TC Daily Newsletter 07/21/16

Which is more virtual: Elon Musk's driverless world of the future, or Linden Lab's spiritual VR successor to Second Life? You be the judge, in today's edition of The Daily Crunch.

1. Musk's got (part two of) a plan

If anyone else told you about a future where electric cars glided silently along without drivers, picking up passengers on-demand in response to taps on their smartphones, you'd probably doubt it was a realistic vision. But what if Elon Musk is the one describing the scene? That's where he ultimately wants Tesla to drive transportation, the tech mogul revealed in a blog post detailing part "deux" of his ambitious "master plan." Musk talked about electric semi-trucks and fleets of driverless buses, too, and those are set for a reveal – get this – next year. Maybe it's time to invest in some driverless engineering education.

2. Indigo is growing the future

Microbes – do I still have you? You may not think that much about them, but these microscopic beings are big business, which is why Indigo was able to raise $100 million in Series C funding on the back of its work in commercializing microbes to achieve results like a 10 percent increase in cotton crop yields. Indigo's approach has huge speed benefits on GMO methods of improving agricultural yields – the company claims 2-3 year product release cycles, vs. 10-15 in the GMO world. That's some fast food.

3. When it rains it torrents

The biggest active torrent site on the web has closed down after its founder got caught – get this –buying something legally through iTunes. KickassTorrents (sometimes known to adherents as KAT) has been shut down, after being tracked via an IP address used to make a purchase on iTunes and then subsequently log into the KAT official Facebook account. He was busted in Poland, and the U.S. Government is already seeking his extradition from the same. Rough seas for pirates.

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4. One fund seeks royalties instead of equity

Lighter Capital is indeed lighter; lighter on the checks, that is, but more immediate in terms of their need for a return on investment compared to most venture firms. The investment organization has a unique practice of cutting checks for around $200,000 per investment, but they're not putting money in at the seed stage. Instead, they're looking for companies with revenue of, on average, $1.5 million, and they're looking for a set percentage of revenue per month paid to them until they hit a multiple of their original money in, which they arrange with their investment targets prior to making the deal. Alternate funding models may be the new norm in today's startup investment climate.

5. Can comedy carry a subscription service?

Will you pay for a service that only offers laughs? Part of Netflix's success is undoubtedly owed to its got inability to lock down streaming rights to comedy specials, but startup Laugh.ly is banking on people wanting a service dedicated to audio jokes. Laugh.ly offers a free, ad-supported tier, along with a $3.99 monthly subscription. Its catalogue includes all the most recognizable names in stand-up from past and present, and Comedy Central is a partner. But even with a data play powering intelligent features, is comedy enough to sustain a dedicated product? I remain skeptical.

6. Airbnb snags Obama staffer

Silicon Valley is quite font of ex-Obama administration personnel, and former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder is the next big convert. Airbnb has hired Holder to shape its anti-discrimination policy. The peer-to-peer short-term rental company faced a lot of merited criticism when a study last year revealed that hosts discriminated against names that sounded African-American, and LGBT renters have also been negatively singled out by hosts. Hiring Holder definitely captures attention for Airbnb's efforts to turn things around, but the real test will be in the results.

7. Second Life team looks for second life in VR

Linden Lab's Second Life was an infinitely interesting and bizarre hit of the early 2000s internet, but the company's efforts since then have mostly been of the swing-and-miss variety. Now, it's looking to virtual reality as a way to truly make an impact. Basically anyone who was old enough to use the internet when Second Life was in its heyday saw this coming, but it's still strangely satisfying to see Linden dig in on a shared virtual world.