Latest from Katie Roof
It was another big week for earnings on “Equity,” TechCrunch’s podcast about venture capital and the tech business. But this week, it wasn’t all good…
Pandora’s quarterly earnings report was music to investors’ ears. The digital radio platform reported a better-than-expected first quarter report after the bell on Thursday, sending shares up 8 percent in…
Beauty-in-a-box brand Birchbox has changed up its ownership structure. The New York-based startup, which has raised almost $90 million in funding from noted venture firms like Accel Partners and First Round Capital,…
DocuSign priced its IPO Thursday evening at $29 per share, netting the company $629 million. It was a better price than the e-signature company had been expecting. The initially proposed…
Amazon reported first-quarter earnings after the bell on Thursday, sending shares up 7 percent in after-hours trading after its significantly better-than-expected report. The company reported earnings per share of $3.27,…
Stock market investors greeted payroll software company Ceridian with enthusiasm on its debut Thursday. After pricing above its expected range at $22 per share, the stock shot up 42 percent,…
PayPal reported its first-quarter results after the bell on Wednesday, sending shares up about 3 percent in after-hours trading, due to better-than-expected numbers. Adjusted earnings per share for the payments…
If your company lets you expense the nicest hotel when you travel, why wouldn’t you? But what if you got to split the savings with your employer by selecting a less…
Austin, Texas-based BigCommerce has completed a big round of funding. The growth-stage startup, which powers e-commerce sites for Sony, Toyota and 60,000 other merchants, has raised $64 million to accelerate its…
Amazon has now passed 100 million subscribers for its Prime loyalty shopping program, underscoring its growth as an e-commerce, cloud services and streaming media behemoth. But it’s also looking beyond…
Stock market investors showed lukewarm enthusiasm for Pivotal Software’s debut on Friday. After pricing the IPO at $15, the company closed the day at $15.73. Although it didn’t “pop” for new…
When you’re raising venture capital, it helps if you’ve had “exits.” In other words, if your company has been acquired or you’ve taken one public, investors are more inclined to…
Pluralsight, the Utah-based education technology company, has revealed its IPO filing. Given the timing of the unveiling, the company is likely targeting a May public debut. Its core business is…
Real estate platform Zillow changed up its business model this week, announcing that it plans to purchase and sell homes in Las Vegas and Phoenix. Zillow will be working with Berkshire Hathaway…
There’s big news in the world of advertising. Sir Martin Sorrell has stepped down from WPP, the world’s largest ad business. Sorrell had been in the midst of an unspecified…
Elon Musk says ‘humans are underrated,’ calls Tesla’s ‘excessive automation’ a ‘mistake’
In a rare mea culpa for the mercurial billionaire, Tesla CEO Elon Musk acknowledged that the company has been too reliant on robots for production. Yes, excessive automation at Tesla was…
Subscription biller Zuora was well-received by stock market investors on Thursday, following its public debut. After pricing its IPO at $14 and raising $154 million, the company closed at $20, valuing…
There’s a new venture fund in town from some familiar faces. Carey Lai, who previously worked at Intel Capital and IVP, is joining forces with Paul Yeh, formerly of Kleiner…
Redpoint Ventures has hired Annie Kadavy as its first female general partner. She’ll be on the early stage investment team. Kadavy has a background in venture capital, having spent several…
As the e-commerce industry continues to explode, one startup that’s benefiting is Boston-based 6 River Systems. The business, which builds robots that speed up production in warehouses, has raised $25 million…
JUMP Bikes, the on-demand biking service that integrates with Uber, has been weighing both acquisition and investment offers. A decision has not yet been reached, but right now possible options…
Spotify is done with its long-awaited “direct listing” experiment. The music streaming company went public without the IPO. After completing its first trade halfway through the day at $165.90, Spotify fell…
Spotify opened on the New York Stock Exchange at $165.90, giving the company a market value of $29.5 billion. The first trade didn’t happen until 12:45pm Eastern. This is halfway through…
Digital music giant Spotify is joining the stock market on Tuesday, making it the biggest consumer tech company to go public since Snap debuted early last year. But unlike Snap,…
In an unusual move, Pluralsight has announced that it filed confidentially for IPO. Companies typically stay quiet until they make the filings public, unless reporters break the news first. But…
Actress-turned-entrepreneur Gwyneth Paltrow is getting more capital to accelerate her startup’s growth. Goop, the lifestyle brand which she founded ten years ago, is announcing a $50 million Series C round…
DocuSign has unveiled its IPO filing, confirming our scoop from last week. The company had previously filed confidentially and the timing of the filing revelation implies that DocuSign is hoping…
Netflix has added a board member with some big political connections: Susan Rice, who worked in the Obama administration as national security advisor and ambassador to the UN. “For decades, she…
When it comes to sales software, Salesforce isn’t the only game in town. A number of startups have emerged to target the sales industry, with roughly $3 billion per year getting invested…
The Dow surged 669 points on Monday after trade tensions eased, erasing the drops from last week. Tech stocks like Amazon and Apple saw gains, but the biggest winner of all…