News Headline: Sequoia will divide into 3 firms to avoid global 'market confusion' and 'portfolio conflicts'

Tuesday, June 06, 2023

Today, Sequoia splits, it turns out the Apple Vision Pro does work, and Linda Yaccarino has a good first day at Twitter. Oh, and we're very excited to bring you the finishing touches of the Builders Stage at TechCrunch Disrupt. This is your Daily Crunch for Tuesday.

Image Credits: Getty Images

It's better when you delegate: Venture capital firm Sequoia is planning to split into three entities: Sequoia Capital in the U.S. and Europe, Peak XV Partners in India and Southeast Asia, and HongShan in China. The new units will go into effect next March, when the company "separates the Asia units from the mothership as it navigates an increasingly complex geopolitical landscape." Read more.

There's more to WWDC 2023: So much came out of Apple's WWDC 2023 that it spilled over into today. Let's take a look:

Challenge accepted: Indian edtech giant Byju has filed a complaint in the New York Supreme Court to challenge what it is alleging are predatory tactics made by investment management firm Redwood. Get the scoop.

Paying someone overseas should be easy, right?: If it is up to Keeta, it will be. The startup took in $17 million in initial funding, led by former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, to develop a faster and easier way to make cross-border payments. Find out more.

My, how big you've grown: Greycroft co-founder Ian Sigalow is in the hot seat, discussing how his venture capital firm is faring in its teenage years. Read more.

Llama, llama, where's my LLMs?: LlamaIndex adds private data to large language models. Learn more.

How to dominate the cloud: Evroc is out to disrupt Europe's cloud market, traditionally dominated by foreign companies. Find out how it plans to do that.

Constructing a startup: Curri, a company developing last-mile logistics for the construction industry, banks $42 million. Read more.

Check these out:

Life insurance startup Getlife becomes Life5 and raises $10.7M

Curing physician burnout with Eli Ben-Joseph from Regard

Binder maker For Them is launching community for queer and trans folks

Collaborative Fund backs Korea's Sopoong Ventures to grow its footprint in Asia

Sensi.AI and Flint Capital speak on developing and deploying AI solutions in healthcare

Image Credits: Apple

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First day, best day: Linda Yaccarino officially started as Twitter's CEO this week. And boy was it eventful. Get the scoop.

Now, where did I put that label maker…: The European Union wants platforms to label deepfakes and other AI-generated content. See how that’s going to work.

If you like piña coladas: French startup Escape raised $3.9 million in its quest to scan APIs to find security flaws. Learn more.

Let's see where this flows: River, an Indian electric vehicle startup, introduced its first two-wheeler in February and now has $15 million of new funding behind it. See who it's poised to take on among EV competitors.

If you can't find it, build it: Find out why Config founder James Proud wishes he had this technology back when he was at his previous startup. Read more.

Stream of shopping consciousness: BOND is going after the livestream shopping industry with its inspiration-driven take that puts creators front and center. Get the scoop.

This isn't one of the hairy situations: It's summer, and that means hair is going to do what it wants. OurX adds a tech spin to Black hair care regimen so that at least your hair routine is figured out. Read more.

Here's a handful more:

70% of HBO Max subs have moved over to rebranded Max service

Microsoft to pay $20M settlement for illegally collecting children's personal data

Acura's first EV will feature Google apps for navigation and voice control

North Korean hackers impersonated journalists to gather intel from academics and think tanks

Zoom brings local data storage to paying European customers

Image Credits: D Dipasupil/Getty Images for Advertising Week New York

You need to add some friction to your growth funnel

An onboarding flow that’s entirely smooth is a great way to lose potential customers, according to growth marketing expert Jonathan Martinez.

“One of the biggest misconceptions when it comes to user experience is that we must eliminate as many questions and barriers as possible to be the gold standard,” he writes in TC+.

In this week’s column, he explores three different types of friction and explains how to run lifetime value (LTV) experiments that drive conversions.