Techmeme
November 29, 2020, 6:30 PM

Top News

Katie Abel / Footwear News:
Zappos co-founder Tony Hsieh, who stepped down as CEO earlier this year, has died at age 46, reportedly from injuries sustained in a house fire in Connecticut  —  Tony Hsieh, the brilliant and big-hearted Zappos.com luminary who revolutionized the shoe business and built one of the most innovative companies in modern history, has died.
More: TechCrunch, Wall Street Journal, CNN, New York Times, Las Vegas Review-Journal, Matt on Not-WordPress …, Daily Mail, LinkedIn, GeekWire, The Verge, TechSpot, Axios, The Guardian, Business Insider, Bloomberg, NPR, Variety, Crunchbase News, CNET, Gizmodo, Las Vegas Sun, Associated Press, FOX5 Las Vegas, Twitter Moments, Forbes, and Fortune
Om Malik / On my Om:
A tribute to Tony Hsieh, a notable figure on the startup scene since 1996, and whose life recalls a friendlier and less polarized Internet era  —  Tony Hsieh, an Internet entrepreneur and former CEO of Zappos, an Amazon company, died from injuries incurred during a house fire when visiting family in Connecticut on November 27, 2020.
Alex Konrad / Forbes:
Interviews with tech leaders on Tony Hsieh's legacy, his student life at Harvard, his unconventional business approach, and the culture he built at Zappos  —  Tony Hsieh, bestselling author and longtime former CEO of ecommerce pioneer Zappos.com, died at age 46 on Friday.
Peter Steinberger / steipete's blog:
Most developer tools aren't ready yet for M1 Macs, but next gen Mx Macs should be fully capable main development machines when Apple launches them next year  —  The excitement around Apple's new M1 chip is everywhere.  I bought a MacBook Air 16GB M1 to see how viable it is as main development machine …
@erratarob:
Anna Kramer / Protocol:
Profile of Christine Su, Twitter's senior PM for conversational safety, who is a queer Asian-American “activist-entrepreneur” with an MBA and MA in agriculture  —  About six months ago, Twitter quietly hired someone to become the head of product for conversational safety on the platform.
Oscar Lopez / New York Times:
A look at Cartel TikTok, viral videos showcasing drug cartel culture, that experts say is a propaganda tool designed to mask the violence and attract recruits  —  Mexico is set to shatter another murder record, but that grim reality is nowhere to be seen on the TikTok videos that go viral by showcasing drug cartel culture.
Christine Hall / Crunchbase News:
HMBradley, a Santa Monica-based banking startup which offers up to 3% interest on savings accounts, raises $18.25M Series A led by Acrew Capital  —  As consumers look for ways to make their money earn more money, digital banking platform HMBradley is developing programs to reward savers.
Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:
Adobe: US consumers spent $9B online on Black Friday, up 21.6% YoY, with 40% of sales coming via smartphones  —  Black Friday — the day that launched 1,000 other shopping holidays — may have lost its place as the “start” of the Christmas shopping season by now (it gets bigger and earlier with each passing year).

Sponsor Posts

Okara:
Meet Okara, the AI platform that doesn't train on your data  —  Chat with 30+ open-source models (Llama, Kimi, Qwen, DeepSeek) through encrypted infrastructure.  Used by teams handling proprietary code and strategy.
Soxton:
AI-powered law for startups  —  Soxton automates startup legal so founders can move faster and sleep better.  We handle incorporation, advisor, employment and commercial contracts.  Join the waitlist for early access!
Zoho:
Pro tips: 5 ways to simplify invoicing and payments in Zoho Books  —  Many businesses still rely on manual processes to collect payments and reconcile invoices.  This often results in delayed payments …
IDrive:
Protecting your Cloud Applications Data  —  Backing up Office 365, Google Workspace, Dropbox & Salesforce data is critical to preventing data loss or corruption, complying with laws and avoiding critical downtime in case of a disaster.

Featured Podcasts

Access:
Where we'll go when the bots take over, with Sublime's Sari Azout
A show about the tech industry's inside conversation, hosted by tech reporter Alex Heath and founder whisperer Ellis Hamburger.
Subscribe to Access.
Hard Fork:
Tech Grapples With ICE + Casey Tries Clawdbot, a Risky New A.I. Assistant + HatGPT
The future is already here. Each week, journalists Kevin Roose and Casey Newton explore and make sense of the latest in the rapidly changing world of tech.
Subscribe to Hard Fork.
Invest Like the Best:
Gokul Rajaram - Lessons from Investing in 700 Companies
The leading destination to learn about business and investing. We do this by showcasing exceptional talent and ideas.
Subscribe to Invest Like the Best.
Lenny's Podcast:
Marc Andreessen: The real AI boom hasn't even started yet
Interviews with world-class product leaders and growth experts to uncover actionable advice to help you build, launch, and grow your own product.
Subscribe to Lenny's Podcast.
The Nick, Dick and Paul Show:
The Wellness Industry Pt. 1
Nick Bilton, Dick Costolo, and Paul Kedrosky pull back the curtain on AI, startups, and the future rushing toward us, all with healthy dose of irreverence.
Subscribe to The Nick, Dick and Paul Show.
Tools and Weapons with Brad Smith:
Special Edition: Key findings from the Microsoft AI Diffusion Report
Microsoft Vice Chair and President Brad Smith speaks with leaders in government, business, and culture to explore the most critical challenges at the intersection of technology and society.
Subscribe to Tools and Weapons with Brad Smith.
 

About This Page

This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 6:30 PM ET, November 29, 2020.

The most current version of the site as always is available at our home page. To view an earlier snapshot click here and then modify the date indicated.

More News

Earlier Picks

Foreign Affairs: