Zoom CEO says his course is "too high" – TechCrunch

When Zoom arrived on public markets on Thursday, his IPO, 81%, touched the world, including his own managing director, Eric Yuan.

Yuan became a billionaire this week when his videoconferencing business went public. He told Bloomberg that he actually wanted his stock does not rise as high. I guess that his modesty and his laser concentration attracted Wall Street in his stock; well, that, and the fact that his business is really profitable. It is, this week proved, not your average technology CEO.

I chatted briefly with him on the day of registration. Here is what he had to say.

"I think the future is so promising and the stock price will follow our execution. Our philosophy remains the same now that we have become an open society. The philosophy, first of all, is that you have to focus on the run, but how do you do that? For me, as CEO, my main role is to make sure that Zoom's customers are satisfied. Our market is growing and if our customers are satisfied, they will pay for our service. I do not think anything will change after the IPO. We will probably have a much better brand because we are a public company now, it is a new step. "

"The dream is coming true," he added.

For the most part, it seemed like Yuan just wanted to get back to work.

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IPO corner

You thought I had finished with the IPO speech? Absolutely not:

• Pinterest has completed its IPO this week too! Here's the TLDR: Pinterest exploded 25% in its debut Thursday and is currently trading a 28% increase. Not bad, Pinterest, not bad.
• Quickly, a startup that I had never heard of until this week, filed its S-1 and posted a great path to profitability. This means that the parade of IPOs in the technology sector is far from over.
• Uber … Surprisingly, no news of Uber IPO this week. Sit well, more is coming.

$ 1 billion for autonomous cars

While I was talking about Uber, the company's self-driving unit actually collected $ 1 billion, information that had already been reported but was confirmed this week. With funding from Toyota, Denso and SoftBank Vision Fund, Uber will develop its autonomous car unit, called Uber's Advanced Technologies Group. The transaction values ​​ATG at $ 7.25 billion.

Robots!

TechCrunch staff went to Berkeley this week for a one day conference on robotics and artificial intelligence. The climax? Boston Dynamics CEO Marc Raibert started the production version of their buzzworthy electric robot. As we noted last year, the company plans to produce about 100 models of the robot in 2019. According to Raibert, the company plans to start production in July or August. There are now robots coming off the assembly line, but these are beta's used for testing and the company is still in the process of redesigning. Pricing details will be announced this summer.

Investment in digital health is down

Despite remarkable tours for digital health companies such as Ro, known for its consumer erectile dysfunction drugs, the investment in the digital health space is actually down, says TechCrunch's Jonathan Shieber. Venture capitalists, private equity firms and corporations injected $ 2 billion into digital health startups in the first quarter of 2019, down 19% from $ 2.5 billion invested one year ago. According to data from Mercom Capital Group, 38 fewer transactions were concluded in the first quarter of this year compared to last year, when investors supported 187 start-up digital health companies.

Start-up capital

Byton Loses Co-Founder and Former CEO, Announces Closing of $ 500 Million C Series This Summer
Lyric raises $ 160 million from VC, Airbnb
Brex, the startups' credit card, raises a $ 100 million tour de table
Ro, an online pharmacy D2C, reaches a valuation of $ 500 million
Young Zencargo Logistics Company Receives $ 20 Million to Engage in Freight Transportation
Co-Star Raises $ 5 Million to Bring Its Astrology App to Android
Y Combinator Grad Fuzzbuzz Wins $ 2.7 Million to Offer Fuzzing as a Service

Extra Crunch

Hundreds of billions of dollars in venture capital were invested in high-tech companies last year, which allowed growth to grow considerably this decade. Venture capital companies are looking at more platforms than ever before, as more and more people start businesses and try to capture some of the financing opportunities. So, how do you do that in such a competitive landscape? Tales. Read the latest news from contributor Russ Heddleston in Extra Crunch: Data tells us investors love good stories.

Plus: the different game book from D2C brands

And finally, for the first of a new series on VC outlets, aptly called The Exit. TechCrunch's Lucas Matney spoke with Bessemer Venture Partners' Adam Fisher about the $ 300 million Dynamic Yield release to McDonald's.

#Equitypod