{"id":620678,"date":"2023-03-22T09:48:51","date_gmt":"2023-03-22T14:48:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.sellorbuyhomefast.com\/index.php\/2023\/03\/22\/techcrunch-roundup-big-datas-cloud-backlash-cvc-pitch-tips-de-risking-hardware-startups\/"},"modified":"2023-03-22T09:48:51","modified_gmt":"2023-03-22T14:48:51","slug":"techcrunch-roundup-big-datas-cloud-backlash-cvc-pitch-tips-de-risking-hardware-startups","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2023\/03\/22\/techcrunch-roundup-big-datas-cloud-backlash-cvc-pitch-tips-de-risking-hardware-startups\/","title":{"rendered":"TechCrunch+ roundup: Big Data\u2019s cloud backlash, CVC pitch tips, de-risking hardware startups"},"content":{"rendered":"
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For most of the Information Age, companies that wanted to scale invested in server farms and hired teams to keep them running.<\/p>\n

At one of my first startup jobs, I walked in one day to find two sleeping co-workers who\u2019d spent the night configuring servers at a co-locating facility 60 miles away. Soon after, when I worked at a publicly traded company, our on-prem data center was resilient enough to operate through a moderate earthquake.<\/p>\n

The relatively recent shift to cloud computing promised to lower costs and boost productivity, but \u201ccloud-first strategies may be hitting the limits of their efficacy<\/a>, and in many cases, ROIs are diminishing,\u201d writes Thomas Robinson, COO of Domino Data Lab.<\/p>\n

\n

Full TechCrunch+ articles are only available to members.
\nUse discount code TCPLUSROUNDUP<\/strong><\/a> to save 20% off a one- or two-year subscription.<\/i><\/p>\n

\n

I started wearing sweaters at home after I got my last utility bill, but with enormous workloads from \u201cML, AI and deep learning programs that require dozens or even hundreds of GPUs and terabytes or even petabytes,\u201d companies at scale can\u2019t simply dial back their data usage.<\/p>\n

Because \u201cthe great repatriation\u201d now taking place among public companies also has direct implications for startup DevOps teams, Robinson shares suggestions for \u201ca few things that can be done to ensure future flexibility for where workloads are created.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thanks for reading TC+ this week,<\/p>\n

Walter Thompson
\nEditorial Manager, TechCrunch+
\n@yourprotagonist<\/a><\/p>\n

When it comes to early-stage growth marketing, it\u2019s often better to imitate than innovate<\/h2>\n

I\u2019m pleased to announce that self-described \u201cgrowth marketing nerd\u201d Jonathan Martinez has come aboard as a recurring TC+ contributor!<\/p>\n

Martinez, who worked on growth teams at Uber, Postmates and Coinbase, is also the founder of SalesKiwi.<\/p>\n

In his latest article, he explains why copying your rivals\u2019 most successful marketing strategies can be one of the fastest ways to get traction with new customers.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s no need to constantly reinvent the wheel,\u201d he advises. \u201cConserve your resources to innovate for high-probability tests that you\u2019re excited to try at various stages of your startup\u2019s life.\u201d<\/p>\n

SaaS is still open for business, but it\u2019s going to take longer to buy and sell<\/h2>\n

More than 225,000 tech workers have been laid off in the last year, which is having a direct effect on SaaS renewal and purchase cycles.<\/p>\n

SaaS customers that reduced headcount are buying fewer seat licenses and sales cycles are taking a little longer than they used to, says Ryan Neu, CEO and co-founder of SaaS-buying platform Vendr.<\/p>\n

\u201cOver the last three years, our data has shown a steady decline in multiyear deals,\u201d he writes in TC+. \u201cYet we have also seen a significant increase in [average contract value] from purchase to renewal in mission-critical and sticky software categories, like CRM or email.\u201d<\/p>\n

How to pitch CVCs<\/h2>\n
\n

\"CVC,<\/p>\n

Image Credits:<\/strong> Getty Images<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

As individual VC firms pulled back and began amassing dry powder in 2022, corporate venture capital (CVC) funds stepped up.<\/p>\n

PitchBook found that CVCs played a part in 56.2% of all venture deals that took place last year, \u201cup only a hair over 2021\u2019s 25.6%,\u201d reports Rebecca Szkutak, who spoke to a few experts to find out how startups in fundraising mode can get on their radar.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf there isn\u2019t a product integration angle, and we don\u2019t see or can\u2019t find evidence that a customer of ours or theirs would want to work together, it would be hard for us to work together,\u201d said Andrew Ferguson, VP of corporate development and ventures at Databricks.<\/p>\n

10 tips for de-risking hardware products<\/h2>\n
\n

<\/p>\n

Image Credits:<\/strong> Frisco \/ Getty Images<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

With the right team, a software startup might only need weeks to go from the idea stage to billing their first customers.<\/p>\n

Conversely, all hardware startups grapple with high capital expenditures and need time to ramp up production, which is why testing and evaluating demand are so important, says Narek Vardanyan, founder of Prelaunch.com, which recently closed a pre-seed round.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou need to make decisions based on people\u2019s actual behavior,\u201d he said in an interview with TechCrunch+. \u201cYou need to make sure that the data you\u2019re tracking is coming from the right types of people.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thinking about pulling the plug on your startup?<\/h2>\n

I just read a Twitter post by angel investor Gokul Rajaram<\/a> asserting that founders who raised large sums before the downturn but have yet to find product-market fit \u201care going through an excruciating psychological journey.\u201d<\/p>\n

Entrepreneurs are indoctrinated to pursue success at all costs, but \u201cchasing endless pivots trying to find PMF is a bridge to nowhere,\u201d wrote Rajaram, who shared a story about a founder who returned funds to investors before winding down operations:<\/p>\n

\u201cThe relief they felt when they realized investors and employees were on board and 100% supportive of their decision, was palpable. (All employees received solid severance before the company shut down.)\u201d<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re a founder who has decided to shut down (or an investor who\u2019s counseled one), please consider sharing your story with TechCrunch+. To get in touch, send a note to gu**********<\/span>@********<\/span>ch.com<\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n

Corporate investment in AI is on the rise, driven by the tech\u2019s promise<\/h2>\n

Last year, global investors poured $77.5 billion into AI startups, a 115% YoY increase, reported Tortoise Intelligence.<\/p>\n

According to Kyle Wiggers, corporate adoption of generative AI is fueling investor interest, as are the sector\u2019s outsized returns: A 2022 poll found that 92% of large companies are \u201cachieving returns on their data and AI investments.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

Read More<\/a>
\n Walter Thompson<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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