Facebook and Instagram are making a bigger push into e-commerce, MasterClass raises $100 million and Microsoft launches a new project management tool called Lists.
Here’s your Daily Crunch for May 20, 2020.
1. Facebook and Instagram roll out Shops, turning business profiles into storefronts
Both Facebook and Instagram already supported a degree of e-commerce — for example, Facebook has its Marketplace and will likely make a bigger push through its Libra cryptocurrency initiative, while Instagram allows users to buy products featured in posts and ads. But the company’s new tools go further, enabling businesses to create a full-fledged Facebook Shop.
Creating a Shop is free. Businesses just upload their catalog, choose the products they want to feature, then customize it with a cover image and accent colors. Visitors can then browse, save and order products.
2. MasterClass just raised $100 million for celebrity-fueled content
CEO David Rogier said that the capital will be used to create new classes for students and up production to one class a week. The company is also experimenting with an audio-only mode, short form and augmented reality.
3. Microsoft launches Lists, a new Airtable-like app for Microsoft 365
The way Microsoft describes it, Lists is a tool to “track issues, assets, routines, contacts, inventory and more using customizable views and smart rules and alerts to keep everyone in sync.” It features deep integrations into Teams, SharePoint and other Microsoft products and will launch this summer on the web, with mobile apps slated for later this year.
4. Why micromobility may emerge from the pandemic stronger than before
Despite the struggles of individual operators, micromobility (things like scooters, bikes and e-bikes) as a technology will come out of this stronger than before, industry analyst Horace Dediu tells TechCrunch. After all, with ongoing concerns about the disease and social distancing, consumers may look to alternative modes of transportation. (Extra Crunch membership required.)
5. Former Stitch Fix COO Julie Bornstein just took the wraps off her app-only e-commerce startup, The Yes
The Yes is a women’s shopping platform that Bornstein and her co-founder Amit Aggarwal have been quietly building for 18 months, and that they say will create tailor-made experiences for each user.
6. Spotify signs ‘The Joe Rogan Experience’ to an exclusive multi-year deal
Rogan is arguably the biggest and most influential voice in the podcast medium, with a podcast that has dominated Apple’s charts and 8.41 million subscribers on YouTube. The program has often featured right-wing voices, including members of the so-called Intellectual Dark Web, Proud Boy founder Gavin McInnes and de-platformed conspiracy trafficker Alex Jones .
7. Extra Crunch Live: Join Verizon CEO Hans Vestberg for a live Q&A May 26 at 2pm ET/11am PT
Our boss’s boss’s boss’s boss (I’m probably forgetting a few management layers here) is coming on Extra Crunch Live next week to discuss 5G, as well as how founders can manage a company at scale.
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