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Jk. As long as you’re curious about the startup/tech world and have a knack for clear and witty writing, we want to hear from you. 

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FRESH POWDER

Looking at three funds that recently topped up their coffers. 

TECH

App Tracking Transparency: one year later

Today is Apple’s iPhone 14 launch event. But while Tim Cook and co. geared up to go pontificate about a new camera upgrade, a more significant anniversary came and went yesterday: the debut of App Tracking Transparency. 

The backstory

Anyone who owns an iPhone has likely come into contact with App Tracking Transparency (ATT) in the last year. It’s the notification that pops up after you open a new app asking you if you want to allow the app to track you across your device. 

Now, ATT is over a year old which and we can compare its year-over-year effects on the mobile ads landscape. A report from the insights platform Appsumer looked at just that and came away with one big takeaway…

The Google-Facebook online ad duopoly may be breaking up

Apple’s search ads business—which allows developers to promote their apps within the App Store—grew its adoption by 4% while Facebook’s adoption actually dropped 3% in the same time. It shows that nearly everyone is running Apple Search ads while fewer are using Facebook’s once dominant ad platform. 

The reason for the discrepancy is two-fold:

1. Developers are willing to shell out the big bucks to bolster downloads in the most competitive app environment in history. 

2. Apple’s ATT update is making Facebook ads less effective by shutting off the hose of user data it used to have access to. 

However, Google and Facebook aren’t dead yet. Despite Apple’s surge, the big two of Google and Facebook still dominate in terms of overall ad spend. Google tops the list at 34% with Facebook a close second at 28%. Apple is gaining ground, but still sits at 15%. Snap and TikTok bring up the rear at 2% and 3% respectively. 

Zoom out: It looks like Apple’s privacy changes benefited itself at the expense of other platforms. In other words, water is wet.  

CRYPTO 

Binance makes a power play...kinda

On Monday, Binance shocked the crypto world by announcing it would automatically convert its customers' USDC stablecoin balances into a new token, Binance USD, by the end of September.

It sounds worse than it is

There was immediate outcry from Binance users when they heard their USDC, one of the more commonly used stablecoins, was being converted into Binance’s own token. It certainly feels nepotistic for an exchange to unilaterally convert balances to its own token. 

But after a few days, it looks like most in the ecosystem are on board with the logic behind the switch. After all, there are lots of stablecoins out there, so simplifying the landscape and condensing towards one token increases everything from liquidity to efficiency. 

Bottom line: It’s also important to note that Binance is not delisting other stablecoins—you can still deposit and withdraw them—but it is getting rid of their trading pairs meaning you can’t swap them with other cryptos. Again, it sounds scary, but it should lead to a more efficient crypto market in the long run.

TOGETHER WITH MERCURY 

Picture this: you just closed your seed round 

TechCrunch is calling. 

Twitter followers are pouring in. 

You finally have the money you need to build your dream. 

But suddenly, it hits you: you’ve got the capital, but where do you put it?  

Stash it in a normal bank account? BORING.

That’s where Mercury—the banking stack for startups—comes in. 

Come take Mercury’s free checking and savings accounts, physical and virtual debit cards, free domestic and USD international wires, and more for a test drive. 

80,000 founders trust Mercury, try a demo today to see why.  

Mercury is a financial technology company, not a bank. Banking services provided by Choice Financial Group and Evolve Bank & Trust®; Members FDIC. Mercury Debit Cards are issued by Choice Financial Group and Evolve Bank & Trust, Members FDIC, pursuant to licenses from MasterCard.

QUICK HITS

Seed Round

Stat: Labor Day got all the headlines this past weekend, but Saturday was also National Cinema Day. Movie theaters across the country slashed ticket prices to $3 and even brought back classics like Jaws to the big screen in a bid to entice people to theaters. It worked. More than 8.1 million people went to the movies on Saturday, up from 1 million the day before, and 1.7 million the day after. 

Story we’re watching: The D’Amelio family is launching its own brand. Instead of shilling iced coffee for Dunkin’ or makeup for Sephora, the famous fam is getting into the product development game and launching their own fashion, beauty, and lifestyle items. It’s part of their ever-growing objective to turn daughters Dixie and Charli’s TikTok success into a lasting business empire which includes a recently-launched venture fund, 444 Capital, and a TV show on Hulu. 

Rabbit hole: Andreessen Horowitz’s “Can’t be Evil” NFT licenses, explained (The Verge)

WHAT ELSE IS GOING ON

• Instagram has been fined $402 million for mishandling teens’ data in the EU. 

• Apple Watch designs have been leaked showing the addition of an extra button.   

• Cloudflare stopped hosting the domain for hate-site Kiwi Farms citing imminent danger. 

• Islamic State-supporter listed the first-known terrorism-inspired NFT to OpenSea.

THREE LIES AND A HEADLINE

Three of these headlines are satirical ones pulled from the news outlet The Onion. But one comes from real life. Can you pick out the real from the fake? 

A. “Serena Williams takes home chair umpire from final match as career memento”

B. “Pornhub says ‘anti-porn crusaders’ are misleading people about its Instagram suspension.”

C. “US escalates campaign against spotted lanternflies by arming praying mantises.”

D. “Study finds consumers wish self-checkout kiosk would tell them they did a great job.”

LAYOFFS TRACKER

New month, new layoffs.

Notable layoffs this week

Softbank Vision fund: 100 people (20%) 

Kuda: 23 people (5%)

FOUNDERS CORNER

The best resources we came across that will help you become a better founder, builder, or investor.

💸 Simulate dollar cost averaging into any mix of stocks to see how much money you’d make. 

🌎 International Intrigue is a free 5 min briefing created by former diplomats to help you enjoy understanding your world again.

🧠 Terms that founders know, but non-founders don't

THREE HEADLINES ANSWER

B is real. Tell 'em Pornhub.