Fridaaaaaay. It was a short week, but it still dragged on a little.

We’ve got some exciting Twitter Live action coming up on September 13, so mark your calendars! At 8:00 a.m. PDT / 11:00 a.m. EDT we are talking with Andrew Chan about why Gen Z VCs are trash, and at 12:00 p.m. PDT / 3:00 p.m. EDT, we’re talking with M13 partner Anna Barber about what today’s founders can learn from the dot-com bubble bursting.

Enjoy your weekend!  — Christine and Haje

The TechCrunch Top 3

• More layoffs: Patreon, a company that enables content creators to offer monthly payment subscriptions to customers, confirmed that it let go of five people from its security team. Zack reports there are not a lot of details about the layoffs, but did have some information about how Patreon will manage its security going forward. 
• Thank you, Mr. Roboto: Amazon announced it is acquiring Cloostermans, a mechatronics company based in Belgium. The e-commerce giant’s focus on robotics has Ingrid writing that Amazon “is taking an interesting turn in that strategy as it expands its industrial warehouse capabilities.”
• We like a startup with a fun name: Cryptocurrency is a hot market in Africa, and Tage writes about one blockchain payments startup, called Bitmama, that raised $2 million in pre-seed funding to show what it can do in new markets.

Startups and VC

For our episode of Chain Reaction this week, our trusty crypto desk discussed the latest drama surrounding crypto mega-exchange Binance, which is shaking up the stablecoin ecosystem as it looks to muscle its way to supremacy. It’s a fantastic episode and well worth a listen.

Over the past decade, startups migrated north from Silicon Valley to make San Francisco the country’s hottest tech hub. The streets of the city were bustling with throngs of workers, writes Mary Ann. Then the COVID-19 pandemic hit, and things slid to a halt. Now, more than two years and several vaccines later, San Francisco’s office scene has still not rebounded and the city’s streets remain eerily quiet.

Let’s do a few more, shall we:

• All on the cards: Renowned founders Brian Lee and baseball Hall-of-Famer Derek Jeter have a new sports card biz ,where collectors can trade and verify their cards, reports Connie.
• That’s a lot of giggly-bytes:  A new enterprise fiber network, Vorboss, is ready to deliver up to 100 Gbps high-speed internet to London businesses, as part of a $290 million investment in the city’s infrastructure. The company promises a minimum 10 Gbps of enterprise fiber to the nation’s capital, Paul reports.
• Papers, please, without the papers: Jobbatical — which specializes in relocating workers and whose business has seen an uplift in the post-pandemic work environments as many workers become “digital nomads” — raised €11.6 million to make it all paperless, Mike reports.
• A flighty glance: Flight tracking is coming to an iOS 16 lock screen near you, as Flighty’s app will bring flight tracking and more, reports Sarah.
• Straight outta California: Minneapolis-based Branch was founded in 2015, and Anita reports why the company’s founder moved to Minneapolis to build his B2B fintech startup.

Use DORA metrics to support the next generation of remote-work models

Nontechnical CEOs often rely on someone else’s assessment to find out how good their developers are. Without data, that’s a pretty subjective process.

Startups that don’t use DORA (DevOps research and assessment) metrics have a harder time measuring a software delivery team’s performance. For example, a group that has a high failure rate may cover their deficiencies (for a time) by deploying quickly.

Remote work is the new normal, especially for engineers, says Alex Circei, CEO and co-founder of development analytics tool Waydev. By using DORA metrics, CTOs, CEOs and HR managers can “get back on the same page to support their tech teams and business outcomes.”

(TechCrunch+ is our membership program, which helps founders and startup teams get ahead. You can sign up here.)

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Big Tech Inc.

India is taking more control over which lending apps are permitted in app stores. Manish and Jagmeet keep us updated on the country’s efforts to bring more disclosures and transparency to the world of digital lending, which they write is full of “sketchy and unethical lenders.”

• Whoa blocks: Taylor brings us a pair of Roblox stories, including that the company’s new vision involves older audiences beyond its teen and tween origins. Roblox is also handing out $500,000 each to a handful of game developers.
• More to the story: Carly is keeping up with the ransomware attack on the Los Angeles Unified School District and wrote up a helpful guide of everything she knows so far.
• Speedy delivery: Both Rocket Lab and Sierra Space have shiny new contracts with the U.S. Department of Defense to further develop their technology around rocket cargo delivery, Aria writes.

• Web Programmer Analyst at Skidmore College (Saratoga Springs, NY, USA)
• Senior Enterprise Development Analyst at Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission (Middletown, PA, United States)
• Senior Digital Marketing Manager (Remote) at Xivic, Inc. (Anywhere)
• Senior Digital Project Manager (Remote) at Xivic, Inc. (Anywhere)
• Blockchain Engineer at Tenex (New York, NY, USA)

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