Disrupt News
The news and coverage to come out of TechCrunch Disrupt Annual Event
3 founders share strategies for navigating bias and building confidence
Entrepreneurs from underrepresented groups are more likely to face an uphill climb than their white, male counterparts, but their challenges stretch beyond systemic bias and lack of access to capital.
As Apple messes with attribution, what does growth marketing look like in 2021?
Measuring growth is complex and challenging — and it’s only getting tougher. Changes to attribution in iOS 14 have forced growth marketers to rethink how they define their growth analytics…
Why and when startups should look to diverse sources of capital
Venture capital is a popular source of capital for early-stage startups, but it’s not the only one. Debt is an increasingly popular alternative, as is non-dilutive, revenue-based financing.
Reid Hoffman on the evolution of ‘blitzscaling’ amid the pandemic
“Blitzscaling itself isn’t the goal,” said Hoffman. “Blitzscaling is being inefficient; it’s spending capital inefficiently and hiring inefficiently; it’s being uncertain about your business model; and those are not good…
‘It’s easier to raise and harder to spend these days, because there’s such a high demand for talent.’
The enormous challenges and abundant opportunities in climate tech
The decarbonization of the planet will be the next major disruption of the century, according to SOSV managing general partner Sean O’Sullivan and Carmichael Roberts of Breakthrough Energy Ventures.
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Latin America finds a champion in SoftBank Group International CEO Marcelo Claure
Since first announcing it was planting a stake in the ground in the region in early 2019, SoftBank — from its own balance sheet, it says — has plugged more than $5 billion into the region, and it expects that number to top $8 billion by year’s end.
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How Ryan Reynolds has mastered authentic marketing
Most people know Ryan Reynolds from his movies, but the actor has his hands in a number of entrepreneurial ventures. He owns a majority stake in Mint Mobile, a mobile virtual network operator, which has grown more than 50,000% in the past three years. He was also invested in Aviation Gin before selling it for…
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WarnerMedia’s Andy Forssell discusses a fascinating first year for HBO Max
Andy Forssell, HBO Max’s head of business operations, joined us on TechCrunch Disrupt 2021 this week to discuss the fascinating 17.5 months of the streaming service’s life so far.
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Duolingo doesn’t want to disrupt the college degree
CEO and co-founder Luis von Ahn returned to Disrupt this year to explain how the sophistication of public markets impacts the company’s strategy.
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Peter Beck says Rocket Lab actively prepared for interplanetary missions ‘from day one’
Rocket Lab long ago graduated from underdog launch provider to industry heavyweight (with funding to match). Now the company is planning to go to the moon, Mars and Venus in the next decade.
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What Canva CEO Melanie Perkins looks for in a potential acquisition
We sat down with Canva co-founder Melanie Perkins at Disrupt 2021 to talk about how she has approached fundraising, and how she’s managed to grow Canva’s free and paid user base at a rapid clip.
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How Calendly is building a platform by turning scheduling into a center-stage event
The tools you use most often are the ones you think about the least. Calendly, an app that helps people plan, schedule and follow up on meetings, may be a perfect example of that.
A meeting room of one’s own: Three VCs discuss breaking out of big firms to start their own gigs
One of the more salient trends in the tech world — arguably the engine that propels it — has been the recurring theme of people who hone talents at bigger…
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And the winner of Startup Battlefield at Disrupt 2020 is… Canix
We started this competition with 20 impressive startups. After five days of fierce pitching in a wholly new virtual Startup Battlefield arena, we have a winner. The startups taking part in the Startup Battlefield have all been hand-picked to participate in our highly competitive startup competition. It was an unprecedented year as we moved all…
Meet the five startup Battlefield finalists at Disrupt 2020
TechCrunch hosted an unusual Startup Battlefield this week — the founders, judges, audience and moderator (me) were all in different locations, doing our best to interact over WebEx. But the…
Mette Lykke on food waste and building a big startup on a big idea
Food has been an ever-present touchpoint in the world of startups, and I don’t mean the free catered lunches, or expansive canteens that you get in bigger places, to keep…
And the winner of Startup Battlefield at Disrupt Berlin 2019 is… Scaled Robotics
Startups participating in the Startup Battlefield have all been hand-picked to participate in our highly competitive startup competition. They all presented in front of multiple groups of VCs and tech…
Battlefield winner Forethought adds tool to automate support ticket routing
Last year at this time, Forethought won the TechCrunch Disrupt Battlefield competition. A $9 million Series A investment followed last December. Today at TechCrunch Sessions: Enterprise in San Francisco, the…
And the winner of Startup Battlefield at Disrupt Berlin 2018 is… Legacy
Startups participating in the Startup Battlefield have all been hand-picked to participate in our highly competitive startup competition. They all presented in front of multiple groups of VCs and tech…
There’s definitely reason to worry about Brexit, says Accel’s London team
Longtime Accel partners Philippe Botteri, Sonali De Rycker, Luciana Lixandru and Harry Nelis took the stage at Disrupt Berlin earlier today, and unlike many London-based investors, who have downplayed how…
Watch Disrupt Berlin day 2 live right here
[tc_unified_video code=”b9ccf4d6-8e11-3132-aa60-5010cd8b785a”] Disrupt Berlin generally kicked ass yesterday, and things are only going to get better from here. Welcome, friends, to Disrupt Berlin Day 2. We have a great show…
Last year, $7 billion followed into ICOs. Combined with 2018, the cryptocurrency-based funding mechanism is estimated to account for $20 billion. ICOs threatened to disrupt venture capital more widely across…
Meet the five Startup Battlefield finalists at Disrupt SF 2018
Over the past two days, 21 companies have taken the stage at the Disrupt SF Startup Battlefield. We’ve now taken the feedback from all our expert judges and chosen five…
And the winner of Startup Battlefield at Disrupt Berlin 2017 is… Lia Diagnostics
Startups participating in the Startup Battlefield have all been hand-picked to participate in our highly competitive startup competition. They all presented in front of multiple groups of VCs and tech…
