Natasha Mascarenhas
The Latest from Natasha Mascarenhas
Y Combinator Demo Day to remain virtual and will be streamed live
After feedback from the investor and founder communities, Y Combinator is making a change to how it does Demo Days in a remote world. The accelerator announced today that it will keep its two-day Demo
Boston’s Q2 shows that the startup rebound isn’t ahead of us, it’s upon us
The coronavirus caused some disagreement amongst Boston’s venture capital community. Looking back at our mid-2020 survey of its VCs, some saw the city’s strength in biotech and healthcare as a com
Without desks and a demo day, are accelerators worth it?
As a result of the pandemic, accelerators have moved operations fully remote to abide by social distancing. The shift has forced well-known programs like 500 Startups, Y Combinator and Techstars to go
Stanford students are short-circuiting VC firms by investing in their peers
Stanford’s success in spinning out startup founders is a well-known adage in Silicon Valley, with alumni founding companies like Google, Cisco, LinkedIn, YouTube, Snapchat, Instagram and, yes, even
Lo Toney’s product manager playbook for pitch deck success
The cold email worked — you’ve landed a meeting with your dream investor. Hell, you even set aside $40,000 for a pitch deck consultant to make sure your presentation looks suave. One thing to
Edtech startups flirt with unicorn-style growth
When Quizlet became a unicorn earlier this year, CEO Matthew Glotzbach said he’d prefer to distance the company from the common nomenclature for a startup valued at or above $1 billion. “The w
‘Edtech is no longer optional’: Investors’ deep dive into the future of the market
One reason some venture capitalists and founders don’t enter edtech is because the space has a sluggish stereotype, thanks to red tape, slow sales cycles, and, in America, a fragmented customer base
Dumpling launches to make anyone become their own Instacart
Gig economy companies like to tout the flexibility and freedom they offer workers, but for the people finding work through companies like Instacart, Uber, DoorDash and Lyft, the economic and physical
Extension rounds help some startups play offense during COVID-19
The venture capital world is constantly changing, and its evolution can sometimes flip pieces of conventional wisdom on their heads. For example, a recent flurry of extension rounds from Silicon Valle
8 edtech investors talk re-skilling, digital universities, ISAs and other post-pandemic trends
We know that the coronavirus has brought unprecedented attention to the edtech market, but now what? What happens when schools are no longer clambering toward an overnight solution? When the surges sl
Benchmark-backed Optimizely confirms it has laid off 15% of staff
Optimizely, a San Francisco-based startup that popularized the concept of A/B testing, has laid off 15% of its staff, the company confirmed in a statement to TechCrunch. The layoff impacts around 60 p
After colleges sue, ICE backs down from student visa rule change
The Trump administration has backed down from plans to revoke visas of international students studying in the U.S. whose schools planned to provide their classes exclusively online in the fall because
Mighty Health created a wellness app with older adults top of mind
Virtual classes might make it easier to work out anywhere, anytime, but not for anyone. Mainstream fitness tech often targets the young and fit, in advertisements and cardio-heavy exercises. It effect
Edtech exits show a need for better plumbing
The world’s massive experiment with remote learning has done more than emphasize the cracks in the way we learn. It’s brought much needed attention and capital to potential solutions. But it’s n
A recapitalization reckoning
If you’re an angel who invested in a startup that was meant to go public in 2014, you might be getting a little bit impatient. High-risk, high-reward investing has lost its shine in this environment
Strive School wants to increase the number of job-ready software engineers in Europe
College in the United States is expensive and, for many, comes with massive student debt. The price tag has led to the increase of coding bootcamps and alternative schooling options to help students g
Trump’s sudden reversal on student visas will be felt in Silicon Valley
The Trump administration's sudden policy reversal on student visas are likely to have unintended side effects across the U.S.
Secretive data startup Palantir has confidentially filed for an IPO
As the coronavirus pandemic spread throughout the world, Palantir pitched its technology to bring big data to tracking efforts.
Logistics are key as NYC startup prepares to reopen office
The future of offices will require “hot desks,” contact tracing and a volunteer task force run by employees to make sure their colleagues are washing their damn hands. SquareFoot CEO Jonat
Here’s a list of tech companies that the SBA says took PPP money
The U.S. Treasury Department released Monday a highly anticipated trove of data identifying every company that has received a loan of more than $150,000 from the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) R