OpenAI’s ousted CEO Sam Altman was discussing a return to the startup he co-founded Saturday, after a flood of employee support and as major investors pressured the board to reverse the decision. His return would invite a new bout of upheaval: the members of the board would have to be replaced, according to a person familiar with the discussions. Alternatively, Altman would continue with plans to launch a new venture. Saturday evening, dozens of people, including OpenAI employees, were leaving Altman’s $27 million mansion in the tony Russian Hill neighborhood of San Francisco, after...…OpenAI’s ousted CEO Sam Altman was discussing a return to the startup he co-founded Saturday, after a flood of employee support and as major investors pressured the board to reverse the decision. His return would invite a new bout of upheaval: the members of the board would have to be replaced, according to a person familiar with the discussions. Alternatively, Altman would continue with plans to launch a new venture. Saturday evening, dozens of people, including OpenAI employees, were leaving Altman’s $27 million mansion in the tony Russian Hill neighborhood of San Francisco, after...WW…

Reddit co-founder is leaving , the investment firm he co-founded in 2011 with as first and confirmed by TechCrunch. The move comes weeks after Ohanian from the Reddit board of directors, with taking his spot.Ohanian launched Initialized Capital back in 2011 with a $7 million investment vehicle. Since then, the San Francisco-based firm has grown immensely and made early-stage bets in companies like Flexport, Instacart, Cruise, Coinbase and Codecademy. Most recently, it closed a , its fourth fund to date.Ohanian is leaving Initialized Capital to work on “a new project that will support a...…Reddit co-founder is leaving , the investment firm he co-founded in 2011 with as first and confirmed by TechCrunch. The move comes weeks after Ohanian from the Reddit board of directors, with taking his spot.Ohanian launched Initialized Capital back in 2011 with a $7 million investment vehicle. Since then, the San Francisco-based firm has grown immensely and made early-stage bets in companies like Flexport, Instacart, Cruise, Coinbase and Codecademy. Most recently, it closed a , its fourth fund to date.Ohanian is leaving Initialized Capital to work on “a new project that will support a...WW…

Stanford’s success in spinning out startup founders is a well-known adage in Silicon Valley, with alumni founding companies like Google, Cisco, LinkedIn, YouTube, Snapchat, Instagram and, yes, even TechCrunch. And coming out of the Stanford business program than any other university in the country.One group of Stanford graduate students is well-aware of their favorable odds, and think that they should be able to cash in their classmates, too — not just accredited investors and the super-wealthy.They have put together Stanford 2020, a new fund created entirely by Stanford classmates to...…Stanford’s success in spinning out startup founders is a well-known adage in Silicon Valley, with alumni founding companies like Google, Cisco, LinkedIn, YouTube, Snapchat, Instagram and, yes, even TechCrunch. And coming out of the Stanford business program than any other university in the country.One group of Stanford graduate students is well-aware of their favorable odds, and think that they should be able to cash in their classmates, too — not just accredited investors and the super-wealthy.They have put together Stanford 2020, a new fund created entirely by Stanford classmates to...WW…

Growing up in the Philippines, Andreia Carrillo always liked the stars. It’s what brought her to the United States to study astronomy, and why she wants others to follow in her footsteps and study the stars.“Though, we’ll see if that happens now,” Carrillo said.Carrillo is one of the hundreds of thousands of students affected by a recent rule change issued by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to no longer allow international students from staying in the U.S. if their university moves classes fully online.The rule change, , lands as the threat of the coronavirus pandemic grows...…Growing up in the Philippines, Andreia Carrillo always liked the stars. It’s what brought her to the United States to study astronomy, and why she wants others to follow in her footsteps and study the stars.“Though, we’ll see if that happens now,” Carrillo said.Carrillo is one of the hundreds of thousands of students affected by a recent rule change issued by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to no longer allow international students from staying in the U.S. if their university moves classes fully online.The rule change, , lands as the threat of the coronavirus pandemic grows...WW…

like to tout the flexibility and freedom they offer workers, but for the people finding work through companies like Instacart, Uber, DoorDash and Lyft, the can outweigh the rewards.Contractors who are now considered front-line providers of essential services for their wealthier customers in the age of social distancing brought on by the COVID-19 epidemic have struggled with , , and a, a startup in the food delivery space, was born to challenge the status quo in the gig economy by giving more ownership to the workers that power it. Dumpling connects shoppers to all the resources they need to...…like to tout the flexibility and freedom they offer workers, but for the people finding work through companies like Instacart, Uber, DoorDash and Lyft, the can outweigh the rewards.Contractors who are now considered front-line providers of essential services for their wealthier customers in the age of social distancing brought on by the COVID-19 epidemic have struggled with , , and a, a startup in the food delivery space, was born to challenge the status quo in the gig economy by giving more ownership to the workers that power it. Dumpling connects shoppers to all the resources they need to...WW…

Check out the layoff tracker tool Tip us of any cuts you’re hearing or experiences at tips@techcrunch.com, or tweet me at .…Check out the layoff tracker tool Tip us of any cuts you’re hearing or experiences at tips@techcrunch.com, or tweet me at .WW…

Spark Capital has decided to “sever all ties” with Dispo, a photo-sharing app co-created by famous YouTuber David Dobrik. The move, announced by the firm late Sunday, was triggered by a that exposed allegations from a woman who said that a member of Dobrik’s Vlog Squad sexually assaulted her.Update: promising to donate any profits from their respective investments to organizations focused on survivors of sexual assault. “In light of recent news about the Vlog Squad and David Dobrik, the co-founder of Dispo, we have made the decision to sever all ties with the company,” Spark Capital...…Spark Capital has decided to “sever all ties” with Dispo, a photo-sharing app co-created by famous YouTuber David Dobrik. The move, announced by the firm late Sunday, was triggered by a that exposed allegations from a woman who said that a member of Dobrik’s Vlog Squad sexually assaulted her.Update: promising to donate any profits from their respective investments to organizations focused on survivors of sexual assault. “In light of recent news about the Vlog Squad and David Dobrik, the co-founder of Dispo, we have made the decision to sever all ties with the company,” Spark Capital...WW…

When Robinhood, a startup that promises to make finance accessible for all, temporarily limited trading on GameStop, AMC, and other memestocks, many retail investors were pissed that the fintech darling suddenly didn’t live up to its name. The specific reasons may have been , but the choice looked corrupt to the average person.Here’s why: The presence of a massive hedge fund as a main Robinhood partner and supporter of the short-sellers is exactly what Robinhood users are rallying against. The obvious conflict shows that “democratizing finance” was always somewhat of an ironic tagline....…When Robinhood, a startup that promises to make finance accessible for all, temporarily limited trading on GameStop, AMC, and other memestocks, many retail investors were pissed that the fintech darling suddenly didn’t live up to its name. The specific reasons may have been , but the choice looked corrupt to the average person.Here’s why: The presence of a massive hedge fund as a main Robinhood partner and supporter of the short-sellers is exactly what Robinhood users are rallying against. The obvious conflict shows that “democratizing finance” was always somewhat of an ironic tagline....WW…

year, running a successful startup is a tremendous lift. After the events of 2020, however, no doubt many already lean businesses are hanging on by the skin of their teeth. For every company that saw increased interest in their offerings during the pandemic, there were several that simply couldn’t make it through the finish line.We’ve put this list together for several years now. It’s not a fun task, but it seems worthwhile to commemorate the startups that have closed up shop over the past 12 months. (Some of them were acquired by larger companies before shutting down, but all of them began...…year, running a successful startup is a tremendous lift. After the events of 2020, however, no doubt many already lean businesses are hanging on by the skin of their teeth. For every company that saw increased interest in their offerings during the pandemic, there were several that simply couldn’t make it through the finish line.We’ve put this list together for several years now. It’s not a fun task, but it seems worthwhile to commemorate the startups that have closed up shop over the past 12 months. (Some of them were acquired by larger companies before shutting down, but all of them began...WW…

founder of Social Capital, does not do minority investing anymore. If he finds a startup he likes, he just buys it outright.The billionaire co-founded Social Capital in 2011, and seven years later, he pivoted the investment firm into a technology holding company. The transition wasn’t one that the investors hired into Social Capital were expecting — or a direction in which they wanted to move with Palihapitiya — prompting virtually all of them to jump ship over time.Palihapitiya, who said publicly in the aftermath of that exodus that he doesn’t think investing is a team sport, is now He...…founder of Social Capital, does not do minority investing anymore. If he finds a startup he likes, he just buys it outright.The billionaire co-founded Social Capital in 2011, and seven years later, he pivoted the investment firm into a technology holding company. The transition wasn’t one that the investors hired into Social Capital were expecting — or a direction in which they wanted to move with Palihapitiya — prompting virtually all of them to jump ship over time.Palihapitiya, who said publicly in the aftermath of that exodus that he doesn’t think investing is a team sport, is now He...WW…