Friday, June 28, 2024

Welcome to TechCrunch PM! For your Friday afternoon reading pleasure, we have a look at which social media platform handled the presidential debate the best, a battery technology company going after a cold market, the friendliest venture capital firm you’ve ever seen and Haje’s 100th Pitch Deck Teardown. Have a great weekend!

TechCrunch Top 3 🥇🥈🥉

Trump and Biden at 2024 presidential debate

Image Credits: Justin Sullivan / Getty Images

X versus Threads: Which platform best handled the debate? That depends on who you ask. There were definite differences between how the two platforms managed last night, with some saying X felt more alive and others asserting that Threads proved that X is no longer necessary. Read more

Brrrr, it’s cold in here: Artyc is developing a way to disrupt the cold chain with batteries. Its first product, Medstow Micro, helps hospitals, clinical trials and medical laboratories ship temperature-sensitive specimens. Read more

Shein and Temu find themselves part of an EU probe: Amazon is not the only one trying to figure out how Shein and Temu do what they do. The European Union sent a bunch of requests for information to both platforms vis-à-vis their compliance with various requirements of the Digital Services Act following some consumer complaints. Read more

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Afternoon must-reads 🗞

Image Credits: Rivian

Rivian talent found a new home at Volkswagen: Interestingly enough, it was months before the German automotive group signed a $5 billion deal with the electric vehicle maker. Read more

HubSpot investigating a possible security incident: Rumors of some kind of cyberattack against HubSpot began circulating on social media today, and the company confirmed that earlier in the week, some customer information was targeted. Read more

There’s founder-friendly VCs, and then there’s Ludlow Ventures: VCs Jonathon Triest and Brett deMarrais attribute their longevity to what’s sometimes called “Midwestern nice.” But is it crazy? Maybe not. Read more

Pitch Deck Teardown: It’s the 100th edition of Haje Jan Kamps’ Pitch Deck Teardown series, and he has chosen to look at MegaMod’s seed-stage pitch deck in which the gaming company pocketed a cool $1.9 million, bumping its post-money valuation to $27 million. Read more

Social media creators go to Washington: Throughout Joe Biden’s presidency, the White House has leveraged creators to reach their broad audiences about hot-button issues. Now the White House will host its first-ever White House Creator Economy Conference for a group of influential social media personalities and industry professionals to discuss issues like data privacy, fair pay, AI and mental health with senior White House officials. Read more

Everything you ever wanted to know about Google Gemini: To make it easier to keep up with the latest Gemini developments, we’ve put together this handy guide, which we’ll keep updated as new Gemini models, features and news about Google’s plans for Gemini are released. Read more

Unlock the secrets of successful fundraising: Among the TechCrunch Disrupt 2024 lineup is a panel of venture capitalists who will provide startups with the knowledge and strategies needed to navigate the evolving investment landscape. Read more

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TechCrunch Minute 🕒

Image Credits: Getty Images / MirageC

Beware the smiling robot with living skin: You have to admit these robots are creepy, but also so interesting, you can’t look away. It’s very “Terminator,” minus the killing ability. Researchers at the University of Tokyo and Harvard wanted to create skin that would cling to an artificial substrate and then could be manipulated to do things like smile without any tearing or distortion. Is it “absolute nightmare fuel” as Devin Coldewey put it, or a viable method for attaching living skin to a robotic undercarriage? Hit play and let’s chat!

Around the web 🌐

Something’s gotta give: Axios’ Dan Primack writes that now that venture capital deals come with a decade-long time period, certain institutional LPs, particularly university endowments, may begin to bow out. Read more

iPhone 16 will be hot: CNET reviews the iPhone 16, and why there’s enough new and fun stuff on it to make you want to upgrade. Read more

EVs are buggy? Who would have thought?: Those who buy electric vehicles often think there won’t be as much maintenance as a traditional car. However, The Verge reports that EVs are basically a “computer on wheels,” and there is no computer that isn’t without problems. Read more