TechCrunch Exchange newsletter Archives - Product Management Confabulation

March 25, 2023

Ticketmaster sucks. Can blockchain be the cure?

W
elcome to the TechCrunch Exchange, a weekly startups-and-markets newsletter. It’s inspired by the daily TechCrunch+ column where it gets its name. Want it in your inbox every Saturday? Sign up here.

When The Cure’s frontman Robert Smith said he was “sickened” by Ticketmaster fees, many of us felt vindicated. The platform then refunded some fees, but scalpers are now at it, too, and selling entire Ticketmaster accounts instead of tickets. Is there still hope for concertgoers? — Anna

Playing monopoly

If you are longing for a Ticketmaster alternative, you’re not alone. Whether you are a fan of Taylor Swift, The Cure or Bad Bunny, reasons abound to resent the self-described “world’s leading live entertainment ticketing platform.”

Is all the hate warranted? Maybe not. Or rather, the platform might just be shouldering more than its share of responsibility. “It’s easy to blame Ticketmaster and say it’s their fault,” its former CEO Fred Rosen, who ran the company from 1982 to 1998, told CBC Radio in January. “What determines pricing is demand.”

Regulators in many countries beg to disagree. Earlier this year, the U.S. Senate questioned Live Nation, which acquired Ticketmaster in 2010, over concerns that it’s a monopoly.

Ticketmaster sucks. Can blockchain be the cure? by Anna Heim originally published on TechCrunch

March 18, 2023

Founders, don’t put all your cash in one basket

elcome to the TechCrunch Exchange, a weekly startups-and-markets newsletter. It’s inspired by the daily TechCrunch+ column where it gets its name. Want it in your inbox every Saturday? Sign up here.

It’s too early to fully anticipate all of the consequences of Silicon Valley Bank’s collapse. But there is one prediction I am ready to make: Bank diversification is going to be a much higher priority for startups from now on. — Anna

A mostly ignored best practice

Whether you are an individual or a company, it makes sense to have more than one bank. Yet, many startups don’t.

Founders, don’t put all your cash in one basket by Anna Heim originally published on TechCrunch

March 11, 2023

On cloud marketplaces, nobody knows you’re a startup

Enterprise cloud spend is holding up well, but large companies are looking into vendor consolidation. This makes cloud marketplaces an increasingly relevant sales channel for B2B startups. — Anna

Beyond the good news: Headwinds for early-stage enterprise startups

Battery Ventures’ state of cloud software spending report contained some good news for startups hoping to sell software to enterprise clients. Contrary to gloomy claims, “reports of the death of enterprise tech spending have been greatly exaggerated,” the VC firm said.

Our own Alex Wilhelm delved into these findings for The Exchange earlier this week and confirmed the good news: The sky isn’t falling for cloud software spend. However, there are headwinds ahead for startups because money just isn’t flowing as freely as it used to.

On cloud marketplaces, nobody knows you’re a startup by Anna Heim originally published on TechCrunch

February 25, 2023

Decentralized storage: Tailwinds and open questions

Talking to Storj about its new version made me curious about decentralized storage. On the one hand, there are factors that could help boost its adoption. On the other, it also seems at odds with other trends, such as sovereign clouds. Here’s what I learned. — Anna

Slashing cloud bills

The volume of data generated by companies seems to be ever-increasing, but concerns about cloud costs are rising, too.

Earlier this month, we learned that AWS’ year-on-year revenue growth dropped into the mid-teens in January as customers sought to reduce their spending. “As we look ahead, we expect these optimization efforts will continue to be a headwind to AWS growth in at least the next couple of quarters,” Amazon CFO Brian Olsavsky said during the company’s earnings call.

While this preoccupation reignited the bare metal debate, it also creates tailwinds for another option: decentralized storage. Represented by players such as Arweave, Filecoin, Internxt, Sia and Storj, it offers a cheaper alternative to hyperscalers.

Decentralized storage: Tailwinds and open questions by Anna Heim originally published on TechCrunch

February 18, 2023

Dry powder versus wet powder: The numbers have spoken

Welcome to the TechCrunch Exchange, a weekly startups-and-markets newsletter. It’s inspired by the daily TechCrunch+ column where it gets its name. Want it in your inbox every Saturday? Sign up here.

Lux Capital partner Josh Wolfe predicted that “dry powder” would prove to be “wet powder ” as venture capital funds opt to support existing portfolio companies through rough times over making new investments. Data from Carta seems to confirm that his hunch was right: The frequency of bridge rounds boomed during the last quarter of 2022. — Anna

The calls for help might be coming from your own portfolio

One month ago, I warned that it would be a mistake to assume that the record levels of dry powder we kept hearing about would automatically go to new startups. While it is true that VCs in the U.S. alone are sitting on billions in overhang, they might have to dedicate a large share of this capital to supporting ailing startups that are already part of their portfolio.

This is why Lux Capital partner Josh Wolfe says that dry powder is actually already wet. “All the money raised at valuation peaks will get spent propping up ‘walking dead’ zombie companies that can’t raise outside money and instead have to turn to insider rounds,” he said.

Dry powder versus wet powder: The numbers have spoken by Anna Heim originally published on TechCrunch

February 4, 2023

Does usage-based pricing call for a new growth infrastructure stack?

“It’s not either usage-based or subscription pricing,” VC firm OpenView wrote in its second State of Usage-Based Pricing report. These hybrid approaches call for new tools, but which ones? Let’s explore. — Anna

Complex pricing on the rise

As we learned earlier this week from OpenView’s latest report, usage-based pricing is rising, but not replacing other models.

Sure, more SaaS companies are billing their customers based on how they are using the service. But this often comes in combination with other pricing approaches, such as tiered subscriptions.

OpenAI’s ChatGPT is the latest example of this hybrid pricing approach. In addition to its free tier, it introduced ChatGPT Plus, a fairly plain subscription model starting at $20 per month. But the company also said it was “actively exploring options for lower-cost plans, business plans, and data packs.”

Data packs: That would be a form of usage-based pricing, but one that wouldn’t replace subscriptions. Meaning that ChatGPT would join the growing range of complexly priced products.

Does usage-based pricing call for a new growth infrastructure stack? by Anna Heim originally published on TechCrunch

January 21, 2023

Protect me from what I want

Buy now, pay later is an alluring option for consumers, perhaps even more so in a recession. But with rising debt and inflation, perhaps the focus should be on companies that help protect borrowers from digging themselves into a hole. — Anna

The enduring appeal of buy now, pay later

I thought that tougher economic times would create immediate headwinds for the buy now, pay later trend. I was wrong.

“BNPL is a form of credit that allows a consumer to split a retail transaction into smaller, interest-free installments and repay over time,” and it is “in the midst of rapid growth,” a September Consumer Financial Protection Bureau report stated.

More recently, the Financial Times reported that “demand for BNPL boomed during the pandemic and has continued to grow, according to data from U.K. open banking fintech Snoop.”

This isn’t just a Gen Z trend, the FT added: Demand “has surged among all age groups in the U.K., including older people, who find themselves squeezed by the cost of living crisis and in need of short-term credit.”

Protect me from what I want by Anna Heim originally published on TechCrunch