Welcome to edition 15 of The Voidāhereās what youāre in for this week:
A product to stay connected with friends, friends of friends, in 1:1 meetings š¤©
Trends and startups weāre watching šš§
Must-see news and product drops āļø
Thing of the week šš
2020 is the year of Zoom. Zoom university. Zoom hangouts. Even Zoom weddings. Everyone has experienced the awkwardness and/or strain of trying to hold large conversations over conventional video conferencing platforms. Just when you start to say something, someone else talks. Then you both pause. Awkward silence š. Repeat. Eventually, some people just become passive and disconnected from the āsocial experienceā of an online group call. How do we bring back the spontaneity and intimacy of one-on-one conversations even within a big group?
With Glimpse, users can conveniently join rooms to match with others for quick, spontaneous, engaging one-on-one chats on a phone, tablet or computer -- all without having to register for an account. Room creators can match users based on different criteria and set time limits on conversations. Not sure what to talk about? Try Glimpseās ice breaker questions and in-chat mini-games. Really hitting it off with your match and want to keep chatting? Hit the āAdd Timeā button for some additional time. Thereās no need to wait your turn to speak or wait to be placed into breakout rooms. Once youāre done with a conversation, itās on to the next match, round-robin style.
From college students Glimpsing (not Zooming) as an alternative to in-person fraternity/sorority rush and community building events to companies hosting happy hours and speed networking sessions, Glimpse is modernizing how we interact with communities online in a time when we need it most.
I caught up with Helena Merk, co-founder and CEO of Glimpse, to hear more about Glimpse, the power of iterative improvement, and her entrepreneurship journey.
Discontent with the contrived and artificial environment of formal schooling, Helena dropped out of college to join a startup in Mountain View. Within a year, driven by her itch to help build communities and relationships to improve general mental health, she and her friend created an early version of Glimpse and were accepted into Y Combinator.Ā
At first, Glimpse started off as a platform for long-form, intimate conversations among randomly matched strangers (kind of like Lunchclub or Dialup). After their first few iterations, they pivoted to a much larger audience: social hangouts among friends and friends of friends. Helena and her team didnāt stop iterating there. Originally set up as 2-minute conversations (inspired by YCās 2-minute pitches), Helena and co. realized that casual conversations should be more flexible, so they added a new feature to allow room creators to choose time limits and time extensions. Now, with more users than ever, theyāre hard at work supporting an ever-expanding list of use cases ranging from career fairs and panels to mixers and coffee chats.Ā
In this process, Helena has learned quite a lot about building a startup. To all the aspiring entrepreneurs out there, she offers this piece of advice: donāt wait for the ārightā moment -- take the leap of faith. No one can learn all the skills they need or come up with the best idea prior to starting a company. Find an area youāre passionate about, grab a partner who shares your vision and values, and get building!Ā
*Thanks Helena for taking the time to chat. Online interactions are more important than ever and we canāt wait to see what your team works on next!
Trends & Startups Weāre Watching
Even in the golden age of EdTech, online learning hasnāt lived up to expectations
Augmented reality is gaining traction in both fashion and media
Manifold ($1.5M, Pre-Seed) ā¾ļø - workflow automation and AI services platform to accelerate AI development for leading companies
Dumpling ($6.5M, Series A) š„ - portal to encourage and develop independent grocery delivery businesses and increase alternative income streams for gig workers
Koia ($15.21M, Series A) š± - plant-based protein beverages (and coffee) to offer healthy and convenient plant-powered nutrition
Our Light Bulbs š”
-Snowflake was the biggest software IPO ever, doubling in its debut and peaking around a $70B market cap.
-Unity Software, the software behind Fall Guys and Pokemon Go, enjoyed a 44% surge in its IPO
-Roam Research raised a $9M Seed Round at a $200M valuation, around 20-25x higher than the median Seed valuation in 2019 (~$10.0M).
-Facebook plans to release their take on AR glasses in 2021, after Googleās multiple attempts (and failures) to bring Glass mainstream.
-Apple just launched a bunch of new products including two new apple watches and iPads, subscription services and iOS 14.
-Oracle struck a deal with ByteDance over TikTokā¦ kind of. Though Bytedance wants to maintain majority ownership in TikTok, U.S. security concerns are forcing them in a slightly different direction, with potential for a US IPO coming soon.
-Scientific American endorsed Joe Biden for the Presidential bid. This is the first time the journal has backed a nominee in its 175 year history š¤Æ
Thing of the week
An EV pump and dump?
Imagine starting a company in a relatively competitive space, not launching a single product, only to merge with a SPAC and reach a market cap north of $10B. Too good to be true right? Perhaps. Nikola, a designer and manufacturer of battery-electric and hydrogen-electric vehicles + components (and SPAC IPO from earlier this year), made headlines and defied expectations with lofty valuations and big-name partnerships with GM and early backers like Earlybird VC, Cherry Ventures, Citi and JP Morgan.
After an explosive last few months for Tesla, EV and veteran carmakers alike are seeking to compete in any way they can, even if it means a littleā¦ embellishment.Ā
Earlier this week, Hindenburg Research released a really long, scathing analysis of Nikola and their recent partnership with General Motors, calling the company an āintricate fraud built on dozens of lies.ā The report made a litany of inflammatory and downright crippling claims against Nikolaās legitimacy. It accuses Nikolaās founder, Trevor Milton, of weaving a web of lies involving the origins and existence of proprietary technology, falsified advertisement and product demos, and poor underlying energy and raw material supply chains. Additionally, they mention the āaggressive cashing-out of key investors.ā It doesnāt help that Milton doesnāt know what heās talking about:
Really just a bad look all around.
While Nikolaās stock price plummeted in response to the release, it has since mostly recovered, as theyāve maintained strong support from GM, JPMorgan, and Bosch. The company strongly rebuked accusations as āfalse and defamatoryā in its subsequent press release, pointing a finger at short-sellers trying to make a quick buck. Even so, the DOJ and SEC are considering launching full scale investigations into the veracity of the claims.
The path towards radical technological innovation is, as weāve seen with Elon Musk, fraught with controversy. This short-seller attack on NKLA is reminiscent of many āshort TSLAā efforts in the past. Itās uncertain whether all the claims made by Hindenburg are true. One thing is certain though, Nikola misled shareholders to believe in tech that did not actually exist. Electric Vehicle production, alternative energy and batteries are no walk in the park in terms of product development, so it may take a while before we truly know whether Nikola can stand up to a giant like Tesla. This story is one to follow as more info surfaces, but for now, Iād remain skeptical.
. . .
Also, people are getting creative with masksāa guy in the UK got on a public bus wearing a live snake.
Thatās it for this week :)
If you missed the last newsletter, find itĀ here! š°
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