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FundersClub Weekly Newsletter - March 25, 2016

By Grace Barr  •  Mar 25, 2016

FundersClub Portfolio News

Instacart is now unit economic profitable in ten of its markets, meaning that the entire company recently turned gross margin positive in "Instacart Is... Generating Profits?". 

Coinbase CEO, Brian Armstrong, elaborates on the what, the why, and the how of the company, and notes the excitement of the digital currency space in "The vision, mission, and strategy for Coinbase".

BioBots offers a fully functional 3D bioprinter for just $10,000 in "BioBots is Selling a 3D Bioprinter for $10,000". 

Atheer announces a partnership with Xciel Inc. to bring advanced smart glasses technologies to workers in the oil and gas industry, improving safety and enhancing productivity in "Atheer and Xciel Partner to Bring Advanced AR Smart Glasses to Workers in the Oil and Gas Industry".

Sight Machine announces that it has raised a $13.5 million Series B round in "GE Backs Sight Machine In Manufacturing Big Data Push". 

LeadGenius is recommended by Forbes as a tool for a more comprehensive, personalized, and multi-channel approach to marketing in "5 Essential Tools To Help CMOs Achieve Account-Based Marketing Success". 

  

Investor Thoughts

Tomasz Tunguz of Redpoint Ventures highlights how scenario exploration can help founders and board members understand the trade-offs when evaluating different hiring plans and go to market strategies in "Startup Best Practices 22 - Using Scenario Planning For Strategic Decisions".

Saku Panditharatne of Andreessen Horowitz emphasizes why you’d want to know about the next big idea in technology, and as early as possible in "Hunting What’s Next in High Tech". 

Sarah Tavel of Greylock Partners describes "the fuel to build an enduring, billion dollar business" in "The Hierarchy of Engagement". 

Techcrunch covers "all 60 startups that launched at Y Combinator Winter 2016 Demo Day 1" and "the 59 startups that demoed at Y Combinator Winter ’16 Demo Day 2". 

PitchBook has created a bracket of their own (in spirit of the NCAA basketball tournament) where the winning universities advance based on the number of VC-backed entrepreneurs the school's undergrad programs have produced in "2016 VC Founders Bracket: Revealing the last 4 teams". 

Steve Schlafman of RRE Ventures contemplates his VC decisions, realizing that investors are in a unique position to help create the future in "Investing with a New Purpose". 

  

Founder and Operator Thoughts

Joe Coleman of Contently provides the commandments for content marketing to help businesses know what to write, what to track, and what their objective is in "Content is Eating the World".

LinkedIn has created a guide for founders to achieve their specific marketing goals across the buyer’s journey and deliver measurable results in "LinkedIn Marketing Solutions Platform Overview". 

ProductHunt put together a list of six different tools to help founders monitor when their startup is mentioned online, as well as track companies, markets, and people they care about in "Tools to Help You Track Your Startup". 

Robleh Jama of Tiny Hearts App "dissects some of Apple’s advice so you can make apps like a pro" in "Apple’s Recipe for Making Successful Apps".

Tatiana Livesey & Diana Isac share a collection of their experiences over the past years as 2 women founders in "Beware of Startup Prostitution". 

  

In Other News

In an attempt to show Nevada stakeholders a substantial sign of progress,Tesla invited local media to tour the Gigafactory in "Inside the Tesla Gigafactory, Elon Musk’s secretive battery production facility". 

Microsoft executives are in talks with equity firms considering bids forYahoo Inc! saying that Microsoft might be willing to offer "significant financing" for their efforts in "Microsoft told potential Yahoo bidders it might back bids: report". 

  

Did You Know?

Did you know that 86% of people try to plug their USB devices upside down?