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Hello crunchy treats,
I don’t know, but we’re getting a little excited about our TC Early Stage event in Boston on April 20, and Darrell has just announced the first group of speakers for the event. It’s gonna be a good one!
Our Black History Month feature of the day is this hour long documentary on YouTube – KQED’s mobile film unit follows author and activist James Baldwin in the spring of 1963, as he drives through San Francisco to meet members of the local African American community. As a Bay Area native, Haje found it interesting on a number of different levels: local history is great, and seeing SF in the 1960s is a special treat.
Table of Contents
The businessroundups.org Top 3
- Quick question: We thought Google might be sad today, with all this Microsoft news, but Google came out swinging with its own announcements from its Google Live from Paris event. One of the more popular announcements today is that the newer AI-powered “multisearch” has gone global. Sara writes that this combines text and images into a single query. There is also a variation for local business searches.
- Where did I put that card…: If you’re planning a trip to London, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, or Tokyo, Google might have something for you. Aisha reports on another big announcement on Google Maps, which launched Immersive View in those five cities. This gives you a better way to immerse yourself in the city (more Google news in the Big Tech section).
- What is Elon doing now?: March 1. That’s the date Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, says he will finally unveil his Master Plan 3. Kirsten has more on what that might be and why we waited.
Startups and VC
Kyle reports that a founder became frustrated with using standard document apps like Acrobat and Microsoft Office to print and mark up documents. He wondered why there wasn’t a way to read and write on a PC that felt as fluid as paper, which led him to experiment with PDF processing software. By 2020, those experiments had grown into a full-fledged, custom PDF editor. Using AI, the editor – called Macro – pulls out key terms, sections and equations to make documents interactive and hyperlinked. Macro raised $9.3 million to continue his journey.
Almost exactly one year ago, dbt Labs highlighted the opportunities in the world of data analytics developer tools when the startup closed a $222 million Series D with a valuation of $4.2 billion. Today dbt Labs announced it has acquired Transform and added semantic tools to its data analytics platform. Ingrid reports.
More? Do you want more? You’re in luck, m’dries:
Dear Sophie: Will published articles improve my chances of getting an O-1A or H-1B visa?
Image Credits: Bryce Durbin/businessroundups.org
Dear Sophie,
I am the founder and CEO of a startup in Istanbul and I have heard that articles in publications about an entrepreneur or a startup can be a big plus when applying for an O-1A or H-1B visa.
Is that true? Which publications are valid? Should they be tier-1 or in English? Thank you for your help!
— Tenacious in Turkey
Three more from the TC+ team:
businessroundups.org+ is our membership program that helps founders and startup teams lead the way. You can sign up here. Use code “DC” for a 15% discount on an annual subscription!
Big Tech Inc.
Psst, some Russian hackers are believed to be behind the “WhisperGate” data-stealing malware used to target Ukraine, Carly reports. She writes that “the information-stealing malware uses filenames designed to impersonate legitimate Microsoft Office files and is similar to other TA471 tools, such as GraphSteel and GrimPlant, which were previously used as part of a spear-phishing campaign specifically targeting Ukrainian government agencies.” However, this new malware is even more annoying. Read her story to find out why.
As promised, it’s Google mania today. The company has some new features to show off: Rebekah reports on electric vehicles with built-in Maps, while Ivan writes about better contextual translation features. The company is also discontinuing the feature that places playable podcasts directly in search results, Sara reports. Oh, and if you’re a little into the big Sunday game (also Christine’s birthday), Brian writes that Giannis, Doja Cat and Amy Schumer will peddle Google’s Pixel during the Super Bowl.
Here are four more that don’t talk about Google:
