Gm. It's been a tough few days as layoffs have hit multiple startups. If you (or someone you know) is looking for a new role, we compiled a list of resources to help with the job search. 

Feel free to pass along and share with others too. 

FRESH POWDER

Looking at three funds that recently topped up their coffers. 

FINTECH 

Stripe vs. Plaid drama, explained

This past week, a Twitter scuffle broke out that didn’t mention Elon, free speech, or an edit button. Here's what went down, and why you should care.

Meet the contenders  

• In the left corner, weighing in at a $13.4 billion valuation, we have Plaid, which helps link bank accounts to fintech platforms like Robinhood or Coinbase. 

• In the right corner, weighing in at a $95 billion valuation, we have Stripe, the payment processor extraordinaire and third most valuable startup in the world. 

Touch gloves…and fight!

In a Twitter exchange on Thursday, Plaid’s CEO Zach Perret called out a current Stripe exec for taking multiple interviews at Plaid and asking for tons of details before launching an extremely similar product at Stripe.

• Bolt CEO, Ryan Breslow, jumped into the fray using the exchange as ammo to further his “Stripe mafia” narrative. 

But then the exchange took an unexpected turn. Zach Perret ended up deleting his original tweet saying there had been a “misunderstanding,” and that he was now “presuming positive intent” from the Stripe team.

But wait, there’s more. Stripe co-founder Patrick Collison sent an email to Stripe employees later in the week where he shared a few lessons from the exchange. You can read the email here, but one of the main points Patrick discussed was that it's probably better for Stripe to fully communicate its product launches ahead of time so nobody is blindsided like Plaid felt it was. 

• “We're the exact opposite of Apple in this regard. People will buy fewer iPhones today if they know what the new one will do. But people are probably more likely to buy Stripe today if they know that the future Stripe will be even better,” Collison wrote in the email. 

Bottom line: Even though it seems Perret and the Collison bros have smoothed things over, it doesn't change the fact that the new Stripe product does pretty much exactly what Plaid does. While the first Twitter battle may have been a draw, there is likely more drama to come between the two payment giants.

CRYPTO 

You just got sanctioned

The US Treasury department had itself a busy Friday. It sanctioned the virtual currency mixer crypto, Blender.io, for its role in obfuscating stolen funds that have ties to the North Korean government. 

Catch up quick: In March, the hacker group Lazarus attacked the Ronin Bridge that Axie Infinity uses to process funds. In total the group stole $620 million, $20.5 million of which was sent through Blender.io to make it harder to track. 

But as the US government proved when it recovered the $3.6 billion stolen during the 2016 Bitfinex hack, it is getting better and better at tracking stolen crypto. In this case, it sanctioned wallets known to be associated with the hacking group then dug through the blockchain to track the stolen crypto’s movement. 

• The result? Blender.io is now on Uncle Sam’s naughty list and won’t be able to access any of its funds stored within the US or complete transactions with American companies or citizens.

Bottom line: A long time blindspot for the US government, it seems crypto crimes are no longer going unpunished.

QUICK HITS

Seed Round

Stat: Quintuple. That’s how much Elon predicts he will be able to increase Twitter’s annual revenue by 2028. That means Twitter would be pulling in $26.4 billion a year, up from the measly $5 billion it made last year. How’s he going to achieve that? The plan is to shift to a more subscription based model to reduce reliance on advertising. Under Musk, the goal is for advertising to make up 45% of total revenue, down from around 90% in 2020. You can see what else he has in store here. 

Story we’re watching: Since launching on April 20th, CoinbaseNFT’s volume hasn’t topped $1 million total. Over the same time span OpenSea’s has process over $3 billion according to this graph a user put together on Dune Analytics.

Rabbit hole: How to onboard yourself when starting a new job (Twitter).

WHAT ELSE IS GOING ON

• Daniel Ek invested $50 million of his own cash into Spotify.

• Instagram will support NFTs on Ethereum, Polygon, Solana, and Flow in a pilot program expected to be announced over the coming days.

• Tesla is suing a former engineer for allegedly stealing its supercomputer’s secrets. 

• Donald Trump’s lawsuit against Twitter has been tossed out by a federal judge in California.

TRIVIA 

What type of app was Burbn, which pivoted to become Instagram?

A. Location-based check-in

B. Dating app

C. Alcoholic beverage reviewer

D. Text-based social media

MONDAY MUSING

Have you (or anyone you know) used Coinbase’s NFT platform yet? 

Let us know here. 

Feel like this may end up being a huge whiff for the platform. 

FOUNDERS CORNER

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

🧑‍🤝‍🧑 Layoffs.fyi is a running list of startups who have recently laid off employees. 

📖 Improve your python code readability

💡 How to create a culture of innovation (podcast)

TRIVIA ANSWER

A. Burbn was a location-based check-in app whose most popular feature was its photo-sharing. The founders noticed, stripped the app of everything else, and rebranded to Instagram.