Mon. 06/02 – How DoorDash Has Quietly Been Killing It

Twitter still lives, at least at the time of this writing. But thousands more contractors have been laid off. CZ wants to start a fund to save crypto projects. Paging Jonah Hill to play SBF in the movie that Michael Lewis is shopping around Hollywood. Meta is exiting the Portal business. And a big review of the Meta Quest Pro is just downright befuddling. Sponsors: LadderLife.com/ride Storyblok.com/ridehome Links: Twitter reportedly cut thousands of contractors without warning (The Verge) SpaceX just bought a big ad campaign on Twitter for Starlink (CNBC) Binance Starts Recovery Fund for Crypto Projects Facing Liquidity Crisis (CoinDesk) Exclusive: Jeff Bezos says he will give most of his money to charity (CNN Business) Nearly half of Meta job cuts were in tech, reorg underway - execs say (Reuters) Meta Quest Pro review: get me out of here (The Verge) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

14 Nov 202219min

Just two big stories, as it’s been all week, but instead of ONLY giving you the latest, I want to try to sum up where I think we’re at as this week ends. What, I think, in the end, actually happened with FTX. And are we SURE Elon isn’t trying to tank Twitter on purpose? And, of course, the weekend longreads suggestions. Sponsors: Storyblok.com/ridehome Links: Sam Bankman-Fried steps down as FTX CEO as his crypto exchange files for bankruptcy (CNBC) FTX US Warns of Trading Halt Hours After Bankman-Fried Says It's '100% Liquid' (CoinDesk) Crypto Lender BlockFi Pauses Withdrawals in Wake of FTX Collapse (CoinDesk) Does Twitter Have Any Employees Left Who Remember That The Company Is Under A Strict Consent Decree With The FTC? (TechDirt) Weekend Longreads Suggestions: Basically everything on Amazon has become an ad (Vox) Can Crypto’s Richest Man Stand the Cold? (Bloomberg) Matter is here, but it’s still a long road to the simple smart home (The Verge) Twitter alternative: how Mastodon is designed to be “antiviral” (UXCollective) Unfollow? Block? And who gets custody of the WhatsApp groups? How to break up in the digital age (The Guardian) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

11 Nov 202219min

More twists and turns in the FTX, SBF, CZ saga as the entire crypto sector continues to get rocked. I’d love to tell you what is going on with Twitter’s whole checkmark saga, but I don’t know, Elon doesn’t know, and frankly, by the time you hear this, it’s likely to have changed anyway. GitHub is getting into the voice assistant game. And Amazon becomes the first company to LOSE a Trillion dollars in valuation. Sponsors: Akamai.com/techmeme Storyblok.com/ridehome Links: Binance Walks Away From Deal to Rescue FTX (WSJ) SBF Tweet Storm This Morning FTX’s Collapse Spurs $10 Billion Drop in Decentralized Finance (Bloomberg) Twitter begins to roll out, then kills, grey checkmarks for high-profile accounts (TechCrunch) Apple will spend $450 million with Globalstar and others to enable emergency satellite texting (CNBC) ‘Hey, GitHub!’ will let programmers code with just their voice (The Verge) Amazon Becomes World’s First Public Company to Lose $1 Trillion in Market Value (Bloomberg) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

10 Nov 202216min

The Meta layoffs are here and they’re brutal. But rumors are, TikTok is cutting back also. What even is the new Twitter subscription product at this point? Does anybody know? And if you look at today’s show title, and it’s just a bunch of gibberish, hopefully I can explain the big crypto blowup from yesterday. Sources: Kinsta.com Storyblok.com Links: Meta confirms 11,000 layoffs, amounting to 13% of its workforce (TechCrunch) TikTok slashes global revenue targets by at least $2bn (Financial Times) Twitter’s solution for ruining verification is another check mark (The Verge) Disney+ reaches 164.2M subscribers as it prepares for ad-supported tier launch (TechCrunch) The Story of Sam Bankman-Fried’s Backroom Deal With Binance’s CZ (CoinDesk) Lucas Nuzzi (Twitter Thread) FTX Venture Investors Fear Total Wipeout in Binance Rescue Deal (The Information) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

9 Nov 202218min

Why has FTX appeared to have halted withdrawals? Innocent explanation, or could we have another big crypto blowup brewing? What if Elon just says, screw it, and puts all of Twitter behind a paywall? What happens if NFT marketplaces stop honoring royalties? And why is Apple having a hard time with its design team? Sponsors: Masterworks.com/ride Links: Binance to Sell Rest of FTX Token Holdings as Alameda CEO Defends Firm's Financial Condition (CoinDesk) Musk discusses putting all of Twitter behind a paywall (Platformer) Mysterious company with government ties plays key internet role (Washington Post) OpenSea Breaks Silence on NFT Royalties, But Creators Don't Like What They Hear (Decrypt) Apple’s Brain Drain Hinders Efforts to Pick Its Next Jony Ive (Bloomberg) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

8 Nov 202217min

Looks like those rumors of massive Meta layoffs might be coming true this week. Covid has led to brand new iPhone shortage worries. Is Apple about to make it easier to invoke Siri? Airbnb has made it easier to understand the true cost of a rental. And this weekend in the Twitter Clown Car. Sponsors: Storyblok.com/ridehome Links: Facebook Parent Meta Is Preparing to Notify Employees of Large-Scale Layoffs This Week (WSJ) Apple Issues iPhone 14 Pro Shipment Warning Ahead of Holiday Shopping Season (MacRumors) Apple’s Next Change for Siri: Dropping ‘Hey’ From ‘Hey Siri’ Trigger (Bloomberg) Airbnb to Make Cleaning Fees Clearer on Searches After Customer Complaints (WSJ) Elon Musk Appears To Threaten Advertisers Wary Of His Twitter Takeover (HuffingtonPost) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

7 Nov 202219min

The layoffs have begun at Twitter. And while Twitter might shutter its Substack competitor, Substack has moved into Twitter’s turf by launching a sort of discussion platform. DALL-E API’s are now available for you to use. What it’s like to use Netflix’s new ad-supported tier. And, of course, The Weekend Longreads Suggestions. Sponsors: hiddenheroes.netguru.com Links: Elon Musk’s Twitter layoffs are starting (The Verge) Substack targets Twitter with launch of discussions feature, Substack Chat (TechCrunch) Amazon pauses hiring for corporate workforce (CNBC) DALL-E API released by OpenAI in public beta, potential boon for app builders (VentureBeat) With Netflix’s ads tier, you never know what you’re going to get (The Verge) Weekend Longreads Suggestions: Bored Ape Yacht Club tell all: The untold story of the $4 billion crypto startup (FastCompany) The ‘Viral’ Secure Programming Language That’s Taking Over Tech (Wired) The Race to Be Figma for Devs: CodeSandbox vs. StackBlitz (TheNewStack) The Most Vulnerable Place on the Internet (Wired) Inside the weirdly competitive industry of robots writing letters in human handwriting (FastCompany) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

4 Nov 202217min

Is TikTok still in danger of running afoul of government bans? WhatsApp gets Groups. Gmail gets package tracking. Instagram gets NFT minting. Patreon gets video hosting. Layoffs come for Stripe. Yes, there was some Twitter news too. And is the Adobe/Figma deal in trouble? Sponsors: hiddenheroes.netguru.com Split.io/techmeme Links: TikTok tells European users its staff in China get access to their data (The Guardian) WhatsApp officially launches its new discussion group feature, Communities (TechCrunch) Gmail to add a new package tracking feature ahead of holiday shopping season (TechCrunch) Meta’s Instagram Plans NFT Minting, Trading Tools (Decrypt) Patreon’s long-awaited video hosting feature is finally rolling out to creators (The Verge) Elon Musk Aims to Start Charging for Twitter Verification Next Week (Bloomberg) Stripe Cuts Headcount by 14%, Prepares for ‘Leaner Times’ (Bloomberg) DOJ takes aim at Adobe's $20 billion deal (Politico) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

3 Nov 202216min