👉 What Happened on Tech Twitter Last Week - Mar 9th

🇺🇸 How tech is fighting COVID19, 😷what the future will look like, 💸 VCs still open, and more!

Yo! It’s Brett again. With COVID-19 on the loose, tech news has rightfully taken a backseat to news about the virus. I’ll be releasing a handful of “COID-19 Twitter TLDR” newsletters to you to keep you informed, but I’ll also do my best to bring you all the non-pandemic-related (or tangentially related) tech news here.

Here’s what happened on Tech Twitter last week.

---

🙌If you enjoyed reading this, maybe share it with friends? Or sign up if you haven’t already!
🔶Want more Twitter TLDR? Check out Crypto Twitter TLDR

---

🇺🇸 Tech companies are doing their part

Just as car companies repurposed to build military vehicles during WW2, tech companies are doing the same to combat the pandemic.

Google Communications @Google_Comms

Statement from Verily: "We are developing a tool to help triage individuals for Covid-19 testing. Verily is in the early stages of development, and planning to roll testing out in the Bay Area, with the hope of expanding more broadly over time.

Gavin Baker @GavinSBaker

Opentable data shows restaurant diners on 3/12 were down: -47% YoY in Boston -51% YoY in San Francisco -52% YoY in New York -58% YoY in Seattle As far as I know, this is unprecedented. Thought the slowdown would be significant, but still surprised. docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d…

Brian Chesky @bchesky

First, Airbnb will allow guests around the world to cancel and get their money back. We will not collect fees on these bookings.

Airbnb @Airbnb

In response to the global disruption to travel caused by COVID-19, our Extenuating Circumstances policy now applies globally to all existing reservations with check-in dates between March 14, 2020 and April 14, 2020. https://t.co/nf9gC09P2m

Sar Haribhakti @sarthakgh

UK asking car companies to make ventilators, US asking largest employers to facilitate testing logistics and France asking fashion conglomerates to produce hand sanitizers makes it really feel like we have turned a corner in this global fight

😷 Tech in the pandemic era

There was a lot of talk about what technological and societal changes the virus will drive. Here are a few ideas:

David Frankel @dafrankel

🗣️ Voice and gesture will also become increasingly important in the built environment, as @balajis noted early in February. What were once novelty technologies may soon become prerequisites. x /4

Balaji S. Srinivasan @balajis

All elevators, doors, faucets, and handles will go to voice or gesture based activation as standard. The technology now exists for hands-free everything. This is going to be hygiene 2.0 across society, at least in Asia. https://t.co/68gBWAT8Bk

Balaji S. Srinivasan @balajis

Very important. Wearables may be providing digital early warning signals. We might massively scale up and distribute one to every American. The opportunity cost of lockdown is so massive (billions per day) that almost any technological investment in reducing it can be justified.

David Frankel @dafrankel

⌚️ Moreover, my @Ouraring and @Whoop apps spotted my temp/restlessness before symptoms fully manifested. Is it out of the realm of possibility to think that companies may require employees to wear devices that measure biometrics as a pre-condition of employment? /5

Manish Sinha @manishsinhaha

Last Thursday, @BuzzRobotics delivered the first ever robotic haircut in history to @kwilliamshaw, for $6. Before / after: i.imgur.com/JDkPlGB.jpg Receipt: i.imgur.com/pGharrs.png With COVID-19 here, we need to rethink what roles robots play. Let's start that discussion now.

Olivia Solon @oliviasolon

even a pandemic where everyone is forced to WFH isn't enough to make people adopt VR

💸 VC is still open for business

The economy took a massive stumble last week and we may be headed towards another recession. Top VCs announced they’ll keep investing regardless.

Austen Allred @Austen

Today’s economic crisis vs 2008. Much faster, nowhere near as severe yet.

Bill Gurley @bgurley

Benchmark is exclusively focused on rolling up our sleeves, and helping early stage companies. Oddly, that job can be more rewarding/successful in tough times vs. times where capital is freely available. Entrepreneurism never sleeps.

Chetan Puttagunta @chetanp

We at Benchmark are optimistic about the entrepreneurial spirit. As early stage investors, 1/3 of our investments are the initial capital and the majority of our investments are pre-revenue. Many of the best companies are built in volatile times. We’re open for business.

Shervin Pishevar @shervin

Unicorns are born after black swans take flight. Uber & Airbnb were started in midst of the Great Recession. Facebook started in 2004 when everywhere was looking the other way. Same with Tesla and SpaceX. Amazon thrived after the dot com crash. I’ll be on the lookout always.

Paul Graham @paulg

Why to Start a Startup in a Bad Economy:

paulgraham.comWhy to Start a Startup in a Bad Economy

😂🤯🤔 Other Great Tweets

Matthew Kobach (but working from home) @mkobach

Social media marketing cheat sheet: For effective paid social media: Steal ideas from great print ads For engaging organic social media: Steal ideas from the entertainment industry For optimizing for the algorithms: Steal ideas from the biggest meme pages

Nathan Baschez @nbashaw

When I sent people drafts of my posts for feedback, I never knew what to say if they asked "what kind of feedback would be helpful?" Now I use the "ABCD" framework: - what's Awesome? - what's Boring? - what's Confusing? - what Didn't you believe? (credit to @shl for this!)

dustin senos (wash your hands) @dustin

made something v random. 24hr free karaoke. up to 100 people can join —

karaoke.campWelcome to Karaoke CampKaraoke camp is a 24 hour zoom-hosted karaoke camp.

Bianca Ciotti @BiancaCiotti

First, I like to break down all broadcast social content into 5 buckets: 📣 Informative 📚 Educational 😍 Delightful 💸 Transactional 🚨 Reactive

let me know how i can be helpful @vcstarterkit

Today on VC Twitter, we played another round of “Is that a bad take or just contrarian?”

Tim Draper @TimDraper

The fear is far worse than the virus. The governments have it wrong. Stay open for business. If not, so many more people will die from a crashing economy than from this virus. #corona #dustbowl #food #clothing #shelter

---

🙏 Thanks and Stay Safe

Given universities around the world have gone remote, here’s what graduation may look like.

Nana Kwame @TheAbrahamAsare

You are cordially invited!

---

🙌If you enjoyed reading this, maybe share it with friends? Or sign up if you haven’t already!
🚨If you have feedback fill out this survey, respond to this email or send me a DM.
🔶Want more Twitter TLDR? Check out Crypto Twitter TLDR