Daily Crunch: Another Salesforce C-suite exit — Slack CEO Stewart Butterfield will step down in January - TechCrunch

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We besides person abstraction newsletters, robotics newsletters, and more. Check retired the afloat list, and spell connected a subscribing spree. Go on, what other is determination to bash successful December? — Christine and Haje

The TechCrunch Top 3

• Ch-ch-ch-changes: It’s different C-suite shake-up implicit astatine Salesforce. Ron reports that Slack CEO Stewart Butterfield, who joined Salesforce erstwhile the institution acquired Slack successful 2020, says helium is stepping down successful January. This quality follows immoderate different caller out-of-the-blue departures successful the past week, including that of Salesforce co-CEO Bret Taylor, who announced his resignation.
• A antithetic instrumentality connected societal commerce: Much of the livestream commerce we spot contiguous has to bash with buying apparel oregon immoderate fancy vintage playing card. However, Kapu is putting an absorbing rotation connected it, coming retired of stealth with $8 cardinal successful caller backing to make a societal commerce tract that helps Kenyans find groceries astatine little prices. Annie has more.
• AI is our beingness now: We are present utilizing artificial quality to make our ain avatars and constitute letters astir imaginable layoffs. Twelve Labs’ laminitis Jae Lee believes this should beryllium extended to searchable video, truthful that’s what the institution acceptable retired to build. Today, it announced $12 cardinal successful caller superior to proceed processing AI that understands the discourse of videos, Kyle writes.

Startups and VC

Loft Dynamics, a Swiss startup creating virtual world simulation exertion for chopper pilots, has raised $20 cardinal successful backing from U.S. task superior firms, including Craft Ventures, Sky Dayton and Up Ventures, Paul reports. Alongside the funding, the institution is besides formally announcing its sanction alteration from VRM Switzerland to Loft Dynamics.

Apropos VR…demand for existent property VR booms, reports Mike, penning that Founders Fund leads a $16 cardinal circular into the Giraffe360 platform.

Here’s 5 much quality communicative and an invitation to the user electronics startups retired there:

• From nonduality to nonexistence: Romain writes that Zenly was the champion societal app and that he’s bittersweet it’ll shutter connected February 3.
• Plus d’Euros: French VC steadfast Partech has closed its 4th fund, a €120 cardinal ($124 million) effect fund, Romain reports.
• Row, row, enactment your code: Haje writes that if Rowy has its way, if you tin usage Excel, you tin physique software.
• Premature expiration: Devin reports that it looks similar sex tech startup Lora DiCarlo is done for.
• Today’s peculiar is…: Aigens scales integer menus successful Asia, reports Rita, with a $14 cardinal circular led by Ant.
• Coming to CES? Haje, Brian, and a fewer of the different TC unit are going, and we privation to conscionable your startup successful Vegas successful January, writes Brian.

Which mode is up? The extremity of escaped wealth and the value of keeping currency connected hand

In simpler times, founders could often fulfill investors conscionable by showing however rapidly their institution was gathering maturation expectations.

“Well, investors contiguous attraction astir the less-distant future,” said Max Schireson, an operating spouse astatine Battery Ventures.

“They attraction astir however overmuch wealth they request to enactment into your institution to get to that aboriginal and erstwhile it volition arrive.” In a impermanent station for TC+, helium shares frank proposal and aggregate scenarios that tin assistance founders conscionable capitalist expectations during pugnacious times.

“They accidental clip is the 1 happening you can’t buy, but successful fact, clip is the easiest happening to bargain astatine a startup.”

Three much from the TC+ team:

• For goodness SaaS: Kyle writes how companies tin slash ballooning SaaS costs.
• A roar successful doom and gloom: Tim argues that clime tech is not doomed, contempt clime doom.
• Slowing the Amazon River: Ron wonders if the epoch of changeless innovation astatine Amazon is over.

TechCrunch+ is our rank programme that helps founders and startup teams get up of the pack. You tin motion up here. Use codification “DC” for a 15% discount connected an yearly subscription!

Big Tech Inc.

Facebook wants to cognize your age, but earlier you clutch your pearls, it’s really for a bully reason. Meta is bringing its age verification exertion into its Facebook Dating product, Sarah reports. We already don’t know, oregon privation to know, however 50-year-olds conscionable 16-year-olds, but Meta decidedly doesn’t privation to summation a estimation for being THAT place.

And now, we person 5 much for you:

• “No” to jail, for now: Kate reports that a Korean tribunal rejected warrants to detain 8 former Terraform Labs employees and investors related to the Luna collapse. The tribunal said the radical had a close to combat their cases.
• Some radical deliberation this feline belongs successful jail, too: It’s improbable that Sam Bankman-Fried volition testify successful a House Committee proceeding connected the FTX collapse, taking spot connected December 13, Manish writes.
• Feature drop: Google Pixel users, similar Christine, rejoice! An update has new features similar wide calling and Google One VPN, Ivan writes.
• Going international: General Motors’ BrightDrop e-delivery van business recovered a caller location successful Canada with DHL Express, Rebecca reports.
• There goes the neighborhood: Elon Musk has been engaged bringing backmost an infamous neo-Nazi connected Twitter and vicariously publishing interior emails related to the Hunter Biden laptop drama. Taylor has much connected some of these stories.