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The team that was at CES went back to their desks. If you missed the avalanche of stories — or just couldn’t keep up with them — Brian wrote an amazing recap of CES 2023. Take a look and you’ll be sure you didn’t miss anything important as you grab your favorite chair and book to sit down for the weekend. — Christina and high
Top 3 TechCrunch
- Slasher but IRL: Tesla lowers prices again, this time for US buyers, by as much as 20%, Kirsten reports. This new lower base, which falls below $55,000, “is important because it allows buyers to qualify for the $7,500 federal tax incentive,” he writes.
- Claws outside: Fintech startup Mayfair debuted high-yield APR for businesses, backed by $10 million in funding from investors like Tiger Global. Maria Anna has more information on how the company is able to offer such a high interest rate.
- If A then B: Manish writes about Google India’s warning that if its antitrust ruling is upheld, it will create a national security risk and push up the price of Android devices in the region.
Startups and VCs
It looks like SPACs aren’t completely dead yet as World View, a company developing stratospheric balloons for Earth observation and tourism, is heading to public markets, Aria reports. The company announced on Friday that it would merge with a special purpose vehicle company (SPAC) Leo Holdings Corp. II in a $350 million deal as it seeks to build what it calls a “stratospheric economy.”
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You won’t live up to your 2021 valuation
Image credits: nfsphoto (opens in a new window) / Getty Images
According to Jeremy Abelson and Jacob Sonnenberg of Irving Investors, many, if not most, founders who are tied to their 2021 valuations are living in a fantasy.
In this post, TC+ worked out “simple math on how long it will take for companies to price their IPOs after a flat round relative to their previous 2021 valuations.”
Companies with 75% year-on-year growth “can have a discussion”, but “if you are growing below 30%, there is a strong possibility that growth to the 2021 valuation is impossible.”
Three more people from the TC+ team:
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Big Tech Inc.
Are you hanging around Paris now? Well, this may be your last time. Romain takes a detailed look at how scooters in Paris are at a crossroads as the city weighs whether to put a brake on renewing contracts with three companies. As Michael Scott said, “Buckle up, it’s going to be bumpy.”
Meanwhile, Sarah and Kirsten linked to information that Tokyo-based news aggregator SmartNews has laid off 40% of its employees in the US and China.
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