YC demo days, pitching warm up drills, Kentucky’s Bitcoin miners – TechCrunch

The sidewalks alongside College Avenue in Palo Alto was once an amazing place to do enterprise.

For many years, there have been a number of blocks the place angels and VC companions camped out at café tables, taking pitches between lattes. The pandemic put a cease to that, nevertheless.

Nowadays, when you may have a chance to promote an investor in your thought, it would seemingly be by way of a video name, not over a croissant or a shawarma.

Contemplating what number of calls traders take every day, “this new pitching mannequin presents a brand new downside for founders,” says Flint Capital associate Andrew Gershfeld, whose agency critiques roughly “1,500 on-line pitches per yr.”

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To chop by means of the noise, he recommends that founders create a “teaser trailer” to share with their community earlier than they start approaching angels and VCs. Not a whole deck, however an embellished elevator pitch meant to whet traders’ appetites earlier than you serve them the complete meal.

Says Gershfeld, “since we’re not getting the identical in-person assembly alternatives, that is how founders can hook traders’ consideration.”

His publish identifies the important parts of a teaser trailer and features a template for learn how to construction the presentation “for the perfect influence.” It’s remarkably detailed.

I empathize with Palo Alto café house owners, however distant pitching is a ability each founder wants, and it’s an efficient option to stage the enjoying area in the case of fundraising. Begin right here.

Have an amazing weekend,

Walter Thompson
Senior Editor, TechCrunch+
@yourprotagonist

April 5 Twitter House: “Methods to Pitch Me” with Arvind Gupta

On Tuesday, April 5 at 2:30 p.m. PT, I’m internet hosting a Twitter Space with Arvin Gupta, a associate at Mayfield Fund.

We’ll focus on basic pitching methods and speak about what he’s searching for in the meanwhile earlier than we take questions from the viewers, so please click here to set a reminder so you’ll be able to be a part of the dialog.

5 issues first-time founders should keep in mind when working with VCs

Nothing beats expertise like expertise, which is why we had been pleased to run this text written by Zach DeWitt, winner of the 2013 TechCrunch Meetup and Pitch-off.

DeWitt, who turned a VC after promoting Drop, Inc. to Snapchat in 2016, shares 5 important classes for first-time founders wandering within the wilderness in quest of an investor who’ll be “a real associate.”

There’s an inherent energy imbalance when asking a stranger for cash, however “VCs ought to work to earn your belief,” writes DeWitt.

“In some ways, it’s like discovering the best partner.”

Why Nigeria leads the way in which in YC’s participation in Africa

With 18 of the 24 African startups in Y Combinator’s Winter 2022 batch hailing from Nigeria, the nation is exhibiting the depth and breadth of its technical expertise.

In a well-researched report, Tage Kene-Okafor examines how components comparable to YC going distant, elevated investor curiosity, and relationships with earlier Nigerian YC graduates helped this bustling ecosystem direct extra corporations into the accelerator than many different tech markets this yr.

Bitcoin miners are dusting off Kentucky coal cities, spurred by state crypto tax incentives

To extract gasoline buried tons of of toes beneath, the coal business reshaped Kentucky’s panorama, flattening total mountaintops and utilizing the waste materials to fill in creeks and valleys.

However now that demand for coal is dropping as utilities shift to cleaner power sources, the state is utilizing incentives to draw Bitcoin miners, stories Jacquelyn Melinek.

In 2022, Kentucky represents “18.7% of the USA’ whole Bitcoin hashrate,” she writes.

At present, Bitcoin miners are establishing store in deserted factories, warehouses and certain, former coal mines round Kentucky to make use of coal-generated energy to run their rigs.

“Bitcoin miners are consumers of final resort for power,” stated Nick Hansen, CEO of Bitcoin hashrate administration platform Luxor.

“They’ll purchase any power as much as a sure worth and so they can do it anyplace the web is offered.”

Our favourite startups from YC’s Winter 2022 Demo Day, half 1

Y Combinator’s Winter 2022 Demo Day this yr featured 414 startups from 42 nations throughout over 80 sectors.

That’s plenty of corporations to think about, however in step with TechCrunch custom, Alex Wilhelm, Natasha Mascarenhas, Devin Coldewey, Christine Corridor and Mary Ann Azevedo listing their favourite startups from day one.

Our favourite startups from YC’s Winter 2022 Demo Day, half 2

Day two of Y Combinator’s W22 uncovered a couple of tendencies: many startups are constructing for the Southeast Asian market, fintech continues to be a winner, Nigerian startups are hitting it out of the park, and India was once more well-represented.

To wrap up our protection, Christine Corridor, Alex Wilhelm, Devin Coldewey and Mary Ann Azevedo chosen a couple of corporations to observe from the startups that offered on day two.

Regardless of tooling limitations, DAO optimists see new use circumstances for a democratic, token-based future

Many on-line communities want to decentralized autonomous organizations (DAO) to lift funds to allow them to convey their concepts to life, however with out instruments and software program to make it simpler for individuals to take part, adoption has been sluggish.

Nevertheless, some traders and shoppers are hopeful that as tooling develops, DAOs will generate extra use circumstances than people pooling their assets to purchase NFTs or objects of well-liked curiosity, stories Jacquelyn Melinek.

“There shall be plenty of evolution [for DAOs] as we begin to match the know-how into human habits,” Sarah Wooden, head of operations at Upstream, stated. “I see a world the place you need to use a DAO on your e-book membership, or no matter you need.”

Expensive Sophie: What can we do to assist staff who’re Ukrainian residents?

Expensive Sophie,

We’ve a number of staff who’re Ukrainian residents; one is on OPT and the opposite is on STEM OPT. We wish to ensure that they will proceed to dwell and work in the USA.

Our most quick concern is for the F-1 scholar whose OPT standing is expiring in June. We registered her on this yr’s H-1B lottery and are hoping she’s chosen this week to use.

Within the meantime, we heard that Ukrainians are eligible for TPS. Does that embrace F-1 college students on OPT? Ought to our different Ukrainian staff additionally apply for TPS though their work visas are good for a couple of extra years?

What’s the course of for making use of for TPS?

— Sturdy Supporter

Goldman Sachs’ OTC Bitcoin choices commerce can pave manner for extra institutional involvement

Goldman Sachs has been energetic in crypto for some time now, however its Bitcoin choices commerce final week might have paved the way in which for extra institutional funding corporations to start exploring the cryptocurrency ecosystem, pending regulatory readability, stories Jacquelyn Melinek.

“The commerce itself doesn’t imply a lot, however the truth that it occurred and opens the flexibility for Goldman Sachs to commerce this threat is massively important, and that is just the start,” stated Tim Grant, head of Europe at Galaxy Digital.

“As quickly as you get into that half, that set of hurdles, you’re intellectually and operationally free to do different issues. It’s not the commerce itself, it’s that this may permit us to go in a large number of instructions.”

The how and why of elevating OT safety capital

Operational know-how, which permits vital infrastructure to function 24×7, is one space going through important cybersecurity threat, and with the U.S. authorities taking steps to mitigate the menace, safety corporations addressing this space stand to learn probably the most, writes Matt Gatto, a managing director at Perception Companions.

In a visitor publish for TC+, he explains how latest assaults on vital infrastructure, pending regulation, and rising issues over Russian cyberattacks are creating new alternatives in OT.

“It’s time for OT safety suppliers to hunt funding,” says Gatto. “The mixture of accelerating OT cyberattacks and the emergence of presidency laws is fueling a funding frenzy.”

Co-founders of Ukrainian startup Delfast focus on navigating by means of a disaster

Based in 2014, e-bike startup Delfast has workplaces in Los Angeles and Kiev.

However after Russia invaded Ukraine, co-founders Daniel Tonkopi and Serhiy Denysenko began relocating members of the family and staff, discovering methods to help their nation’s protection, and, “operating a startup throughout a battle,” stories Rebecca Bellan.

Daniel Tonkopi:

All of us work now in two shifts. The primary shift is our normal work and the second shift is our voluntary work. In Kyiv, half of our engineers are at battle now. They’re within the Territorial Protection Forces, which is like an official civilian military.