no</em> effective limit on how much a company can be valued when compared to its revenue base.</li>
</ul>
<p>How did Airbyte manage the feat? I have a hunch. An open source company has a simply great set of non-revenue metrics that it can dangle in front of investors when it raises. For example, usage and contribution information for its open source project. So, my <em>guess</em> here is that Airbyte has a hot level of community usage, even if its paid products are more than nascent.</p>
<p>Is the Airbyte round dumb? Who knows! All we can say is that there was enough data <em>somewhere</em> for investors to feel comfortable putting nine-figures of capital into the company at a ten-figure valuation, despite far fewer digits of revenue.</p>
<p>This is bullish for open source startups, right? I reckon it is.</p>
<h2>And finally, Juna</h2>
<p>I caught up with <a href="https://www.heyjuna.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Juna</a> founder and CEO <a href="https://mobile.twitter.com/peterarian4" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Peter Arian</a> the other day to chat about what his startup is doing. The gist of the startup is that it is working with insurance providers to provide low-cost sexual wellness testing for sexually active folks. It’s applying a hybrid DTC and health tech model to young people, hoping to shift the convention around testing to something that you do proactively, instead of reactively.</p>
<p>Not to drag COVID into everything, but I wonder if we’re all now a bit more accustomed to getting tested these days. I am off in a few minutes to get my nose poked by a swab, if that’s still how COVID tests go. The delights of modern life.</p>
<p>Juna is neat not only in that I think it’s product is cool and is something that I would have used when I was younger and not married but also thanks to its marketing strategy. You hear a lot about brands leveraging social media to garner attention, right? Well, Juna is <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@juna.health?" target="_blank" rel="noopener">making TikTok work for its business</a>.</p>
<p>Per Arian, the company’s waitlist for access is growing between 15% and 20% per month, which seems pretty healthy. Juna is targeting a February launch, so it still has time to add more names. Perhaps its use of TikTok will keep paying out?</p>
<p>The company is putting together some capital but isn’t quite done with that yet. So, I’ll circle back to chat with Arian when he closes the round and opens the waitlist. Testing is not sexy, but sexing tested people is? Something like that.</p>
<p>—<a href="http://twitter.com/alex">Alex</a></p>
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<h2>Software consulting</h2>
<p><a href="https://techcrunch.com/2021/12/14/using-data-driven-techniques-to-beat-the-great-resignation/">(TechCrunch+) Using data-driven techniques to beat the Great Resignation: </a>Dr. Meisha-ann Martin, director of people analytics at Workhuman, wrote about how the pandemic has caused many workers to consider changing jobs. More than half of the respondents in one survey who hope to remain in their current position said “it’s because they like their company and/or co-workers,” she wrote.</p>
<p>Two suggestions: recurring weekly video calls where managers check in make remote employees feel more connected. Also, Martin recommends using “data-driven automation and analytics” to capture employee sentiment. “The best tools will also provide actionable insights that HR and managers can use to boost employee engagement.”</p><div id="tc-target-mid-article-2250659" class="tc-target-mid-article ad-unit--size-auto"></div>
<p><a href="https://techcrunch.com/2021/12/13/conversational-ux-the-missing-piece-in-your-chatbot-strategy/">(TechCrunch+) Conversational UX: The missing piece in your chatbot strategy: </a>Raghu Ravinutala, CEO and co-founder of Yellow.ai, discussed chatbots’ flaws and how companies can implement best practices that enhance customer experiences. “With every new interface, the goal is to make human-machine interactions better and result in a more intuitive experience for the user,” wrote Ravinutala.</p>
<p>“Conversational UX presents a greater challenge because of the nuances involved with human language. It requires careful thought, empathy for the user and significant design considerations to carefully craft elegant experiences.”</p>
<p><a href="https://techcrunch.com/2021/12/22/apples-app-store-connect-will-be-open-on-christmas-can-developers-take-advantage/">(TechCrunch+) Apple’s App Store Connect will be open on Christmas: Can developers take advantage?: </a>Breaking with tradition, Apple’s App Store Connect is staying open to review app updates and new submissions. “On the surface, this looks like a complete win for app developers and their customers, but one expert we spoke to warned that some developers may run into unintended consequences if they don’t adapt to the recent changes,” wrote Anna Heim.</p>
<p>To find out how app companies can take advantage, she interviewed Wolfpack Digital CEO Georgina Lupu Florian, Jamie Shostak, founder of Appetiser, and Yasser Bashir, co-founder of software development company Arbisoft.</p><div class="piano-inline-promo"></div>
<p><strong>Consultant: </strong><a href="http://wolfpack-digital.com/">Wolfpack Digital </a><br />
<strong>Recommended by: </strong>Anonymous<br />
<strong>Testimonial: </strong>“We chose to work with them because of their great communication, plus they were recommended to us. They helped us launch on time, build an attractive design and assisted us with scalability.”</p>
<div style="width: 100%; height: 400px;" data-tf-widget="MXehi2kl"></div>
<p><script src="//embed.typeform.com/next/embed.js"></script></p>
<h2>Growth marketing</h2>
<p>Jamie Viggiano, chief marketing officer at Fuel Capital, wrote a four-part series for TechCrunch+ that explains how early-stage startups should begin developing their brands:</p>
<blockquote><p>Part 1: <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2021/12/20/start-building-your-brand-book-with-a-visioning-workshop/">(TechCrunch+) Start building your brand book with a visioning workshop</a></p>
<p>Part 2: <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2021/12/21/create-target-customer-personas-to-develop-successful-growth-strategies/">(TechCrunch+) Create target customer personas to develop successful growth strategies</a></p>
<p>Part 3: <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2021/12/22/carve-out-a-place-for-your-brand-with-a-positioning-statement/">(</a><a href="https://techcrunch.com/2021/12/22/carve-out-a-place-for-your-brand-with-a-positioning-statement/">TechCrunch+) Carve out a place for your brand with a positioning statement</a></p>
<p>Part 4: <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2021/12/23/2-exercises-that-will-bring-your-brand-persona-to-life/">(TechCrunch+) 2 exercises that will bring your brand persona to life</a></p></blockquote>
<p><a href="https://techcrunch.com/2021/12/21/demand-curve-how-ahrefs-homepage-educates-prospects-to-purchase/">(TechCrunch+) Demand Curve: How Ahrefs’ homepage educates prospects to purchase:</a> Home pages with high conversion rates have one thing in common: they make it extremely easy for a customer to buy. “People have short attention spans, so if your homepage is confusing, they’re going to leave,” writes Demand Curve Community Manager Joey Noble in his latest TechCrunch+ post. In a detailed analysis of the homepage for SEO agency Ahrefs’, Noble explains how the site captures reader attention, reduces friction and increases desire.</p>
<p><a href="https://techcrunch.com/2021/12/20/demand-curve-avoid-these-10-copywriting-mistakes-to-get-more-conversions/">(TechCrunch) Demand Curve: Avoid these 10 copywriting mistakes to get more conversions:</a> Joyce Chou, senior content lead at Demand Curve, presented 10 common copywriting mistakes, and more importantly, how to avoid making them. Besides important basics like avoiding passive voice, Chou shows how to construct headlines and present social proof that gives customers more confidence about giving you their business.</p>
<p>(TechCrunch+) <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2021/12/23/10-growth-marketing-experts-share-their-2022-predictions-and-new-years-resolutions/">10 growth marketing experts share their 2022 predictions and New Year’s resolutions</a>: I reached out to marketers we’ve met through our Experts program and asked them to share predications for the new year and reflect on some of the trends we’ve seen. The answers and advice we received were as varied as the people we polled, but nearly all of them indicated that learning — e.g., analytics training, getting started with AI tools, etc. — was high on their to-do list.</p>
<p><strong>Marketer:</strong> Brent Payne, <a href="https://www.loud.us/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Loud Interactive SEO</a><br />
<strong>Recommended by: </strong>Brad Schnitzer, <a href="http://www.techstars.com/chicago" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Techstars Chicago</a><br />
<strong>Testimonial: </strong>“He’s the best SEO in the Midwest. He ran SEO for the Tribune and has now taken those skills to help early-stage founders achieve the same success. He’s honestly changed the trajectory of so many of the ~42 startups I have invested in at Techstars Chicago over the past four years.”</p>
<p><strong>Marketer:</strong> <a href="https://www.sixspokemedia.com/">SixSpoke</a><br />
<strong>Recommended by: </strong>Anonymous<br />
<strong>Testimonial: </strong>“We worked with them because of their portfolio of clients, prior experience and data-driven results. They helped us create differentiated positioning, driving our awareness and demand-gen metrics.”</p>
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";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:6:{s:0:"";a:7:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:80:"Stop creating self-fulfilling prophecies: How to apply AI to small data problems";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:114:"https://techcrunch.com/2021/12/24/stop-creating-self-fulfilling-prophecies-how-to-apply-ai-to-small-data-problems/";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:8:"comments";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:122:"https://techcrunch.com/2021/12/24/stop-creating-self-fulfilling-prophecies-how-to-apply-ai-to-small-data-problems/#respond";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Fri, 24 Dec 2021 23:51:19 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:8:"category";a:6:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:23:"Artificial Intelligence";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}i:1;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:6:"Column";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}i:2;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:23:"artificial intelligence";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}i:3;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:15:"data management";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}i:4;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:9:"EC How To";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}i:5;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:16:"machine learning";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:33:"https://techcrunch.com/?p=2249891";s:7:"attribs";a:1:{s:0:"";a:1:{s:11:"isPermaLink";s:5:"false";}}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:136:"To avoid the trap of creating self-fulfilling prophecies, here’s the process you should follow for applying AI to small data problems.";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:14:"Annie Saunders";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:40:"http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/";a:1:{s:7:"encoded";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:4845:"<div class="article__contributor-byline-wrapper">
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							<span class="byline__author-name">Amnon Mishor</span>
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<div class="contributor-byline__bio">
		Amnon Mishor is the CTO and founder of <a href="http://leadspace.com/">Leadspace</a>, an <a href="https://martechseries.com/analytics/customer-data-platforms/leadspace-ranked-a-leader-in-the-b2b-standalone-customer-data-platforms-evaluation/">industry-recognized</a>, AI-powered buyer data platform used by B2B companies like Zoom and Salesforce. 	</div>
	
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</div><p id="speakable-summary">Over the past decade or so, the digital revolution has given us a <em>surplus</em> of data. This is exciting for a number of reasons, but mostly in terms of how AI will be able to further revolutionize the enterprise.</p>
<p>However, in the world of B2B — the industry I’m deeply involved in — we are still experiencing a shortage of data, largely because the number of transactions is vastly lower compared to B2C. So, in order for<a href="https://techcrunch.com/2021/08/04/enterprise-ai-2-0-the-acceleration-of-b2b-innovation-has-begun/"> AI to deliver on its promise of revolutionizing the enterprise</a>, it must be able to solve these small data problems as well. Thankfully, it can.</p>
<p>The problem is that many data scientists turn to bad practices, creating self-fulfilling prophecies, which reduces the effectiveness of AI in small data scenarios — and ultimately hinders AI’s influence in advancing the enterprise.</p>
<p>	<div class="article-block block--pullout block--left">
		<blockquote>
			The trick to applying AI correctly to small data problems is in following correct data science practices and avoiding bad ones.					</blockquote>
	</div>
	</p>
<p>The term “self-fulfilling prophecy” is used in psychology, investing and elsewhere, but in the world of data science, it can simply be described as “predicting the obvious.” We see this when companies find a model that predicts what already works for them, sometimes even “by design,” and apply it to different scenarios.</p>
<p>For instance, a retail company determines that people who filled their cart online are more likely to purchase than people who didn’t, so they heavily market to that group. They are predicting the obvious!</p>
<p>Instead, they should apply models that help optimize what does <em>not</em> work well — converting first-time buyers who don’t already have items in their cart. By solving for the latter — or predicting the non-obvious — this retail company will be much more likely to impact sales and acquire new customers instead of just keeping the same ones.</p>
<p>To avoid the trap of creating self-fulfilling prophecies, here’s the process you should follow for applying AI to small data problems:</p>
<ol>
<li><strong>Enrich your data: </strong>When you find you don’t have a ton of existing data to work off of, the first step is to enrich the data you already have. This can be done by tapping into external data to apply look-alike modeling. We see this more than ever thanks to the rise of recommendation systems used by Amazon, Netflix, Spotify and more. Even if you only have one or two purchases on Amazon, they have so much information on products in the world and the people who buy them, that they can make fairly accurate predictions on your next purchase. If you’re a B2B company that uses a “single dimension” to categorize your deals (e.g., “large companies”), follow Pandora’s example and dissect each customer by the most detailed degrees (e.g., song title, artist, singer gender, melody construction, beat, etc.). The more you know about your data, the richer it gets. You can go from low-dimensional data with trivial predictions to high-dimensional knowledge with powerful prediction and recommendation models.<br />
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		Dwana Franklin-Davis is a lifelong technologist currently serving as the CEO of <a href="https://www.rebootrepresentation.org/">Reboot Representation</a>, a coalition of tech companies pooling their philanthropic resources to double the number of Black, Latina and Native American women receiving computing degrees by 2025.	</div>
	
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		Ruthe Farmer is the founder and CEO of the <a href="http://www.lastmile-ed.org/">Last Mile Education Fund</a>, and a global advocate and evangelist for equity and inclusion in technology and engineering. 	</div>
	
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	</div>
	</div>
</div><p id="speakable-summary">The number of low-income students attending college is increasing: According to a <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2019/05/22/a-rising-share-of-undergraduates-are-from-poor-families-especially-at-less-selective-colleges/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">2016 report from the Pew Research Center</a>, the total share of undergraduate college students who come from low-income families increased from 12% in 1996 to 20% in 2016. However, only <a href="http://pellinstitute.org/downloads/publications-Indicators_of_Higher_Education_Equity_in_the_US_2018_Historical_Trend_Report.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">11%</a> of students in the bottom income quartile complete their degrees within six years, compared to <a href="http://pellinstitute.org/downloads/publications-Indicators_of_Higher_Education_Equity_in_the_US_2018_Historical_Trend_Report.pdf">58%</a> for those in the top quartile.</p>
<p>This discrepancy should make you pause. Why are so many low-income students making it to college but not to degree completion, and thus, not reaching their full potential in the workforce? One short answer encompasses the issue: a lack of unique and targeted support and resources. And, in the tech sector specifically, this lack of support stems from a problematic ecosystem that often assumes privilege and affluence in its students and future employees.</p>
<p>These assumptions (subconscious or not) perpetuate a tech industry that fails to access a critical and fruitful talent pool by wrongfully and consistently disqualifying low-income students from the educational and career opportunities that open doors.</p><div id="tc-target-mid-article-2250638" class="tc-target-mid-article ad-unit--size-auto"></div>
<p>It’s clear that the tech education-to-career pipeline fails low-income students before degree completion and entrance into one of the highest-paid sectors in our economy –– but we aren’t talking about it. Socioeconomic status must be part of the “diversity” conversation –– it is underreported and underdiscussed.</p>
<h2>What does it mean to conflate privilege with potential?</h2>
<p>Like in many industries, tech recruitment (from internships to full-time jobs) happens well before graduation. High-potential low-income students often don’t fit into the “ideal candidate” archetype sought by this recruitment structure, which overvalues and rewards characteristics that are often a better indicator of privilege than talent or potential. How does that happen, and how can we stop it?</p>
<p>If you ask hiring managers what skills might be necessary to succeed in the tech industry, they may say that they’re looking for new candidates who:</p>
<ul>
<li>Have great problem-solving skills.</li>
<li>Have demonstrated time-management skills.</li>
<li>Are hardworking.</li>
<li>Are resilient and willing to persevere through tricky problems.</li>
<li>Are adaptable.</li>
</ul>
<p>These skills can come from many different experiences –– for example, a student working a full- or part-time job while pursuing a technical degree gains a strong work ethic, time-management prowess and resilience. A first-generation student navigating the college experience on their own without the benefit of family knowledge or social networks likely obtains impressive problem-solving skills. Although these are subjective, they are incredibly valuable skills for succeeding in tech.</p><div class="piano-inline-promo"></div>
<p>However, in recruitment practices, these demonstrated skills are rarely part of the equation and are inequitably overshadowed by things like:</p>
<ul>
<li>Privileged high school experiences (including test prep, high-quality advising, access to higher-level math courses) that open doors to attending a prestigious college/university, and the many opportunities and supports that come with it.</li>
<li>The financial wherewithal and time (i.e., not having to work to support oneself or ability to work fewer hours) to participate in campus clubs and networks, attend hackathons, and/or attend conferences or networking events on weekends and evenings.</li>
<li>The up-front cash and knowledge needed to navigate travel for an in-person job interview or relocate for an internship.</li>
<li>Test scores, GPA and other quantitative measures that are heavily influenced by privilege, such as access to expensive test prep courses, rigorous math preparation before college and, most of all, the freedom to focus solely on academics afforded to those that do not have to work to support themselves and their families.</li>
<li>Awards and recognitions predicated on many of the above factors, as well as social capital.</li>
</ul>
<p>Unlike the first set, these criteria are considered markers of “potential.” However, attaining these markers requires a certain degree of privilege and affluence unavailable to most students. All of these experiences take time and energy that keep one from attending to their family, to the job that’s paying for their education and to other important responsibilities outside the classroom. Many of these experiences require independent money; most of these experiences favor extracurricular networks, prior knowledge and preparatory privilege.</p>
<p>This is an enormous missed opportunity with dire consequences. The tech industry <em>must</em> decouple event attendance, awards and where one went to school from one’s actual ability to succeed in the industry. They are not one and the same, and if we continue to conflate privilege with potential, we are going to fail to access this community of high-potential students, leaving us with an ongoing talent shortage and a less diverse tech sector.</p>
<h2>Now what?</h2>
<p>How can tech course-correct to ensure that low-income students are uniquely supported throughout their <em>entire</em> tech journey?</p>
<h3>Level the playing field for low-income recruits</h3>
<p>More than half of college students report <a href="https://hope4college.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/HOPE_realcollege_National_report_digital.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">experiencing housing insecurity</a>. To put it bluntly: Acing your computer science exam is hard when you can’t pay your rent, and completing an assignment is nearly impossible if you don’t have a fast internet connection.</p>
<p>To address these barriers (both new and longstanding) we must understand them, and then invest in resources that break them down.</p>
<p>First, support and invest in organizations that work to fill these gaps for students from low-income backgrounds. Second, level the playing field for all new recruits –– if you’re a decision-maker or HR representative at a tech company, ensure you’re supplying all interns and new hires with door-to-door support for relocation and onboarding.</p>
<p>Don’t assume students have the credit or family funding to cover these costs upfront and wait weeks for reimbursement. This enables candidates to show up as their best selves.</p>
<h3>Invest in college students to invest in diversity</h3>
<p>The tech sector tends to invest in the start of the tech pipeline –– companies concentrate <a href="https://127j5241bcgw285yu54bgh7m-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/Rebooting-Representation-Report.pdf#page=27" target="_blank" rel="noopener">66% of their philanthropic funding on K–12 programs, compared to 3% on college-level programs</a>.</p>
<p>K-12 investments are important but need follow-through at the higher education level to yield the talent we need. We must ensure students are completing their degrees (and support them throughout their journey to doing so) –– this will yield immediate returns in the form of ready tech talent and more diverse minds contributing to the tech innovations that elevate us all.</p>
<p>What does this mean in practice? Here’s one example: If you hire a new employee who is still in their senior year, cover their spring term. Invest in your future employees; give them the space to focus on the final, high-level classes that will better prepare them for the job, rather than leaving them to worry about paying tuition, rent and other expenses during those critical last few months.</p>
<p>The current population of students graduating with computing degrees, and the tech sector as a whole, does not mirror our diverse society –– not only in race and gender, but also in socioeconomic status<em>.</em> And that’s because the tech industry <em>continues</em> to conflate privilege with potential.</p>
<p>The result is a homogeneous tech sector creating critical technologies that don’t serve everyone equally. It’s past time to uniquely support and invest in low-income students throughout the entire tech pipeline.</p>
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";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:6:{s:0:"";a:7:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:50:"Gift Guide: TechCrunch’s Favorite Things of 2021";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:81:"https://techcrunch.com/2021/12/24/gift-guide-techcrunchs-favorite-things-of-2021/";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:8:"comments";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:89:"https://techcrunch.com/2021/12/24/gift-guide-techcrunchs-favorite-things-of-2021/#respond";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Fri, 24 Dec 2021 22:00:44 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:8:"category";a:2:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:2:"TC";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}i:1;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:15:"Gift Guide 2021";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:33:"https://techcrunch.com/?p=2251371";s:7:"attribs";a:1:{s:0:"";a:1:{s:11:"isPermaLink";s:5:"false";}}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:278:"We made it, friends. Another year in the books. Was it the very normal year we all wanted? No. But, for many, it was at least a step in that direction. Or maybe two steps in that direction, and one step back. Yeah, it was still a weird one. No matter the year, we here […]";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:13:"Greg Kumparak";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:40:"http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/";a:1:{s:7:"encoded";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:47400:"<p id="speakable-summary">We made it, friends. Another year in the books.</p>
<p>Was it the very normal year we all wanted? No. But, for many, it was at least a step in that direction. Or maybe two steps in that direction, and one step back. Yeah, it was still a weird one.</p>
<p>No matter the year, we here at TechCrunch like to cap it off with a list of our favorite things from the last 365-or-so days. As always, “things” here is defined… very loosely. “Things” here can be books. Or podcasts. Or concepts. Or people! Or games, or songs, or… it doesn’t matter really. If it made that person’s 2021 a little brighter — and regardless of whether or not those things were <em>new </em>to 2021 — it can go on the list.</p><div id="tc-target-mid-article-2251371" class="tc-target-mid-article ad-unit--size-auto"></div>
<p>Why? Because we like to do it, and because people tell us they like reading it. And because it’s a fun little glimpse into the head spaces of the people who make this little piece of the Internet exist. Plus if you’re still looking for some last minute gift, maybe you’ll find some sort of inspiration. Here we go!</p>
<p>— <a href="https://twitter.com/grg">Greg</a></p>
<hr />
<h2>Greg Kumparak</h2>
<h3>Project Hail Mary</h3>
<p><img loading="lazy" class="vertical aligncenter size-large wp-image-2244930" src="https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Hail-Mary.jpg?w=486" alt="" width="486" height="680" srcset="https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Hail-Mary.jpg 574w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Hail-Mary.jpg?resize=107,150 107w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Hail-Mary.jpg?resize=214,300 214w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Hail-Mary.jpg?resize=486,680 486w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Hail-Mary.jpg?resize=36,50 36w" sizes="(max-width: 486px) 100vw, 486px" /></p>
<p>I waited a while to read this book because while I loved Andy Weir’s The Martian, his next book Artemis — while still very good! — didn’t hook me the same way. Once I finally sat down to read Project Hail Mary, I couldn’t stop.</p>
<p>Exploding with intrigue from page one, all I can say without spoiling anything is: a man wakes up on a spaceship without any idea how or why he’s there. As he explores the ship, he slowly re-learns who he is … and why he left Earth in the first place. Read it.</p>
<h3>Robin Robin (Netflix Christmas short)</h3>
<p><div id="attachment_2251372" style="width: 690px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-2251372" loading="lazy" class="size-large wp-image-2251372" src="https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Robin-Robin.jpg?w=680" alt="" width="680" height="378" srcset="https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Robin-Robin.jpg 1238w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Robin-Robin.jpg?resize=150,83 150w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Robin-Robin.jpg?resize=300,167 300w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Robin-Robin.jpg?resize=768,427 768w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Robin-Robin.jpg?resize=680,378 680w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Robin-Robin.jpg?resize=50,28 50w" sizes="(max-width: 680px) 100vw, 680px" /><p id="caption-attachment-2251372" class="wp-caption-text"><strong>Image Credits:</strong> Netflix</p></div></p>
<p>This Christmas-y stop-motion short from the studio behind Wallace and Gromit is only a few weeks old, but it’s an instant classic. The animation is beautiful, the songs are adorable, and every little piece of it is perfectly honed. My three year old has been requesting it on a loop since it came out, and I don’t mind a bit.</p>
<h3>The Attraction, an escape room in SF</h3>
<p><div id="attachment_2251373" style="width: 690px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-2251373" loading="lazy" class="size-large wp-image-2251373" src="https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Attraction.jpg?w=680" alt="" width="680" height="453" srcset="https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Attraction.jpg 1588w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Attraction.jpg?resize=150,100 150w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Attraction.jpg?resize=300,200 300w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Attraction.jpg?resize=768,511 768w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Attraction.jpg?resize=680,453 680w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Attraction.jpg?resize=1536,1022 1536w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Attraction.jpg?resize=50,33 50w" sizes="(max-width: 680px) 100vw, 680px" /><p id="caption-attachment-2251373" class="wp-caption-text"><strong>Image Credits:</strong> Palace of Fine Arts</p></div></p>
<p>I’ve done so many escape rooms that they’ve started to sort of blend together in my brain. The ever growing collection of rooms at San Francisco’s Palace of Fine Arts, however, stand alone in my mind. The production values, stagecraft, and storytelling are just on a different level. Their latest, “<a href="https://palace-games.com/the-attraction/">The Attraction</a>“, <em>isn’t</em> my favorite Palace room (that’d be their Edison room) — but it’s still an absolute masterpiece. If you’ve got a clever crew that has proven themselves in other escape rooms, you <em>have</em> to see these ones.</p>
<hr />
<h2>Jordan Crook</h2>
<h3>NYC’s Bond Vet</h3>
<p><div id="attachment_2251374" style="width: 690px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-2251374" loading="lazy" class="size-large wp-image-2251374" src="https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Bond-Vet.jpg?w=680" alt="" width="680" height="392" srcset="https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Bond-Vet.jpg 1472w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Bond-Vet.jpg?resize=150,87 150w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Bond-Vet.jpg?resize=300,173 300w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Bond-Vet.jpg?resize=768,443 768w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Bond-Vet.jpg?resize=680,392 680w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Bond-Vet.jpg?resize=50,29 50w" sizes="(max-width: 680px) 100vw, 680px" /><p id="caption-attachment-2251374" class="wp-caption-text"><strong>Image Credits:</strong> Bond Vet</p></div></p>
<p>As a new puppy mom (yes, I have a pandemic pet), figuring out how to care for my little guy has both been a joy and a massive source of stress. Bond Vet has loads of locations in New York City, handles urgent care inquiries, and has people available to chat on the phone for just about any question. It comes with a nifty app for downloading my puppy’s medical records or scheduling an appointment, and they have a pharmacy in-house so anything prescribed is given to you during the appointment or can be mailed to you after a telehealth visit. Good service. Great prices. Big fan.</p>
<h3>PlayStation 5</h3>
<p><div id="attachment_2091716" style="width: 690px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-2091716" loading="lazy" class="size-large wp-image-2091716" src="https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/GettyImages-1229560775.jpg?w=680" alt="" width="680" height="382" srcset="https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/GettyImages-1229560775.jpg 7363w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/GettyImages-1229560775.jpg?resize=150,84 150w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/GettyImages-1229560775.jpg?resize=300,169 300w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/GettyImages-1229560775.jpg?resize=768,432 768w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/GettyImages-1229560775.jpg?resize=680,382 680w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/GettyImages-1229560775.jpg?resize=1536,864 1536w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/GettyImages-1229560775.jpg?resize=2048,1152 2048w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/GettyImages-1229560775.jpg?resize=50,28 50w" sizes="(max-width: 680px) 100vw, 680px" /><p id="caption-attachment-2091716" class="wp-caption-text"><strong>Image Credits:</strong> Phil Barker/Future Publishing via Getty Images via Getty Images</p></div></p>
<p>I got the PS5 recently and it is a vastly improved experience over the PS4. As an avid gamer, it truly is the worst when the system itself is moving slow. The PS5 is lightning quick, has amazing graphics, and games look and feel great on it. The only caveat: you probably need to expand its storage somehow if you like to flip between a bunch of different games. Still worth upgrading!</p>
<h3>Netflix’s Formula 1: Drive to Survive / Formula 1 in general</h3>
<p><div id="attachment_1647845" style="width: 690px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1647845" loading="lazy" class="size-large wp-image-1647845" src="https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/gettyimages-585093581.jpg?w=680" alt="" width="680" height="330" srcset="https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/gettyimages-585093581.jpg 2484w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/gettyimages-585093581.jpg?resize=150,73 150w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/gettyimages-585093581.jpg?resize=300,146 300w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/gettyimages-585093581.jpg?resize=768,373 768w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/gettyimages-585093581.jpg?resize=680,330 680w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/gettyimages-585093581.jpg?resize=1536,746 1536w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/gettyimages-585093581.jpg?resize=2048,995 2048w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/gettyimages-585093581.jpg?resize=50,24 50w" sizes="(max-width: 680px) 100vw, 680px" /><p id="caption-attachment-1647845" class="wp-caption-text"><strong>Image Credits:</strong> Ian Cuming / Getty Images</p></div></p>
<p>I watch all the TV that exists in the world and the show that changed my life the most has been Formula 1: Drive to Survive. Countless articles have been written about how the Netflix Effect has made an impact on Formula 1 as a sport, so I won’t do that here. All I’ll say is that Formula 1 is an intricate, complex, fascinating sport and the best bridge to understanding it is to learn about the drivers and team principals on a more personal level, which this series does very well. Also, it’s worth saying that 2021 has been the most interesting and competitive season of Formula 1 in a long, long time and I can’t wait to see how the behind-the-scenes narrative unfolds on the next seasons of Drive to Survive.</p>
<hr />
<h2>Natasha Mascarenhas</h2>
<h3>Wired headphones</h3>
<p><div id="attachment_2240227" style="width: 690px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-2240227" loading="lazy" class="size-large wp-image-2240227" src="https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/GettyImages-97970430.jpg?w=680" alt="Image of white headphones hanging against a blue background." width="680" height="462" srcset="https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/GettyImages-97970430.jpg 5070w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/GettyImages-97970430.jpg?resize=150,102 150w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/GettyImages-97970430.jpg?resize=300,204 300w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/GettyImages-97970430.jpg?resize=768,522 768w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/GettyImages-97970430.jpg?resize=680,462 680w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/GettyImages-97970430.jpg?resize=1536,1044 1536w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/GettyImages-97970430.jpg?resize=2048,1392 2048w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/GettyImages-97970430.jpg?resize=50,34 50w" sizes="(max-width: 680px) 100vw, 680px" /><p id="caption-attachment-2240227" class="wp-caption-text"><strong>Image Credits:</strong> <a href="https://www.gettyimages.com/search/photographer?family=creative&photographer=Martin+Barraud" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Martin Barraud <span class="screen-reader-text">(opens in a new window)</span></a> / Getty Images</p></div></p>
<p>Airpods feel super 2018, and that’s not just because I got my pair that year. With the rise of audio rooms on Clubhouse and Twitter, I’ve resorted back to my old wired headphones for clearer voice quality. It’s simply icing on the cake that I never have to charge them.</p>
<h3>Farmer’s market tomatoes</h3>
<p><div id="attachment_1301574" style="width: 690px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1301574" loading="lazy" class="size-large wp-image-1301574" src="https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/shutterstock_281907233.jpg?w=680" alt="" width="680" height="454" srcset="https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/shutterstock_281907233.jpg 1000w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/shutterstock_281907233.jpg?resize=150,100 150w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/shutterstock_281907233.jpg?resize=300,200 300w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/shutterstock_281907233.jpg?resize=768,512 768w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/shutterstock_281907233.jpg?resize=680,454 680w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/shutterstock_281907233.jpg?resize=50,33 50w" sizes="(max-width: 680px) 100vw, 680px" /><p id="caption-attachment-1301574" class="wp-caption-text"><strong>Image Credits:</strong> <a href="http://www.shutterstock.com/gallery-3052547p1.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">JNix <span class="screen-reader-text">(opens in a new window)</span></a> / <a href="http://www.shutterstock.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Shutterstock <span class="screen-reader-text">(opens in a new window)</span></a></p></div></p>
<p>As someone who price compares everything – and walks an extra mile just to pay 50 cents less on almond milk – I’ve always been pretty neutral on splurging at farmer’s markets. Over this past year, though, my partner and I have begun ending our long runs at a San Francisco farmer’s market to indulge in farm fresh tomatoes. Unlike, say, bell peppers, fresh tomatoes taste truly different and, coming from your frugal friend, are always worth the few extra bucks. Plus, the guy who offers free samples always makes my day.</p>
<h3>Griefbacon</h3>
<p><img loading="lazy" class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-2251375" src="https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Griefbacon.jpg?w=403" alt="" width="403" height="234" srcset="https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Griefbacon.jpg 403w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Griefbacon.jpg?resize=150,87 150w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Griefbacon.jpg?resize=300,174 300w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Griefbacon.jpg?resize=50,29 50w" sizes="(max-width: 403px) 100vw, 403px" /></p>
<p>Are there some writers whose words inspire you to write more? For me that person is Helena Fitzgerald, the author of <a href="https://griefbacon.substack.com">Griefbacon</a> (aka, the only Substack I currently pay money to read). Her “long, weird essays” make me feel heard in ways I didn’t even know I craved, capturing the true definition of holidays and the importance of rooms.</p>
<hr />
<h2>Devin Coldewey</h2>
<h3>Backpacking</h3>
<p><div id="attachment_1063914" style="width: 690px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1063914" loading="lazy" class="size-large wp-image-1063914" src="https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/shutterstock_132468212.jpg?w=680" alt="" width="680" height="453" srcset="https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/shutterstock_132468212.jpg 1472w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/shutterstock_132468212.jpg?resize=150,100 150w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/shutterstock_132468212.jpg?resize=300,200 300w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/shutterstock_132468212.jpg?resize=768,512 768w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/shutterstock_132468212.jpg?resize=680,453 680w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/shutterstock_132468212.jpg?resize=50,33 50w" sizes="(max-width: 680px) 100vw, 680px" /><p id="caption-attachment-1063914" class="wp-caption-text"><strong>Image Credits:</strong> <a href="http://www.shutterstock.com/gallery-1451693p1.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Wanphen Chawarung <span class="screen-reader-text">(opens in a new window)</span></a></p></div></p>
<p>I’ve gone car-camping for years and loved it, and only recently decided to try out a bit of real backpacking. Hiking ten miles somewhere beautiful and wild with a couple good friends and everything you need on your back is unlike anything else. Plus I love to obsess over gear and I live like half a mile from REI. I’m amazed it took me this long.</p>
<h3>Emahoy Tsegué-Maryam Guèbrou</h3>
<p><iframe class="youtube-player" width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/_6V1uTFIPnk?version=3&rel=1&showsearch=0&showinfo=1&iv_load_policy=1&fs=1&hl=en-US&autohide=2&wmode=transparent" allowfullscreen="true" style="border:0;" sandbox="allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation"></iframe></p>
<p>I came across this remarkable pianist in a list of must-listen jazz recordings. The first girl to be sent abroad from Ethiopia for her education (among other firsts for women there,) she returned only to become a prisoner of war in the ’30s and afterwards proceeded to hide her musical light under a bushel for several decades. Guèbrou’s compositions, only recently recorded, are somewhere between blues and Chopin, unique and strange but virtuosic and incredibly compelling.</p>
<h3>Genshin Impact</h3>
<p><div id="attachment_2121582" style="width: 690px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-2121582" loading="lazy" class="size-large wp-image-2121582" src="https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/genshin-impact-first-week-revenue-header.jpg?w=680" alt="" width="680" height="399" srcset="https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/genshin-impact-first-week-revenue-header.jpg 1450w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/genshin-impact-first-week-revenue-header.jpg?resize=150,88 150w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/genshin-impact-first-week-revenue-header.jpg?resize=300,176 300w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/genshin-impact-first-week-revenue-header.jpg?resize=768,450 768w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/genshin-impact-first-week-revenue-header.jpg?resize=680,399 680w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/genshin-impact-first-week-revenue-header.jpg?resize=50,29 50w" sizes="(max-width: 680px) 100vw, 680px" /><p id="caption-attachment-2121582" class="wp-caption-text"><strong>Image Credits:</strong> Genshin Impact</p></div></p>
<p>OK OK, nerd alert. This free to play game draws a lot of fire for its gambling mechanics and anime waifus and husbandos. But I’ve passed many a very pleasant hour just rambling around its enormous map, collecting treasure, solving puzzles, and fighting monsters… because those things are fun and games are supposed to be fun. It’s been a real balm during stressful times.</p>
<hr />
<h2>Alex Wilhelm</h2>
<h3>Naps</h3>
<p><img loading="lazy" class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-980106" src="https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/nap.gif?w=320" alt="" width="320" height="180" /></p>
<p>I turn 33 next year. I actually forgot how old I was yesterday. My spouse noted that we were 31 during a conversation, but I am 32. Her birthday is 5 months after mine, which means for half the year she gets to call me old. But I forgot that I was 32. I just nodded, yes, we are 31. Anyway, naps. Naps are good for my aging body as I wake up, pour coffee into my ears, and slump to the desk. This means that my spine has become an ampersand, and my brain overcooked noodle mash. I combat both issues by taking 20 minute naps at times. This clears my head, and unfogs my eyes. Don’t tell TechCrunch though.</p>
<h3>Grand Strategy Video Games</h3>
<p><div id="attachment_2251376" style="width: 690px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-2251376" loading="lazy" class="size-large wp-image-2251376" src="https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Crusader-Kings.jpg?w=680" alt="" width="680" height="381" srcset="https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Crusader-Kings.jpg 1494w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Crusader-Kings.jpg?resize=150,84 150w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Crusader-Kings.jpg?resize=300,168 300w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Crusader-Kings.jpg?resize=768,430 768w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Crusader-Kings.jpg?resize=680,381 680w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Crusader-Kings.jpg?resize=50,28 50w" sizes="(max-width: 680px) 100vw, 680px" /><p id="caption-attachment-2251376" class="wp-caption-text"><strong>Image Credits:</strong> Paradox</p></div></p>
<p>One of the best parts of being married is that being Not Cool loses some of its sting. I can now lean fully into the more dweeby elements of my personality and not worry about it.</p>
<p>Enter Grand Strategy Games. Imagine a game that is insanely complex, while also being unpredictable, frustrating, and slow-moving. Sound good? Hell yeah it sounds good. I have spent more time playing Crusader Kings III in the last year than I want to admit. If we throw in a few other titles it’s even more embarrassing.</p>
<p>But don’t worry, I’ve got a lot back from the effort. For example, I once conquered all the Christian holy sites of the Old World, created a new Christian faith that was female-dominated instead of male-led, and then converted the world en masse to a gender-flipped history of religion. More often I get murdered by rude subjects, but hey.</p>
<h3>Airheads</h3>
<p><div id="attachment_2251377" style="width: 690px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-2251377" loading="lazy" class="size-large wp-image-2251377" src="https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/airheads.jpg?w=680" alt="" width="680" height="319" srcset="https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/airheads.jpg 782w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/airheads.jpg?resize=150,70 150w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/airheads.jpg?resize=300,141 300w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/airheads.jpg?resize=768,360 768w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/airheads.jpg?resize=680,319 680w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/airheads.jpg?resize=50,23 50w" sizes="(max-width: 680px) 100vw, 680px" /><p id="caption-attachment-2251377" class="wp-caption-text"><strong>Image Credits:</strong> Airheads</p></div></p>
<p>Playing complex video games, however, can be tiring. So you have to keep your energy up. Enter sugar. Namely condensed, artificially-flavored sugar in the form of Airheads. Anyway, I’m off to floss again.</p>
<hr />
<h2>Kirsten Korosec</h2>
<h3>Yoga</h3>
<p><div id="attachment_1522714" style="width: 690px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1522714" loading="lazy" class="size-large wp-image-1522714" src="https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/gettyimages-536906771.jpg?w=680" alt="" width="680" height="453" srcset="https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/gettyimages-536906771.jpg 5760w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/gettyimages-536906771.jpg?resize=150,100 150w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/gettyimages-536906771.jpg?resize=300,200 300w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/gettyimages-536906771.jpg?resize=768,512 768w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/gettyimages-536906771.jpg?resize=680,453 680w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/gettyimages-536906771.jpg?resize=1536,1024 1536w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/gettyimages-536906771.jpg?resize=2048,1365 2048w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/gettyimages-536906771.jpg?resize=50,33 50w" sizes="(max-width: 680px) 100vw, 680px" /><p id="caption-attachment-1522714" class="wp-caption-text"><strong>Image Credits:</strong> Hero Images</p></div></p>
<p>Nothing has been quite as effective at removing me from my COVID slump – figuratively and literally – as yoga. It was nothing short of a savior even on days when the news cycle and the day-to-day drag of the pandemic threatened to push me over the edge.</p>
<h3>Lofi Air Traffic Control</h3>
<p><div id="attachment_2251378" style="width: 690px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-2251378" loading="lazy" class="size-large wp-image-2251378" src="https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/lofi.jpg?w=680" alt="" width="680" height="416" srcset="https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/lofi.jpg 904w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/lofi.jpg?resize=150,92 150w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/lofi.jpg?resize=300,184 300w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/lofi.jpg?resize=768,470 768w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/lofi.jpg?resize=680,416 680w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/lofi.jpg?resize=50,31 50w" sizes="(max-width: 680px) 100vw, 680px" /><p id="caption-attachment-2251378" class="wp-caption-text"><strong>Image Credits:</strong> Lofi ATC</p></div></p>
<p>What happens when you combine communication from air traffic controllers and lo-fi tunes? The most <a href="https://www.lofiatc.com/?icao=kdal">weirdly calming music stream ever</a>. Hardware editor Brian Heater turned me onto this and at first I laughed. But really, it’s great. You can even pick what airport to hear chat from and if you go to the settings you can determine the balance of music to communication.</p>
<h3>Community Supported Agriculture</h3>
<div class="mceTemp"></div>
<p><div id="attachment_1822512" style="width: 690px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1822512" loading="lazy" class="size-large wp-image-1822512" src="https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/GettyImages-764778477.jpg?w=680" alt="" width="680" height="440" srcset="https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/GettyImages-764778477.jpg 2153w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/GettyImages-764778477.jpg?resize=150,97 150w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/GettyImages-764778477.jpg?resize=300,194 300w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/GettyImages-764778477.jpg?resize=768,497 768w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/GettyImages-764778477.jpg?resize=680,440 680w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/GettyImages-764778477.jpg?resize=1536,994 1536w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/GettyImages-764778477.jpg?resize=2048,1325 2048w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/GettyImages-764778477.jpg?resize=50,32 50w" sizes="(max-width: 680px) 100vw, 680px" /><p id="caption-attachment-1822512" class="wp-caption-text"><strong>Image Credits:</strong> <a href="https://www.gettyimages.com/search/photographer?photographer=ValeriyaTikhonova&family=creative&excludenudity=true&sort=best&agreements=pa:57045&license=rf,rm&page=1#license" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Valeriya Tikhonova <span class="screen-reader-text">(opens in a new window)</span></a> / Getty Images</p></div></p>
<p>I spend a lot of time in front of a computer and not enough in the garden. Luckily, I support my local CSA, which means every week I am able to pick up fresh, seasonal veggies and even some fruit from local farmers. We took a break on the CSA for a bit, but I’m glad we’re back, even on the weeks that are heavy on turnips.</p>
<hr />
<h2>Rebecca Bellan</h2>
<h3>Brain.fm</h3>
<p><div id="attachment_2251398" style="width: 690px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-2251398" loading="lazy" class="size-large wp-image-2251398" src="https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/brainfm.jpg?w=680" alt="" width="680" height="341" srcset="https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/brainfm.jpg 870w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/brainfm.jpg?resize=150,75 150w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/brainfm.jpg?resize=300,150 300w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/brainfm.jpg?resize=768,385 768w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/brainfm.jpg?resize=680,341 680w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/brainfm.jpg?resize=50,25 50w" sizes="(max-width: 680px) 100vw, 680px" /><p id="caption-attachment-2251398" class="wp-caption-text"><strong>Image Credits:</strong> brain.fm</p></div></p>
<p>Back in journalism school, I once wrote an article called ‘This is your brain on music’ that explained how music stimulates the reward centers in our brains which can help us focus. For a long time I was a regular on YouTube channels for lo-fi tunes, but then I found <a href="https://www.brain.fm">Brain.fm</a>, which plays specially designed LYRIC-LESS music to help you focus, or relax or meditate. The company holds patents on its tech that is meant to elicit strong neural phase locking, which they say allows “populations of neurons to engage in various kinds of coordinated activity.”</p>
<p>Whether it’s placebo or real science, all I know is that I don’t truly start writing until I have my headphones on and this beautiful, human/AI-generated music playing in my brain.</p>
<h3>Gardening</h3>
<p><div id="attachment_1911601" style="width: 690px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1911601" loading="lazy" class="size-large wp-image-1911601" src="https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/GettyImages-953168856.jpg?w=680" alt="seedlings sprouts plants" width="680" height="454" srcset="https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/GettyImages-953168856.jpg 2120w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/GettyImages-953168856.jpg?resize=150,100 150w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/GettyImages-953168856.jpg?resize=300,200 300w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/GettyImages-953168856.jpg?resize=768,512 768w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/GettyImages-953168856.jpg?resize=680,454 680w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/GettyImages-953168856.jpg?resize=1536,1024 1536w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/GettyImages-953168856.jpg?resize=2048,1366 2048w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/GettyImages-953168856.jpg?resize=50,33 50w" sizes="(max-width: 680px) 100vw, 680px" /><p id="caption-attachment-1911601" class="wp-caption-text"><strong>Image Credits:</strong> <a href="https://www.gettyimages.com/search/photographer?family=creative&photographer=Witthaya+Prasongsin" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Witthaya Prasongsin <span class="screen-reader-text">(opens in a new window)</span></a> / Getty Images under a Witthaya Prasongsin on Getty license.</p></div></p>
<p>I recently moved to Auckland, New Zealand, into a house that had some semblance of a garden. It was a mess, but it was also clear that someone, at some point, loved this garden.</p>
<p>Beneath the overgrown weeds, I found patches of parsley, arugula, fennel. Over the last several months, I’ve cleared away the weeds and set to work giving the beds some love with fresh compost that my house collects. There is something so energizing and calming about getting your hands in the dirt everyday, even if it’s just to pull some weeds out of the ground.</p>
<hr />
<h2>Amanda Silberling</h2>
<h3>Libby</h3>
<p><div id="attachment_2251379" style="width: 556px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-2251379" loading="lazy" class="size-large wp-image-2251379" src="https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Libby.jpg?w=546" alt="" width="546" height="229" srcset="https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Libby.jpg 546w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Libby.jpg?resize=150,63 150w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Libby.jpg?resize=300,126 300w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Libby.jpg?resize=50,21 50w" sizes="(max-width: 546px) 100vw, 546px" /><p id="caption-attachment-2251379" class="wp-caption-text"><strong>Image Credits:</strong> Overdrive</p></div></p>
<p>As a famous cartoon aardvark once said, having fun isn’t hard when you’ve got a library card. But Libby makes it even easier.</p>
<p>Libby, owned by Overdrive, is a phone app that lets you borrow ebooks and audiobooks from your local library on the go. It’s completely free. The quality of your Libby experience probably depends on how good a catalog your local library has — but even if it only has a few of the books on your wishlist, you’re still saving some cash. For times when the library’s catalog lets me down, I pay for a subscription to Libro.fm, an Audible competitor that supports independent bookstores rather than Jeff Bezos. Sometimes, believe it or not, I even buy physical books. But I love libraries, I love the Libby app, and I love audiobooks.</p>
<h2>Darrell Etherington</h2>
<h3>Analogue Pocket</h3>
<p><div id="attachment_2022637" style="width: 690px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-2022637" loading="lazy" class="size-large wp-image-2022637" src="https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/3-Analogue-Pocket-All-Angles.jpg?w=680" alt="" width="680" height="382" srcset="https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/3-Analogue-Pocket-All-Angles.jpg 2400w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/3-Analogue-Pocket-All-Angles.jpg?resize=150,84 150w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/3-Analogue-Pocket-All-Angles.jpg?resize=300,168 300w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/3-Analogue-Pocket-All-Angles.jpg?resize=768,431 768w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/3-Analogue-Pocket-All-Angles.jpg?resize=680,382 680w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/3-Analogue-Pocket-All-Angles.jpg?resize=1536,862 1536w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/3-Analogue-Pocket-All-Angles.jpg?resize=2048,1149 2048w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/3-Analogue-Pocket-All-Angles.jpg?resize=50,28 50w" sizes="(max-width: 680px) 100vw, 680px" /><p id="caption-attachment-2022637" class="wp-caption-text"><strong>Image Credits:</strong> Analogue</p></div></p>
<p>This is the greatest game console there is, bar none. I thought I was a pretty heavy Game Boy player back in the day, but using Analogue’s new retro console to play GB, GBC and GBA cartridges I scrounge from various local retro gaming shops has been a true delight and also a revelation that there’s a lot out there that I missed during the OG Game Boy heyday that more than holds up today.</p>
<h3>Traeger Ironwood 885 Pellet Grill</h3>
<p><div id="attachment_2251380" style="width: 690px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-2251380" loading="lazy" class="size-large wp-image-2251380" src="https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/traeger.jpg?w=680" alt="" width="680" height="418" srcset="https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/traeger.jpg 1352w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/traeger.jpg?resize=150,92 150w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/traeger.jpg?resize=300,184 300w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/traeger.jpg?resize=768,472 768w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/traeger.jpg?resize=680,418 680w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/traeger.jpg?resize=50,31 50w" sizes="(max-width: 680px) 100vw, 680px" /><p id="caption-attachment-2251380" class="wp-caption-text"><strong>Image Credits:</strong> Traeger</p></div></p>
<p>I don’t remember exactly how or why I got interested in low and slow smoking and grilling, but the pandemic really kicked it up a notch in terms of how into it I am. That’s why I was thrilled to get my hands on the Traeger Ironwood 885, a pellet smoker with all the bells and whistles you could ever ask for, including remote control and monitoring via the excellent Traeger app. The Ironwood series adds seriously useful features like an insulated cooking barrel for all-weather smoking, and a built-in pellet sensor that lets you know when you need to top up for those truly all-day cooks.</p>
<h3>Canon EOS R5 + RF 50mm F1.2 L lens</h3>
<p><div id="attachment_2251381" style="width: 690px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-2251381" loading="lazy" class="size-large wp-image-2251381" src="https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/canon-r5.jpg?w=680" alt="" width="680" height="439" srcset="https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/canon-r5.jpg 685w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/canon-r5.jpg?resize=150,97 150w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/canon-r5.jpg?resize=300,194 300w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/canon-r5.jpg?resize=680,439 680w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/canon-r5.jpg?resize=50,32 50w" sizes="(max-width: 680px) 100vw, 680px" /><p id="caption-attachment-2251381" class="wp-caption-text"><strong>Image Credits:</strong> Canon</p></div></p>
<p> </p>
<p>Canon may have gotten off to a slow start in the full-frame mirrorless world, but it’s hitting its stride with its most recent cameras. The R5, while originally released in 2020, is still an amazing camera offering fantastic ergonomics and handling, as well as amazing image quality. As a longtime Canon fan before switching over to Sony in recent years, it’s amazing to be getting that fantastic Canon color science in a camera that feels like it’s finally caught up.</p>
<hr />
<h2>Brian Heater</h2>
<h3>L’Rain – Fatigue</h3>
<p><div id="attachment_2251382" style="width: 527px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-2251382" loading="lazy" class="size-large wp-image-2251382" src="https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/lrain.jpg?w=517" alt="" width="517" height="375" srcset="https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/lrain.jpg 517w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/lrain.jpg?resize=150,109 150w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/lrain.jpg?resize=300,218 300w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/lrain.jpg?resize=50,36 50w" sizes="(max-width: 517px) 100vw, 517px" /><p id="caption-attachment-2251382" class="wp-caption-text"><strong>Image Credits:</strong> L’Rain</p></div></p>
<p>I can’t really overstate the degree to which music has gotten me through these past two years. And, thankfully, in spite of everything else being entirely miserable there continues to be a lot of great stuff, consistently reminding us of how much we undervalue artists as a society. L’Rain flew completely under my radar with her debut. A musician I recently interviewed namechecked Fatigue, and I was blown away.</p>
<p>As a piece of music, it’s wonderfully impossible to categorize, a small army of musicians creating songs that are intentionally difficult to define, peppered with found sound. It alternately soothes and subverts – music that’s challenging but not difficult. Encompassing on first listen and rewarding with subsequent spins.</p>
<p>(I didn’t have nearly as much time to work on this list as I’d like, so I’m going to cheat and <a href="https://open.spotify.com/playlist/74jrMiIS35BFOIhE3WkAEX?si=3327b9bccd0743d9">toss in a link to a Spotify playlist I made of my favorite music of the year</a>, including my top track from Fatigue. I hope Greg doesn’t get mad.)</p>
<hr />
<h2>Natasha Lomas</h2>
<h3>Yak Tack</h3>
<p><div id="attachment_2251383" style="width: 690px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-2251383" loading="lazy" class="size-large wp-image-2251383" src="https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/yak-tack.jpg?w=680" alt="" width="680" height="406" srcset="https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/yak-tack.jpg 777w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/yak-tack.jpg?resize=150,90 150w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/yak-tack.jpg?resize=300,179 300w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/yak-tack.jpg?resize=768,459 768w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/yak-tack.jpg?resize=680,406 680w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/yak-tack.jpg?resize=50,30 50w" sizes="(max-width: 680px) 100vw, 680px" /><p id="caption-attachment-2251383" class="wp-caption-text"><strong>Image Credits:</strong> Yak Tack</p></div></p>
<p>Since I discovered it back in April, <a href="https://yaktack.com">Yak Tack</a> has managed to do what few apps can: Stick around on my phone and actually get used!</p>
<p>As a word nerd it is indubitably my kind of app. It’s both pocket dictionary (for quick & easy look-ups) but also — and here comes the automagic! — aide memoire for making newly encountered vocab stick. It applies a system of adaptive space repetition to help hack the brain’s memory banks (in the nicest possible way). And if you fail to confirm you revisited a word on schedule it’ll email you the gentlest lil’ reminder: “Don’t forget about your words!”</p>
<p>Yak Tack is a passion project for its developer creator, Jeremy Thomas. He also made a purely email-based ‘no frills’ version (without the app’s light social features). So here’s a big thanks — for a great side hustle and to surviving 2021 one (new) word at a time!</p>
<h3>@mattgreencomedy</h3>
<p>Talking of survival, coping with another year of UK politics has been an increasingly perilous pastime since ~2016. But 2021 has really tested the limits of what a sane populace will accept from its ‘elected representatives’. Still, Boris Johnson’s grifting Conservative government of none-of-the-talents has had one upside: It’s been pure comedy gold (‘if you don’t laugh you’ll cry’ etc etc). All the mixed messaging, daylight grifting, dubious denials and damaging delays around Covid policy; all the rule-breaking scandals, excruciating leaked videos, perpetual internecine Tory warefare by WhatsApp Group and the cringing parade of leaked ‘it wasn’t a party’ party photos (mostly you’re just glad you weren’t there) have provided rich pickings for British satirist, <a href="https://twitter.com/mattgreencomedy">Matt Green</a>, who’s been a bright light in Twitter’s dark places this year.</p>
<h3>Continuous Glucose Monitoring</h3>
<p><div id="attachment_2190299" style="width: 690px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-2190299" loading="lazy" class="size-large wp-image-2190299" src="https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Ultrahuman-wearable-2.jpg?w=680" alt="" width="680" height="359" srcset="https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Ultrahuman-wearable-2.jpg 1024w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Ultrahuman-wearable-2.jpg?resize=150,79 150w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Ultrahuman-wearable-2.jpg?resize=300,158 300w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Ultrahuman-wearable-2.jpg?resize=768,405 768w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Ultrahuman-wearable-2.jpg?resize=680,359 680w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Ultrahuman-wearable-2.jpg?resize=50,26 50w" sizes="(max-width: 680px) 100vw, 680px" /><p id="caption-attachment-2190299" class="wp-caption-text"><strong>Image Credits:</strong> Ultrahuman</p></div></p>
<p>For a few weeks this year I’ve been testing a “metabolic fitness” service (Ultrahuman’s ‘Cyborg’) — full review to come! — which involves the use of a continuous glucose monitor (CGM) to provide real-time feedback on your blood glucose levels via an app. Many factors can affect blood sugar (diet, exercise, stress etc) and there are a lot of questions over how to best interpret this kind of data but — overall — it’s been a fascinating glimpse of where quantified health is headed and an addictive taster of biohacking. I think I’m hooked!</p>
<hr />
<h2>Anna Heim</h2>
<h3>Puzzling</h3>
<div class="mceTemp"></div>
<div class="mceTemp"></div>
<p><div id="attachment_2251403" style="width: 690px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-2251403" loading="lazy" class="size-large wp-image-2251403" src="https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/wentworth.jpg?w=680" alt="" width="680" height="416" srcset="https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/wentworth.jpg 801w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/wentworth.jpg?resize=150,92 150w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/wentworth.jpg?resize=300,184 300w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/wentworth.jpg?resize=768,470 768w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/wentworth.jpg?resize=680,416 680w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/wentworth.jpg?resize=50,31 50w" sizes="(max-width: 680px) 100vw, 680px" /><p id="caption-attachment-2251403" class="wp-caption-text"><strong>Image Credits:</strong> Wentworth Puzzles</p></div></p>
<p>It all started with Wallace and Gromit: I am a huge fan, so when I heard that Aardman had partnered with a British puzzle manufacturer for a Christmas special, I knew I had to get one. Because of high demand, my puzzle arrived in early January, and it ended up shaping my 2021: I loved it so much that puzzles became my hobby all throughout the year, and hopefully for the rest of my life. It’s doing wonders for my anxiety levels, and it’s also very fun – especially jigsaws with tons of little details, like drawings by Guillermo Mordillo or Sempé, or wooden ones with cutely shaped pieces, known as whimsies.</p>
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";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:6:{s:0:"";a:7:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:43:"Microsoft pulls in-person CES 2022 presence";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:78:"https://techcrunch.com/2021/12/24/microsoft-pulls-in-person-ces-2022-presence/";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:8:"comments";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:86:"https://techcrunch.com/2021/12/24/microsoft-pulls-in-person-ces-2022-presence/#respond";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Fri, 24 Dec 2021 21:27:10 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:8:"category";a:5:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:6:"Events";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}i:1;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:8:"Hardware";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}i:2;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:3:"CES";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}i:3;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:8:"ces 2022";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}i:4;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:9:"Microsoft";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:33:"https://techcrunch.com/?p=2251384";s:7:"attribs";a:1:{s:0:"";a:1:{s:11:"isPermaLink";s:5:"false";}}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:363:"GM, Google, Lenovo, Intel, T-Mobile, AT&T, Meta, Twitter, Amazon, TikTok, Pinterest, and now Microsoft. The software giant just became the latest big name to announce that it will no long be attending CES in-person in less than two weeks’ time. “The health and well-being of our employees is our ultimate priority,” the company said in […]";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:12:"Brian Heater";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:40:"http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/";a:1:{s:7:"encoded";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:3895:"<p id="speakable-summary">GM, Google, Lenovo, Intel, T-Mobile, AT&T, Meta, Twitter, Amazon, TikTok, Pinterest, and now Microsoft. The software giant <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2021/12/24/22853157/ces-microsoft-canceled-omicron-covid">just became</a> the latest big name to announce that it will no long be attending CES in-person in less than two weeks’ time.</p>
<p>“The health and well-being of our employees is our ultimate priority,” the company said in a statement provided to TechCrunch. “After reviewing the latest data on the rapidly evolving COVID environment, Microsoft has decided not to participate in-person at CES 2022. We will continue with our digital CES plans on both the Microsoft Partner Innovation Experience and Automotive Press Kit, where we’ll highlight our partners’ newest devices, solutions, and innovations. We look forward to continuing to participate remotely.”</p>
<p>What’s been billed as a return to form for the consumer electronics industry following nearly two years of virtual shows has quickly been losing steam over the past week, as concerns around the omicron variant – coupled with a potential holiday travel spike – continue to mount.</p><div id="tc-target-mid-article-2251384" class="tc-target-mid-article ad-unit--size-auto"></div>
<div class="embed breakout">
<blockquote class="wp-embedded-content" data-secret="la0KRI0lSq"><p><a href="https://techcrunch.com/2021/12/23/google-cancels-ces-show-presence-amid-omicron-concerns/">Google cancels CES in-person presence, event organizers going ahead with show</a></p></blockquote>
<p><iframe class="wp-embedded-content" sandbox="allow-scripts" security="restricted" title="“Google cancels CES in-person presence, event organizers going ahead with show” — TechCrunch" src="https://techcrunch.com/2021/12/23/google-cancels-ces-show-presence-amid-omicron-concerns/embed/#?secret=la0KRI0lSq" data-secret="la0KRI0lSq" width="800" height="450" frameborder="0" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no"></iframe></div>
<p>CES’ governing body, the CTA, remains steadfast in its decision to continue the physical show, as planned. Last night, the organization reached out to TechCrunch with a new comment from its President, Gary Shapiro, following fast on the heels of Google and General Motors’ rapid announcements,</p>
<blockquote><p>Over 2200 companies are confirmed to participate in person at CES 2022 in Las Vegas. Our focus remains on convening the tech industry and giving those who cannot attend in person the ability to experience the magic of CES digitally. CES 2022 will provide an opportunity for companies from around the world, both large and small, to launch products, build brands and form partnerships. Given CES’ comprehensive health measures — vaccination requirement, masking and availability of COVID-19 tests — coupled with lower attendance and social distancing measures, we are confident that attendees and exhibitors can have a socially distanced but worthwhile and productive event in Las Vegas, or while experiencing it online.</p></blockquote>
<p>An earlier statement from the company offered two days prior noted that back outs had only impacted roughly 7% of its exhibitor space. The CTA has yet to offer an updated figure, in light of some rapid extractions by big name companies, along with smaller startups who have opted for a similar abundance of caution.</p><div class="piano-inline-promo"></div>
<p>A number of major companies currently appear poised to continue their in-person participation, including, Samsung, LG,  BMW, Qualcomm and Sony.</p>
<p><a href="https://techcrunch.com/tag/ces-2022/?utm_source=internal&utm_medium=footer-banner"><img src="https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/ces-2022-banner.jpg" alt="Read more about CES 2022 on TechCrunch" /></a></p>
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";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:6:{s:0:"";a:7:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:90:"TechCrunch+ roundup: Ahrefs’ homepage, digital health trends, 2022 marketing predictions";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:118:"https://techcrunch.com/2021/12/24/techcrunch-roundup-ahrefs-homepage-digital-health-trends-2022-marketing-predictions/";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:8:"comments";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:126:"https://techcrunch.com/2021/12/24/techcrunch-roundup-ahrefs-homepage-digital-health-trends-2022-marketing-predictions/#respond";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Fri, 24 Dec 2021 19:16:12 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:8:"category";a:12:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:9:"Diversity";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}i:1;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:16:"Growth Marketing";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}i:2;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:6:"Health";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}i:3;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:7:"Lawyers";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}i:4;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:8:"Startups";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}i:5;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:2:"TC";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}i:6;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:15:"Venture Capital";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}i:7;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:16:"Verified Experts";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}i:8;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:25:"corporate venture capital";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}i:9;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:14:"digital health";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}i:10;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:10:"EC roundup";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}i:11;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:16:"growth marketing";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:33:"https://techcrunch.com/?p=2251359";s:7:"attribs";a:1:{s:0:"";a:1:{s:11:"isPermaLink";s:5:"false";}}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:345:"As we get closer to the end of the year, we’re running more stories that look back at topics we examined in depth over the last several months, and several that offer well-informed predictions for the year ahead. This week, Bill Taranto, president of Merck’s Global Health Innovation Fund, wrote a TechCrunch+ article that explored […]";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:15:"Walter Thompson";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:40:"http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/";a:1:{s:7:"encoded";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:19110:"<p id="speakable-summary">As we get closer to the end of the year, we’re running more stories that look back at topics we examined in depth over the last several months, and several that offer well-informed predictions for the year ahead.</p>
<p>This week, Bill Taranto, president of Merck’s Global Health Innovation Fund, wrote a TechCrunch+ article that explored <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2021/12/20/the-growing-power-of-digital-healthcare-6-trends-to-watch-in-2022/">six digital health trends his corporate VC fund is tracking as we enter 2022</a>.</p>
<p>Between Q1 and Q3 2021, healthcare startups landed $21.3 billion in VC, “dwarfing the previous record of $14.6 billion set in 2020,” writes Taranto.</p><div id="tc-target-mid-article-2251359" class="tc-target-mid-article ad-unit--size-auto"></div>
<hr />
<p style="text-align: center;"><i>Full TechCrunch+ articles are only available to members<br />
<a href="https://techcrunch.com/subscribe/">Use discount code <strong>TCPLUSROUNDUP</strong></a> to save 20% off a one- or two-year subscription</i></p>
<hr />
<p>“Companies with strong offerings, management teams and balance sheets are poised to capture tremendous value.”</p>
<p>According to Crunchbase, Merck GHI has made 75 investments with 22 exits so far, including companies that span everything from drug discovery to diabetes detection.</p>
<p>Artificial intelligence, IoT and data analytics are the primary drivers of innovation, says Taranto, “especially with data becoming the central currency of healthcare.”</p>
<p>We’re publishing on a light schedule between now and New Year’s, but we’ll be back with another roundup on Friday, December 31 to close out 2021.</p>
<p>Thanks very much for reading TechCrunch+, and I hope you have a wonderful Christmas weekend!</p>
<p>Walter Thompson<br />
Senior Editor, TechCrunch+<br />
<a href="https://www.twitter.com/yourprotagonist">@yourprotagonist</a></p>
<div class="embed breakout">
<blockquote class="wp-embedded-content" data-secret="2p0AByFGA9"><p><a href="https://techcrunch.com/2021/12/20/the-growing-power-of-digital-healthcare-6-trends-to-watch-in-2022/">The growing power of digital healthcare: 6 trends to watch in 2022</a></p></blockquote>
<p><iframe class="wp-embedded-content" sandbox="allow-scripts" security="restricted" title="“The growing power of digital healthcare: 6 trends to watch in 2022” — TechCrunch" src="https://techcrunch.com/2021/12/20/the-growing-power-of-digital-healthcare-6-trends-to-watch-in-2022/embed/#?secret=2p0AByFGA9" data-secret="2p0AByFGA9" width="800" height="450" frameborder="0" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no"></iframe></div>
<h2>10 growth marketing experts share their 2022 predictions and New Year’s resolutions</h2>
<p><div id="attachment_2250775" style="width: 1034px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-2250775" loading="lazy" class="wp-image-2250775 size-full" src="https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/GettyImages-1331311813.jpg" alt="Wooden blocks showing a hand turning wooden blocks that read 2021 into 2022" width="1024" height="684" srcset="https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/GettyImages-1331311813.jpg 1400w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/GettyImages-1331311813.jpg?resize=150,100 150w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/GettyImages-1331311813.jpg?resize=300,200 300w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/GettyImages-1331311813.jpg?resize=768,513 768w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/GettyImages-1331311813.jpg?resize=680,454 680w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/GettyImages-1331311813.jpg?resize=50,33 50w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /><p id="caption-attachment-2250775" class="wp-caption-text"><strong>Image Credits:</strong> <a href="https://www.gettyimages.com/search/photographer?family=creative&photographer=Nora+Carol+Photography" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Nora Carol Photography <span class="screen-reader-text">(opens in a new window)</span></a> / Getty Images</p></div></p>
<p>We reached out to 10 growth marketing experts to find how they were preparing for 2022 and to ask if they had any New Year’s resolutions to share.</p>
<p>The answers and advice we received were as varied as the people we polled, but nearly all of them indicated that learning — e.g., analytics training, getting started with AI tools, etc. — was high on their to-do list.</p>
<p>Here’s who we spoke to:</p>
<ul>
<li>Jonathan Martinez, founder, JMStrategy</li>
<li>Kate Adams, SVP of marketing, Validity</li>
<li>Richard Meyer, growth marketer, Tuff</li>
<li>Bas Willems, head of marketing, DataSnipper</li>
<li>Gus Ferguson and Alyssa Crankshaw, co-founders, Ascendant</li>
<li>Shane Hegde, founder and CEO, Air</li>
<li>Tracey Wallace, director of marketing, MarketerHire</li>
<li>Greg Sheppard, CMO, Templafy</li>
<li>Lauren Kelly, CMO, ThoughtExchange</li>
</ul>
<div class="embed breakout">
<blockquote class="wp-embedded-content" data-secret="nWSCvtY4AO"><p><a href="https://techcrunch.com/2021/12/23/10-growth-marketing-experts-share-their-2022-predictions-and-new-years-resolutions/">10 growth marketing experts share their 2022 predictions and New Year’s resolutions</a></p></blockquote>
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<h2>How does former Better.com CEO Vishal Garg still have a job?</h2>
<p><div id="attachment_2246003" style="width: 1034px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-2246003" loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-2246003" src="https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/VIshal-Garg.jpeg" alt="Better.com CEO taking time off" width="1024" height="723" srcset="https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/VIshal-Garg.jpeg 1087w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/VIshal-Garg.jpeg?resize=150,106 150w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/VIshal-Garg.jpeg?resize=300,212 300w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/VIshal-Garg.jpeg?resize=768,543 768w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/VIshal-Garg.jpeg?resize=680,480 680w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/VIshal-Garg.jpeg?resize=50,35 50w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /><p id="caption-attachment-2246003" class="wp-caption-text"><strong>Image Credits:</strong> Better.com</p></div></p>
<p>Former Better.com CEO Vishal Garg is now taking time off after laying off 9% of the company’s workforce a few weeks before its planned public market debut.</p><div class="piano-inline-promo"></div>
<p>The announcement was so poorly handled, the company soon hired a crisis management firm and eased Garg out of his leadership role after emails surfaced in which he berated investors.</p>
<p>Better.com says it has since hired an outside firm “to do a leadership and cultural assessment.”</p>
<p>Mary Ann Azevedo and Alex Wilhelm looked at the company’s corporate structure and found that investors have enough leverage to push the embattled founder overboard — which means they “must not be agitating for Garg’s complete removal.”</p>
<div class="embed breakout">
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<h2>Capital is a commodity</h2>
<p><div id="attachment_2251172" style="width: 1034px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-2251172" loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-2251172" src="https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/GettyImages-478110552.jpg" alt="packs of dollars on pallet isolated on white background" width="1024" height="676" srcset="https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/GettyImages-478110552.jpg 1400w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/GettyImages-478110552.jpg?resize=150,99 150w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/GettyImages-478110552.jpg?resize=300,198 300w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/GettyImages-478110552.jpg?resize=768,507 768w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/GettyImages-478110552.jpg?resize=680,449 680w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/GettyImages-478110552.jpg?resize=50,33 50w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /><p id="caption-attachment-2251172" class="wp-caption-text"><strong>Image Credits:</strong> <a href="https://www.gettyimages.com/search/photographer?family=creative&photographer=AlexLMX" target="_blank" rel="noopener">AlexLMX <span class="screen-reader-text">(opens in a new window)</span></a> / Getty Images</p></div></p>
<p>By July 2021, startup founders had raised $268.7 billion from global VCs, an amount that surpassed the previous year’s total.</p>
<p>When cash is this plentiful, “capital is a commodity,” according to Charlie Graham-Brown, partner and chief investments officer of Seedstars, and Daniela Moreno, the firm’s investments marketing manager.</p>
<p>In a post that walks founders through different VC platform styles and the value they can provide, the authors stipulate two rules:</p>
<ol>
<li>No individual or VC firm is good at everything.</li>
<li>What a startup needs the most will change over time.</li>
</ol>
<div class="embed breakout">
<blockquote class="wp-embedded-content" data-secret="kdE5Y1Zr6c"><p><a href="https://techcrunch.com/2021/12/23/capital-is-a-commodity/">Capital is a commodity</a></p></blockquote>
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<h2>Demand Curve: How Ahrefs’ homepage educates prospects to purchase</h2>
<p><div id="attachment_2249607" style="width: 1034px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-2249607" loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-2249607" src="https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/GettyImages-460689215.jpg" alt="Laptop computer engulfed in flames" width="1024" height="683" srcset="https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/GettyImages-460689215.jpg 1400w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/GettyImages-460689215.jpg?resize=150,100 150w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/GettyImages-460689215.jpg?resize=300,200 300w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/GettyImages-460689215.jpg?resize=768,512 768w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/GettyImages-460689215.jpg?resize=680,454 680w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/GettyImages-460689215.jpg?resize=50,33 50w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /><p id="caption-attachment-2249607" class="wp-caption-text"><strong>Image Credits:</strong> <a href="https://www.gettyimages.com/search/photographer?family=creative&photographer=PM+Images" target="_blank" rel="noopener">PM images <span class="screen-reader-text">(opens in a new window)</span></a> / Getty Images</p></div></p>
<p>Home pages with high conversion rates have one thing in common: they make it extremely easy for a customer to buy.</p>
<p>“People have short attention spans, so if your homepage is confusing, they’re going to leave,” writes Demand Curve Community Manager Joey Noble in his latest TechCrunch+ post.</p>
<p>In a detailed analysis of the homepage for SEO agency Ahrefs’, Noble explains how the site captures reader attention, reduces friction and increases desire.</p>
<div class="embed breakout">
<blockquote class="wp-embedded-content" data-secret="xcznInXDm7"><p><a href="https://techcrunch.com/2021/12/21/demand-curve-how-ahrefs-homepage-educates-prospects-to-purchase/">Demand Curve: How Ahrefs’ homepage educates prospects to purchase</a></p></blockquote>
<p><iframe class="wp-embedded-content" sandbox="allow-scripts" security="restricted" title="“Demand Curve: How Ahrefs’ homepage educates prospects to purchase” — TechCrunch" src="https://techcrunch.com/2021/12/21/demand-curve-how-ahrefs-homepage-educates-prospects-to-purchase/embed/#?secret=xcznInXDm7" data-secret="xcznInXDm7" width="800" height="450" frameborder="0" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no"></iframe></div>
<h2>Bitcoin is religion; web3 is greed</h2>
<p><div id="attachment_1996008" style="width: 1034px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1996008" loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-1996008" src="https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/NSussman_Techcrunch_Exchange_v3-BLU.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="768" srcset="https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/NSussman_Techcrunch_Exchange_v3-BLU.jpg 2880w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/NSussman_Techcrunch_Exchange_v3-BLU.jpg?resize=150,113 150w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/NSussman_Techcrunch_Exchange_v3-BLU.jpg?resize=300,225 300w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/NSussman_Techcrunch_Exchange_v3-BLU.jpg?resize=768,576 768w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/NSussman_Techcrunch_Exchange_v3-BLU.jpg?resize=680,510 680w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/NSussman_Techcrunch_Exchange_v3-BLU.jpg?resize=1536,1152 1536w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/NSussman_Techcrunch_Exchange_v3-BLU.jpg?resize=2048,1536 2048w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/NSussman_Techcrunch_Exchange_v3-BLU.jpg?resize=50,38 50w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /><p id="caption-attachment-1996008" class="wp-caption-text"><strong>Image Credits:</strong> <a href="https://www.nigelsussman.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Nigel Sussman <span class="screen-reader-text">(opens in a new window)</span></a></p></div></p>
<p>In the final edition of The Exchange that we’ll publish in 2021, Alex Wilhelm turned his attention to a recent Twitter thread where Block CEO Jack Dorsey claimed that end users don’t own web3, “the VCs and their LPs do.”</p>
<p>His comment didn’t go over well with some prominent crypto enthusiasts who insisted that web3’s decentralized nature is one of its core features. “Is Jack wrong? No, he is not,” wrote Alex.</p>
<p>However, “while I am more than content to nod along to Jack stirring the web3 pot, I don’t agree with his general philosophy.”</p>
<div class="embed breakout">
<blockquote class="wp-embedded-content" data-secret="ioWK6Ma1HD"><p><a href="https://techcrunch.com/2021/12/21/bitcoin-is-religion-web3-is-greed/">Bitcoin is religion; web3 is greed</a></p></blockquote>
<p><iframe class="wp-embedded-content" sandbox="allow-scripts" security="restricted" title="“Bitcoin is religion; web3 is greed” — TechCrunch" src="https://techcrunch.com/2021/12/21/bitcoin-is-religion-web3-is-greed/embed/#?secret=ioWK6Ma1HD" data-secret="ioWK6Ma1HD" width="800" height="450" frameborder="0" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no"></iframe></div>
<h2>Dear Sophie: What’s allowed between a K-1 visa and a green card?</h2>
<p><div id="attachment_2099516" style="width: 1034px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-2099516" loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-2099516" src="https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/dear-sophie-immigration-maze-3.jpg" alt="lone figure at entrance to maze hedge that has an American flag at the center" width="1024" height="576" srcset="https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/dear-sophie-immigration-maze-3.jpg 3200w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/dear-sophie-immigration-maze-3.jpg?resize=150,84 150w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/dear-sophie-immigration-maze-3.jpg?resize=300,169 300w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/dear-sophie-immigration-maze-3.jpg?resize=768,432 768w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/dear-sophie-immigration-maze-3.jpg?resize=680,383 680w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/dear-sophie-immigration-maze-3.jpg?resize=1536,864 1536w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/dear-sophie-immigration-maze-3.jpg?resize=2048,1152 2048w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/dear-sophie-immigration-maze-3.jpg?resize=50,28 50w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /><p id="caption-attachment-2099516" class="wp-caption-text"><strong>Image Credits:</strong> Bryce Durbin/TechCrunch</p></div></p>
<p><strong>Dear Sophie,</strong></p>
<p><strong>Great news! After a long COVID delay, my fiancée finally arrived in the U.S. on her K visa.</strong></p>
<p><strong>We’re thinking about eloping to Las Vegas for a quick wedding so we can get started on her green card application. (In Silicon Valley, we’d have to wait a few months to get a marriage license.)</strong></p>
<p><strong>After we file, we want to have a big wedding in the spring with her family and friends in her hometown and then go on a honeymoon. Is that allowed?</strong></p>
<p><strong>— Happy in Hayward</strong></p>
<div class="embed breakout">
<blockquote class="wp-embedded-content" data-secret="EeSphdzAwf"><p><a href="https://techcrunch.com/2021/12/22/dear-sophie-whats-allowed-between-a-k-1-visa-and-a-green-card/">Dear Sophie: What’s allowed between a K-1 visa and a green card?</a></p></blockquote>
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";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:6:{s:0:"";a:7:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:87:"How Rocket Lab questions the fundamentals of building both rockets and launch companies";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:122:"https://techcrunch.com/2021/12/24/how-rocket-lab-questions-the-fundamentals-of-building-both-rockets-and-launch-companies/";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:8:"comments";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:130:"https://techcrunch.com/2021/12/24/how-rocket-lab-questions-the-fundamentals-of-building-both-rockets-and-launch-companies/#respond";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Fri, 24 Dec 2021 18:37:02 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:8:"category";a:6:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:5:"Space";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}i:1;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:2:"TC";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}i:2;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:13:"EC Space Tech";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}i:3;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:10:"peter beck";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}i:4;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:10:"Rocket Lab";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}i:5;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:22:"TC Sessions Space 2021";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:33:"https://techcrunch.com/?p=2249471";s:7:"attribs";a:1:{s:0:"";a:1:{s:11:"isPermaLink";s:5:"false";}}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:99:""You've got to help create this environment that ultimately you want to participate and thrive in."";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:19:"Darrell Etherington";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:40:"http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/";a:1:{s:7:"encoded";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:2802:"<p id="speakable-summary">Rocket Lab CEO Peter Beck has had an eventful couple of years, despite the unpredictable challenges that COVID-19 threw in the path of the rocket maker’s LA and New Zealand-based operations. Just this year, Rocket Lab had its public market debut, revealed its plans for a new medium-lift launch vehicle called Neutron and acquired two companies (on top of its first acquisition from 2020).</p>
<p>I spoke to Beck at our TC Sessions: Space 2021 event where we covered what’s new and special about Neutron, and how it leverages the pedigree of the company’s Electron rockets to challenge some assumptions about how bigger rockets are built. We also dove into his vision for Rocket Lab and what it aims to accomplish in terms of making it even easier for prospective customers to get their stuff to space.</p>
<p>Beck dished on everything from the unique way that Rocket Lab plans to land the reusable first stage of Neutron back on Earth, to the “Hungry Hippo”-type design of the fairing that allows it to avoid being discarded post-use. He also described his vision for what Rocket Lab hopes to become through its built-out of more service offerings, both through acquisitions and in-house product development.</p>
<p>Check out these excerpts, and then watch the full interview below.</p>
<p>On ditching landing legs and improving aerodynamics:</p>
<blockquote><p>It’s all about removing as many components and as many complexities as possible [ … ] We had this epiphany one day, where we were like, we’re working on these landing legs, and we’re just going around in circles endlessly with mechanisms, and how are we going to service those mechanisms, and all the rest of it. And then we were like, let’s just stop, and let’s just not have landing legs. So let’s just have a wide enough base, so that we can resist any of the kind of tipping or creeping movements.</p>
<p>So we start off with this big wide base and drew a satellite in the payload and the upper stage top and the fairing diamond, and then just drew two lines that joined it all up, and it looked like a traffic cone. That’s actually the optimum vehicle: It has no legs, it’s just a nice stable kind of structure. And then as we started doing some of the CFD [computational fluid dynamics] on it, and some of the aerodynamics and some of the reentry work, and that traffic cone proved very useful, because you have this decreasing pressure over the length of the vehicle, which means you don’t have any shockwaves attaching to it, which is always a challenge with reentry.</p></blockquote>
<p>On how to build a space company that actually serves the needs of modern customers:<div class="extra-crunch-offer-container"></div>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:36:"http://wellformedweb.org/CommentAPI/";a:1:{s:10:"commentRss";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:127:"https://techcrunch.com/2021/12/24/how-rocket-lab-questions-the-fundamentals-of-building-both-rockets-and-launch-companies/feed/";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:38:"http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/slash/";a:1:{s:8:"comments";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:1:"0";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:30:"com-wordpress:feed-additions:1";a:1:{s:7:"post-id";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:7:"2249471";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:8;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:91:"

";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:6:{s:0:"";a:7:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:65:"TikTok moderator sues over mental trauma caused by graphic videos";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:100:"https://techcrunch.com/2021/12/24/tiktok-moderator-sues-over-mental-trauma-caused-by-graphic-videos/";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:8:"comments";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:108:"https://techcrunch.com/2021/12/24/tiktok-moderator-sues-over-mental-trauma-caused-by-graphic-videos/#respond";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Fri, 24 Dec 2021 15:24:33 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:8:"category";a:7:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:6:"Column";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}i:1;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:6:"Social";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}i:2;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:2:"TC";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}i:3;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:18:"content moderation";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}i:4;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:10:"moderation";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}i:5;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:5:"tceng";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}i:6;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:6:"tiktok";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:33:"https://techcrunch.com/?p=2251340";s:7:"attribs";a:1:{s:0:"";a:1:{s:11:"isPermaLink";s:5:"false";}}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:171:"In a proposed class-action lawsuit, TikTok moderator Candie Frazier said that she has screened videos showing violence, school shootings, fatal falls and even cannibalism.";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:19:"Darrell Etherington";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:40:"http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/";a:1:{s:7:"encoded";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:4436:"<div class="article__contributor-byline-wrapper">
<div class="article__contributor-byline">
	<div class="contributor-byline__contributor">
		<div class="byline__author">
							<span class="byline__author-name">Steve Dent</span>
						<span class="byline__author-title" style="display: block;">Contributor</span>
		</div>

</div>

<div class="contributor-byline__bio">
		Steve Dent is an associate editor at <a href="https://www.engadget.com">Engadget</a>.	</div>
	
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<p id="speakable-summary">A TikTok moderator has sued the social media platform and its parent ByteDance over trauma caused by graphic videos, <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-12-24/tiktok-sued-by-content-moderator-traumatized-by-graphic-videos" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-ylk="elm:context_link;itc:0" data-rapid_p="17" data-v9y="1"><em>Bloomberg</em></a> has reported. In a proposed class-action lawsuit, moderator Candie Frazier said that she has screened videos showing violence, school shootings, fatal falls and even cannibalism. “Plaintiff has trouble sleeping and when she does sleep, she has horrific nightmares,” the lawsuit states.</p>
<p>Compounding the problem, TikTok allegedly requires moderators to work 12-hour shifts with only a one-hour lunch and two 15-minute breaks. “Due to the sheer volume of content, content moderators are permitted no more than 25 seconds per video, and simultaneously view three to ten videos at the same time,” according to the complaint.</p>
<p> </p><div id="tc-target-mid-article-2251340" class="tc-target-mid-article ad-unit--size-auto"></div>
<blockquote><p>Plaintiff has trouble sleeping and when she does sleep, she has horrific nightmares.</p></blockquote>
<p>Along with other social media companies including Facebook and YouTube, TikTok developed guidelines to help moderators cope with child abuse and other traumatic images. Among the suggestions is that companies limit moderator shifts to four hours and provide psychological support. However, TikTok allegedly failed to implement those guidelines, according to the lawsuit.</p>
<p>Content moderators take the brunt of graphic and traumatic images that appear on social media, making sure that users don’t have to experience them. One company that provides content moderators for large tech firms even <a href="https://www.indulgexpress.com/gadgets/2020/jan/25/continually-viewing-disturbing-videos-may-cause-moderators-of-major-social-networks-to-experience-pt-21778.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-ylk="elm:context_link;itc:0" data-rapid_p="18" data-v9y="1">acknowledged</a> in a consent form that the job can cause post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). However, social media companies have been <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2019/12/16/21021005/google-youtube-moderators-ptsd-accenture-violent-disturbing-content-interviews-video" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-ylk="elm:context_link;itc:0" data-rapid_p="19" data-v9y="1">criticized</a> by their mods and others for not paying enough given the psychological hazards, and not providing enough mental health support. A <a href="https://www.engadget.com/2018-09-24-facebook-sued-over-moderator-mental-trauma.html" data-ylk="elm:context_link;itc:0" data-rapid_p="20" data-v9y="1">similar lawsuit</a> was filed against Facebook in 2018.</p>
<p>Frazier is hoping to represent other Tiktok screeners in a class-action suit, and is asking for compensation for psychological injuries and a court order for a medical fund for moderators.</p><div class="piano-inline-promo"></div>
</div>
<div data-component="TagBoilerplate"><strong>Editor’s note:</strong> <em>This article originally appeared on <a href="https://www.engadget.com/tiktok-moderator-sues-mental-trauma-graphic-videos-091859194.html">Engadget</a>.</em></div>
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";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:6:{s:0:"";a:7:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:38:"Memes, money and madness: 2021 in tech";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:71:"https://techcrunch.com/2021/12/24/memes-money-and-madness-2021-in-tech/";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:8:"comments";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:79:"https://techcrunch.com/2021/12/24/memes-money-and-madness-2021-in-tech/#respond";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Fri, 24 Dec 2021 15:00:03 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:8:"category";a:3:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:16:"Fundings & Exits";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}i:1;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:8:"Startups";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}i:2;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:14:"Equity podcast";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:33:"https://techcrunch.com/?p=2248070";s:7:"attribs";a:1:{s:0:"";a:1:{s:11:"isPermaLink";s:5:"false";}}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:351:"Hello and welcome back to Equity, a podcast about the business of startups where we unpack the numbers and nuance behind the headlines. It’s just about Christmas, which means you may be stuck with family at the moment. Regardless of what, if any, holidays you may celebrate, there’s good chance that there are more people around […]";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:19:"Natasha Mascarenhas";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:40:"http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/";a:1:{s:7:"encoded";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:3914:"<p id="speakable-summary"><iframe src="https://player.simplecast.com/6b39215e-0ae0-4114-afab-4a7e11976509?dark=false" width="100%" height="200px" frameborder="no" scrolling="no" seamless=""></iframe></p>
<p>Hello and welcome back to <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/equity/id1215439780" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Equity</a>, a podcast about the business of startups where we unpack the numbers and nuance behind the headlines.</p>
<p>It’s just about Christmas, which means you may be stuck with family at the moment. Regardless of what, if any, holidays you may celebrate, there’s good chance that there are more people around you than normal. We’re here to distract you from that.</p><div id="tc-target-mid-article-2248070" class="tc-target-mid-article ad-unit--size-auto"></div>
<p>To ensure that you get respite from Actual Human Interaction, the Equity team has prepared a look-back at the year. Big numbers? Check. Big themes? You know it. Big moments of ‘wait, that happened this year?!’ Well, we’d have it no other way.</p>
<p>Here’s what we have in store for you:</p>
<ul>
<li>High-level venture capital stats from the year, from around the world including India, Latin America, and the United States.</li>
<li><strong>The rise of memes and money:</strong> <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2021/01/27/gamestop-memestocks-and-the-revenge-of-the-retail-trader/">Remember the Gamestop/stonk saga</a>? That was <em>this year</em>, amazingly. So too was the <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2021/08/04/robinhood-is-now-a-stonk/">Robinhood IPO</a>, the <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2021/04/15/coinbases-direct-listing-alters-the-landscape-for-fintech-and-crypto-startups/">Coinbase direct listing</a>, and a host of other related stories. Sure, by the end of the year we had moved on to other pieces of key news, but don’t forget how wild the start of 2021 was from a trading perspective.</li>
<li><strong>The crypto boom:</strong> Love it or hate it, crypto was one of the key startup themes this year. Capital raced into NFT marketplaces, crypto infra projects, new blockchains, and more. It was a gold rush,<a href="https://techcrunch.com/cryptocurrency/"> but all the gold was digital.</a></li>
<li><strong>A changing creator economy:</strong> We had little choice but to talk talking, to chat chatting, to yammer about yammering. Yes, we riffed on <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2021/04/02/clubhouse-will-create-billions-in-value-and-capture-none-of-it/">the rise and fall of Clubhouse</a>, and the larger live-audio market. Podcasts, videos, and the creator economy as a whole were pretty big narratives this year, so we talked through what went down.</li>
<li>We also touched on <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2020/11/11/this-startup-is-betting-that-you-want-to-binge-remote-work-content/">remote work</a>, fintech, insurtech mistakes, media startups, and a grip of topics that you, the Equity family, <a href="https://twitter.com/nmasc_/status/1467971905902850048">sent in via Twitter.</a></li>
</ul>
<p>Did we get to everything? Heck no. We didn’t even get close. But that’s because 2021 was a busy damn year. It started busy and never slowed down. What do we expect in 2022? Well, just wait for next week’s episode!</p>
<div class="article-content">
<div class="article-content">
<p><i>Equity drops every Monday at 7:00 a.m. PST, Wednesday, and Friday at 6:00 a.m. PST, so subscribe to us on </i><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/id1215439780" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><i>Apple Podcasts</i></a>, <a href="https://overcast.fm/itunes1215439780/equity" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><i>Overcast</i></a><i>,</i><a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/5IEYLip3eDppcOmy5DmphC?si=rZDFHv2sQUul_g94iCRgpQ" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><i> Spotify</i></a><i> and all the casts!</i></p>
</div>
</div>
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";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:6:{s:0:"";a:7:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:86:"Nigeria’s Teesas secures $1.6M, to expand across Africa and launch tutor marketplace";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:182:"https://techcrunch.com/2021/12/24/nigerian-edtech-startup-teesas-secures-1-6-million-in-pre-seed-round-to-launch-tutor-marketplace-expand-in-east-southern-francophone-africa-in-2022/";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:8:"comments";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:190:"https://techcrunch.com/2021/12/24/nigerian-edtech-startup-teesas-secures-1-6-million-in-pre-seed-round-to-launch-tutor-marketplace-expand-in-east-southern-francophone-africa-in-2022/#respond";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Fri, 24 Dec 2021 13:30:24 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:8:"category";a:12:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:6:"Africa";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}i:1;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:4:"Apps";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}i:2;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:9:"Education";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}i:3;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:7:"Funding";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}i:4;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:14:"Recent Funding";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}i:5;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:6:"Social";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}i:6;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:8:"Startups";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}i:7;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:11:"east africa";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}i:8;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:6:"edtech";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}i:9;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:18:"Francophone Africa";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}i:10;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:5:"india";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}i:11;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:7:"Nigeria";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:33:"https://techcrunch.com/?p=2251316";s:7:"attribs";a:1:{s:0:"";a:1:{s:11:"isPermaLink";s:5:"false";}}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:357:"After seven years in the production of electronic gadgets, under his company Imose Technologies, Osayi Izedonmwen took leave to explore an idea that he had toyed with for some time — an edtech startup, Teesas, which now offers video classes and other digital educational material for learners in Nigeria. Teesas, which was launched less than […]";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:12:"Annie Njanja";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:40:"http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/";a:1:{s:7:"encoded";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:6838:"<p id="speakable-summary">After seven years in the production of electronic gadgets, under his company <a href="https://imosemobile.com/">Imose Technologies</a>, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/comm/in/osayi-izedonmwen-63096820?midToken=AQFNuEun80e6GA&midSig=3jd5JtiOEV0G41&trk=eml-email_accept_invite_single_01-hero-3-prof%7Ename&trkEmail=eml-email_accept_invite_single_01-hero-3-prof%7Ename-null-27caqv%7Ekxads1xg%7E32-null-neptune%2Fprofile%7Evanity%2Eview&lipi=urn%3Ali%3Apage%3Aemail_email_accept_invite_single_01%3BnKloMS7UT3KWJciq8t6YYg%3D%3D">Osayi Izedonmwen</a> took leave to explore an idea that he had toyed with for some time — an edtech startup, <a href="https://teesas.com/">Teesas</a>, which now offers video classes and other digital educational material for learners in Nigeria.</p>
<p>Teesas, which was launched less than two months ago, has had a rapid takeoff, leading to a successful $1.6 million pre-seed funding round. Izedonmwen plans to use the investment to expand into new markets, launch a marketplace that will link learners with tutors for private lessons, and expand the range of products in its portfolio.</p>
<p>“We started beta testing around August this year, and fully launched the android version in November. Already Teesas has over 150,000 downloads at the Google Play store, where we are now growing by at least 20% every week,” Izedonmwen told TechCrunch.</p><div id="tc-target-mid-article-2251316" class="tc-target-mid-article ad-unit--size-auto"></div>
<p>Teesas’ content is aligned with Nigeria’s national curriculum, and is delivered to learners in both live and recorded formats, through a subscription program that starts at $6 a month. In addition to regular school work, the startup also offers local language classes.</p>
<p>“Live classes deal with concepts where learners have challenges. The learners sit with teachers in small remote classes of 10 or 15 for a personalized engagement, and to get more rigor into the teaching process,” said Izedonmwen.</p>
<p>In the near future, Teesas will offer full-curriculum modules for learners aged up to 12 years.</p>
<p>“We foresee a future where kids don’t have to attend in-person classes because they can cover entire curriculums on an app, and be ready enough for their secondary school entrance exams,” he said.</p><div class="piano-inline-promo"></div>
<p>Teesas is also set to introduce life-skill classes in the first half of next year to prepare learners for self-discovery. This is in addition to anti-bullying lessons, inspired by the reports of increasing spate of bullying in Nigeria, with some incidents leading to death.</p>
<p><div id="attachment_2251319" style="width: 1034px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-2251319" loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-2251319" src="https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Teesas.jpeg" alt="" width="1024" height="682" srcset="https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Teesas.jpeg 1280w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Teesas.jpeg?resize=150,100 150w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Teesas.jpeg?resize=300,200 300w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Teesas.jpeg?resize=768,511 768w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Teesas.jpeg?resize=680,453 680w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Teesas.jpeg?resize=50,33 50w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /><p id="caption-attachment-2251319" class="wp-caption-text">Part of Teesas next plan is to launch a tutor marketplace and to enter new markets in Francophone, East and Southern Africa<strong>. Image Credits:</strong> Teesas</p></div></p>
<p><strong>Product development</strong></p>
<p>Work on Teesas began in March last year, with the platform’s design and development borrowing heavily from its edtech peers in India, which were used as benchmarks for content structure and lesson delivery.</p>
<p>“I was looking at India because they are really advanced, and have some big companies like <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2021/10/04/indian-edtech-giant-byjus-valued-at-18-billion-in-new-funding/">Byju leading the edtech revolution</a>. I actually went out there to spend some time to really understand the model, and also looked at opportunities to improve on what they were doing…then we applied indigenous adaptation,” he said.</p>
<p>The adaptation he refers to, includes the use of local art, food, animals, cultural practices and languages to complement the learning process.</p>
<p>While Izedonmwen is now fully engaged with Teesas, where he is the CEO, he also continues to serve as the chairman of Imose Technologies, the Lagos-based tech company he founded to manufacture and assemble electronic devices including mobile phones, tablets, internet routers and laptops.</p>
<p>“Teesas is going to have the biggest impact on the future of education in Africa. And I really want to be certain that I’m putting my best effort in leading that transformation – that’s why I’m focusing on it fully,” he said while confirming that part of their next plan will be to enter new markets in Francophone, East and Southern Africa.</p>
<p>Before he founded Imose, Izedonmwen, a trained engineer, worked at the oil and gas company ExxonMobil for 15 years, rising through the ranks to become the company’s operations manager in Nigeria.</p>
<p>Teesas now joins a growing list of edtech startups in Africa that have in recent times received funding from investors making a bet on the fledgling edtech industry in Africa – which has recently seen an upsurge driven by the tailwinds of the covid pandemic.</p>
<p>Among the new players in the space are Kenya’s <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2021/04/25/yc-backed-kidato-raises-1-4m-seed-to-scale-its-online-school-for-k-12-students-in-africa/">Kidato</a> and <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2021/11/09/kenyan-edtech-startup-craydel-raises-1-million-to-grow-its-higher-education-platform/">Craydel</a>, and Nigeria’s <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2021/12/15/target-global-leads-3-5m-pre-seed-in-nigerian-online-learning-platform-edukoya/">Edukoya</a> and <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2021/12/09/african-edtech-startup-ulesson-raises-15m-backed-by-nielsen-ventures-and-tencent/">ULesson</a>.</p>
<p>Teesas round was led by Haresh Aswani, Tolaram Group’s Africa managing director, with the participation of Olivegreen Advisory Partners, an Africa-focused venture studio, and other angel investors.</p>
<p>“We believe in the mission Izedonmwen and the Teesas team has set forth on, and we are confident that they are best suited to crack the challenge of using technology to enhance access to quality education across Africa,” said Aswani.</p>
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							<span class="byline__author-name">Megan Lamberth</span>
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		Megan Lamberth is an associate fellow with the Technology & National Security Program at the Center for a New American Security (CNAS). She is the co-author of the CNAS report <a href="https://www.cnas.org/publications/reports/taking-the-helm-a-national-technology-strategy-to-meet-the-china-challenge">“Taking the Helm: A National Technology Strategy to Meet the China Challenge.”</a>	</div>
	
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</div><p id="speakable-summary"><em>The <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2021/10/23/introducing-the-techcrunch-global-affairs-project/">TechCrunch Global Affairs Project</a> examines the increasingly intertwined relationship between the tech sector and global politics.</em></p>
<p>The Soviet Union kicked off the Space Age when it propelled the <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/structure/elements/baikonur.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">world’s first satellite</a> into space from a desert steppe in Kazakhstan on October 4, 1957. The launch of Sputnik I — a small <a href="https://www.cfr.org/event/legacy-sputnik-0" target="_blank" rel="noopener">aluminum orb</a>, no bigger than a <a href="https://www.space.com/38331-sputnik-satellite-fun-facts.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">beach ball</a> — proved a transformative moment for the United States. It triggered the U.S.-Soviet space race, served as the impetus for new <a href="https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/nasa-created#:~:text=The%20U.S.%20Congress%20passes%20legislation,%2C%20on%20July%2029%2C%201958.&text=NASA%20was%20created%20in%20response,its%20first%20satellite%2C%20Sputnik%20I" target="_blank" rel="noopener">government</a> <a href="https://www.darpa.mil/about-us/darpa-history-and-timeline#:~:text=The%20Sputnik%20Surprise,)%20on%20February%207%2C%201958." target="_blank" rel="noopener">institutions</a>, and <a href="https://www.nsf.gov/about/history/nsf50/nsf8816.jsp#chapter3" target="_blank" rel="noopener">precipitated</a> substantial increases in federal R&D spending and <a href="https://history.house.gov/HouseRecord/Detail/15032436195" target="_blank" rel="noopener">funding</a> for STEM education.</p>
<p>Sputnik was a galvanizing force, providing the shock and momentum needed to revolutionize the country’s science and technology base. In recent years, <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-06-03/u-s-ploughs-cash-into-r-d-as-china-triggers-a-sputnik-moment" target="_blank" rel="noopener">government</a> <a href="https://apnews.com/article/8ba8b63db0a74be78baefb8e5c6d8795" target="_blank" rel="noopener">officials</a> and lawmakers have called for a new “Sputnik moment” as they reckon with how to successfully compete economically and technologically with China. While a singular, transformative “Sputnik moment” has yet to occur, there is growing consensus in Washington that the U.S. has fallen or is at risk of falling behind China.<br />
<a href="https://techcrunch.com/tag/techcrunch-global-affairs-project/"><img loading="lazy" class="alignright wp-image-2226330 size-medium" src="https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/global-affairs-project-sq.jpg?w=300" alt="Read more from the TechCrunch Global Affairs Project" width="300" height="300" srcset="https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/global-affairs-project-sq.jpg 1800w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/global-affairs-project-sq.jpg?resize=150,150 150w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/global-affairs-project-sq.jpg?resize=300,300 300w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/global-affairs-project-sq.jpg?resize=768,768 768w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/global-affairs-project-sq.jpg?resize=680,680 680w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/global-affairs-project-sq.jpg?resize=1536,1536 1536w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/global-affairs-project-sq.jpg?resize=32,32 32w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/global-affairs-project-sq.jpg?resize=50,50 50w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/global-affairs-project-sq.jpg?resize=64,64 64w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/global-affairs-project-sq.jpg?resize=96,96 96w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/global-affairs-project-sq.jpg?resize=128,128 128w" sizes="(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" /></a></p><div id="tc-target-mid-article-2250336" class="tc-target-mid-article ad-unit--size-auto"></div>
<p>The U.S.-China competition is novel in many ways, but that doesn’t mean America’s way of competing has to be. To <a href="https://www.cnas.org/publications/reports/taking-the-helm-a-national-technology-strategy-to-meet-the-china-challenge" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reclaim</a> its inimitable role as a driver of American innovation, the U.S. government must muster the kind of energy it did in the aftermath of Sputnik — mobilizing the country’s remarkable talent, institutions and R&D resources — to successfully compete with China.</p>
<p>First, it’s important to revisit what happened 60 some years ago. In the months following Sputnik’s launch, the U.S. government created two new institutions. Congress <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/tech/annals-of-technology/is-america-facing-another-sputnik-moment" target="_blank" rel="noopener">passed</a> the National Aeronautics and Space Act in July 1958, creating NASA and placing the country’s space program under civilian control. NASA’s primary objective was to land a man on the moon, and it was given a lot of money to do it. Its budget increased almost <a href="https://www.history.com/topics/cold-war/space-race" target="_blank" rel="noopener">500%</a> from 1961 to 1964, accounting for nearly <a href="https://hbr.org/2018/04/the-reinvention-of-nasa" target="_blank" rel="noopener">4.5%</a> of federal spending <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2010/feb/01/nasa-budgets-us-spending-space-travel" target="_blank" rel="noopener">at its peak</a>. NASA took Americans to the moon and contributed to the development of <a href="https://spinoff.nasa.gov/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">major technologies</a> with wide commercial application.</p>
<p>The federal government also <a href="https://www.darpa.mil/about-us/darpa-history-and-timeline#:~:text=The%20Sputnik%20Surprise,)%20on%20February%207%2C%201958." target="_blank" rel="noopener">established</a> the Advanced Research Projects Agency (now the <em>Defense</em> Advanced Research Projects Agency, or DARPA) with the <a href="http://63052261.weebly.com/arpa.html#:~:text=Purpose%20%2D%20The%20Beginnings%20of%20ARPA&text=President%20Eisenhower%20immediately%20took%20action%20by%20establishing%20ARPA%20and%20NASA%20in%201958.&text=%22DARPA's%20original%20mission%2C%20established%20in,beaten%20the%20U.S.%20into%20space" target="_blank" rel="noopener">mission</a> to prevent future technology surprises. Its research and work contributed to a <a href="https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn13908-fifty-years-of-darpa-a-surprising-history/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">variety of technologies</a> that remain critical to America’s economic competitiveness, including GPS, voice recognition, and most notably, the foundational elements for the internet.</p>
<p>The Sputnik launch also motivated the passage of the 1958 National Defense Education Act (NDEA) of 1958. The <a href="https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/minute/Sputnik_Spurs_Passage_of_National_Defense_Education_Act.htm" target="_blank" rel="noopener">NDEA</a> devoted federal funding for STEM and foreign language education and established the country’s first <a href="https://www.everycrsreport.com/files/20180612_R45223_0d8146ae3d553873204cf7caab1ab06085de8d0a.html#_Toc516496454" target="_blank" rel="noopener">federal student loan</a> program. The NDEA explicitly linked the promotion of education to addressing America’s defense needs, recognizing it as an integral component of U.S. national security.</p><div class="piano-inline-promo"></div>
<p>Sputnik spurred massive growth in federal R&D spending, which was instrumental in creating today’s robust tech and startup community. The federal government was funding close to <a href="https://time.com/longform/america-innovation/">70%</a> of total U.S. R&D by the 1960s — more than the <a href="https://www.technologyreview.com/2020/06/17/1003318/why-venture-capital-doesnt-build-the-things-we-really-need/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">rest of the world</a> combined. Government R&D investment has declined in the decades since, however. As the Cold War ended and the private sector started spending more on R&D, federal R&D spending as a percentage of GDP <a href="https://www.aaas.org/sites/default/files/2019-06/RDGDP.png" target="_blank" rel="noopener">fell</a> from about 1.2% in 1972 to approximately 0.7% in 2018.</p>
<p>As policymakers deliberate on how the U.S. should compete technologically, economically and militarily against China, they should heed the lessons learned in the Sputnik moment.</p>
<p>First, while Sputnik provided the political capital to create new institutions and increase spending on R&D and education, the <a href="https://www.csis.org/analysis/making-most-crisis-what-sputnik-should-have-taught-us" target="_blank" rel="noopener">groundwork</a> for many of these efforts was already in place. NASA built off the work of its <a href="https://history.nasa.gov/naca/overview.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">predecessor</a>, the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, and the preparations for many of the provisions in the NDEA were <a href="https://www.ida.org/-/media/feature/publications/t/th/the-national-defense-education-act-of-1958-selected-outcomes/d-3306.ashx" target="_blank" rel="noopener">in motion</a> for some time. Sputnik provided shock and urgency, but the momentum and much of the legwork was already underway. Today, the U.S. government should commit to sustained investment in its science and technology base — ensuring a strong foundation for American innovation no matter what challenge the country faces in the future.</p>
<p>Second, the federal government should establish clear national objectives to direct technology investment and motivate the public to contribute to those priorities. President Kennedy’s call to land a man on the moon was unambiguous, inspiring and provided direction for R&D investment. Policymakers should identify specific goals with measurable metrics for critical technology sectors, explaining how these goals will bolster American national security and economic growth.</p>
<p>Finally, while the government’s R&D investments helped spawn remarkable technological advancements, its approach for allocating and overseeing that spending was equally important. As Margaret O’Mara explains in <a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/534709/the-code-by-margaret-omara/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">her book</a>, “The Code: Silicon Valley and the Remaking of America,” federal funding flowed “indirectly” and “competitively,” giving the tech community “remarkable freedom to define what the future might look like” and “push the boundaries of the technologically possible.” The U.S. government must again take care that its investments fuel technological competitiveness without morphing into what could be conceived of as broad-based, inefficient industrial policy.</p>
<p>The phrase “Sputnik moment” is often invoked in an attempt to spur government action and public involvement. And indeed, actions taken in Sputnik’s aftermath are illustrative of what the U.S. government can accomplish when its approach is unified and driven by clear objectives. Rarely, however, has America achieved comparable improvements to the country’s innovation base. That doesn’t have to be the case. After Sputnik, the U.S. government reinvigorated its science and technology base by investing in the people, infrastructure and resources that would ultimately establish American technological hegemony. A new Sputnik spirit today can power American technological competitiveness into the future. Time is of the essence.<br />
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							<span class="byline__author-name">Jon Fingas</span>
						<span class="byline__author-title" style="display: block;">Contributor</span>
		</div>

</div>

<div class="contributor-byline__bio">
		Jon Fingas is a contributing writer at <a href="https://www.engadget.com">Engadget</a>.	</div>
	
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</div><div class="article-text">
<p id="speakable-summary">Tesla is quickly responding to the <a href="https://www.engadget.com/tesla-passenger-play-games-driving-investigation-nhtsa-161515954.html" data-ylk="elm:context_link;itc:0" data-rapid_p="26" data-v9y="1">NHTSA’s investigation</a> of in-dash gaming <a href="https://www.engadget.com/tesla-touchscreen-video-games-driving-165327545.html" data-ylk="elm:context_link;itc:0" data-rapid_p="27" data-v9y="1">while cars are moving</a>. <em>The Guardian</em> has <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2021/dec/23/tesla-vehicles-video-games-driving" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-ylk="elm:context_link;itc:0" data-rapid_p="28" data-v9y="1">learned</a> Tesla will deliver an update disabling on-the-move Passenger Play. A spokeswoman for the regulator said Tesla promised the change after discussing the matter with officials. There was no mention of when the update might arrive, but it’s safe to presume you’ll have to park for future gaming sessions.</p>
<p>The representative stressed the investigation would continue despite the update. The NHTSA reiterated that the Vehicle Safety Act bars companies from selling cars that pose significant safety risks, including from <a href="https://www.engadget.com/2019-12-05-nhtsa-in-car-monitoring-regulation-distracted-driving-safety.html" data-ylk="elm:context_link;itc:0" data-rapid_p="29" data-v9y="1">distracted driving</a>. The investigation covers roughly 580,000 Tesla EVs between the 2017 and 2022 model years.</p>
<p><span id="end-legacy-contents"></span>Tesla no longer operates a public relations team and wasn’t available for comment. The feature change isn’t surprising, though. Inaction could worsen the consequences if the NHTSA finds Tesla was negligent. There’s also the matter of competitive pressure. <a href="https://www.engadget.com/mercedes-benz-mbux-server-side-configuration-error-224912962.html" data-ylk="elm:context_link;itc:0" data-rapid_p="30" data-v9y="1">Mercedes-Benz recently fixed an error</a> that allowed mid-drive video playback — it wouldn’t look good if Tesla refused to follow suit.</p><div id="tc-target-mid-article-2251326" class="tc-target-mid-article ad-unit--size-auto"></div>
<p><strong>Editor’s note:</strong> <em>This article originally appeared on <a href="https://www.engadget.com/tesla-passenger-play-gaming-disabled-214634365.html">Engadget</a>.</em></p>
</div>
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";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:6:{s:0:"";a:7:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:82:"Purple Dot, a waitlist and pre-order platform for the fashion industry, raises $4M";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:114:"https://techcrunch.com/2021/12/24/purple-dot-a-waitlist-and-pre-order-platform-for-the-fashion-industry-raises-4m/";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:8:"comments";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:122:"https://techcrunch.com/2021/12/24/purple-dot-a-waitlist-and-pre-order-platform-for-the-fashion-industry-raises-4m/#respond";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Fri, 24 Dec 2021 10:38:59 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:8:"category";a:15:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:6:"Europe";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}i:1;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:2:"TC";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}i:2;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:10:"Co-founder";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}i:3;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:16:"Connect Ventures";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}i:4;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:3:"DOT";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}i:5;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:10:"e-commerce";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}i:6;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:9:"inventory";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}i:7;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:15:"Moxxie Ventures";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}i:8;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:15:"online shopping";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}i:9;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:6:"purple";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}i:10;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:10:"Purple Dot";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}i:11;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:9:"retailers";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}i:12;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:23:"supply chain management";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}i:13;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:14:"United Kingdom";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}i:14;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:16:"Unusual Ventures";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:33:"https://techcrunch.com/?p=2251323";s:7:"attribs";a:1:{s:0:"";a:1:{s:11:"isPermaLink";s:5:"false";}}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:362:"Because of the unpredictable nature of the fashion industry, fashion brands often have to ‘guestimate’ demand for their products, and if they get that demand wrong, they have to deal with the wasted inventory. All too often clothes end up being incinerated unnecessarily, adding to their environmental impact. UK startup Purple Dot has an ecommerce […]";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:12:"Mike Butcher";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:40:"http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/";a:1:{s:7:"encoded";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:2157:"<p id="speakable-summary">Because of the unpredictable nature of the fashion industry, fashion brands often have to ‘guestimate’ demand for their products, and if they get that demand wrong, they have to deal with the wasted inventory. All too often clothes end up being incinerated unnecessarily, adding to their environmental impact. UK startup <a href="https://www.purpledotprice.com/">Purple Dot</a> has an ecommerce ‘waitlist and pre-order’ platform, allowing fashion brands to only produce the exact volume of goods ordered, thereby cutting down waste.</p>
<p>Purple Dot has now raised a $4 million early stage funding round led by US-based <a href="https://www.unusual.vc/">Unusual Ventures</a>. Previous investors Connect Ventures, Moxxie Ventures, and the family office of Indeed co-founder Paul Forster also participated.</p>
<p>Founded in 2019 by entrepreneurs Madeline Parra and John Talbott, Purple Dot says it allows ecommerce businesses the ability to “sell inventory earlier as a way to maximize sales, build brand loyalty, and access demand data earlier.” Purple Dot’s waitlist solution allows inventory to be sold before it arrives in the warehouse. The startup claims it’s the only solution of its type available in the market.</p><div id="tc-target-mid-article-2251323" class="tc-target-mid-article ad-unit--size-auto"></div>
<p>Madeline Parra, CEO and co-founder of Purple Dot, said: “By selling earlier, brands open up a whole new window to capture sales.  The legacy mindset and technology assumes you need inventory in the warehouse to sell it. But with Purple Dot, you can always be selling because selling and shipping can be asynchronous. This is the “A-ha” moment for our brand partners. To get a sell-earlier strategy right, you need a dedicated approach that gets the customer experience, and internal tooling, right.”</p>
<p>Rachel Star, Investor at Unusual Ventures, said: “Purple Dot is more than an ecommerce enabler; they are revolutionizing how supply chains are managed and how brands sell, and we believe that pre-orders and waitlists will shape the future of online shopping.”</p>
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<p>Now, investors see New Zealand as a country with a track record of building companies with global exits in SaaS, health tech and deep tech. Notable companies and exits like <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2015/02/24/xero-accel-matrix-111-million/">Xero</a>, Pushpay, <a href="https://www.afr.com/companies/healthcare-and-fitness/why-aroa-is-pushing-ahead-with-its-ipo-despite-pandemic-20200623-p55592" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Aroa Biosurgery</a>, <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2013/10/09/vend-anton-commissaris/">Vend</a>, <a href="https://news.bpstech.nz/2021/03/15/the-big-exit-nearly-2-billion-reaped-in-one-week-from-kiwi-tech-acquisitions/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Seequent</a>, <a href="https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/smart-cow-startup-halter-backed-by-rocket-labs-peter-beck-close-to-launch/C3U24YQGEXJ4EPRJSCO2BDU6GA/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Halter</a> and <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2021/09/22/peter-beck-says-rocket-lab-actively-prepared-for-interplanetary-missions-from-day-one/">Rocket Lab</a> have put local startups on the map, but the scene is still immature and will need steady direction before it becomes a globally competitive ecosystem. That said, the signs are all pointing to technology being New Zealand’s next export industry, as long as everyone keeps pushing in the same direction.</p>
<p>“For a very long time, startups in New Zealand had been crying out for capital,” said Imche Fourie, co-founder and CEO of Outset Ventures, a deep tech incubator in Auckland that invests in seed and pre-seed science and engineering companies. “That’s changed so much the last couple of years partly because the government’s been putting more initiatives into attracting international capital. It’s been ridiculous how much money is flooding into the country at the moment.”</p>
<p>Despite the pandemic, venture and early-stage investment in New Zealand is reaching record highs. In 2020, <a href="https://www.venturecapitaljournal.com/how-venture-down-under-is-growing-amid-the-pandemic/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">VC investments totaled NZD $127.2 million</a> (USD $86 million), up from NZD $112.2 (USD $76 million) in 2019, due to a near doubling of transactions from 46 in 2019 to 92 in 2020. According to Crunchbase, money raised by New Zealand startups increased 30%, from around $1 billion to $1.3 billion, from Q1 2020 to Q4 2021. In addition, in 2020, investors provided more follow-on capital than ever before at 56%, or NZD $109 million (USD $79 million), which shows a dedication to supporting startups through to exit, <a href="https://www.pwc.co.nz/news-releases/2021-news-releases/Increasing-growth-and-maturity-in-NZ-startup-investment-despite-COVID-19-disruptions.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according to a PwC analysis</a>.</p>
<p>New Zealand investors say most of the money is coming from either international (mainly U.S. or Australian) VCs or the government. Last March, the New Zealand government launched the <a href="https://www.nzgcp.co.nz/funding/elevate-venture-fund/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Elevate NZ Venture Fund,</a> an NZD $300 million (USD $203 million) fund of funds program that invests into VC firms aimed at filling the Series A and B capital gap for high-growth New Zealand tech companies.</p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">	<div class="article-block block--pullout block--left">
		<blockquote>
			I don’t think it’s reasonable to expect the next Microsoft to be headquartered in New Zealand. But the next Microsoft may have offices here and it still might be founded by Kiwi.							<cite>Rocketlab CEO Peter Beck</cite>
					</blockquote>
	</div>
	</span></p>
<p>The fresh capital signals a shift both in the country’s economy and mindset around diversifying its exports and strengthening GDP at a time when the cost of living is quickly becoming unsustainable for many Kiwis.</p>
<p>Housing prices in New Zealand are <a href="https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/business/454741/housing-prices-pose-risk-to-new-zealand-s-financial-stability-rbnz-governor-says" target="_blank" rel="noopener">among the most unaffordable</a> among OECD nations, and an <a href="https://thespinoff.co.nz/business/31-07-2021/the-supermarket-duopoly-is-a-disaster-for-consumers-but-dont-bet-on-a-break-up" target="_blank" rel="noopener">active supermarket duopoly</a> sees Kiwis spending the fourth-most per capita on groceries in the world. Not to mention the banking and electricity oligopolies running the country. Taken together, you’ve got a society primed for <a href="https://www.wgtn.ac.nz/__data/assets/pdf_file/0007/1935430/WP-21-10-wealth-inequality-in-New-Zealand.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wealth inequalities</a>.</p>
<p>For a country with limited resources that relies on trade, developing thriving tech exports may not just be a good idea — it may be a necessity to survive.</p>
<p>“We’ve long had a strategic focus in New Zealand on moving away from commodity exports like timber, wool, milk powder, and attracting more value for what we export,” Phoebe Harrop, an associate at Blackbird Ventures, a New Zealand and Australia-based VC, told TechCrunch. “Technology startups are the pinnacle of that strategy. And it’s something we should be good at because we have a really good education system and we have this unusual cultural dynamic of people going out and spending time overseas in Silicon Valley, London, Amsterdam, Berlin, getting world-class experience, and then usually wanting to return home and do something here.”<div class="extra-crunch-offer-container"></div>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:36:"http://wellformedweb.org/CommentAPI/";a:1:{s:10:"commentRss";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:103:"https://techcrunch.com/2021/12/23/new-zealands-startup-ecosystem-poised-to-grow-more-tall-poppies/feed/";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:38:"http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/slash/";a:1:{s:8:"comments";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:1:"0";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:30:"com-wordpress:feed-additions:1";a:1:{s:7:"post-id";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:7:"2243872";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:15;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:88:"

";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:6:{s:0:"";a:7:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:77:"GM is also dropping its CES exhibit, organizers still planning in-person show";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:78:"https://techcrunch.com/2021/12/23/gm-is-also-dropping-its-in-person-ces-plans/";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:8:"comments";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:86:"https://techcrunch.com/2021/12/23/gm-is-also-dropping-its-in-person-ces-plans/#respond";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Thu, 23 Dec 2021 22:43:27 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:8:"category";a:6:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:10:"Automotive";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}i:1;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:6:"Events";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}i:2;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:8:"Hardware";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}i:3;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:3:"CES";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}i:4;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:8:"ces 2022";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}i:5;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:2:"GM";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:33:"https://techcrunch.com/?p=2251290";s:7:"attribs";a:1:{s:0:"";a:1:{s:11:"isPermaLink";s:5:"false";}}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:353:"Update: CTA head Gary Shapiro has offered TechCrunch the following updated statement,  Over 2200 companies are confirmed to participate in person at CES 2022 in Las Vegas. Our focus remains on convening the tech industry and giving those who cannot attend in person the ability to experience the magic of CES digitally. CES 2022 will provide […]";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:12:"Brian Heater";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:40:"http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/";a:1:{s:7:"encoded";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:4406:"<p id="speakable-summary"><em><strong>Update:</strong> CTA head Gary Shapiro has offered TechCrunch the following updated statement, </em></p>
<blockquote><p><em>Over 2200 companies are confirmed to participate in person at CES 2022 in Las Vegas. Our focus remains on convening the tech industry and giving those who cannot attend in person the ability to experience the magic of CES digitally. CES 2022 will provide an opportunity for companies from around the world, both large and small, to launch products, build brands and form partnerships. Given CES’ comprehensive health measures — vaccination requirement, masking and availability of COVID-19 tests — coupled with lower attendance and social distancing measures, we are confident that attendees and exhibitors can have a socially distanced but worthwhile and productive event in Las Vegas, or while experiencing it online.</em></p></blockquote>
<p>The last several years have seen a massive increase in automotive presence at CES. It’s not a car show exactly, but as more car makers adopt a technology-first approach, it sure feels like it’s getting there. Tonight, however, General Motors became the latest in a long string of top names bailing out of an in-person presence at the massive Consumer Electronics Show.</p><div id="tc-target-mid-article-2251290" class="tc-target-mid-article ad-unit--size-auto"></div>
<p class="Text__text___3eVx1j Text__dark-grey___AS2I_p Text__regular___Bh17t- Text__large___1i0u1F Body__base___25kqPt Body__large_body___3g04wK ArticleBody__element___3UrnEs" data-testid="paragraph-2">“We have decided to move to an all-digital approach with our activation at CES 2022 in January,” company <a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/alphabets-waymo-says-no-longer-going-consumer-electronics-show-person-due-covid-2021-12-23/">said in a statement</a>. “We are continuing with our plans on Jan. 5 to share our significant company news, including the reveal of the Chevrolet Silverado EV.”</p>
<p>It’s a big change for a company with a big planned presence, including a headlining keynote address from CEO Mary Barra, as well as the in-person debut of the electric Chevy Silverado. Barra plans to give her talk remotely now, according to the company. GM isn’t the first car marker to reverse its plans, but it is the largest. It follows similar announcements from Waymo and Intel, which has a sizable presence in the form of Mobileye. Notably, U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg is currently scheduled to be interviewed by Qualcomm President and CEO, Cristiano Amon.</p>
<div class="embed breakout">
<blockquote class="wp-embedded-content" data-secret="8Ys546LSDv"><p><a href="https://techcrunch.com/2021/12/23/google-cancels-ces-show-presence-amid-omicron-concerns/">Google cancels CES show presence amid omicron concerns</a></p></blockquote>
<p><iframe class="wp-embedded-content" sandbox="allow-scripts" security="restricted" title="“Google cancels CES show presence amid omicron concerns” — TechCrunch" src="https://techcrunch.com/2021/12/23/google-cancels-ces-show-presence-amid-omicron-concerns/embed/#?secret=8Ys546LSDv" data-secret="8Ys546LSDv" width="800" height="450" frameborder="0" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no"></iframe></div>
<p>Other big, recently dropped dominoes include Google, Lenovo, T-Mobile, AT&T, Meta, Twitter, Amazon, TikTok, Pinterest, and Casio as well as a number of prominent media outlets. Other companies, including Nvidia, had planned a virtual-first presence from the outset. After narrowly dodging the first COVID-19 wave in early 2020, CES was expected to be a major return for in-person tech events — albeit one that would be more muted than in past years.</p><div class="piano-inline-promo"></div>
<p>The persistence of the virus’s omicron variant has, however, changed plans for a number of companies, large and small. When we last spoke to the CTA earlier today, however, the show’s governing body still planned to go forward with the event, employing increased safety measures, including vaccine mandates.</p>
<p><a href="https://techcrunch.com/tag/ces-2022/?utm_source=internal&utm_medium=footer-banner"><img src="https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/ces-2022-banner.jpg" alt="Read more about CES 2022 on TechCrunch" /></a></p>
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";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:6:{s:0:"";a:7:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:77:"Google cancels CES in-person presence, event organizers going ahead with show";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:89:"https://techcrunch.com/2021/12/23/google-cancels-ces-show-presence-amid-omicron-concerns/";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:8:"comments";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:97:"https://techcrunch.com/2021/12/23/google-cancels-ces-show-presence-amid-omicron-concerns/#respond";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Thu, 23 Dec 2021 21:44:35 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:8:"category";a:6:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:6:"Events";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}i:1;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:8:"Hardware";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}i:2;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:3:"CES";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}i:3;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:8:"ces 2022";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}i:4;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:6:"Google";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}i:5;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:10:"TechCrunch";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:33:"https://techcrunch.com/?p=2251275";s:7:"attribs";a:1:{s:0:"";a:1:{s:11:"isPermaLink";s:5:"false";}}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:353:"Update: CTA head Gary Shapiro has offered TechCrunch the following updated statement,  Over 2200 companies are confirmed to participate in person at CES 2022 in Las Vegas. Our focus remains on convening the tech industry and giving those who cannot attend in person the ability to experience the magic of CES digitally. CES 2022 will provide […]";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:12:"Brian Heater";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:40:"http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/";a:1:{s:7:"encoded";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:4315:"<p id="speakable-summary"><em><strong>Update:</strong> CTA head Gary Shapiro has offered TechCrunch the following updated statement, </em></p>
<blockquote><p><em>Over 2200 companies are confirmed to participate in person at CES 2022 in Las Vegas. Our focus remains on convening the tech industry and giving those who cannot attend in person the ability to experience the magic of CES digitally. CES 2022 will provide an opportunity for companies from around the world, both large and small, to launch products, build brands and form partnerships. Given CES’ comprehensive health measures — vaccination requirement, masking and availability of COVID-19 tests — coupled with lower attendance and social distancing measures, we are confident that attendees and exhibitors can have a socially distanced but worthwhile and productive event in Las Vegas, or while experiencing it online.</em></p></blockquote>
<p>Today started with big news from Lenovo, followed by Waymo and Intel. Now it seems that Google is extracting itself entirely from its in-person presence at CES. A spokesperson for the company tells TechCrunch:</p><div id="tc-target-mid-article-2251275" class="tc-target-mid-article ad-unit--size-auto"></div>
<blockquote><p>After careful consideration we have decided to withhold from having a presence on the show floor of CES 2022. We’ve been closely monitoring the development of the Omicron variant, and have decided that this is the best choice for the health and safety of our teams. We will continue to collaborate closely with both CTA and our partners to identify and support virtual opportunities, and we look forward to sharing the latest Google innovations with you all.</p></blockquote>
<div class="embed breakout">
<blockquote class="wp-embedded-content" data-secret="4vJr6eAVYl"><p><a href="https://techcrunch.com/2021/12/23/intel-becomes-the-latest-company-to-back-away-from-an-in-person-ces/">Intel becomes the latest company to back away from an in-person CES</a></p></blockquote>
<p><iframe class="wp-embedded-content" sandbox="allow-scripts" security="restricted" title="“Intel becomes the latest company to back away from an in-person CES” — TechCrunch" src="https://techcrunch.com/2021/12/23/intel-becomes-the-latest-company-to-back-away-from-an-in-person-ces/embed/#?secret=4vJr6eAVYl" data-secret="4vJr6eAVYl" width="800" height="450" frameborder="0" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no"></iframe></div>
<p>Google’s decision to lean into a virtual presence isn’t entirely surprising, given the earlier news from fellow Alphabet subsidiary, Waymo. Still, the software giant has become a tentpole presence in recent years, as it has increasingly expanded its hardware footprint through its Nest line of home products and Pixel handsets. For the last several years, Google’s complex outdoor exhibits have been a mainstay in the Las Vegas Convention Center Parking lot.</p>
<p>As of yesterday, the show’s governing body, the CTA, remains steadfast in its decision to keep the event going in early January, though big name losses continue piling up. The list of companies staying away from Vegas amid omicron concerns now also includes T-Mobile, AT&T, Meta, Twitter, Amazon, TikTok and Pinterest, along with a number of media outlets, including TechCrunch.</p><div class="piano-inline-promo"></div>
<p>We’ve reached out to the CTA in light of this latest news — a rough portent heading into a long holiday weekend. At the time of the organization’s last comment, cancelations amounted to 42 cancelations, comprising roughly 7% of the exhibit floor. That number has no doubt shifted since the last report, as both major players and startups have begun rethinking their presence at the show.</p>
<p>No one wants to be the first big company to remove itself from an event, but the parallels to MWC’s cancelation in the early days of the pandemic are becoming more difficult to shake off. Such rapid succession of big name losses tends to make way for even more.</p>
<p><a href="https://techcrunch.com/tag/ces-2022/?utm_source=internal&utm_medium=footer-banner"><img src="https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/ces-2022-banner.jpg" alt="Read more about CES 2022 on TechCrunch" /></a></p>
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";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:6:{s:0:"";a:7:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:41:"The Amazon Glow is a somewhat buggy blast";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:76:"https://techcrunch.com/2021/12/23/the-amazon-glow-is-a-somewhat-buggy-blast/";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:8:"comments";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:84:"https://techcrunch.com/2021/12/23/the-amazon-glow-is-a-somewhat-buggy-blast/#respond";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Thu, 23 Dec 2021 20:50:16 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:8:"category";a:5:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:8:"Hardware";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}i:1;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:7:"Reviews";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}i:2;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:2:"TC";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}i:3;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:6:"Amazon";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}i:4;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:11:"Amazon Glow";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:33:"https://techcrunch.com/?p=2251206";s:7:"attribs";a:1:{s:0:"";a:1:{s:11:"isPermaLink";s:5:"false";}}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:337:"I’m annoyed that the magic black box on the table occasionally seems unable to track my hands. My three-year-old, meanwhile, doesn’t seem to mind at all. He’s laughing so hard he can barely breath as he repeatedly vacuums up dinosaurs his grandma is putting on the table from 200 miles away. I suppose none of […]";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:13:"Greg Kumparak";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:40:"http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/";a:1:{s:7:"encoded";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:11290:"<p id="speakable-summary">I’m annoyed that the magic black box on the table occasionally seems unable to track my hands.</p>
<p>My three-year-old, meanwhile, doesn’t seem to mind at all. He’s laughing so hard he can barely breath as he repeatedly vacuums up dinosaurs his grandma is putting on the table from 200 miles away.</p>
<p>I suppose none of that really makes sense out of context, so let’s rewind a bit.</p><div id="tc-target-mid-article-2251206" class="tc-target-mid-article ad-unit--size-auto"></div>
<p>We’re playing with Amazon Glow — the <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2021/09/28/amazon-introduces-amazon-glow-an-interactive-video-calling-device-for-kids-and-families/">new one</a>, not to be confused with the <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2019/09/25/echo-glow-is-a-30-alexa-powered-glowing-sphere/">other thing Amazon named “Glow”</a> just two years ago.</p>
<p>Take a touchscreen and make it stand upright on its own. Give it a projector that can blast images onto the table in front of it, and two cameras — one to capture video of the person in front of it, and another, pointed at the table, to detect where your hands are and let that projected image act like a touch screen. That’s the Glow.</p>
<p><div id="attachment_2251212" style="width: 690px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-2251212" loading="lazy" class="size-large wp-image-2251212" src="https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/glow.jpg?w=680" alt="" width="680" height="388" srcset="https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/glow.jpg 2014w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/glow.jpg?resize=150,86 150w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/glow.jpg?resize=300,171 300w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/glow.jpg?resize=768,438 768w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/glow.jpg?resize=680,388 680w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/glow.jpg?resize=1536,876 1536w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/glow.jpg?resize=50,29 50w" sizes="(max-width: 680px) 100vw, 680px" /><p id="caption-attachment-2251212" class="wp-caption-text"><strong>Image Credits:</strong> Amazon</p></div></p>
<p>The Glow is meant to let kids* play, read and video chat with a strictly curated list of family and friends from afar. The screen up top always shows the person they’re talking to. What they see projected on the table, Grandma — or whoever — sees on their tablet. When Grandma turns the page in her book, the page on the kid’s end turns as well. When one side draws, the other sees it too.</p>
<p><em>(* “3 and up”, Amazon suggests, but in its current form I’d probably cap it at 3-8.)</em></p>
<p>The whole thing is built up around Amazon Kids+, a premium subscription service (separate from Prime) full of kids books, games, movies and TV shows. Only the books and a handful of games work with the Glow; video content doesn’t show up on the Glow, which is probably the right call or my kid would just demand Blippi 100% of the time. Kids+ is free for a year with the purchase of a Glow, after which it costs $3 (or $5, if you don’t have Amazon Prime) per month.</p>
<p>The book selection seems good, particularly for a younger audience. The games are all simple, multiplayer-y things like memory matching, chess, a pong-style arcade game and a drawing app that throws me back <em>hard</em> to the days of sitting at my dad’s computer for hours on end to draw in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kid_Pix" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Kid Pix</a>. Except this time it’s projected onto a table, and my kid is co-op drawing with his grandma across the state. She places a dinosaur sticker on the screen; he uses the vacuum (erase) tool to gobble it up. They both laugh. Rinse and repeat about a million times.</p>
<p>Each person a kid can call has to be explicitly whitelisted by their parent’s account, and has to have an Amazon account. Getting that set up might take a bit depending on how savvy the other person is — but once it’s all configured, you won’t have to do it again. I like that whitelisting system because it means my kid probably won’t accidentally end up talking to a stranger.</p>
<p>The Glow is a device very much born from the pandemic, and from a time when seeing family in person — especially older members of the family — can feel like tempting fate.</p>
<p>“But wait,” you ask. “If they just want to talk with Grandma remotely, can’t they just FaceTime while using a reading app or something?”</p>
<p>Yes! Of course. And yet…</p>
<p>There’s something different about the Glow. My kid treats it <em>entirely</em> different from FaceTimes, or Zooms, or whatever. It feels different to me, too.</p>
<p><div id="attachment_2251230" style="width: 690px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-2251230" loading="lazy" class="size-large wp-image-2251230" src="https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/GLOW-small.png?w=680" alt="" width="680" height="466" srcset="https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/GLOW-small.png 982w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/GLOW-small.png?resize=150,103 150w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/GLOW-small.png?resize=300,206 300w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/GLOW-small.png?resize=768,526 768w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/GLOW-small.png?resize=680,466 680w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/GLOW-small.png?resize=50,34 50w" sizes="(max-width: 680px) 100vw, 680px" /><p id="caption-attachment-2251230" class="wp-caption-text"><strong>Image Credits:</strong> Greg Kumparak</p></div></p>
<p>Something about the design gives the person you’re chatting with… presence? Maybe it’s because you can’t really move the Glow around during a call; there’s no battery, so it flips off the second you unplug it from the wall. Maybe it’s because you’re interacting with something on the table and then looking up to someone on a separate/dedicated screen, nearly eye-to-eye. It feels less like staring at a screen, more like sitting at a table around a boardgame.</p>
<p>Whatever the case, it’s weirdly effective. My kid will usually spend about five minutes FaceTiming with Grandma, showing her his toys, and then running off to do something else. When I ask if he wants to call Grandma now, he specifically requests they “glow” (using it as a verb) instead. He’ll <em>gladly</em> sit in front of the Glow playing and reading with Grandma for a solid hour, bugs be damned.</p>
<p>Ah, right, the bugs.</p>
<p>The Glow is sort of strange in that it’s <em>kind of</em> out now, but also kind of not. It’s part of Amazon’s “Day 1 Editions” program, which is really a more marketable way of saying “products you buy when they’re still in beta.” You request an “invite,” Amazon chooses who gets to buy it, and said chosen ones get to play with things a bit early while Amazon tinkers. It costs $250 if you get it as part of the Day 1 program, and will cost $299 after that.</p>
<p>In a program like that, bugs come with the territory. And the Glow, as it currently exists at the end of 2021, has them. It fails to detect touches somewhat frequently (it seems particularly iffy when the kid is wearing longer sleeves), making a “KLONK” sound and throwing up an error (for both users!) when it gets confused. Books and games occasionally fail to load. Sometimes it just randomly resets.</p>
<p>There are also some bits that are less bugs, more just rough. Such as:</p>
<ul>
<li>For some reason, the caller on the Glow’s screen tends to end up with half their face cut off, as pictured above. I think it’s because the Glow screen is portrait (taller than it is wide) mode, while the person calling will generally be in landscape (wider than it is tall) mode. Meanwhile, the caller generally can’t see their <em>own</em> face most of the time — just the kid’s, and a view of what the kid is seeing projected — so they don’t know it’s happening. At first I thought it was just that person not knowing how to position their tablet. Then it happened with another person. Then I called my kid on the Glow from another room, and my wife laughed at me for ending up with a cut-off face after maybe three minutes. Amazon should probably build in some Center Stage-style face following to account for that.</li>
<li>A number of books in Amazon Kid’s library don’t look great on these screens, with words that are too small for either side to read. There’s a “Bubble” mode that automatically tries to zoom in on these words to make them more readable; more often than not, it just gets in the way. Sometimes this mode just switches itself on, confusing anyone who hasn’t encountered it before.</li>
<li>The UI, overall, can be slow and oddly formatted.</li>
</ul>
<p>All of these things seem like issues that can be fixed. And I hope Amazon does! Because with a bit more polish, and more content added over time, the Glow could be a really, really sweet little device. But how much love it gets from here is unclear; we’ve had it around our house for weeks now and, if there’s been patches, they’ve been… subtle.</p>
<p>But even in its current form, there’s a lot I like. The projected screen is nice and bright, picking up some extra brightness and tactility from a bright white roll-out mat included in the box. I’ve never had to adjust the room’s lighting to make it work. It’s very quick to set up and tear down if you don’t want it sitting out all the time — something Amazon clearly considered, as the box it comes in acts as a very nice, durable storage container. If you <em>do</em> want it out all the time, there’s a physical shutter switch you can use to cover the camera for added privacy. I also like that Amazon promises to replace it for free if it breaks in the first two years, because, well, kids break things.</p>
<p>But my kid doesn’t care about that stuff, either. He just wants to vacuum up more dinosaurs.</p>
<p>I like to end my reviews with a simple question: Once I send this loaner review unit back, would I buy it? In this case, I already have. Or, at least, I’ve requested an invite to buy one. Partly because I think my kid would be very bummed if he couldn’t “glow with grandma” again, and partly because I honestly just like that uniquely physical presence it gives his grandparents when they call.</p>
<p>Should you? If your kid is already content with FaceTiming their grandparents, maybe not. If books and drawing and basic games won’t keep them interested, maybe not. If you’re not willing to put up with a bug or three while Amazon figures out what this thing means for them in the long run, maybe not. But if that all sounds fine, it really is a lot of fun.</p>
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<p>Setting aside the holiday spirit, this has been a difficult year for growth professionals. Most are still adapting to pandemic-driven changes to consumer habits, but Apple’s new privacy options and the impending death of the browser cookie are making it more difficult to reach the right consumers. Growth marketers have a wide variety of tools available, but which ones do the pros use?</p>
<p>We reached out to 10 growth marketing experts to find how they were preparing for 2022 and to ask they had any New Year’s resolutions to share.</p>
<blockquote>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em>Help TechCrunch find the best growth marketers for startups. </em></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em>Provide a recommendation in <a href="https://oathtechevents.typeform.com/to/bwwIWF03" target="_blank" rel="noopener">this quick survey</a> and we’ll share the results with everybody.</em></p>
</blockquote>
<p>The answers and advice we received were as varied as the people we polled, but nearly all of them indicated that learning — e.g., analytics training, getting started with AI tools, etc. — was high on their to-do list. “Google Analytics 4 is the new default in 2022 and beyond, so get ready to relearn how to configure your analytics reporting in a way that makes sense for your organization,” said Richard Meyer of Tuff.</p>
<p>Kate Adams, SVP of marketing at Validity, said it’s important to keep honing one’s skills, but growth marketers shouldn’t feel compelled to become experts at everything: “Overall, there’s more value in being able to articulate what your problems are and develop strategies to fix them than to be a technology savant gobbling up whatever solution you can get your hands on.”</p>
<p>Our questions also addressed the future of influencer marketing, which automation tools they’re working with and recommending to clients and whether they’re continuing to invest in short-form videos.</p>
<p>Here’s the full list of who we spoke to:</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/jmartinez-in/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Jonathan Martinez</a>, founder, <a href="http://www.jmstrategy.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">JMStrategy</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/kateadams24/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Kate Adams</a>, SVP of marketing, <a href="https://www.validity.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Validity</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/richard-meyer-chicago/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Richard Meyer</a>, growth marketer, <a href="https://tuffgrowth.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Tuff</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/hswillems/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Bas Willems</a>, head of marketing, <a href="https://www.datasnipper.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">DataSnipper</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/fergus1/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Gus Ferguson</a> and <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/alyssabc/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Alyssa Crankshaw</a>, co-founders, <a href="https://ascendant.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Ascendant</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/shanehegde/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Shane Hegde</a>, founder and CEO, <a href="http://air.inc/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Air</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/traceyrwallace/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Tracey Wallace</a>, director of marketing, <a href="https://marketerhire.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">MarketerHire</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/gshepp/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Greg Sheppard</a>, CMO, <a href="https://www.templafy.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Templafy</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/laurenkirstenkelly/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Lauren Kelly</a>, CMO, <a href="https://www.thoughtexchange.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ThoughtExchange</a></li>
</ul>
<h2>Jonathan Martinez, founder, JMStrategy</h2>
<p><strong>What are your 2022 growth marketing resolutions?</strong></p>
<p>In 2022, the companies that come out on top will be those that unlock iOS 14 and leverage influencers. My goal is to continue testing everything on iOS 14, such as optimal account structures, bidding, flows and more. I’m really interested to see how channels/MMPs/etc. evolve and what types of measurement betas they all roll out.</p>
<p>Equally as important to me is to continue leveraging the power of influencers. I think we’re still less than 10% of the way there on how impactful influencers will be in the next decade. Utilizing TikTok’s creator marketplace, platforms such as Billo for UGC content, etc., are all tactics that I’ll be employing.</p>
<p><strong>There was a lot of discussion about influencer marketing in 2021, but is it a fad or a requirement? If it is a must, what types of companies need to invest in this area?</strong></p>
<p>While influencer marketing may have been discussed in magnitudes over the last year, I believe we’re still at the infancy of this tactic. We’ll see channels start to create influencer marketplaces (akin to TikTok’s creator marketplace), which will remove barriers to working with influencers. The pandemic has accelerated people watching even more content from influencers on various channels. These same people are becoming more responsive to ads from a personal voice and increasingly numb to typical brand ads.</p>
<p><strong>Where does AI marketing fall on your list of priorities for 2022? Should marketing teams be leaning into this, or is it industry/customer-specific?</strong></p>
<p>As growth marketers, we should always be on the hunt for tools that’ll either help solve monotonous tasks or increase our analysis throughput. The creative AI space is something I’m keeping a close eye on because I think this is where there’s huge room for advancement. As targeting and bidding become increasingly channel automated, creative is an area that I believe still needs the human touch. If AI platforms can help speed learnings and provide useful insights on creative launches, it’ll be immensely helpful.</p>
<p><strong>Which marketing automation tools do you think are poised to take off in 2022? Should growth marketers plan to become more technical in the coming year?</strong></p>
<p>Growth marketing has always been a nice blend of analytics + creativity, with distribution being dependent on the stage of the company. As data becomes less clear with industrywide privacy changes, growth marketers are being forced to be more analytical and technical than ever. Running incrementality tests, applying scalars to channels and validating data across tools will be paramount in 2022 to understanding growth efforts.</p>
<h2>Kate Adams, SVP of marketing, Validity</h2>
<p><strong>What are your 2022 growth marketing resolutions?</strong></p>
<p>In 2022 marketers can expect to see a resurgence of product-led growth models, which have historically centered on creating free products that are appealing, easy to use and accessible. For so long, we’ve held this notion that growth models have to incorporate a trial period to succeed with consumers. What if that wasn’t the case? With the convergence of product-led growth strategies and the elimination of friction, it doesn’t have to be.</p>
<p>This year, marketers should resolve to embrace this resurgence, but in a modern, differentiated way. Let’s rethink how we approach growth models; maybe we don’t have to include a trial or free version of our products — especially when not every company is able to sustain the investment and resources required for trial products.</p>
<p>Another resolution is to not let yourselves fall in the trap of believing that everything is back to normal — COVID is still disrupting in-person events as well as entire industries and will continue to do so. So as marketers we have to resolve to pivot early and often to ensure our larger campaigns and investments are able to succeed regardless of the status of the pandemic.</p>
<p><strong>There was a lot of discussion about influencer marketing in 2021, but is it a fad or a requirement? If it is a must, what types of companies need to invest in this area?</strong></p>
<p>Influencers have their time and place — we all saw the “Just Like That” Peloton ad and that was cool and will stay with us for a week, maybe a month. But the reality is that no matter how much you pay or what influencer your brand snags, these are passing moments in time.</p>
<p>As a B2B marketer, I’m much more interested in making customers part of a community and giving them a platform to share their success stories of which we play a part. Instead of going for one person with 10 million followers via a flashy influencer program, why not invite 1,000 people with 10,000 followers to talk about your product? Not every industry has a Kim Kardashian for the moment, and even if they do, it’s not a sustainable model. It’s much more impactful, especially in the B2B world, to have a steady, ongoing drumbeat of customers telling their stories about your brand than investing heavily in one mega influencer.</p>
<p><strong>Have short-form videos (2:30 or less) peaked, or should marketers keep using this tool in 2022? </strong></p>
<p>Video definitely hasn’t peaked — and I don’t believe it will any time soon. There is an entire generation of individuals who essentially grew up on YouTube and TikTok. They know how to get to what they want (information included) faster. These are all the same people that are joining the workforce and suddenly becoming B2B buyers and, if you want to be successful, you have to communicate with them in the way they’re most familiar with. Short-form video content is one big way to do that.</p>
<p>There’s so much more room for video. In our industry, webinars still reign supreme but stopping there is antiquated thinking. Marketing teams should be challenging themselves to come up with ways to address the webinar fatigue happening in really technical industries. For example, taking long-form content (like webinars) and cutting them up into smaller, more readily consumable snippets is a quick and easy way to ensure these learnings live on and reach a broader audience.</p>
<p><strong>Where does AI marketing fall on your list of priorities for 2022? Should marketing teams be leaning into this, or is it industry/customer-specific?</strong></p>
<p>AI is some of the most exciting technology I’ve seen in a really long time. The fact that AI can achieve any number of tasks — whether it’s improving user experience or actually having a conversation with somebody — is truly incredible. But, I think of these things as pendulums. Consumers may experience AI and think, “I just want to talk to a person.” While using AI to mitigate issues with user experience and have it dealt with automatically is an ideal solution, there are instances when you actually need to enable a human being and have a human conversation.</p>
<p>AI is like a house; without the appropriate technology and engineering infrastructure at the foundation, that house is going to crumble. AI is only as good as what you put into it. The minute you try to train your machine based on bad data, it will find faulty trends or just not work at all. Right now too many people are running toward AI as the solution for all their problems without solving for the data decay already taking place in their organization.</p>
<p><strong>Similarly, is the personalization trend overhyped? Which specific tools and platforms do you recommend for non-technical marketers who want to get up to speed?</strong></p>
<p>Too many marketers today are enacting tokenization and claiming that as personalization. They’ll put your name and your company name in their materials and think, “I put these tokens in, and therefore I delivered you a personalized experience.” That’s missing the forest for the trees. From a technology perspective, it’s about the website experiences. We need to deliver a personalized experience based on who you are, how many times you’ve been here and what we know about you.</p>
<p>In terms of tools, I think there’s a ton of folks out there doing really interesting stuff right now — for everything from content personalization to web personalization. The important piece here is the ability to test and understand the impact of your personalization efforts on customers. A lot of ESPs and companies like Adobe are doing an incredible job building out tools to enable marketers to really hone in on the customer journey and demonstrate what the next best action is for each customer. I’m incredibly biased but I also think our solutions Everest and Demandtools can go a long way in providing today’s marketers with the ability to take their campaigns to the next level in terms of personalization and accuracy.</p>
<p><strong>Which marketing automation tools do you think are poised to take off in 2022? Should growth marketers plan to become more technical in the coming year?</strong></p>
<p>Marketing is incredibly difficult; more so than ever before. And there are also more solutions (8,000+ in fact) that claim to be the silver bullet to fix any marketing woes. But those are just claims as often no one solution is the end-all-be-all. While you definitely have to be savvy in technology (and the implementation of that technology) to be a successful marketer, there are many considerations in a marketer’s skillset outside of this technical piece.</p>
<p>For instance, there’s a marketing technologist, a marketing strategist, the marketing execution piece — in today’s market, you have to be all three of those to be a really strong marketer. Mastering all of these skills is difficult for one person, especially because it’s using both sides of the brain. Understanding the analytical aspects of a marketing program, but also how to write the copy that captures people’s attention and portrays the message you want to say is tricky. Overall, there’s more value in being able to articulate what your problems are and develop strategies to fix them, than to be a technology savant gobbling up whatever solution you can get your hands on.</p>
<h2>Richard Meyer, growth marketer, Tuff</h2>
<p><strong>What are your 2022 growth marketing resolutions?</strong></p>
<p>In 2022, I want to commit to:</p>
<ul>
<li>Taking additional training courses on the new Google Analytics tool, Google Analytics 4.</li>
<li>Developing additional attribution reporting cadences that rely on first-touch attribution, instead of Google Analytic’s default “last-click” attribution.</li>
<li>Developing additional demand-generating strategies (instead of demand-capturing strategies) for niche-product and service markets, such as fintech, B2B SaaS, etc.</li>
</ul>
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		Daniela Moreno is the investments marketing manager at <a href="http://seedstars.com/">Seedstars</a>, a Swiss-based group with a mission to impact people’s lives in emerging markets through technology and entrepreneurship.	</div>
	
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</div><p id="speakable-summary">Even after the unprecedented year that we had in 2020, the VC markets picked up in 2021 and founders raised <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2021/08/04/5-factors-founders-must-consider-before-choosing-their-vc/">157% more capital</a> in the second quarter of 2021 compared to the previous year. Global VCs have invested <a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/global-venture-capital-investments-hit-record-high-2021-07-21/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">$268.7 billion</a> as of July 2021, already passing the total investment amount in 2020.</p>
<p>In emerging markets, where our company Seedstars focuses its attention, VC capital flow has been growing 40% year on year but still represents less than 4% of global volumes, despite accounting for the majority of the world’s population. <a href="https://practicalvc.com/is-vc-experiencing-a-bubble/">Whether you think this is a bubble</a>, one fact remains true: Capital is a commodity.</p>
<p>Some capital will flow faster than others and investment terms must be considered, but assuming all things are equal, the real value lies beyond the capital. It lies in the knowledge, network and support an investor brings to the table.</p>
<p>It is not only a matter of market perception or an identified trend. <a href="https://www.desantisbreindel.com/insights/big-venture-capital/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">De Santis Breindel</a> asked CEOs what was the top evaluation criteria when choosing a VC firm. Reputation of the firm came first place, followed by the ability to add value to portfolio companies beyond funding. So how has the industry responded to this?</p>
<h2>“Smart money” and the VC platform</h2>
<p>At some point, the concept of “smart money” slipped into the VC vernacular referring to the idea that some money also came with highly sought after expertise and the likelihood of crowding in other investors.</p>
<p>Today, the evolution of the concept has brought us the VC “platform.” Smart money was definitely a catchier phrase but not institutional enough to be turned into something official. The concept of a platform, on the other hand, gives more room for innovation but still leaves most founders (and even some platform managers) confused. So, the big questions are: What exactly is a platform? How does it bring value? Do you need it as a startup? How can you evaluate it? Read on.</p>
<h2>T-shaped platforms and the Tetris fit</h2>
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