Tesla hits a financial milestone, Discord is now valued at $3.5 billion and we unpack the 👁👄👁 phenomenon.
Here’s your Daily Crunch for July 1, 2020.
1. Tesla blows past Toyota to become most valuable automaker in the world
In 10 years, Tesla has gone from public market newbie to the most valuable automaker in the world. The electric automaker had long since passed the valuations of Ford and GM — and in January, it became the most valuable U.S. automaker ever when its market capitalization hit $81.39 billion.
Still, a few automakers remained ahead of Tesla globally, until today. Tesla shares popped this morning, and the company’s market cap now stands at nearly $208 billion, surpassing Toyota.
2. Discord now has a $3.5B valuation and $100M for a sales pitch lighter on the gaming
“It turns out that, for a lot of you, it wasn’t just about video games anymore,” wrote co-founders Jason Citron and Stanislav Vishnevskiy in a blog post. Discord, they said, is “a place to have genuine conversations and spend quality time with people, whether catching up, learning something or sharing ideas.”
3. What 👁👄👁.fm means for Silicon Valley
In 36 hours, a diverse group of young entrepreneurs and technologists used a mysterious meme to raise more than $200,000 for three charities supporting people of color and the LGBTQ community: The Okra Project, The Innocence Project and The Loveland Foundation.
4. Facebook bans ‘violent network’ of far-right boogaloo accounts
Facebook took action to remove a network of accounts Tuesday related to the “boogaloo” movement, a firearm-obsessed anti-government ideology that focuses on preparing for and potentially inciting a U.S. civil war.
5. Dear Sophie: Is immigration happening? Who can I hire?
Lawyer Sophie Alcorn lays out the current immigration landscape for a Bay Area recruiter. (Extra Crunch membership required.)
6. YouTube TV hikes price to $64.99 per month following new channel additions
The bump in pricing is now one of several price increases YouTube TV has seen since its debut, due to the rising costs of programming for the streaming TV service — with the cord cutting trend now accelerating due to the pandemic.
7. NASA pays out $51 million to small businesses with big ideas
NASA has announced its latest batch of small business grants, providing more than 300 businesses a total of $51 million in crucial early-stage funding. These “phase I” projects receive up to $125,000 to help bring new technologies to market.
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