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Happy Friday! Hadje is enjoying some time off on the east coast so I’m running alone. As you can see from Elon Musk’s not-so-surprising move last night and the high number of Twitter stories from our amazing consumer tech team today, it was all Twitter, all day. We promise to give you a little of that, of course, and a little of what we’ve been working on. Let’s dive in, shall we? — Christine
TechCrunch’s Top 3
- Flying in the public coop: Now that Elon Musk owns Twitter, its days as a public company are numbered. In fact, Ivan writes, Twitter will be delisted on November 8 – voting day for the US midterm elections.
- Place the bird in a cage: In Europe, where just hours after actually owning Twitter, Musk has already found himself on the wrong end of European Union officials correcting him after tweeting about how free he thinks Twitter is now. Natasha L there is more.
- Big Tweet Boss: Reports now say Musk will take over the CEO role for himself, Ivan writes after he ousted Twitter’s top four executivesas reported by Amanda.
For more bluebird news, head over to the Big Tech Inc. section where we’ve got you covered.
Startups and VCs
Unfortunately, the hits keep coming for 54gene, an African genomics startup focused on making more African genetic material available for pharmaceutical research – now there are only 3%, Tage reports. After several months of layoffs and the departure of a CEO, the company has confirmed that not only has it made another round of layoffs — this time 100 people — but it’s also slashed its valuation by more than $100 million.
And we have three more for you:
- Robot Rebellion: Galen Robotics has a new robot that will help with ear, nose and throat surgeries. Oh, and secured $15 million in new funding, Andrew reports.
- Follow the yellow brick path: Game studio Hidden Door uses narrative AI to turn fantasy into immersive role-playing experiences and Rebecca says he’s testing The Wizard of Oz.
- Does anyone else use this word?: I was pleased to see that there is a company called Skidattl. The company uses augmented reality to show users what people around them are doing, in what Rebecca it says “like a bat-signal for fun”.
5 ways biotech startups can reduce risk to grow sustainably over the long term
Image Credits: jayk7 (opens in a new window) / Getty Images
Due to R&D and clinical trials, life science startups have long lead times before they can bring their capital-intensive products to market.
“But,” asks Omar Khalil, a partner at Santé Ventures, “what happens when funding suddenly stops?”
In a guest post for TC+, he shares five strategies for biotech startups trying to stay warm in the coming winter.
“It’s still too early to know if this is a short-term correction or a new normal that will persist for the foreseeable future.”
Three more from the TC+ team:
TechCrunch+ is our membership program that helps founders and startup teams get ahead of the curve. You can register here. Use code “DC” for 15% off annual subscription!
Big Tech Inc.
As promised, we have even more Twitter news for you to enjoy. As I write this, several of my colleagues have jumped on Twitter Spaces to talk about all this. One of the latest news from Taylor was that Elon Musk formed a content moderation “council” to make certain decisions — for example, to restore accounts for, cough, Donald Trump. Here are two more:
Catching up with more earnings reports:
We have four more for you:
Daily Crunch: With Musk’s purchase completed, NYSE will delist Twitter stock on Election Day
