Who’s behind blockchain voting at San Francisco’s Metropolis Corridor?
What’s wrong with the blockchain voting at The town hall? I received a few concerned calls about meeting recordings this week SF elections YouTube channel showing discussions about spending taxpayers money on a blockchain voting program that – for some reason – is being run by the Emergency department administration. The city has an anti-internet voting policy for security reasons, and money that was supposed to be spent on open source voting now appears to be pouring into this other mysterious pursuit. Who is behind it? A Electoral Commission The meeting on Wednesday could shed more light on this. Go to sfgov.org/electionscommission…
Some masks came down in the SF Tech offices on Friday because The City lifted their mask mandate for office workers. The fintech startup Fast solemnly removed the “Masks Required” signs in its SoMa office on Ninth Street. As the name suggests, Fast also reopened on time in March when The City allowed personal work for non-essential workers to resume. The company, partially funded by Stripes, has a fast scheduling tool called Fast Flex, which employees can use to choose whether to work in the San Francisco headquarters, at home, or in a company-sponsored WeWork.
If you haven’t received a digital version of your COVID vaccine from the state, you can easily do so at myvaccinerecord.cdph.ca.gov. So you have the verified data with a QR code on your mobile phone in case you lose the card …
If you read my story about innovation in the San Francisco supply chain, you may remember the sailors in the 1880s who received shipping information from brothels and saloons in San Francisco. These sailors were on board a ship that is still proudly anchored in The City. The 1886 Balclutha, a National Historic Landmark, is one of the ships serviced by the San Francisco Maritime Museum. And boy does it have a story …
The same way the kombucha flows, so does the startup scene. And the booch is apparently flowing again. Claude Burns, the CEO of Oakland’s office Libation, says his 20-strong company is backing up SoMa’s startups. “Business is picking up speed very quickly,” Burns told me. Startups run with cold brew, kombucha, and other goodies. “They want the fridges to be filled when they come back.” What is his strangest item? “Probably the vegan beef jerky,” he says. Any good? “I suppose if you’re a vegan who likes beef jerky.” ‘Nuf said …
GitLab, the Financial District-based open source platform that developers can share code on, went public on Thursday with a market capital of $ 15.6 billion. It’s good that they’re at Fi-Di so they don’t have to drag this loot around town. PitchBook estimated that the ten-year-old company with 1,000 employees could achieve a market capitalization of $ 10 billion. But that escalated quickly …
Why are VCs no longer investing in startups in the Bay Area that are exclusively run by female founders? This year NYC overtook us in funding rounds for startups founded by 1,194-854 women. How is it possible that New York City raised funds for 350 more women-led startups than we do? Take a closer look and the PitchBook data shows that the wallets come out when the startups are run by women and men. Got it. Some things never change. Perhaps some of the investors who got rich on GitLab’s IPO can get into this …
This PitchBook graphic shows that more venture capital goes to startups founded by both men and women, but founders founded by women only are no longer receiving. (Courtesy PitchBook)
Spark plug, A San Francisco-based fintech startup just raised $ 3.5 million to try to disrupt the pay of retail and hospitality workers. Supporters are the CEO of square, a former CEO of Deloitte and the inventors of Google AdSense. How it works: Retailers can reward their employees with financial incentives and paid time off for meeting sales goals in the store. What do the workers think of it? …
The newest non-fungible token that I don’t understand is digital lipstick from Estee Lauder. The makeup company gives fans NFTs of its top products. The reason for this: “When physical products like the bestseller Black Honey are sold out or there is a risk that they are sold out, loyal fans always have their iconic beauty gems in their digital wallet.” Question marks come out of my head …
Sunday streets Returns this weekend so get out there and stroll around and meet friends you haven’t seen in ages except at Zoom. Kudos to the sponsors who are helping to get the city’s public life back on track. Strange to see tech companies disappear from the sponsor list knowing they made money during the pandemic …
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