e Readers Reviews: Google vs. Apple: How the Pixel 8's technical specs compare to the iPhone 15

Thursday, October 05, 2023

Today's top story is the matchup you didn't know you've been longing for: How does the Pixel 8 stack up against the iPhone 15? It's a close second to the Elon Musk vs. Mark Zuckerberg MMA battle that probably will never come. Let’s see how they stack up.

Meanwhile, hackers are trying their darndest to spy on WhatsApp users. So it should come as no surprise that zero-days for hacking WhatsApp are now worth millions of dollars.

And an open source project focused on data orchestration attracted some venture capital love. Meet Kestra, a startup bringing all that data under one umbrella for complex workflows. Read more.

Image Credits: Bryce Durbin / TechCrunch

More top reads

In peace: We share the legacy of Cowboy e-bikes pioneer Karim Slaoui, who passed away last week. Read more.

Park it: AI-powered parking platform Metropolis raises $1.7 billion to acquire SP Plus. Learn about what they get in SP Plus.

No more headlines: We all watched today as X, formerly known as Twitter, cut headlines from link previews. Here’s why. And X's leadership is at odds with just how many posts are being made on the social media site. One says 500 million, the other says 100 million to 200 million.

Under the microscope: AWS, Microsoft and Google face U.K. competition probe over cloud lock-in practices. Find out the government's beef.

Bridging the web3 gap: Phaver raises $7 million to help make onboarding to web3 social platforms easier. It's no longer daunting.

Nothing ordinary about this: Consumer brand accelerator SuperOrdinary is now valued at $800 million after securing $58 million in Series B capital. Learn about its indie brands.

Emerged: Gradient launches with $10 million in its corporate wallet to let companies deploy and fine-tune multiple large language models. Read more.

Sometimes it pays to have affluent customers: Indian fintech CRED's earnings surged 3.5x to $168 million amid an expansion of financial services targeting the country's wealthiest individuals. Learn how the company got there.

Bye, bye, bye: Nearly two years after its launch, Amazon decided to shutter its live radio app Amp. Here's why.

And that's the way the bike folds: Look out Brompton, Bastille is coming for you with a new folding bicycle. Read more.

Even more for your Thursday:

Was FTX an empire 'built on lies' or a startup that 'grew too quickly'? (TC+)

Section 32 closes on $525M fund, says there is 'a zone of commoditization that you have to avoid while investing in AI'

Cobre secures $13M to help CFOs in Colombia automate corporate payments

Alaska Airlines taps Up.Labs to build the next-generation of aviation startups

Image Credits: Cowboy

Apply for the Google for Startups Cloud Program

3 VCs weigh in on when to follow the hype cycle — and when to ignore it

Investors are open to bandwagon jumpers, but they're looking for startups with defensible moats and qualified teams that can become market leaders. So, when should founders ignore the hype, and when should they follow the crowd?

To get answers to these and other questions, Walter Thompson interviewed three early-stage investors at TechCrunch Disrupt 2023:

Sophia Amoruso, founder and general partner, Trust Fund
Katelin Holloway, founding partner, 776
Sarah Kunst, managing director, Cleo Capital

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.

3 VCs weigh in on when to follow the hype cycle — and when to ignore it image

Image Credits: Mark Reinertson The Photo Group / Flickr under a CC BY 2.0 license. (Image has been modified)

On the pods

Today, we have a special episode for you: Equity teamed up with Chain Reaction to talk about the ongoing trial of former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried. The rise of FTX and its later implosion rocked the crypto world when the formerly massive crypto exchange went under last year. In the aftermath, the company's executives have been charged with financial crimes. Many have pleaded guilty and are cooperating with the government. Sam Bankman-Fried is not. Listen here.