17 October, 2024
Last Day: Exhibit your startup with big savings at Disrupt 2024
Don’t miss out! Today is the last day to apply and scale your Series A to B startup at a significantly reduced exhibit cost with the ScaleUp Startup Exhibitor Package.
Maximize your startup’s exposure without stretching the budget. Pay just a fraction of the regular exhibit price and showcase your Series A to B startup to 10,000 investors, potential partners, and tech leaders. Enjoy high-impact visibility, valuable networking opportunities, and access to industry leaders — all while keeping costs low. Perfect for growing startups looking to boost their presence affordably.
Apply before applications close after today.
The ultimate startup package
Exhibition space: One 6’ x 30” table with table linen and chairs, providing a professional setup to showcase your startup.Exhibition day: One full day to exhibit, strategically chosen by TechCrunch to ensure maximum exposure.Team passes: Four startup exhibit team-member passes, allowing your team to engage fully with the event.Branding: An 11” x 14” tabletop sign with your startup’s logo, enhancing your presence.Lead generation: Access to lead-generation services, helping you capture valuable contacts.Visibility: Your logo and company profile featured in the TechCrunch Disrupt mobile app, amplifying your reach.Press access: Access to the exclusive TechCrunch Disrupt press list, increasing your media exposure.Guest passes: Ten Expo+ passes for your network and supporters, broadening your audience.Connectivity: Complimentary partner Wi-Fi network access, ensuring seamless communication.
Explore all of this program’s offerings.
Why sign up for the ScaleUp Startups Exhibitor Program?
Expand your reach: Feature your cutting-edge startup on the Disrupt Expo Floor, a bustling hub where 10,000+ tech leaders, investors, and media converge. Use this platform to highlight your startup’s potential and forge relationships that could transform your business.
Amplify your impact: With four full conference passes, your team can explore the Disrupt experience to the fullest. Join key sessions, engage with industry leaders, and present your startup to a broad audience, fostering significant business relationships.
Maximize your exposure: Get major exposure via the Disrupt website, exhibitor listings, and event app. With access to the exclusive press list and extensive marketing assistance, your startup will attract the attention of top investors and key partners.
Cost-effective and high-value: At only $3,500, the ScaleUp Startup Exhibitor Package offers unbeatable value, combining extensive visibility, networking opportunities, and marketing support. If your application is not accepted, you’ll receive a full refund, making this a risk-free opportunity.
Unleash the potential of your startup
Take your startup’s growth to new heights at one of the year’s top tech events, held at Moscone West in San Francisco from October 28-30.
Don’t miss out! Submit your application here before the day is over to secure your startup package.
This is your brain on Pink Floyd
The human brain has long been a subject of fascination for art and science, which are now both mixed into “Brainstorms: A Great Gig in the Sky,” a new live interactive experience to the tune of Pink Floyd.
Interactivity is optional, but memorable. Exhibition visitors can opt in (and pay extra) to have their brain activity recorded while listening to Pink Floyd’s classic album “The Dark Side of the Moon” — and later on, displayed as a mesmerizing cloud synced to that same soundtrack in a very large room of London’s immersive art gallery Frameless.
Immersive art venues have been popping up across the world, often featuring popular painters whose works blend walls, ceilings and floors around the visitors. But combining the concept with music and a live element brings “Brainstorms” closer to “ABBA Voyage,” for instance.
That’s not their only thing in common: Both shows similarly use technology as an enabler, not a focus.
This makes “Brainstorms” different from last year’s groundbreaking experiment in which neuroscientists were able to re-create Pink Floyd’s “Another Brick in the Wall, Part 1” using AI to decipher the brain’s electrical activity. This time, it is a spectacle.
While advanced technology is involved behind the scenes, from Emotiv EEG headsets and spatial audio to Unreal-powered visualizations, the starting point of the Brainstorms project was very much music — more precisely, that of late Pink Floyd keyboardist Richard Wright.
Wright’s daughter, Gala, wanted to do something special for the 50th anniversary of the album featuring “The Great Gig in the Sky,” the iconic tune composed by her father, with no less memorable vocal composition by Clare Torry. “So we started to put together ideas,” composer and music technologist JJ Wiesler told TechCrunch during the premiere.
Wiesler is the co-founder of Pollen Music Group, a San Francisco-based creative outlet renowned for its music scores and sound design. With both a music studio and a lab where it works with VR/XR headsets, phones, home devices and more, Pollen isn’t new to experimenting. But “this is a bit of a change to take it into the exhibition world,” he said.
It was Gala Wright who had the idea to focus on neuroscience and the study of the human brain’s reaction to music. This led her and Pollen to partner with Dolby to record the brain activity of 125 volunteers listening to “The Great Gig in the Sky,” synced with ad hoc software, Wiesler said.
Conducted last year, the experiment forms the basis of “Aurora,” a creation in which the moon casts a glow over the arctic tundra, progressing into an aurora borealis.
“Aurora” takes up the entirety of Frameless’s largest gallery, but there are four in total, which wasn’t part of the original plan. With 30,000 square feet at its disposal, the Brainstorms team came up with more than fillers. Keeping “great gigs in the sky” as its overarching theme, it took on a room of its own with “Eclipse” and enlisted London-based music artist Imogen Heap for a bird-inspired room.
Get off my cloud
A musician known for engaging with technology, Heap is doubly featured in “Murmur,” which is set to her ambient track Cumulus, while two starling flocks — murmurations — represent her brain activity and her daughter dancing in the sunset.
Perhaps more clearly than in any other room, this visualization gives us a glimpse of how the same music can affect different people. That’s the science part of Brainstorms: During the visit, participants will learn that visualizations reflect what others felt while listening to Pink Floyd.
In “Aurora,” engagement triggers red aurora hues, relaxation adds “a calming blue,” and excitement enlivens the movement of the aurora, exhibition panels explain. Meanwhile, in “Eclipse,” raw electrical power from the brain fuels solar activity, driving flares and ejections, while regional activity of the brain is aligned spatially with the sun’s surface activity.
For visitors who opt into EEG readings, it goes more personal: A couple of days after their visit, they’ll receive a summary of their brain activity. It comes with science-based explanations on gamma, beta, alpha and theta brain waves and what it says about one’s state of mind, but it’s arguably the personalized visualization that they will remember the most.
“We created a visualization engine that was about how clouds form, because Richard Wright was an amateur photographer who took thousands of pictures of clouds,” Wiesler said. Cross that with data and neuroscience, and you get the Cloud Gallery.
“Enjoy your cloud,” the PR person tells me before I wander into the vast room to watch my brain on-screen, moments after Imogen Heap did just the same. Because of steps taken to preserve anonymity, only you will know which cloud is yours, but the look in your eyes might be a tell.
From ASMR to brain-themed museum exhibitions, there’s rising interest in what music does to our brains, but there’s something about Pink Floyd’s music that makes it a perfect fit for such a display. “Due to popular demand,” “Brainstorms” already added new dates to its London residency, its organizers said, and I won’t be surprised if it eventually makes its way to other cities and immersive venues around the world.
Welcome to the fediverse: Your guide to Mastodon, Threads, Bluesky and more
Once upon a time, in a galaxy not so far away (this one, in fact), a few internet rebels decided that they were tired of the corporate overlords controlling their online lives. Thus, the fediverse was born — an attempt to wrest control of microblogging services, such as Twitter and its ilk, away from centralized powers and into the hands of the people.
The term “fediverse” combines “federation” and “universe.” In a nutshell, it’s a collection of social networking services that can communicate with each other (formally known as federation).
The fediverse roots trace back to the 2000s, with the rise of projects like StatusNet, which later evolved into GNU social. The big bang happened in 2016 when Mastodon, an open-source microblogging platform, entered the scene. Since then, myriad decentralized platforms have sprouted, including Bluesky (although that one falls in a slightly different category – more about that in just a moment), Threads, and Pleroma, each with its unique flavor, all united by their disdain for Big Tech’s centralized control.
GNU Social and StatusNet were the pioneers. They aimed to create a more open and free web, where users controlled their data and interactions. StatusNet’s most notable instance, identi.ca, was an early example of a federated social network. However, these platforms struggled to gain mainstream traction due to technical complexity and limited user bases – kinda like the early days of crypto, come to think of it.
Then, in 2016, Mastodon entered the scene. It was created by Eugen Rochko, a Russia-born software developer who decamped to Germany. With a familiar interface and an emphasis on user experience, Mastodon quickly became the poster child of the fediverse. Its success lay in balancing decentralization with usability, attracting users tired of Twitter’s toxic environment and draconian policies. Mastodon’s growth was exponential, sparking interest and spawning numerous other fediverse projects.
Why the fediverse could be the next big thing in social media
The fediverse isn’t just another social media platform; it’s a rallying cry and a manifesto of sorts. Here are a few reasons why its fans believe it’s the next big thing:
Power to the people: With decentralization as its rallying cry, no single entity controls the fediverse. It’s like the Wild West but with fewer guns and (a lot) more memes. This decentralization means users have more control over their data and interactions. Each server operates independently yet can still communicate with others, creating a vast, interconnected network. This structure prevents the concentration of power and mitigates the risks associated with data breaches and surveillance.
Your data, your rules: Privacy often plays a big part in the conversation around the fediverse. Unlike certain social media giants, fediverse platforms claim they don’t sell your data to the highest bidder. Many instances prioritize user privacy, with policies prohibiting data mining and tracking. Users can choose servers with privacy-focused practices and even host their own instances for maximum control. This approach appeals to those concerned about their digital footprint and the pervasive surveillance of corporate social media.
Like the OG internet: The fediverse fosters small, tight-knit communities where you can actually have meaningful conversations instead of screaming into the void. Each server often caters to specific interests or values, enabling users to find like-minded individuals. This community-centric approach contrasts sharply with the global, often chaotic nature of platforms like Twitter and Facebook, where meaningful interactions are buried under a deluge of noise.
Have it your way: If your perfect blend of spices doesn’t exist, you can make your own: The software is open-source, so you can go ham with the hacking. Want a purple interface where all posts are automatically translated into Klingon? You do you, boo. The fediverse’s flexibility allows users to customize their experiences, from interface design to functionality. Developers can create and share modifications, enhancing the platform’s capabilities and fostering innovation. This adaptability — at least in theory — ensures that the fediverse evolves with its users, staying relevant and responsive to their needs.
Key players in the fediverse
The fediverse is kinda like “Being John Malkovich” in that there are a lot of actors, but they all kind of look alike. This is where a lot of the confusion comes from. Here are some of the key players worth being aware of:
Mastodon is an open-source, decentralized social network within the broader fediverse. It enables users to create and join independent, interconnected communities or instances governed by rules and moderation policies. This structure promotes user autonomy and content diversity while reducing reliance on centralized control. By offering a more user-centric alternative to traditional social media platforms, Mastodon has long been a key player and plays a crucial role in the fediverse, fostering a collaborative and resilient digital landscape emphasizing privacy, free expression, and community-driven interaction.
Threads is Meta’s runner in the fediverse race. It uses the ActivityPub protocol, which lets Threads fly the platform interoperability flag the fediverse is known for – although Meta has received some criticism for being slow to fully participate. Still, with the weight of Meta behind it, Threads positions itself as a key player in the evolution of a more connected and diverse online ecosystem.
Pleroma is another microblogging platform, similar to Mastodon but lighter and more customizable. Developed by Lain and based on the Elixir programming language, Pleroma offers greater flexibility and performance. It’s a favorite among tech-savvy users who want more control over their social media experience. Pleroma’s modularity allows it to integrate various features from other platforms, making it a versatile choice for those looking to escape the mainstream.
For those who love Instagram but hate its corporate antics, Pixelfed is the answer. This photo-sharing platform focuses on privacy and user control. It offers a familiar interface, complete with filters and photo albums, but without the ads and algorithms pushing sponsored content. Pixelfed is perfect for photographers, artists and anyone who wants to share visual content without the noise of traditional social media.
Friendica, meanwhile, is a versatile platform that can connect with almost any other social network. It supports many protocols, including ActivityPub (used by Mastodon and Pleroma), Diaspora, and even old-school protocols like RSS. Friendica is a great choice for users who want to bridge the gap between the fediverse and traditional social media platforms. Its flexibility and integration capabilities make it the ultimate social network aggregator.
YouTube’s video-sharing dominance is undeniable, but PeerTube offers a decentralized alternative. Developed by Framasoft, PeerTube enables users to host their own video servers, interconnecting with other instances to share content. This decentralization ensures that no single entity controls the platform, promoting free speech and diverse content. PeerTube is often held up as the ideal for creators who value independence and want to escape the ad-driven, algorithmic world of YouTube.
Bluesky (bsky among friends) is an interesting player in this space. As a brainchild of Twitter founder Jack Dorsey, Bluesky’s focus on open protocols aims to dismantle the monopolistic hold of major social media companies, although, interestingly, Bluesky chose to use the AT protocol, which is similar, but adds account portability (the ability to take your account from one platform to another). Is it technically part of the fediverse? Many say it isn’t – but given its popularity, we figured we’d include it here for completeness.
Wait, are there really no downsides to the fediverse?
Welllll… Of course, it’s not all rainbows and unicorns. The fediverse has its own set of issues and growing pains
Too many cooks. With great power comes great responsibility. In this case, a million tiny servers, each with its own rules. This fragmentation can make the fediverse feel disjointed, with varying levels of quality and user experience. Navigating this landscape can confuse newcomers who may struggle to find the right instance or understand the platform’s nuances. While diversity is a strength, it also presents challenges regarding coherence and user adoption.
Only the tech-savvy need apply? Setting up and maintaining your own server can be a headache unless you’re a tech wizard, and the “only nerds may apply” vibe runs strong. The technical barrier to entry can be daunting, deterring less tech-savvy users from fully engaging with the fediverse. While user-friendly instances exist, the overall complexity remains a hurdle for widespread adoption. Simplifying the user experience and lowering technical barriers will be crucial for the fediverse’s growth.
The popular kid on the block. Some platforms struggle under the weight of their own popularity. Growing pains, they call it, which makes sense, but it doubles down on the tech-savvy vibe from above: Instances can become overwhelmed by a sudden influx of users, leading to performance issues and downtime for folks who are least likely to tolerate (or know what to do with) sudden downtime. This scalability problem highlights the challenges of maintaining decentralized networks without the resources of corporate giants. Balancing growth and stability will be essential for the fediverse’s sustainability — and continue to be one of its biggest stumbling blocks.
Wait, what’s with all the racism? Without a central authority, content moderation can be hit or miss. And let’s be honest, especially in the early days, users are experiencing more misses than hits. Each instance sets its own moderation policies, leading to inconsistencies and potential conflicts. While this allows for diverse community standards, it also means that harmful content can proliferate on poorly moderated servers. Anyone who’s run a popular social network knows that effective and consistent moderation is critical to ensuring safe and welcoming environments, but achieving this across a decentralized network is… let’s call it “an unsolved challenge.”
What’s next for the fediverse?
Lemme bust out the crystal ball and see if I can come up with some predictions. Will it overthrow the social media titans and usher in a new era of digital utopia? Probably not — or at least not for a while. But there is hope for it to play to its strengths and continue to grow as a haven for those tired of being commodified by Big Tech.
I expect more platforms to join the fray, each more niche than the last. The fediverse’s open nature encourages innovation, and we can anticipate a proliferation of new projects catering to specific communities and interests. This diversity will enrich the ecosystem, offering users more choices and fostering a vibrant digital culture. However, it will also exacerbate the challenges of fragmentation and interoperability.
Indeed, the way that these platforms talk to each other is through various protocols, which, let’s be frank, only a handful of people will understand or care about. ActivityPub currently dominates the fediverse, but other protocols like Zot and Diaspora have their proponents. In the future, we will likely see ongoing efforts to improve and standardize these protocols, enhancing cross-platform communication and integration. This technical evolution will be crucial for the fediverse’s cohesion and growth.
Mainstream adoption remains a significant challenge. There is a handful of extremely popular microblogging platforms, all of which are significant competitors to the fediverse. Its complex nature and decentralized ethos may deter the average user accustomed to the simplicity and familiarity of corporate social media. To attract a broader audience, the fediverse will have to find a way to streamline its user experience, improve accessibility and offer compelling alternatives to mainstream platforms. Collaboration with privacy advocates, open-source communities and digital rights organizations could also help raise awareness and drive adoption.
In the long run, it’s going to be interesting to see how the tech giants respond. As the fediverse gains traction, it’s only a matter of time before the usual suspects start to pay notice (Meta, Google, X, Amazon – yes, I’m looking at y’all). While this could bring resources and attention, it also risks undermining the very principles that define the fediverse. The community will have to navigate these waters carefully, balancing growth with integrity.
All we are is another click in the wall
In the end, the fediverse will probably remain a quirky, fragmented and occasionally frustrating part of the internet. But it’s a digital home worth exploring for those who value privacy, community and control. Don’t forget to bring your sense of adventure — and maybe a manual on setting up servers.
The most exciting thing about the fediverse is that it ain’t about perfection; it’s about possibilities and counter-culture. It’s a grand experiment in what the internet could be — free from the monopolistic tendencies of Big Tech, driven by community values, and open to endless innovation. So, whether you’re a tech enthusiast, a privacy advocate or just someone tired of the same old social media grind, give the fediverse a shot. The potential win is the chance of finding your digital tribe among the chaos.
Elevate your 2025 fundraising strategy at Disrupt 2024
Get ready to unlock the secrets of successful fundraising in the upcoming year at Disrupt 2024. Our featured session, “How to Raise in 2025 if You’ve Taken a Flat, Down, or Extension Round,” is designed to equip startups with the knowledge and strategies needed to navigate the evolving investment landscape. This session will challenge outdated metrics and provide actionable insights into what investors are looking for in 2025.
Attendees will gain invaluable insights from industry leaders who have a proven track record of successful investments and guiding companies to new heights. This session promises to be a game-changer for startups at any stage, offering practical advice on how to secure that crucial Series A funding, even if your journey has faced some bumps along the way. Learn how sector-specific factors, founder profiles, and market momentum can influence your fundraising success in today’s dynamic market.
Meet this session’s stellar speaker lineup
Dayna Grayson, Co-founder and General Partner at Construct CapitalElliott Robinson, Partner at Bessemer Venture PartnersNikhil Basu Trivedi, Co-founder and General Partner at Footwork
Each speaker brings a wealth of experience and a unique perspective to the table, ensuring a well-rounded and deeply informative session.
Dayna Grayson, a pioneer in transforming foundational industries through technology, will discuss her experience in backing innovative companies that revolutionize sectors such as manufacturing and mobility. Her insights from Construct Capital and NEA, where she led investments in companies like Desktop Metal and Tulip, will provide attendees with a clear roadmap on how to stand out to investors focused on industry-changing innovations.
Elliott Robinson, a key figure in cloud software investments at Bessemer Venture Partners, will offer his perspective on the critical factors that drive successful fundraising rounds. With a portfolio that includes major investments in companies like Canva and Forter, Elliott’s advice on building market-defining companies and maintaining core values will be invaluable for any startup looking to make a significant impact.
Nikhil Basu Trivedi, with his extensive background in early-stage investing at Footwork and Shasta Ventures, will share his expertise on what it takes to capture investor interest and secure funding in the current climate. His successful investments in companies like Canva, ClassDojo, and Imperfect Foods highlight his keen eye for promising startups and his strategic approach to growth.
Don’t miss this opportunity to learn from the best and position your startup for success in 2025. Join us at Disrupt 2024 and discover how to navigate the complexities of fundraising with confidence and clarity. Secure your tickets now and be part of the conversation that could define your company’s future
ScaleUp Your Startup at TechCrunch Disrupt 2024
Are you a Series A to B startup aiming to make a big splash in the tech world? Look no further than the ScaleUp Startups Exhibitor Program at TechCrunch Disrupt 2024. This program is designed to catapult your startup into the spotlight, connecting you with industry leaders, investors, and potential partners.
Why join the ScaleUp Startups Exhibitor Program?
Amplify your reach
Showcase your innovative solutions on the bustling Disrupt Expo Floor, where 10,000 tech leaders, investors, and media representatives converge. This is your chance to highlight your startup’s unique offerings and create connections that could drive your business forward.
Maximize your impact
Take advantage of four full conference passes, enabling your team to immerse themselves in the Disrupt experience. Attend groundbreaking sessions, network with key industry players, and present your startup to a diverse audience, building crucial relationships along the way.
Boost your visibility
Enjoy significant exposure on the Disrupt website, exhibitor lists, and the event app. With access to the exclusive press list and comprehensive marketing support, your startup will capture the attention of investors and partners, setting you apart from the competition.
Affordable and valuable
For just $3,500, the ScaleUp Exhibitor Package delivers unparalleled value for startups looking to scale their presence at Disrupt. This all-inclusive package offers exceptional visibility, networking opportunities, and marketing support. Plus, if your application isn’t accepted, you’ll receive a full refund — ensuring a risk-free opportunity.
What’s included in the ScaleUp Startup Package?
Exhibition Space: One 6’ x 30” table with table linen and chairs, providing a professional setup to showcase your startup.Exhibition Day: One full day to exhibit, strategically chosen by TechCrunch to ensure maximum exposure.Team Passes: Four startup exhibit team-member passes, allowing your team to engage fully with the event.Branding: An 11” x 14” tabletop sign with your startup’s logo, enhancing your presence.Lead Generation: Access to lead-generation services, helping you capture valuable contacts.Connectivity: Complimentary partner Wi-Fi network access, ensuring seamless communication.Visibility: Your logo and company profile featured in the TechCrunch Disrupt mobile app, amplifying your reach.Press Access: Access to the exclusive TechCrunch Disrupt press list, increasing your media exposure.Guest Passes: Ten Expo+ passes for your network and supporters, broadening your audience.
Don’t miss out on this incredible opportunity to elevate your startup at TechCrunch Disrupt 2024. Apply now for the ScaleUp Startups Exhibitor Program and take your startup to new heights!
How to protect your startup from email scams
Despite years of claims that the “death of email” is fast approaching, the decades-old communication method continues to thrive in business. In particular, the business of hacking.
An email containing a link that looks legitimate but is actually malicious remains one of the most dangerous yet successful tricks in a cybercriminal’s handbook and has led to some of the largest hacks in recent years, including the 2022 breach of communications giant Twilio and last year’s hack of social media platform Reddit.
While these emails are sometimes easy to spot, be it thanks to bad spelling or an unusual email address, it is becoming increasingly difficult to identify a dodgy email from a legitimate one as hackers’ tactics become increasingly sophisticated.
Take business email compromise (or BEC), for example, a type of email-borne attack that targets organizations large and small with the aim of stealing money, critical information, or both. In this type of scam, hackers impersonate or compromise someone familiar to the victim, such as a co-worker, boss or business partner, to manipulate them into unknowingly disclosing sensitive information.
The risk this poses to businesses, particularly startups, can’t be overstated. Individuals in the U.S. lost close to $3 billion in BEC scams last year alone, according to the latest data from the FBI. And these attacks are showing no signs of slowing down.
How to spot a business email compromise scam
Look for the warning signs
While cybercriminals have become more advanced in their email-sending tactics, there are some simple red flags that you can — and should — look out for. These include an email sent outside of typical business hours, misspelled names, a mismatch between the sender’s email address and the reply-to address, unusual links and attachments, or an unwarranted sense of urgency.
Contact the sender directly
The use of spear phishing — where hackers use personalized phishing emails to impersonate high-level executives within a company or outside vendors — means it can be near-impossible to tell whether a message has come from a trusted source. If an email seems unusual — or even if it doesn’t — contact the sender directly to confirm the request, rather than replying via any email or any phone number provided in the email.
Check with your IT folks
Tech support scams are becoming increasingly common. In 2022, Okta customers were targeted by a highly sophisticated scam that saw attackers send employees text messages with links to phishing sites that imitated the look and feel of their employers’ Okta login pages. These login pages looked so much like the real deal that more than 10,000 people submitted their work credentials. Chances are, your IT department isn’t going to contact you via SMS, so if you receive a random text message out of the blue or an unexpected pop-up notification on your device, it’s important to check if it’s legitimate.
Be (even more) wary of phone calls
Cybercriminals have long used email as their weapon of choice. More recently, criminals rely on fraudulent phone calls to hack into organizations. A single phone call reportedly led to last year’s hack of hotel chain MGM Resorts, after hackers successfully deceived the company’s service desk into granting them access to an employee’s account. Always be skeptical of unexpected calls, even if they come from a legitimate-looking contact, and never share confidential information over the phone.
Multi-factor all the things!
Multi-factor authentication — which typically requires a code, PIN, or fingerprint for logging in along with your regulator username and password — is by no means foolproof. However, by adding an extra layer of security beyond hack-prone passwords, it makes it far more difficult for cybercriminals to access your email accounts. Take one security step even further by rolling out passwordless technology, like hardware security keys and passkeys, which can prevent password and session token theft from info-stealing malware.
Implement stricter payment processes
With any type of cyberattack, a criminal’s ultimate goal is to make money, and the success of BEC scams often hinges on manipulating a single employee into sending a wire transfer. Some financially motivated hackers pretend to be a vendor requesting payment for services performed for the company. To lessen the risk of falling victim to this type of email scam, roll out strict payment processes: Develop a protocol for payment approvals, require that employees confirm money transfers through a second communication medium, and tell your financial team to double-check every bank account detail that changes.
You can also ignore it
Ultimately, you can minimize the risk of falling for most BEC scams by simply ignoring the attempt and moving on. Not 100% sure that your boss actually wants you to go out and buy $500 worth of gift cards? Ignore it! Getting a call you weren’t expecting? Hang up the phone! But for the sake of your security team and helping your co-workers, don’t stay quiet. Report the attempt to your workplace or IT department so that they can be on higher alert.
Microsoft emails that warned customers of Russian hacks criticized for looking like spam and phishing
Noded AI wants to make your notes the center of your work world
Let’s start with the premise that many people take notes as they work with customers as part of their jobs. As they take notes, they may need to access a customer record in Salesforce or open a Jira ticket to get IT involved with a customer problem, but to do that, they must undertake the dreaded task switching, where you switch out of the application you’re working in and open another application to complete a different job or access additional information.
Noded AI, a new startup, wants to change that by making all your work tools available from where you take notes in an automated fashion, eliminating the need to task switch. Today, the company emerged from stealth with a $4 million investment.
“We are reinventing the note-taking space and using AI and a bit of automation data science to basically put notes at the center of the enterprise,” Noded CPO and co-founder Steve Wood told TechCrunch.
The Noded name, aside from a clever play on words, comes from the fact that the company sees notes not as a large document, but as bits of information that fit together in a knowledge graph. “The note becomes a graph where each fragment of information is a node on the graph, so if I were say, in a meeting with you, I can see all the tasks and context around you, and it would just filter through all of my notes across weeks, months, whatever,” he said.
And you can access all the information you need from within Noded without having to switch programs because it’s all designed to bring the apps you need to you automatically within the context of your work.” So rather than having your notes in one place, and all your applications in another, it’s making your notes part of the flow of work where, as you type your notes, Noded will help you get it into the right system. So you don’t have to double enter all the time,” he said.
Wood was previously VP of product and platform at Slack, another company that has tried to be the center of work, but using communications instead of notes as the centering mechanism. Wood says that one of the things he realized helping build the Slack platform, was it required more context, and he feels like the notes metaphor provides that.
“Part of the realization from Slack was that without having the context around the customer or the other business objects, all we could do was just push alerts to you, which kind of just made your life more confusing because it’s hard to track,” he said. “Why do I care about that Zendesk ticket? Oh, yeah, it’s because Acme was asking about it. So we can give you that context, it makes it easier for you to do your work, but it also makes things a lot less noisy.”
AI plays a role in the way work is pulled from the notes and linked to an application, but for their purposes, Wood says it doesn’t have to be super sophisticated. “Today’s LLMs are perfectly fine for our purposes,” he said. “It’s kind of like having an administrator who’s sitting there doing the really tedious work that you don’t want to do,” he said.
His co-founder and CEO, Chris Port, came from Dell Boomi. The two co-founders actually worked together at Boomi, prior to Wood joining Slack in 2020.
It’s early days. The company launched in September and began building in earnest after the first of the year. “And this will be our ‘Hello World’ moment where we announced the company,” Port said. The startup is working with some early customers and working toward a formal beta some time this year.
Today’s $4 million investment was led by Boldstart Ventures with participation from Bessemer Venture Partners, 20VC and First Hand Ventures. Wood’s old bosses at Slack, co-founders Stewart Butterfield and Cal Henderson, also participated, as well as Okta co-founder Frederic Kerrest.
How to prevent your software update from being the next CrowdStrike
CrowdStrike released a relatively minor patch on Friday, and somehow it wreaked havoc on large swaths of the IT world running Microsoft Windows, bringing down airports, healthcare facilities and 911 call centers. While we know a faulty update caused the problem, we don’t know how it got released in the first place. A company like CrowdStrike very likely has a sophisticated DevOps pipeline with release policies in place, but even with that, the buggy code somehow slipped through.
In this case it was perhaps the mother of all buggy code. The company has suffered a steep hit to its reputation, and the stock price plunged from $345.10 on Thursday evening to $263.10 by Monday afternoon. It has since recovered slightly.
In a statement on Friday, the company acknowledged the consequences of the faulty update: “All of CrowdStrike understands the gravity and impact of the situation. We quickly identified the issue and deployed a fix, allowing us to focus diligently on restoring customer systems as our highest priority.”
Further, it explained the root cause of the outage, although not how it happened. That’s a post mortem process that will likely go on inside the company for some time as it looks to prevent such a thing from happening again.
Dan Rogers, CEO at LaunchDarkly, a firm that uses a concept called feature flags to deploy software in a highly controlled way, couldn’t speak directly to the CrowdStrike deployment problem, but he could speak to software deployment issues more broadly.
“Software bugs happen, but most of the software experience issues that someone would experience are actually not because of infrastructure issues,” he told TechCrunch. “They’re because someone rolled out a piece of software that doesn’t work, and those in general are very controllable.” With feature flags, you can control the speed of deployment of new features, and turn a feature off, if things go wrong to prevent the problem from spreading widely.
It is important to note however, that in this case, the problem was at the operating system kernel level, and once that has run amok, it’s harder to fix than say a web application. Still, a slower deployment could have alerted the company to the problem a lot sooner.
What happened at CrowdStrike could potentially happen to any software company, even one with good software release practices in place, said Jyoti Bansal, founder and CEO at Harness, a maker of DevOps pipeline developer tools. While he also couldn’t say precisely what happened at CrowdStrike, he talked generally about how buggy code can slip through the cracks.
Typically, there is a process in place where code gets tested thoroughly before it gets deployed, but sometimes an engineering team, especially in a large engineering group, may cut corners. “It’s possible for something like this to happen when you skip the DevOps testing pipeline, which is pretty common with minor updates,” Bansal told TechCrunch.
He says this often happens at larger organizations where there isn’t a single approach to software releases. “Let’s say you have 5,000 engineers, which probably will be divided into 100 teams of 50 or so different developers. These teams adopt different practices,” he said. And without standardization, it’s easier for bad code to slip through the cracks.
How to prevent bugs from slipping through
Both CEOs acknowledge that bugs get through sometimes, but there are ways to minimize the risk, including perhaps the most obvious one: practicing standard software release hygiene. That involves testing before deploying and then deploying in a controlled way.
Rogers points to his company’s software and notes that progressive rollouts are the place to start. Instead of delivering the change to every user all at once, you instead release it to a small subset and see what happens before expanding the rollout. Along the same lines, if you have controlled rollouts and something goes wrong, you can roll back. “This idea of feature management or feature control lets you roll back features that aren’t working and get people back to the prior version if things are not working.”
Bansal, whose company just bought feature flag startup Split.io in May, also recommends what he calls “canary deployments,” which are small controlled test deployments. They are called this because they hark back to canaries being sent into coal mines to test for carbon monoxide leakage. Once you prove the test roll out looks good, then you can move to the progressive roll out that Rogers alluded to.
As Bansal says, it can look fine in testing, but a lab test doesn’t always catch everything, and that’s why you have to combine good DevOps testing with controlled deployment to catch things that lab tests miss.
Rogers suggests when doing an analysis of your software testing regimen, you look at three key areas — platform, people and processes — and they all work together in his view. “It’s not sufficient to just have a great software platform. It’s not sufficient to have highly enabled developers. It’s also not sufficient to just have predefined workflows and governance. All three of those have to come together,” he said.
One way to prevent individual engineers or teams from circumventing the pipeline is to require the same approach for everyone, but in a way that doesn’t slow the teams down. “If you build a pipeline that slows down developers, they will at some point find ways to get their job done outside of it because they will think that the process is going to add another two weeks or a month before we can ship the code that we wrote,” Bansal said.
Rogers agrees that it’s important not to put rigid systems in place in response to one bad incident. “What you don’t want to have happen now is that you’re so worried about making software changes that you have a very long and protracted testing cycle and you end up stifling software innovation,” he said.
Bansal says a thoughtful automated approach can actually be helpful, especially with larger engineering groups. But there is always going to be some tension between security and governance and the need for release velocity, and it’s hard to find the right balance.
We might not know what happened at CrowdStrike for some time, but we do know that certain approaches help minimize the risks around software deployment. Bad code is going to slip through from time to time, but if you follow best practices, it probably won’t be as catastrophic as what happened last week.
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