Only Products and Other Stuff

Unito is a platform that takes a different approach to managing SaaS apps. Today we’ll take a look at how the company’s pitch deck helped it raise $20 million in Series B funding last year. We’re looking for more unique pitch decks to tear down, so if you want to submit your own, here’s how you can do that .  Slides in this deck Unito shared its 12-slide deck, which is lightly redacted: It removed some logos for the companies it works with and left out its target companies, revenue targets and its growth chart. Still, even with these details omitted, we get a great picture of the company’s narrative structure. Here’s an overview of the slides: Cover slide Highlights/summary slide Market context slide Problem slide Solution slide Product slide How it works slide Product evolution slide Growth/traction slide  Competition/positioning slide  Team slide  Summary slide Three things to love The slide deck is missing a lot of information that I’d have l...

A friend recently spent months getting into shape for a physical so he could obtain a lower insurance rate. He got the policy and plans to continue working out because he feels so much healthier. Tech companies that plan to buy cyber insurance are in a similar boat: IT managers must conduct risk assessments and usually add new security measures to qualify, but doing the work can be its own reward. Full TechCrunch+ articles are only available to members. Use discount code TCPLUSROUNDUP to save 20% off a one- or two-year subscription. “In the end, the benefits from working through the process of achieving eligibility for cyber insurance can go far beyond the issuance of a policy,” says security strategist Ilia Sotnikov. In this article, he explains “what cyber insurance actually covers,” identifies the critical measures most insurers require and explains why implementing multifactor authentication may not cure every problem. Thanks for reading, and have a great weekend. Walter...

The major news from China’s auto industry this week is Volkswagen’s $700 million investment in the country’s electric vehicle startup, Xpeng. This partnership has the potential to set a precedent for Western automakers seeking to leverage Chinese firms for their EV expertise, while their Chinese counterparts can benefit from their foreign allies’ global distribution. The agreement involves the production of two new battery-powered models under the Volkswagen brand utilizing some of Xpeng’s key technologies. These include Xpeng’s vehicle-to-anything (V2X) and XNGP solutions, its ADAS system comparable to Tesla’s FSD system, as well as its battery chassis architecture. Although Xpeng’s sales lag well behind those of Tesla and local EV giant BYD, it has earned a reputation for its focus on advanced technologies. The Guangzhou-based automaker has sought to differentiate itself in the heated EV race by investing heavily in its own proprietary autonomous vehicle technology, while its comp...

U.S. and Australian government cybersecurity agencies are warning that common and easily exploitable security vulnerabilities in websites and web apps can be abused to carry out large-scale data breaches. In a joint advisory published Thursday, U.S. cybersecurity agency CISA, the National Security Agency and the Australian Cyber Security Centre said that the vulnerabilities, known as insecure direct object references (IDORs), allow malicious hackers to access or modify sensitive data on an organization’s servers because of a lack of proper security checks. An IDOR vulnerability is like having a key to your mailbox, but that key also allows you to unlock every other mailbox on your street. IDORs can be particularly problematic because, like a row of mailboxes, a bad actor can exploit them sequentially one after the other and access data that they should not be allowed to. Because these vulnerabilities can often be exploited by enumeration, IDORs can be abused “at scale” using automa...

One of the best ways startup founders can hone their pitch until it’s sharp enough to impress VCs — and bring home the bacon — is by watching other founders pitch to investors. And there’s no better place to do that than by watching the Startup Battlefield competition at TechCrunch Disrupt 2023 . Be in the room where it all goes down: Buy a Disrupt pass before August 11, and you’ll save up to $600. Twenty contenders will pitch to panels of top-tier VCs, followed by an intense Q&A. That’s where you’ll gain invaluable insight into how VCs think, what they look for in a founder and what motivates them to invite you to that all-important first meeting. Meet three more judges for Startup Battlefield at TechCrunch Disrupt 2023 We’re thrilled to announce the next squad of stellar investors who will join our first and second groups to determine the Startup Battlefield champion. Mamoon Hamid, partner, Kleiner Perkins Mamoon Hamid has been an early investor in, and served on the b...

Universe, the no-code mobile website builder, announced today that it’s launching an AI-powered website designer in beta. The designer, called GUS (Generative Universe Sites), can help anyone build and launch a custom website from their iOS device. Once you get started with GUS, you will enter the familiar Universe grid editor. Instead of starting with a template, you start a text conversation with GUS to begin creating your website. GUS will start by asking: “What kind of website would you like to build today?” Once you give GUS some initial details about the type of website you would like to build, GUS will ask you for a bit of information about what exactly you’re looking. For instance, GUS may ask if you have a specific design or color scheme in mind, or if you have an idea of how many pages you would like on the website. After you give GUS details about your vision for the website, GUS will create a layout for you. The layout is completely editable, as you can manually change t...

There’s a pervasive myth in Silicon Valley: Startups are only founded by a bunch of 20-year-olds who recently dropped out of college. “The Social Network,” “Pirates of Silicon Valley,” the various Steve Jobs biopics, and even the “Silicon Valley” TV show — wherever you look, the popular narrative is all about youngsters making it big. It is true that entrepreneurial folks are more likely to start companies before the real world has beaten the optimism out of them and dulled their eyes with cynicism. But while youthful vigor can fuel and motivate fresh-faced founders, startup veterans know there are other aspects of building companies that are equally important. After you’ve seen enough startup pitches (God knows, I have), you start to spot a pattern: The best founders often have a few miles under their belt. The advantage is in having a curated, personal database of solvable problems, of the people who might be able to help, and a good idea of who you can sell your product to once yo...