Why bringing you emergency toothpaste could be big business
Hello and welcome back to Equity, TechCrunch’s venture capital-focused podcast, where we unpack the numbers behind the headlines.
This is our Wednesday show, where we niche down to a single topic. This time 'round we took a look into the world of on-demand delivery in Europe, with an especial focus on the so-called "instant" grocery sector, and delivered convenience items. To help Natasha and Danny and Alex get through the subject, we lassoed TechCrunch alum and present-day VP at Zapp, a company in the sector under discussion, Steve O'Hear to chat with us.
We spent time chatting through the following:
Recent news from the sector, including that Turkey's Getir has just raised a bucket of new capital, and that Weezy is looking to exit; the latter item wound up being important we got around to discussing consolidation in the space.
Steve gave us an overview of Zapp, and how its approach to infra could help its economics.
We chatted about GoPuff and its economic fortunes, which in fundraising terms are solid, even if questions regarding future profitability are still in play.
And regarding the ever-present pandemic question, Steve was bullish on consumer behavior staying where it is if -- when? -- the COVID-19 pandemic eventually leaves us.
We are back on Friday! Chat then!
Credits: Equity is produced by Theresa Loconsolo with editing by Kell. Bryce Durbin is our Illustrator. We'd also like to thank the audience development team and Henry Pickavet, who manages TechCrunch audio products.
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20 VC FF 021: From TechCrunch to Founder to TechCrunch with the legend, Steve O'Hear
Steve O’Hear is best known as a technology journalist, currently at TechCrunch where he focuses on European startups, companies and products. He first joined TechCrunch in November 2009 as Contributing Editor for TechCrunch Europe, where he worked alongside Editor Mike Butcher to help build TechCrunch’s European coverage. However, in June 2011 having caught the startup bug, Steve took a break from journalism to co-found the London and Prague-based startup Beepl. In November 2012, Beepl was acquired by Brand Embassy. Steve is also the writer and director of the critically acclaimed Silicon Valley documentary ‘In Search of the Valley’.
Before we delve into the show today, our dear friend and kind donator, Brad Feld has agreed to do a competition giveaway featuring signed copies of his amazing book, Venture Deals, all you have to do to be in with a chance is headover to the website at www.thetwentyminutevc.com and sign up for our newsletter. It’s that simple.
In Today's Episode You Will Learn:
1.) Where did it all start for Steve, how did you make he make his entrance into the tech industry, journalism and then founding Beepl?
2.) How did Steve find the transition from journalist to entrepreneur? What were the hardest aspects of the journey? What surprised Steve about the fundraising process for Beepl?
3.) In such a crowded space such as news generation, what is it about TechCrunch that makes it The Bible to the tech community?
4.) Obviously articles and news brings comments from the community. How do TechCrunch try and engage and unite the community? Have there been any difficulties with the commenting process etc?
5.) How does a platform like TechCrunch plan to monetize content with the ever disappearing ad dollar? Is it something that concerns TechCrunch?
6.) Where does Steve think we are going in both wider media and journalism? Is journalism heading to the short form with the increasing prominence of platforms such as Buzzfeed? How does the industry
Items Mentioned In Today's Show:
Steve's Fave Book: The Big Sleep
Steve's Fave Blog: Tech.eu
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If you would like to see a more colourful side to Harry with many a mojito session you can follow him on Instagram here!