Connect with us

Technology

Why can being the last company to start in a given category pay off?

Published

on

Caraway, dtc, startups, venture capital

When Jordan Nathan launched his DTC non-toxic cookware company Caraway in 2019, he knew he wasn’t the only founder trying to sell a recent brand of pots and pans to millennials scrolling through Instagram. However, he found that running after his peers turned out to be a blessing in disguise in all but one area.

Once launched, Caraway joined firms like Our Place, Great Jones and Made In Cookware in an increasingly crowded category of online cookware startups. However, being barely late to the party allowed Caraway to see what other brands and goal audiences were like, Nathan said on a recent episode of TechCrunch’s Found podcast. This allowed Caraway to change its approach and check out to fill the gaps that these brands left open.

Nathan said Caraway initially planned to top off on factory-made pans and goal millennials who were searching for something nicer than what may very well be found at IKEA but weren’t yet at the wedding registry stage. Every other DTC cookware brand seemed to have the same idea, so Caraway switched gears and as an alternative focused on wedding registries and beyond, putting a little more effort and time into designing their products.

Advertisement

“It helped us change our color palette, it helped us change the price point and what items we put in the set,” Nathan said. “And while many other brands have done many things right, we have managed to carve out our space in the DTC kitchen world where others have not dabbled.”

Seeing other brand launches also modified the way the company sold its first set of products. Nathan said Caraway initially intended to sell its cookware in each sets and individual pieces, but when it realized that no competitors were selling sets, the company went all out and launched sets – without the option to purchase one piece at a time. the price of time.

Caraway’s competitors also helped Caraway resolve to start talking to retailers early in the process. Nathan said they at all times planned to bring the product to stores, but seeing that no other DTC brands wanted to enter the retail market, Caraway began talking to retailers before launching the product online. Caraway sets can now be found, amongst others: at Target and Costco.

Early entry into retail stores helped Caraway solidify its share of wedding registries as Caraway began operating at retailers that had existing registry businesses, equivalent to Target and Bed Bath & Beyond, before it went bankrupt. This made Caraway a more natural alternative for couples constructing their registry than competition from cookware startups.

Advertisement

While being a later participant helped Caraway in some ways, it actually hurt in one area, Nathan said. “We were actually both the last ones to come to market, but we were also the last ones to raise funds,” Nathan said. “So when we went to raise funds, every investor we talked to had already chosen a kitchen brand they wanted to take on and invest in.”

Because of this, the first round of fundraising was arduous, and Nathan said that after 10 months of talking to five to eight investors a day, they were able to close a seed round with over 100 investors and no big checks from VCs.

But now, five years later, plainly being late to the game can have paid off. The company has raised greater than $40 million in enterprise capital and has expanded its product lines to include baking and food storage tools, with more in the pipeline.

Advertisement
This article was originally published on : techcrunch.com

Technology

This is the shipping of products from China to the USA

Published

on

By

Shein and Temu icons are seen displayed on a phone screen in this illustration photo

The Chinese retailer has modified the strategy in the face of American tariffs.

Thanks to the executive ordinance, President Donald Trump ended the so -called de minimis principle, which allowed goods value 800 USD or less entering the country without tariffs. It also increases tariffs to Chinese goods by over 100%, forcing each Chinese firms and Shein, in addition to American giants, similar to Amazon to adapt plans and price increases.

CNBC reports that this was also affected, and American buyers see “import fees” from 130% to 150% added to their accounts. Now, nevertheless, the company is not sending the goods directly from China to the United States. Instead, it only displays the offers of products available in American warehouses, while goods sent from China are listed as outside the warehouse.

Advertisement

“He actively recruits American sellers to join the platform,” said the spokesman ago. “The transfer is to help local sellers reach more customers and develop their companies.”

(tagstotransate) tariffs

This article was originally published on : techcrunch.com
Continue Reading

Technology

One of the last AI Google models is worse in terms of safety

Published

on

By

The Google Gemini generative AI logo on a smartphone.

The recently released Google AI model is worse in some security tests than its predecessor, in line with the company’s internal comparative test.

IN Technical report Google, published this week, reveals that his Flash Gemini 2.5 model is more likely that he generates a text that violates its security guidelines than Gemini 2.0 Flash. In two indicators “text security for text” and “image security to the text”, Flash Gemini 2.5 will withdraw 4.1% and 9.6% respectively.

Text safety for the text measures how often the model violates Google guidelines, making an allowance for the prompt, while image security to the text assesses how close the model adheres to those boundaries after displaying the monitors using the image. Both tests are automated, not supervised by man.

Advertisement

In an e-mail, Google spokesman confirmed that Gemini 2.5 Flash “performs worse in terms of text safety for text and image.”

These surprising comparative results appear when AI is passing in order that their models are more acceptable – in other words, less often refuse to answer controversial or sensitive. In the case of the latest Llam Meta models, he said that he fought models in order to not support “some views on others” and answers to more “debated” political hints. Opeli said at the starting of this yr that he would improve future models, in order to not adopt an editorial attitude and offers many prospects on controversial topics.

Sometimes these efforts were refundable. TechCrunch announced on Monday that the default CHATGPT OPENAI power supply model allowed juvenile to generate erotic conversations. Opeli blamed his behavior for a “mistake”.

According to Google Technical Report, Gemini 2.5 Flash, which is still in view, follows instructions more faithfully than Gemini 2.0 Flash, including instructions exceeding problematic lines. The company claims that regression might be partially attributed to false positives, but in addition admits that Gemini 2.5 Flash sometimes generates “content of violation” when it is clearly asked.

Advertisement

TechCrunch event

Berkeley, California
|.
June 5

Book now

Advertisement

“Of course, there is a tension between (after instructions) on sensitive topics and violations of security policy, which is reflected in our assessment,” we read in the report.

The results from Meepmap, reference, which can examine how models react to sensitive and controversial hints, also suggest that Flash Gemini 2.5 is much less willing to refuse to reply controversial questions than Flash Gemini 2.0. Testing the TechCrunch model through the AI ​​OpenRoutter platform has shown that he unsuccessfully writes essays to support human artificial intelligence judges, weakening the protection of due protection in the US and the implementation of universal government supervisory programs.

Thomas Woodside, co -founder of the Secure AI Project, said that the limited details given by Google in their technical report show the need for greater transparency in testing models.

“There is a compromise between the instruction support and the observation of politics, because some users may ask for content that would violate the rules,” said Woodside Techcrunch. “In this case, the latest Flash model Google warns the instructions more, while breaking more. Google does not present many details about specific cases in which the rules have been violated, although they claim that they are not serious. Not knowing more, independent analysts are difficult to know if there is a problem.”

Advertisement

Google was already under fire for his models of security reporting practices.

The company took weeks to publish a technical report for the most talented model, Gemini 2.5 Pro. When the report was finally published, it initially omitted the key details of the security tests.

On Monday, Google published a more detailed report with additional security information.

(Tagstotransate) Gemini

Advertisement
This article was originally published on : techcrunch.com
Continue Reading

Technology

Aurora launches a commercial self -propelled truck service in Texas

Published

on

By

The autonomous startup of the Aurora Innovation vehicle technology claims that it has successfully launched a self -propelled truck service in Texas, which makes it the primary company that she implemented without drivers, heavy trucks for commercial use on public roads in the USA

The premiere appears when Aurora gets the term: In October, the corporate delayed the planned debut 2024 to April 2025. The debut also appears five months after the rival Kodiak Robotics provided its first autonomous trucks to clients commercial for operations without a driver in field environments.

Aurora claims that this week she began to freight between Dallas and Houston with Hirschbach Motor Lines and Uber Freight starters, and that she has finished 1200 miles without a driver to this point. The company plans to expand to El Paso and Phoenix until the top of 2025.

Advertisement

TechCrunch contacted for more detailed information concerning the premiere, for instance, the variety of vehicles implemented Aurora and whether the system needed to implement the Pullover maneuver or the required distant human assistance.

The commercial premiere of Aurora takes place in a difficult time. Self -propelled trucks have long been related to the necessity for his or her technology attributable to labor deficiencies in the chairman’s transport and the expected increase in freigh shipping. Trump’s tariffs modified this attitude, not less than in a short period. According to the April analytical company report from the commercial vehicle industry ACT researchThe freight is predicted to fall this yr in the USA with a decrease in volume and consumer expenditure.

Aurora will report its results in the primary quarter next week, i.e. when he shares how he expects the present trade war will affect his future activity. TechCrunch contacted to learn more about how tariffs affect Auror’s activities.

For now, Aurora will probably concentrate on further proving his safety case without a driver and cooperation with state and federal legislators to just accept favorable politicians to assist her develop.

Advertisement

TechCrunch event

Berkeley, California
|.
June 5

Book now

Advertisement

At the start of 2025, Aurora filed a lawsuit against federal regulatory bodies after the court refused to release the appliance for release from the protection requirement, which consists in placing warning triangles on the road, when the truck must stop on the highway – something that’s difficult to do when there isn’t a driver in the vehicle. To maintain compliance with this principle and proceed to totally implement without service drivers, Aurora probably has a man -driven automotive trail after they are working.

(Tagstranslate) Aurora Innovation

This article was originally published on : techcrunch.com
Continue Reading
Advertisement

OUR NEWSLETTER

Subscribe Us To Receive Our Latest News Directly In Your Inbox!

We don’t spam! Read our privacy policy for more info.

Trending