Elon Musk’s vision of autonomous driving differs from a lot of Tesla’s competitors in that he’s been adamant that LiDAR isn’t a core component of his approach. It’s a stance that provokes a lot of debate among experts in the field, many of whom, including former Tesla employees, disagree that …
Read More »Lyft hires Tesla’s president of Sales & Service as COO
Lyft has hired a new C-level executive: Jon McNeill, who joins as Chief Operating Officer. McNeill previously held a top role at Tesla, where he was president of Global Sales Service, overseeing all of the company’s showroom and customer-facing interactions. Tesla CEO Elon Musk revealed on the company’s earnings call …
Read More »Backing Robinhood, JAY-Z’s Roc Nation invests in would-be Rockefellers
Roc Nation, the full-service entertainment management company created by the music impresario Shawn Carter (better known as JAY-Z), is making an investment in financial trading platform Robinhood. The investment, through Roc Nation’s Arrive subsidiary, is the latest instance of a celebrity rapper plowing cash into Robinhood’s free-to-trade investment platform. The company …
Read More »Elon Musk says SpaceX to focus on BFR following Falcon Heavy launch
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said at a press event for the just-launched Falcon Heavy that SpaceX will now begin focusing in earnest on “BFR,” the code name for its next big space launch vehicle. BFR (aka “big f*cking rocket,” in case you lack imagination) will be designed to be a …
Read More »6 AdWords strategies businesses can use to make love, not war on Valentine’s Day
If you’ve visited any local pharmacy recently, you have a pretty good idea of what holiday is coming up. Yup, that one with the hearts, chocolates, flowers and teddy bears. It’s not Christmas or New Year’s, but Valentine’s Day is a huge opportunity for all businesses, not just flower delivery …
Read More »SpaceX will try a triple booster landing with Falcon Heavy launch
SpaceX’s historic first Falcon Heavy flight will be immediately followed by a historic first landing attempt, too: The commercial space company headed by Elon Musk confirmed over the weekend that the test launch will also include an attempt to recover the three booster cores used by the rocket to propel …
Read More »What Silicon Valley tech VCs get wrong about consumer investing
When I began fundraising for CircleUp six years ago, I encountered many investors whose eyes would glaze over when I mentioned “consumer.” These investors would fidget uncomfortably or drop their gaze when I explained that our platform would only provide capital to small CPG companies. I would often hear the …
Read More »Mobile delivers high exit multiples despite broader market slowdown
Jason Rowley is a venture capital and technology reporter for Crunchbase News. In the world of mobile apps, numbers come in two sizes: big and bigger. More than one billion people use Facebook’s mobile app every day. Instagram — another Facebook property — has well over 100 million photos and …
Read More »Nuro’s self-driving vehicle is a grocery-getter and errand-runner
Not every self-driving car has to be able to move passengers from point A to point B. Take, for example, Nuro: The startup just revealed their unique autonomous vehicle platform, which is more of a mobile small logistics platform than a self-driving car. The company, which has been working away …
Read More »Elon Musk has now sold 15K flamethrowers, earning $7.5M for boring
The Boring Company is getting decently well-capitalized on the back of sales of its flamethrower (yes, flamethrower). The no-doubt overpriced piece of knack, which can be make yourself at home using likely around $30 in parts, is selling for $500 and has already netted Elon Musk’s digging venture $7.5 million. …
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