This Week in Startups

Slack’s troubles inside Salesforce, crypto trader gets jail time, DoNotPay’s robo-lawyer | E1655

Jan 11, 2023
This discussion dives into Slack's struggles under Salesforce, revealing management conflicts and competition with Microsoft Teams. They examine anti-competitive software bundling practices and the ensuing chaos for rivals. A significant insider trading case in crypto lands a trader in jail for 10 months. The episode wraps up with an exciting update on DoNotPay's AI robo-lawyer poised to tackle a real court case, showcasing the revolutionary potential of technology in the legal field.
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INSIGHT

Slack's Underperformance

  • Slack's underperformance within Salesforce might be due to Microsoft bundling Teams with Office.
  • This made Teams effectively free, impacting Slack's competitiveness.
ANECDOTE

Google/YouTube Acquisition

  • Google's acquisition of YouTube is considered successful because they allowed YouTube to maintain its separate culture.
  • This is cited as best practice when acquiring a company with a strong culture.
INSIGHT

Salesforce's Missteps

  • Salesforce made two mistakes with Slack: not anticipating competition and not integrating it into their products.
  • This left Slack vulnerable and didn't strengthen Salesforce's offerings.
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