🚀 Grindr preps for its public debut
Plus, the scariest AirDrop ever...
trending 📈
1️⃣ SPACs make a comeback. It was a turbulent week for public tech companies, but that didn’t stop two new SPAC announcements! Car sharing platform Getaround will go public via a $1.2B merger (more on this below). Meanwhile, LGBTQ+ dating app Grindr will merge with Tiga Acquisition Corp for $2.1B. Grindr has ~11M MAUs, comparable to Bumble (12.3M MAUs) at the time of its IPO. This user base is heavily engaged, with over an hour of average daily time spent on the app.
2️⃣ Google makes moves at I/O. Google’s annual developer conference, I/O, had two stars - hardware and AI. The company announced a wave of Pixel products, including Google’s first competitors to Apple Watch (the Pixel Watch) and AirPods Pro (Pixel Buds Pro). Google is also attempting another foray into glasses, with a pair that can live-translate languages. On the software side, Google is venturing further into AI - including a Google Docs feature that can summarize a document in one paragraph.
3️⃣ Tech companies report earnings. As previously mentioned, it was a rocky week for many public tech companies. Some earnings updates:
Coinbase posted a Q1 loss of $1.98/share against analyst estimates of a $0.08 profit. The company’s monthly active users fell 19% QoQ, which the team attributed to “lower crypto asset prices and volatility that began in late 2021.”
Peloton also missed estimates, with new CEO Barry McCarthy noting that turnarounds are “hard work…intellectually challenging, emotionally draining, physically exhausting, and all consuming.”
SoftBank reported its largest-ever full-year loss of $13.2B, somewhat due to major markdowns on Vision Fund investments. CEO Masayoshi Son told investors that he may cut startup investments by 50-75% this year.
4️⃣ Airbnb gets a redesign. CEO Brian Chesky debuted the “biggest change to Airbnb in a decade” - including new search categories, the ability to split trips across homes, and a protection package for guests. Chesky told TechCrunch that the company is “stepping on the gas” as travel resurges. The company is increasingly serving long-term trips with work staying remote or hybrid at many companies. Stays of 28 days or more are Airbnb’s fastest growing category!
Live footage of all of us checking our brokerage apps this week.
what we’re following 👀
Why is Apple killing the iPod?
a16z GP Jeff Jordan shared his wisdom on all things marketplaces.
How a suspicious AirDrop led to a flight’s emergency landing.
Coaching platform Leland announced its seed round - check it out if you’re interested in connecting with career or educational coaches (or becoming a coach yourself!).
Attention consumer marketplace fans: car sharing app Getaround is going public via SPAC, and the investor deck dropped this week!
There’s a lot of interesting data, but we were most intrigued by the info on “powerhosts” (upper left above) - these are people who rent out 2+ cars on the platform. They represent ~25% of new hosts joining the platform, but they’ve generated an outsized 71% of gross booking value (GBV) over the past two years.
Many powerhosts start as “normal” hosts, but then decide to double down and build a business on Getaround. Some even make it their full-time career. The investor deck highlights a D.C. couple who initially listed two cars, but now have a fleet of 100+ and are planning to grow to 200 this year!
Powerhosts are great for Getaround because they’re highly available and willing to move cars around to meet consumer demand. They also drive meaningful growth over time - past cohorts of powerhosts have seen 8x expansion in GBV over the first 18 months on the platform 😮
jobs 🎓
Clipboard Health - Strategy & Ops (Remote)
Finch - Product Ops (Remote)
LogicLoop - Founding Sales Hire, Solutions Architect, Full Stack Engineer (Remote)*
101.xyz - UX / UI Designer, React Engineer (Remote)
Supermove - Biz Ops Associate (Remote, SF)
Gently - Founding Software Engineer, Director of Growth (Remote, SF)
Getaround - Analyst, Marketplace Strategy & Ops* (Remote, SF)
Flashfood - Product Manager, Staff Software Engineer (Toronto, Remote)
Gorgias - Product Growth / Customer Success (SF)
Torch - Associate Product Manager (NYC)
Passthrough - Client Support, Sales Dev Rep, Founding Account Executive (NYC)
Papa - Chief of Staff to the CEO* (Miami)
*Requires 3+ years of experience.
internships 📝
Topsort - Product Design Intern (Remote)
Heap - Marketing Intern (Remote)
Shopify - Fall 2022 Product Design Intern (Remote)
Workit Health - Business Development Intern (Remote)
Pollen - MBA Product & Strategy Intern (Remote)
Standard Metrics - Data Ops, BD, Engineering Interns (Remote)
Weavegrid - Business Analytics Intern (SF)
Mercury - Sales Enablement Intern (SF)
Uber - Strategy & Ops Intern (LA)
Take-Two - Digital Strategy Intern (NYC)
puppy of the week 🐶
This week, we’re featuring our own squad - Tilly (labradoodle, one year old), Moka (sheepadoodle, two years old), and Kai (bernedoodle, seven years old).
The squad participated in a local Pet Parade this week (the first ever for Tilly and Moka!) alongside their friend Mazel, and overall had a very strong showing.
Follow them on Instagram at @matildadoodlebear, @mokathesheepadoodle, and @kaithebernedoodle!
All views are our own. None of the above should be taken as investment advice. See this page for important information.