Twitter removes live audio chat after CEO joins Space with banished reporters

TechCrunch Newsletter [TechCrunch logo]( [The Daily Crunch logo]( By [Christine Hall]( and [Haje Jan Kamps]( Friday, December 16, 2022 Fridaaaaaaaay! Today we particularly enjoyed the Equity podcast team’s [2023 predictions on the future of building, crypto, and AI](. Meanwhile, good luck to [Alex]( (who mostly looks after TechCrunch+ these days, but he used to write the Daily Crunch and still occasionally groans at our awful jokes) as he embarks on parenthood and is taking a couple of months off to do whatever new parents do. Oh, and still working on your holiday shopping list? Here’s a great gift idea for yourself and other early-stage and soon-to-be founders. Grab a [Founder pass to TC Early Stage 2023 for just $75 by registering with this link]( before 11:59 p.m. PST on December 31. Finally, we’re excited to see the back of another week. Time for some well-deserved R&R here at Crunch Towers — see y’all next week! — [Christine]( and [Haje]( [ image] Image Credits: Bryce Durbin / TechCrunch The TechCrunch Top 3 - What a tangled web Elon Musk weaves: Lots of Twitter news to parcel out today, so we’ve grouped it all together. The top Twitter trove came from [Paul,]( who wrote that Twitter [pulled its Spaces group audio feature]( following a Spaces where Musk talked to banned journalists. You can [find out more about the banning]( from [Taylor](. Meanwhile, that was just one of the many moves the Chief Twit made, including [suspending Mastodon’s account](, [Taylor]( writes. - [Meanwhile, over in Europe](: [Natasha L]( reports that European Union lawmakers sent a warning to Elon Musk, via Twitter of course, about sanctions that could be made after Twitter suspended the accounts of journalists without warning. - [Second time may be the charm](: The “Black Adam” movie, starring Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, wasn’t embraced by theater-goers, but HBO Max now has it streaming in hopes of a different outcome,[Lauren]( reports. Startups and VC Despite shrinking investment into startups in 2022, venture capital funds of all sizes are still being raised. However, not many of these are led by solo general partners (GPs), and although that trend is on the rise, even fewer are led by women or people who don’t come from venture capital, [Anna]( writes. [That makes Nichole Wischoff something of an exception](: Her solo venture capital firm Wischoff Ventures closed a second fund of $20 million, a sizable increase from her first $5 million fund. Her target is to invest in 25 to 30 U.S. startups at the pre-seed or seed stage. Five more to take you into the weekend… And if you need a creative boost, [this stop-motion animation music video will probably do the trick](. - Spilling over: Twitter is a mess, [Amanda]( writes, [so former employees are creating Spill as an alternative](. - Boxing up those forms: [Dropbox buys form management platform FormSwift for $95 million in cash](, reports [Kyle](. - Getting the ROI for your CPG: [Christine]( wrote about Kuona, a [startup that bagged $6 million to show you which promotions bring ROI and which don’t](. - Shining ever so brightly: [Tage]( writes about a provider of solar energy products in Africa and Asia, [Sun King, who expanded its Series D to $330 million](. - Investing the Venn diagram of biotech and AI: [Anna]( explores [what biotech investors are looking for in 2023](. [The rules of VC are changing: Here’s what founders should be considering in the new era]( “Growth at all costs” is a fairy tale made possible by cheap money that helped venture capitalists set expectations for founders — and each other — for years. Similarly, everyone needs 18 to 24 months of runway is a nice motto, but if it takes three times as long to raise a round as it used to, it may no longer be good advice. “These ‘VCisms’ borne out of an era of plenty have permeated boardrooms and investor meetings everywhere,” writes Neotribes Ventures partner Rebecca Mitchem in TC+. In a data-driven piece that looks at post-money valuations, deal size and dilution going back to 2012, Mitchem says we’re now heading into a “growth at reasonable costs” era. Founders can continue to water down their ownership by continuing to raise fat rounds, or they can decide to grow more slowly, which leaves VCs with a larger stake over time. “While it may feel counterintuitive, given the recent market environment, the value of the equity for all parties — investors, founders and employees — in this scenario is higher in the more conservative growth scenario,” says Mitchem. Three more from the TC+ team: - Moar money, moar startups: [With IT spending forecast to rise in 2023, what does it mean for startups?]( by[Ron](. - Getting your foot in the door: [Haje]( shares some tips for startup founders on [how to get your first investor meeting](. - Biotech meets AI: [Anna]( spoke to six investors to figure out why [AI is more than just a buzzword in biotech](. [TechCrunch+]( is our membership program that helps founders and startup teams get ahead of the pack.[You can sign up here](. Use code “DC” for a 15% discount on an annual subscription! [Read More]( [The rules of VC are changing: Here’s what founders should be considering in the new era image] Image Credits: MirageC / Getty Images Big Tech Inc. Meta is doing a lot of shutting down lately. Facebook’s parent recently [shut down its live shopping feature]( in October, and now [Aisha]( writes that it is [shutting down its Super app in February](. If you are not familiar, she writes that it was an app initially created to provide “a virtual meet and greet experience that was similar to what you experience at a real-life event like VidCon or Comic-Con.” We guess it didn’t catch on as well as they would have liked… And we have five more for you: - Get your geek on: Amazon has acquired the [film and television rights to the hugely popular tabletop war game Warhammer 40,000](, reports[Lauren](. - Your ticket to ride might be driverless:[Waymo opens Phoenix airport rides]( to the public and doubles its downtown service area,[Rebecca]( writes. - Elon Musk gives an early Christmas present:[Tesla Powerwall customers in Texas]( can now sell their electricity back to the grid,[Harri]( reports. - Seeing the music, not just hearing it: We enjoyed [Devin](’s story on [Riffusion, an AI model that composes music by visualizing it](. - Get out your gig worker pitchforks: [Rebecca]( writes that “[the battle over gig worker status is heating up](.” [Read more stories on TechCrunch.com]( Newest Jobs from Crunchboard - [Salesforce Administrator at Second Front Systems (Wilmington, DE 19806, USA)]( - [Solutions Engineer at Second Front Systems (Wilmington, DE 19806, USA)]( - [Senior DevSecOps Engineer (AWS) at Second Front Systems (Wilmington, DE 19806, USA)]( - [Senior Database Developer at Health Research, Inc. (Menands, NY, USA)]( - [Principal Software Engineer/Developer at Health Research, Inc. (Menands, NY, USA)]( [See more jobs on CrunchBoard]( [Post your tech jobs]( and reach millions of TechCrunch readers for only $200 per month. [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Youtube]( [Instagram]( [Flipboard]( [View this email online in your browser]( [Privacy Policy]( | [Terms of Service]( | [Unsubscribe]( © 2022 Yahoo. All rights reserved. 110 5th St, San Francisco, CA 94103