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Hello, I hope it’s been a great Thursday for you so far. For me, it’s the little things that excite me, and today Delta Air Lines announces that starting February 1st, SkyMiles frequent flyers, including yours, will receive free WiFi. Maybe you will find something that inspires you today. Let’s get to the news. — Christine
The TechCrunch Top 3
- More layoffs: Yesterday it was Salesforce; today it is Amazon. Although those layoffs have been hinted at in recent months, today’s surprise was the number of employees laid off. Knowledge doesn’t take the sting out of employees, I suppose. Paul leads you into the cuts.
- Secret secrets hurt someone: Secret secrets are no fun. Just ask CircleCI customers who were asked to rotate their passwords and private keys after a breach compromised the company’s system, Karly reports.
- Bite that apple: Apparently you all have made a goal to read more in 2023. Among the announcements Apple made today, the one that got a lot of clicks was the company’s new AI-powered book narratives for select titles on Apple Books. Ivan reports. If fitness is more your goal this year, Apple Fitness+ is adding new features like kickboxing workouts and sleep meditation, aisha writes.
Startups and VCs
Continuing what appears to be a trend in layoffs, Natasha MThe story of is very important to get perspectives from former employees who have been laid off by startups to see how things are going and how their next jobs might develop. She also asks, “Where do tech workers go from here?” I won’t spoil it, but there seems to be a cycle.
Now four more:
- The next text could be from Fido: My dog has trouble telling me when to go outside, so I’m eyeing FluentPet’s talk button system, which has programmable buttons that, when pressed, speak voice commands and send you a text message. Sarah has more.
- VR isn’t just for the Youngins: Rendever, a big virtual reality startup, acquired Alcove from AARP and showed “VR is coming of age” Ingrid reports.
- Neighbors don’t shake hands; Neighbors need to hug!: Okay, maybe not hugging, but if you live in an apartment complex and want to get to know the others nearby, you might want to check out my story about OneRoof raising some money to help the apartment dwellers connect with their neighbors to make comfortable.
- Here’s a Metaverse optimist: Conversational AI startup MeetKai is expanding its offering with new room scanning technology and a metaverse builder with a focus on capturing objects and rooms. kyle writes.
Teach yourself growth marketing: How to set up a landing page
Photo credit: Lightstar59 (opens in a new window) / Getty Images
In the first article in a five-part series on the basics of growth marketing, Jonathan Martinez explains how to create an essential part of any startup’s sales funnel: a landing page.
This overview includes basic steps for writing a clear headline, providing visitors with social proof that builds credibility, and creating calls-to-action that drive results.
Next week, Martinez, who has helped startups like Uber, Postmates, and Chime, will share his tips for launching a paid acquisition channel.
Three more from the TC+ team:
TechCrunch+ is our membership program that helps founders and startup teams stay ahead of the competition. Here you can sign up. Use code “DC” for 15% off an annual subscription!
BigTech Inc.
If you couldn’t glean it from your Twitter feed, CES is happening. brian introduces CES and how to get all the important details for the rest of the conference. kyle also helped you put together a list of the best AI-powered products featured at the conference.
One of the stories that particularly caught our eye today was kyle‘s story about Ring bringing back his peephole cam. It was apparently a bit ahead of its time as Ring discontinued the product in 2021. Now it’s back in all its glory and can be yours for the starting price of $129.
Here are a few favorites from today’s CES stories:
Our team wrote 51 Big Tech stories today, so I’ll give you an extra one on top of the usual five:
- Back in the saddle again: Who got the former Stitch Fix CEO to take back the helm on his 2023 BINGO card? No one? connie fills in some details about Katrina Lake’s return for a stopover and adds to a CNBC report that included another round of layoffs, this time 20% of the company’s 1,700 employees.
- You must fight for your right to communicate privately: And WhatsApp is behind you 100%. aisha reports that the messaging giant has rolled out proxy support for users worldwide to maintain access even when their connection is blocked or dropped.
- Art is in the eye of the AI-supported beholder: kyle reports on Picsart’s AI-powered SketchAI app, which transforms images and outlines into digital art.
- And the streaming crown goes to…: Lauren writes about Roku ending 2022 with a new milestone – over 70 million active accounts. The streaming company claims it’s still the #1 TV streaming platform in the US, Canada and Mexico by hours streamed.
- Another bytes the crypto dust: Jaquelyn reports that New York Attorney General has sued Alex Mashinsky, former CEO of Celsius, for fraud against crypto investors. The crypto lender filed for bankruptcy over the summer.
- Privacy Ping: When Natasha L Notes, Apple received a rare fine. France’s privacy watchdog fined the consumer tech giant around $8.5 million in connection with Apple’s practice of “failing to obtain consent from local mobile users before placing advertising identifiers on their devices, in violation of local privacy laws and/or read).