👂 Facebook’s big audio play

PLUS: A funding alternative to debt and equity.. April 21, 2021 [The Hustle] [The Hustle]( Apple announced a bunch of new products yesterday. We are announcing that we’ll complain about the pricing for a few weeks, then buy 10 of each. The big idea [whispering in ear]( Facebook wants to be all up in your ear The audio space has seen a flurry of activity in recent months: - Clubhouse just raised at a [$4B]( valuation (mere months after notching unicorn status) - Spotify [acquired]( live audio startup Locker Room - Apple rolled out a [subscription]( tool for podcast creators at its event yesterday Meanwhile, every tech co. with a pulse has a Clubhouse [clone](: Reddit, LinkedIn, Twitter, and -- history’s greatest copycat -- Facebook. Zuck isn’t just dipping his toe in the water, though Unsatisfied with owning a large majority of our screen time -- Facebook, Messenger, WhatsApp, and Instagram each have [1B+]( users -- the social giant is going after our ears with 3 new products, per [The Verge](: - Live Audio Rooms: FB’s Clubhouse knockoff. It will be available this summer, and the feature will also be integrated into Messenger. - Soundbites: A feature that allows users to create, share, and remix short audio clips (think TikTok for audio). This content will end up in Facebook’s news feed. - Podcasts: A new partnership with Spotify will allow people to stream podcasts directly from their news feeds (where they can also receive recommendations). Will Facebook’s all-in audio push work? Back in 2016, Facebook famously did a “pivot to video,” where Zuck talked a big game of making the platform all video all the time. Many media firms reallocated resources to video, only to find that Facebook was juking its engagement [stats](. The pivot was short-lived, but many were burned in the process. A key part of the audio push is a tipping system called Stars… … which allows fans to pay creators for their content. Tech reporter [Casey Newton]( interviewed Zuck Daddy for the launch and notes that this “audio play is much more about helping the little guy.” With that said, none of the products are yet available. Facebook is telling audio creators what they want to hear, but the verdict is still out. [Share on Facebook]( [Share on Twitter]( [Send as email to a friend](mailto:?subject=The%20Hustle%20wrote%20something%20I%20think%20you%27ll%20like...%0A&body=Facebook+wants+to+be+all+up+in+your+ear%0Ahttps%3A%2F%2Fthehustle.co%2F04212021-Facebook-audio%3Futm_campaign%3DFacebook%2BAudio%26utm_content%3D04212021-Facebook-audio%26utm_medium%3Demail%26utm_source%3Ddaily%0A%0AYou%20can%20subscribe%20with%20my%20link%20here%20to%20get%20the%20latest%20in%20tech%20and%20business%20daily:%0A [View on our website]( SNIPPETS NEW! Introducing our new and improved [Snippets](. You can now get extra snippets on your favorite topics. Follow the button below to get started. Apple roundup: New goodies from the iPhone maker [include](: iPad and iMac updates (both with its own M1 chip); AirTag device trackers (like Tile); new Apple TV remote; and, most importantly, season 2 of Ted Lasso on July 23. Netflix shares slumped 10% after it reported a down quarter. The streaming service added [4m](subs vs. a projection of 6m. The issue: Many subscribers were pulled forward into the prior quarters by the pandemic. Space wars: Amazon [signed]( on with ULA (a Boeing / Lockheed Martin rocket venture) to send 3k+ satellites into orbit. Amazon will spend $10B+ in an effort to provide high-speed broadband everywhere (like a certain competitor that rhymes with AceX). European micromobility startup Dott [raised]( $85m in funding with plans to add e-bike offerings to its lineup, currently made of 30k colorful e-scooters. Would you rather have invested in Bitcoin in 2012 and held till 2021 or invested in the seed round of Coinbase when the valuation priced shares at $0.15? [See]( what Shaan had to say. Venmo joins the crypto club: The payment company said it will let its 70m+ users [invest]( their money in four cryptocurrencies. Amazon Salon: This is not a joke, people. Amazon opened up a [hair salon]( in the UK, where customers can use augmented reality to see how they look in different styles and colors. Royal Pains: The Daily Mail is using poor [search results]( for its stories containing keywords like “Meghan and Harry” and “Prince Philip” as evidence in a new antitrust suit against Google. [Personalize Your Snippets]( Beach Bod [exercise equipment]( Home fitness startups are getting buff For home fitness, the timing of a pandemic couldn’t have been more perfect. Pioneered by Peloton, on-demand home exercise was already popular pre world-falling-apart -- the space [raised]( $1.8B in 2019. But come 2020, home exercise startups have grown from a somewhat scrawny bunch into a squad whose muscles have muscles -- the space raised $3B last year. 2021 is looking to get even bigger Tonal, a weights-on-a-wall startup whose revenue grew 8x in 2020, recently closed a $250m funding round. The company is also [partnering]( with the Mayo Clinic for physical therapy trials, as well as with hotels and resorts. Tempo, which is like Peloton for free weights, [raised]( $220m led by SoftBank. Sales have jumped 1,000% since pre-orders began in 2020, and users have collectively done 5m workouts on the platform. Today, it seems, there’s a Peloton for everything Tonal and Tempo occupy the home weights arena, but startups are operating in a variety of other sports, too: - Rowing: Hydrow has raised [$65.8m]( for its Peloton-like rower - Boxing: FightCamp is [backed]( by Y Combinator, and Quell has raised [$3m]( - Aerobics: Lululemon [acquired]( Mirror last year for $500m - Climbing: Vertical climber startup Clmbr has raised [$3.4m]( - Cycling: The multiplayer gaming cycling platform Zwift has raised [$619.5m]( Bottom line: For homebody athletes, it’s quite a time to be alive. Unless you’re Joe Biden, that is, who [couldn’t bring]( his Peloton to the White House for security reasons (Peloton offered a customized bike but no word if it came). [Share on Facebook]( [Share on Twitter]( [Send as email to a friend](mailto:?subject=The%20Hustle%20wrote%20something%20I%20think%20you%27ll%20like...%0A&body=Home+fitness+startups+are+getting+buff%0Ahttps%3A%2F%2Fthehustle.co%2F04212021-Home-fitness-startups%3Futm_campaign%3DFacebook%2BAudio%26utm_content%3D04212021-Home-fitness-startups%26utm_medium%3Demail%26utm_source%3Ddaily%0A%0AYou%20can%20subscribe%20with%20my%20link%20here%20to%20get%20the%20latest%20in%20tech%20and%20business%20daily:%0A [View on our website]( New Funding Alert Clearco co-founders: Andrew D’Souza (L) and Michele Romanow (R) Clearco created a new way to fund ecommerce businesses. Now, it’s expanding. Here is a stylized framework for how a new business can raise funds: - Debt: You borrow money from a lender but have to give a personal guarantee and lien on your assets. In the event your business fails and you can’t repay the loan, you declare bankruptcy. - Equity: You sell a % of your business to an investor. If the business fails, you don’t “owe” the investor any more money. But if the business succeeds, that equity can end up being very expensive. There are clear trade-offs between these funding options In 2015,[Clearco]( -- an Ontario-based startup previously named Clearbanc -- created another funding model for the internet age. With an abundance of data and AI-powered analytics, the startup unveiled the revenue-share agreement (RSA). Initially, the startup targeted ecommerce businesses with the model. Think of a direct-to-consumer (D2C) mattress startup. You acquire customers for $X using Facebook and Google ads and have an expected lifetime value of $Y. Clearco will invest funds -- from $10k to $10m -- for you to spend on ads. In return, Clearco plugs into your payment system and takes a percentage of sales until it recoups the investment + 6% (however long that takes). Unlike lengthy bank or VC negotiations... … the Clearco application process takes [20 minutes](, and it doesn’t ask for a credit check, personal guarantee, board seat, or fixed payment timeline. There’s also no risk of ruin (like with debt) and the funding is non-dilutive (like with equity). To date, Clearco has used the RSA model to deploy $2B+ across 4.5k+ businesses. The startup says its data-driven approach supports diversity: 13% of its funds have gone to Black or Latino founders (vs. 2.6% of the broader VC industry). Yesterday, Clearbanc officially rebranded to Clearco And it raised [$100m]( (at a $2B valuation) as it pursues a number of new opportunities: - ClearInventory Capital: Funding inventory. - ClearRunway: Funding up to 24 months of SaaS runway costs. - ClearAngel: A program for early stage founders that have as little as $2k of monthly revenue. The Hustle recently spoke with Clearco’s co-founders Andrew D’Souza and Michele Romanow to find out more ([full Q&A here](). [Share on Facebook]( [Share on Twitter]( [Send as email to a friend](mailto:?subject=The%20Hustle%20wrote%20something%20I%20think%20you%27ll%20like...%0A&body=Clearco+created+a+new+way+to+fund+ecommerce+businesses.+Now%2C+it%E2%80%99s+expanding.%0Ahttps%3A%2F%2Fthehustle.co%2Fclearco-q-and-a-trung-phan-2%2F%0A%0AYou%20can%20subscribe%20with%20my%20link%20here%20to%20get%20the%20latest%20in%20tech%20and%20business%20daily:%0A [View on our website]( Podcast Making $12m/yr with no employees? 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