Jordan Crook
Managing Editor
The Latest from Jordan Crook
Meet the 13 startups launching out of Entrepreneurs Roundtable Accelerator
The Entrepreneurs’ Roundtable Accelerator is today presenting yet another batch of startups to the world at its Demo Day in NYC. ERA has already launched a total of 180 startups which have raise
Managed by Q launches a new task management feature for office managers
Managed by Q, the office management platform recently acquired by WeWork, has today announced the launch of Task Management. The feature comes to Managed by Q by way of Hivy, a startup acquired by MBQ
Confirmed: Pax Labs raises $420 million at a valuation of $1.7 billion
Pax Labs, the popular vape maker, has today confirmed the close of a $420 million equity round, including from existing investors Tiger Global Management and Tao Capital Partners, and new investors in
Original Content podcast: On ‘Guava Island,’ Donald Glover mixes music and politics
It was hard to know what to expect from “Guava Island.” Last year, Donald Glover and Rihanna filmed the mysterious project with director Hiro Murai (who’s also directed multiple epis
Uber, Lyft implement new safety measures
Uber and Lyft instituted new safety features and policies this week. The move follows the death of Samantha Josephson, a student at the University of South Carolina, who was kidnapped and murdered in
Lyric raises $160 million in debt and equity to power the next generation of hospitality
Lyric, a platform for folks who struggle to decide between a hotel and an Airbnb, has today announced the close a $160 million financing round (an even combination of debt and equity). Airbnb led the
Adobe launches an Adobe XD accelerator to woo developers
The design world is in a state of full-fledged competition. Never in history have designers and their respective teams had so many options from which to choose. As both demand and supply grow, design
Original Content podcast: Making sense of the surreal terrors in Jordan Peele’s ‘Us’
Jordan Peele fans who go to his latest film “Us” hoping to find another “Get Out” may be disappointed: Where Peele’s directorial debut lent itself to straightforward poli
Juul launches a pilot program that tracks how Juul devices get in the hands of minors
Juul Labs is today launching a pilot for its new Track & Trace program, which is meant to use data to identify exactly how Juul devices wind up in the hands of minors. Juul vaporizers all have a s
Lemonade picks up $300 million Series D led by SoftBank Group
Lemonade, the insurance startup founded by Daniel Schreiber and Shai Wininger, has today announced a $300 million Series D financing led by the SoftBank Group, with participation from Allianz, General
InVision announces new integrations with Jira
Today InVision announced even deeper integrations with Jira, letting users embed actual InVision prototypes right within a Jira ticket. The company also announced the Jira app for InVision Studio, let
Esports org OverActive Media gets investment from The Weeknd
OverActive Media, the company that owns the Splyce esports org and the Overwatch League’s Toronto Defiant team, have announced that The Weeknd (real name: Abel Tesfaye) has invested in the compa
Democratic senators question Juul about its Altria deal
Eleven democratic senators, led by Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL), have penned a letter to Juul Labs, asking a series of questions around the product’s marketing, its effectiveness as a tool to help pe
WeWork acquires Managed by Q
Managed by Q, the office management platform based out of New York, has today been acquired by The We Company, formerly known as WeWork. Financial terms were not disclosed. The WSJ reports that it was
Home buying and selling platform Perch raises $220M in debt and equity
Perch, a home-buying and selling platform, has raised $220 million in a combination of equity ($20 million) to fund operations and debt ($200 million) to finance home purchasing. The equity investment
Original Content podcast: ‘The Inventor’ offers a compelling overview of the Theranos saga
The story of how blood testing company Theranos rose to prominence, then collapsed following accusations of fraud, is getting told and retold in many forms: There’s reporter John Carreyrou̵
The best and worst April Fools’ jokes from around the web
The tech world sure does love a good prank. While some sat out on April Fools’, a number of big tech companies embraced the opportunity to waste time this way. So without any further ado, here a
User Interviews, a platform for product feedback, raises $5 million
It’s not uncommon to hear CEOs and business leaders talk about focusing on the consumer. But the only way to build for the consumer is to hear what they want, which can be a resource-intensive t
EA lays off 350 people
Though Apex Legends continues to be a bright spot for EA, the game publisher and the industry as a whole still have hurdles ahead. Today, EA confirmed that it laid off 350 people in marketing, publish
Original Content podcast: ‘Triple Frontier’ sends famous faces on a grim hike over the Andes
Even by the standards of the often, ah, “wide-ranging” conversations on the Original Content podcast, this latest episode covers a lot of ground. The initial focus is “Triple Frontie