Week in Review - Microsoft's layoffs, Airlift's shutdown and Lofi Girl's unplanned study break

Saturday, July 16, 2022

Hey, everyone! Welcome back to Week in Review, the newsletter where we recap the most read TechCrunch stories from the last seven days.

The most read story on the site this week was, once again, unfortunately, about layoffs — this time at Microsoft. While the company plans to grow its headcount in the months ahead, for now it’s cutting “less than 1%” of its 180,000-person workforce as it focuses on “realigning business groups and roles.” “Less than 1%” may not sound huge, but 1% of 180,000 is still nearly 2,000 jobs…

Image Credits: Jean-Luc Ichard / Getty Images

other stuff

Lofi Girl gets taken down: YouTube still hasn’t figured out its issues with false DMCA takedowns. This week, the ridiculously chill YouTube music stream Lofi Girl got hit with a false DMCA claim. The channel is a favorite among students/programmers/anyone looking for some mellow beats to focus to, so the complaints were loud and everywhere. YouTube acknowledged and reversed the screwup, but not before the channel’s two-year streaming streak was broken.

TikTok is eating…what?: After years of unbelievable growth, you’d probably expect that TikTok has taken plenty of user activity from competing social networks — the Facebooks, the Snapchats, etc. But would you bet that it was impacting…say, Google Maps? A senior VP at Google says that’s the case.

Airlift shuts down: Airlift, one of the top startups in Pakistan, shut down suddenly this week. Employees were told on Tuesday that operations of the on-demand delivery service would cease the following day after a crucial fundraising round fell apart.

DoorDash wants bigger orders: Use DoorDash’s “DashPass” service much? Bad news. The “subtotal minimum” on your orders — basically, the amount you have to order before DashPass really does anything — will likely go up in the weeks ahead. Previously hard set at $12 for food or $35 for grocery orders, the company says the new minimum will “vary by store, city, and time of day.” In other words: algorithmssss.

Tesla loses a top AI exec: When it was announced back in March that Tesla’s director of AI, Andrej Karpathy, was going on a temporary sabbatical, the rumor was that it was just the first step toward his more official exit from the company. Sure enough: Karpathy announced on Wednesday that he’s out. Karpathy says he has “no concrete plans” for what’s next.

Nothing official: A few years ago, OnePlus co-founder Carl Pei left the company to start a new hardware venture called Nothing. This week, after months of teasing/rumors/hype, the company announced its first phone — the aptly named Phone (1). Brian Heater spent some time with the phone and shares his thoughts on it — and the wild LED setup on the back — right here.

Image Credits: Brian Heater

Your Time is Now

audio stuff

Ever wondered what your favorite TechCrunch writer sounds like? Probably not! But if you have…check out our podcasts! This week:

On the Equity podcast, Alex/Natasha/Mary Ann talked about how the reversal of Roe v. Wade could impact how/where companies are built.
On Chain Reaction, Lucas and Anita discussed the latest twists and spins on the roller-coaster ride that is crypto, including GameStop launching an NFT marketplace.
Bowery Farming founder Irving Fain joined Darrell and Jordan on the Found podcast to break down what vertical farming is and why it matters.

additional stuff

Are you a TechCrunch+ member yet? If not, you’re missing some great reads. While the majority of stuff we put on TechCrunch is totally free, a lot of really great content is only available to TC+ subscribers.

Your startup’s pricing strategy: Product pricing can make or break a company — but the right price today isn’t necessarily the right price tomorrow. How do you adapt prices “without appearing parasitic”? How do you set the price for something in a “completely new category”? Michael Perez, director of growth for early-stage VC firm M13, goes deep on all this and more.

Here’s how to protect your equity if you get laid off: If you get laid off…what happens to that equity you got as part of your compensation package? The answer is, unfortunately, not always very clear — but Compound’s Adam Keesling has a breakdown of what you need to think about to make sure you keep what you’ve earned.