Author: James
Welcome to another recap of Equity, TechCrunch’s flagship podcast about the business of startups. Today’s episode is all about M&A, how one YouTuber found success in the creator economy, why Twitch is still losing money, and a self-driving car company making a comeback. First, senior reporter Rebecca Beran covers fintech giant Stripe’s acquisition of four-year-old competitor Lemon Squeegee. Stripe CEO Patrick Collison said the acquisition strengthens Stripe’s ability to calculate and pay global sales taxes for its customers. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. It’s worth noting that Lemon Squeezy is famous for turning down other investments, including a…
Patreon, the paid membership platform for creators, on Tuesday announced the release of new features designed to help creators monetize their free followers and gain new revenue streams. This includes the ability to sell individual posts, gifting features for creators to gift limited-time subscriptions to fans, and promotional tools to share clips on social media. These new features reflect Patreon’s continued efforts to expand beyond its role as a monetization platform. Last year, Patreon launched a free membership option, allowing fans to follow their favorite influencers without committing to a monthly subscription. The company revealed in a blog post today…
Twitch has devised a solution to the ongoing copyright issues DJs face on the platform. The company on Thursday announced a new program that will allow DJs to stream millions of songs in a new DJ category, giving them more clarity on which songs are safe for streaming. The only problem is that DJs have to cough up some of their income. The move is part of a larger effort to avoid DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act) takedown notices. These notifications have been a consistent issue for many DJ streamers on Twitch who incorporate pre-recorded music from artists into their…
Hotelsbycity.com co-founders and former Priceline executives Andrew Loewen and Randy Schartner have announced their latest project, Plannin. Plannin is a global travel booking platform that enables creators to monetize hotel recommendations and share travel-specific content. As the creator economy continues to grow in value, estimated to generate $250 billion in revenue, Plannin wants to add a twist to travel booking by leveraging influencers instead of travel agents. Plannin lets creators tell their viewers about their latest trips and favorite hotels, and post photos from their trips. To earn money, they share affiliate links across social platforms to help their followers…