2 former SBF associates plead guilty to fraud and are cooperating with US federal prosecutors • TechCrunch
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Well, the weather outside… totally depends on your location, we suppose. For the purposes of this newsletter, let’s imagine there’s sunshine, a few unspoiled beaches, a pleasant cool breeze, and some piña coladas, because if we’re going to make a some fiction, we can also make it lovable, right? — Christine and haje
Top 3 TechCrunch
- Surprised, but also not surprised: FTX co-founders Gary Wang and Caroline Ellison of Alameda plead guilty to criminal charges, Darrell write.
- $eeing me $ trust: Twitter is now sourcing stock and crypto prices from TradingView and automatically showing them in search results. Ivan show you how to make them appear in your next tweet.
- Another Okta Violation: Okta confirms that it is responding to another major security incident after a hacker accessed its source code after breaching its source code GitHub repository, Carly report.
Start-ups and VC
Text-to-image AI exploded this year as technical advances dramatically enhanced the fidelity of artwork that AI systems can produce. Just as controversial as systems like Stable Diffusion and OpenAI’s DALL-E 2, platforms like DeviantArt and Canva have adopted them to power creative tools, brand personalization, and even ideas imagine new products, write Kyle when he takes you on a tour A brief history of the popular, central technology of modern image-creating AI.
Speaking of AI, amanda reports that Unstable Diffusion, a team trying to monetize AI porn generation, has raised more than $56,000 on Kickstarter from 867 backers. Then when Kickstarter changed its mind about what kind of AI-based projects they would allow, crowdfunding platform shuts down Unstable Diffusion’s campaign.
And in just one AI news section:
Avoid 3 Common Sales Mistakes Startups Make During a Recession
Image credits: Anthony Lee (Opens in a new window) / Beautiful pictures
Analysts estimate that IT spending will increase in 2023, but let’s say that to SaaS sales teams trying to close deals with customers who have been instructed to cut spending.
“What every company needs now is effective sales,” said Anand Shah, CEO and co-founder of Databook.
In a guest post on TC+, he explains why reactive moves like increasing sales quotas or raising prices are misguided moves that can’t change the direction.
“Make real changes to meet buyer needs. Use the macroeconomic context to make the necessary sales productivity improvements.”
Three other pieces of information from the TC+ team:
TechCrunch+ is our membership program that helps founders and startup teams get ahead. You can register here. Use code “DC” to get 15% off your annual subscription!
Big tech company
That ad blocker box that pops up when you try to open a new website is annoying, but Zack says we should find good in it – damn it, even the FBI says you should use an ad blocker, he wrote. Why? Apparently, “cybercriminals are buying ads to impersonate legitimate brands, such as cryptocurrency exchanges,” and they’re so good that it’s hard to tell it’s not the real thing. Stay safe, everyone!
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