Netflix reports losing 200K net subscribers in Q1, vs. an estimated 2.5M net additions, and $7.87B revenue, vs. $7.95B est.; Netflix opens down 30%+
Netflix (NFLX) reported an unexpected decline in first-quarter net subscribers as the company navigated an exit from Russia and an increasingly saturated North American market.
Sources: Elon Musk is evaluating various debt packages, including preferred debt and a loan against his shares of Tesla, to secure financing for his Twitter bid
The world's richest man is trying to shore up debt financing, including potentially taking out a loan against his shares of Tesla, so he can buy Twitter for $43 billion.
Netflix estimates that its users are sharing passwords with 100M+ non-paying households globally, including 30M+ in the US and Canada, in violation of its rules
Todd Spangler / Variety :
Coinbase launches its NFT marketplace in beta, after announcing the service in October 2021, with support for Ethereum-based NFTs and ETH payments
Quick Take Coinbase NFT has gone live in beta form. It currently supports Ethereum-based NFTs and payments in ETH.
A look at corporate raider tactics requiring 51% of a company's stock, which tend to treat remaining minority shareholders poorly, amid Twitter's “poison pill”
Matt Levine / Bloomberg :
Google and Meta restrict the accounts of Hong Kong's sole chief executive candidate, John Lee, citing US sanctions from 2020 on Lee for crushing protests
Google and Meta Platforms Inc. moved on Wednesday to curtail the social media presence of Hong Kong's sole chief executive candidate …
Reed Hastings says Netflix plans to offer cheaper, ad-supported plans and will examine what those plans will look like “over the next year or two”
ads and account sharing crackdowns could be next Huileng Tan / Insider : Netflix's CEO says he's open to creating a lower-priced tier with ads as the company bleeds subscribers Kat Bailey / IGN : Netf...
Google's Project Zero: 58 in-the-wild 0-days were detected and shared in 2021, more than double the previous record, as the industry improves at finding 0-days
A Year in Review of 0-days Used In-the-Wild in 2021 — This is our third annual year in review of 0-days exploited in-the-wild [2020, 2019].
Brave browser introduces De-AMP, a feature which bypasses Google-hosted AMP pages and takes users straight to the original website
Yet another nail in the AMP coffin — Brave announced a new feature for its browser on Tuesday: De-AMP, which automatically jumps past any page rendered …
Sources: Blackstone and Vista Equity Partners are not backing a Musk-led deal for Twitter, partly due to concerns on whether Twitter can become more profitable
Financial Times :
Global smartphone shipments fell 11% in Q1 2022; Samsung grew its market share from 22% to 24%, Apple gained from 15% to 18%, and Xiaomi dipped from 14% to 13%
Worldwide smartphone shipments fell 11% amid unfavorable economic conditions and sluggish seasonal demand in the first quarter of 2022.
A timeline of warnings from investors over the past decade about a tech startup bubble that never burst; instead of a collapse, things got bubblier
The venture capitalists are sounding the alarm. At posh conferences, they buzz about falling valuations for start-ups.
Analysis: half of Apple's top 200 suppliers have facilities in and around Shanghai, where China's COVID-19 lockdowns are disrupting activity
slong COVID lockdown in Shanghai is creating chaos for Apple suppliers based in and around the city. (Source photos by Getty Images and Reuters) …
Okta's probe into the January Lapsus$ breach of a third-party vendor concludes that it lasted only 25 consecutive minutes and impacted just two active customers
Okta said Tuesday that a forensic investigation that it commissioned found that the hacker group Lapsus$ accessed …
Just Eat Takeaway says it is exploring a partial or full sale of Grubhub, less than one year after buying it for $7.3B
Just Eat Takeaway.com NV said it's considering a partial or full sale of its Grubhub unit less than a year after buying it for $7.3 billion, in a reversal that highlights …
Microsoft's Chris Novak, currently head of Xbox R&D, is leaving after nearly 20 years; Novak has previously worked on Xbox Game Pass and Live
From Xbox design director, to architect, to leading Xbox research and design — If you've subscribed to Game Pass or obsessed over Xbox achievements …
Netflix added 1.09M subscribers in Asia Pacific, the lone bright spot, helped by the success of the South Korean series Squid Game, its biggest launch
Peter Vercoe / Bloomberg : See also Mediagazer
Robinhood revives its UK expansion plans and agrees to acquire crypto app Ziglu, one of the few crypto companies to secure Financial Conduct Authority approval
Ryan Browne / CNBC :
FactSet survey of Q1 ad revenue: Google is expected to rise 23% YoY to $55.1B, Meta is expected to rise 8% YoY to ~$27.5B, and Twitter to grow 25% YoY to $1.1B
Google's search business expected to stay resilient while social platforms grapple with challenges Tweets: @megancgraham , @csooran , @enriqueabeyta , @hoofnagle , @jason_kint , and @jason_kint Tweets...
Filing: former eBay security director Jim Baugh will plead guilty to a 2019 cyberstalking campaign against eBay critics; five other ex-staff have pleaded guilty
Janelle Lawrence / Bloomberg :
Google's automated “inclusive warning” on Docs is very broken and annoying, like suggesting “landlord” may not be inclusive but making no notes about the N-word
Samantha Cole / VICE :
Filings: Amazon's Luxembourg-based European business lost €1.2B in 2021, meaning it paid no income tax and received €1B in tax credits, on €51.3B in sales
Amazon.com Inc.'s main European retail business reported 1.2 billion euros ($1.2 billion) of losses in 2021 …
IBM beats in Q1 with revenue of $14.2B, up 7.7% YoY, vs. $13.85B est., including $5.77B from software, up 12% YoY, and $4.83B from consulting, up 13% YoY
Double-Digit Software and Consulting Growth Led by Hybrid Cloud Adoption; Strong Profit Generation Tweets: Patrick Moorhead / @patrickmoorhead : And.. $IBM with small beats on the top and bottom and.....
Muslim matchmaking app Muzmatch loses the right to use its name after a UK court rules in favor of Match Group in a trademark dispute
Cristina Criddle / Financial Times :
Colombian financial “superapp” Treinta raises $46M led by Prosus' PayU, following a $14.3M seed in 2021, and says it is used by 4M SMBs in 18 countries
Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch :
Mutiny, which uses AI to help companies serve personalized websites, raises a $50M Series B led by Tiger Global and Insight Partners at a $600M valuation
Advertising, particularly online advertising, isn't a surefire way to bolster business. A report from ecommerce analytics platform Glew drives …
D-Matrix, which is building its chiplet-based Nighthawk architecture for faster matrix math calculations, raises a $44M Series A led by Playground Global
Peter Wayner / VentureBeat :
Gartner predicts that global corporate spending on cloud computing in 2022 will grow 20% YoY to $494.7B, and cloud platform services to grow 26% to $109.6B
Angus Loten / Wall Street Journal : Source: Gartner .
Vetster, a marketplace and telehealth startup for pet care, raises a $30M Series B led by Kensington, and partners with online pet medications company PetMeds
Joan Verdon / Forbes :
Mumbai-based Financepeer, which offers loans to students to pay school and college fees, raises $31M led by QED Investors and Aavishkaar Capital
The Economic Times :
Sources: WhatsApp is struggling to sign up local partners in Brazil for its business payments service and is still awaiting central bank approval
Financial Times : Tweets: @bryanhimself , @muradahmed , and @mattnavarra Tweets: Bryan H / @bryanhimself : Nothing is ever simple in Brazil, although Meta should have known that from the outset. Grea...
Russia's war in Ukraine revives internet connectivity fears among some Asia-Pacific countries, should China sever undersea cables as part of an attack on Taiwan
FundGuard, an AI-powered investment management and administration SaaS startup, raises a $40M Series B from Citi, State Street Corp, and other investors
Meir Orbach / CTech :
Indonesia-based Noice, an audio content startup focused on podcasts, radio, audiobooks, and live audio, raises a $22M Series A led by Northstar
Catherine Shu / TechCrunch :
Many cryptocurrency stocks have fallen sharply in 2022: Coinbase is down ~40% year-to-date, Marathon Digital is down 30%+, and Riot Blockchain is down 30%+
Mumbai-based Videoverse, which helps companies automate online video content production and reduce editing time using AI, raises a $46.8M Series B
Taryn Plumb / VentureBeat :
Demostack, which offers a “demo experience” service for SaaS sales teams, raises a $34M Series B led by Tiger Global, bringing its total funding to $51.5M
Kyle Wiggers / TechCrunch :
Gravity Sketch, a service for collaborating on 3D object design, raises a $33M Series A and says it has 100K+ users, with Ford and Adidas among customers
Brex acquires Pry Financials, a financial planning software startup with ~10 employees, for $90M; Pry raised a $4.2M seed in August 2021 from YC and others
Mary Ann Azevedo / TechCrunch :
Shopify's new AI commerce stack
Their VP of Product digs into just-launched products to help entrepreneurs and developers build with the latest AI.
Email fatigue is real: Here's how smart email tools help you regain control
Picture this: It's Monday morning. You walk into the office feeling energized and ready to take on the week.
Protecting your Cloud Applications Data
Backing up Office 365, Google Workspace, Dropbox & Box data is critical to preventing data loss or corruption, complying with laws and avoiding critical downtime in case of a disaster.