The EU's DMA is coming for Apple, and X bots are on the loose

In a press release this morning, the European Commission named Apple as the first of tech’s so-called “gatekeepers” to be charged for violating the EU’s Digital Markets Act. Apple is one of six tech giants named by the European Commission as “gatekeepers” last year, alongside Alphabet, Amazon, ByteDance, Meta and Microsoft. While we continue to keep our eyes on the EU’s attempts to ensure a competitive marketplace, that’s not all we got into on the Equity podcast this morning. Rebecca Bellan led the show this morning and reported that X still has a Verified bot problem, but this time they came for TechCrunch writers (herself included). The experience had us wondering if X’s competitors will step up, and create platforms with more safety…and fewer bots. Rebecca also had an IPO update for our listeners this morning as Shein finally filed for its public debut in London, and we closed out our startup coverage with a look at Sir Jack A Lot’s startup for retail traders. The startup, which recently raised a $4.5 million seed round, had us hyped on the retail trading space and its continued growth. Finally, Haje closed out today’s show with a teardown for Feel Therapeutics. The startup recently raised a $3.5M seed deck to revolutionize mental health care with a science-forward approach that integrates wearable devices, mobile apps, and clinician dashboards. Hit play to hear how they did it! Equity is TechCrunch’s flagship podcast, produced by Theresa Loconsolo, and posts every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify and all the casts. You also can follow Equity on X and Threads, at @EquityPod. For the full episode transcript, for those who prefer reading over listening, check out our full archive of episodes over at Simplecast. Credits: Equity is produced by Theresa Loconsolo with editing by Kell. Bryce Durbin is our Illustrator. We'd also like to thank the audience development team and Henry Pickavet, who manages TechCrunch audio products. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:11Rebecca Bellan?

  Hello and welcome back to Equity, TechCrunch's flagship podcast about the business of startups. Today is June 24, 2024, and I'm Rebecca Bellan, a senior reporter at TechCrunch. This is our Monday show, where we take a look at the weekend and get you ready for the week ahead. On today's show, we have Apple's breach of the EU Digital Markets Act, an IPO update, X's verified bot problem, Sir Jackalot startup for retail traders, and to close out today, Haia has a pitch deck teardown for Feel Therapeutics. Let's get started.

• 0:42Rebecca Bellan?

  Let's dive into the big news that matters. For our first story of the day, Apple has been named the first of tech's so-called gatekeepers to be charged for violating the EU's Digital Markets Act rules. The European Commission defines gatekeepers as "large digital platforms that provide core services for consumers and businesses," things like app stores, search engines, and web browsers. In a press release this morning, the Commission announced that it informed Apple of its preliminary view that its App Store rules are in breach of the DMA because they prevent app developers from freely steering consumers to alternative channels for offers and content. The Commission is alleging that Apple's App Store rules don't let developers give customers pricing information in the app or communicate with them about offers available outside the App Store. The charges come after an investigation

• 1:25Rebecca Bellan?

  that was open in March into Apple's App Store rules. According to The Wall Street Journal, regulators said they were also opening probes related to Meta and Google's compliance with the law at the time. The DMA took effect earlier this year with the goal of fostering competition in digital advertising, online search, and app ecosystems. Penalties for breaching the regime can scale up to 10% of global annual turnover, or even 20% for severe repeat offenses. That means Apple could be looking at a fine of up to $38 billion, which is not just a slap on the wrist. Back in September, the EU confirmed six mostly US tech giants that are subject to the DMA. Apple was, of course, one of them alongside Alphabet, Amazon, ByteDance, Meta, and Microsoft. The designated gatekeepers had six months to ensure they met all the

• 2:08Rebecca Bellan?

  legal requirements, and it appears that Apple has not met them. Even back then, some of these companies were pushing back. Apple and Microsoft fought the Commission's designation of iMessage and Bing as core platform services, claiming that the services are insufficiently popular to qualify. The startup angle here is, of course, competition. How do we ensure a competitive marketplace, and what sort of market do you want to be building in? As a startup, would you rather be an incumbent who's unkillable, or would you rather build in a market where the biggest players are less likely to stifle you, but then you may end up hitting a growth ceiling?

• 2:41Rebecca Bellan?

  Next, a quick update on the IPO front. We told you last week that Shein's executive chair was trying to walk back comments calling Shein a US company ahead of its planned London IPO. At the time, Beijing had not yet greenlit the company's application to list outside of China. Well, Reuters reported this morning that Shein, the retailer known for its $5 tops and $10 dresses, confidentially filed papers with Britain's markets regulator earlier this month for its potential London listing. The listing is shaping up to be one of the largest IPOs this year globally. The company was valued at $66 billion in a fundraising last year. It's not yet clear when Shein plans to launch its IPO, and there will still likely be hurdles for the fast-fashion retailer to jump. So what about the US? Well, earlier

• 3:23Rebecca Bellan?

  this year, Chinese regulators told Shein that it wouldn't recommend a US IPO due to supply chain issues. So we're not holding our breath to see Shein on the New York Stock Exchange.

• 3:35Rebecca Bellan?

  Next up, X still has a verified bot problem, and this time they came for TechCrunch writers. Last week while scrolling on X, formerly Twitter, I noticed that I had reposted a series of TechCrunch articles, except, wait, no, I hadn't. But someone else using my name had. I clicked on the profile, which had been created in May 2024, and there was another Rebecca Bellan using the same default and header photos as my actual profile, which really confused me. The bio said that I was a TechCrunch senior reporter and journalist, which I am. The location was set to New York, where I'm based. But weirdly, there was a little blue checkmark next to my name, meaning that whoever had created this impersonator account, likely a bot, had paid to do so. Since Elon Musk's hostile takeover of Twitter last year, the blue checkmark has really become a symbol

• 4:18Rebecca Bellan?

  that you're either a paid subscriber or an Elon Musk fan, and I am neither. The irony here is that Musk has claimed that the subscriptions would help solve the bot problem on the platform. And clearly, that's not the case. I wasn't the only one to be targeted. A handful of other TechCrunch writers also noticed fake accounts last week. The activity on those accounts has been fairly benign. They mostly just retweeted TechCrunch posts. And most have been taken down after reporting the accounts to X. But that only tells us that X is actually aware of this problem. And the problem is this. Attacks like these are so much easier to carry out because of the degradation of X's verification system, which actually doesn't seem to require any identity verification at all. Recall that when Musk first rolled out Twitter Blue in November 2023, bad actors quickly started pretending to be celebrities, corporations, and government officials to wreak havoc.

• 5:03Rebecca Bellan?

  Remember that account that tried to be pharma company Eli Lilly and posted that insulin is now free? What about the one that impersonated LeBron James and posted that he was asking for a trade from the Lakers? We've been tracking Twitter alternatives for a while now, like Blue Sky, Mastodon, and Threads, which appears to be in the lead. Competitors can learn a lot from X's mistakes. As people become more disillusioned with X, they're gonna want platforms that offer them more safety and fewer bots.

• 5:30Rebecca Bellan?

  And before we head into today's Pitch Deck teardown, a fun startup story. Sir Jackalot returns with a startup for retail traders. YouTube product manager Kevin Zhu, better known for his Reddit name Sir Jackalot, has launched a startup for retail investors that aims to create a community for good-natured investing advice. The startup, after our, lets users link their stock brokerage accounts and post investments to their social feed under a chosen username, which could bring credibility and trust to retail investing. Zhu hopes to build a community for people who used to enjoy platforms like the Wall Street Bets subreddit, which was closed down after the GameStop short squeeze debacle of January 2021. Becca Scootac reports that the startup recently raised a $4.5 million seed round, co-led by General Catalyst and Founders Fund.

• 6:13Rebecca Bellan?

  The round, notably, was Keith Reboi's last investment at the firm. Afterhour currently has more than 23,000 users with what seems like a dedicated and growing user base. Zhu said that more than 70% of its users are on the app every single day. Becca wrote that Afterhour is reminiscent of the crypto space. She writes, quote, "While very different, they're both investing in areas that had their 15 minutes of fame, but as they faded from the mainstream, they still kept dedicated and growing communities of people interested in their approach." Some may think that retail trading was a fad of 2021, fueled by the COVID stimulus checks, but Zhu says retail trading is only growing, and the data backs it up. There are other outlets to guide you through personal investing. One that I personally follow is Girls That Invest, a community founded by the New Zealander Simran Kaur.

• 6:58Rebecca Bellan?

  It provides a how-to for people who have no idea how to get started in investing and empowers individual investors to be financially independent.

• 7:08Rebecca Bellan?

  That's it for me this morning, but keep an eye on TechCrunch for even more tech, startup, and venture news. As always, if you want to dive deeper into anything we talked about today, we'll have links to the stories we covered in our show notes. Now, let's check in with Hyatt Comps for today's pitch deck teardown.

• 7:25Speaker 01

  All right, everyone, I'm Hyatt. And as usual, on Mondays, we're taking a look at what can be learned from a successful pitch deck. This week, in my popular Pitch Deck Tear Down series, we're looking at Field Therapeutics' $3.5 million seed deck. Field Therapeutics is on a mission to update mental health care with a science-forward approach that integrates wearable devices, mobile apps, and clinician dashboards. By gathering physiological, digital, and clinical data, the company aims to bridge the gap in mental health monitoring, a sector often neglected in the age of the quantified self. The company shared its deck with me, and let's start by taking a look at what worked. The company's pitch deck is a refreshing change in a sea of snooze-fests. They actually managed to make me think about mental health metrics,

• 8:10Speaker 01

  which is no small feat at all. Kudos for realizing we can track our heartbeats, but not our meltdowns, and that it's worth to do something about that. The company's overview slide is a thing of beauty. Imagine that, a startup that understands the power of not overwhelming investors with too much detail right off the bat. It's almost like they've done this before. Bravo for making complexity look simple. You can learn something here. Make sure that the investors looking at your deck have a solid amount of context. Context is everything. Field Therapeutics' traction slide is like the holy grail of investor slides. It has actual numbers and patient reach that doesn't look like they were pulled out of a hat. They even made me Google some medical terms, which I'll grudgingly admit is better than

• 8:54Speaker 01

  the usual vague hand-waving. Now, it wasn't all perfection, and here are a few things that the company could have improved. Ah, big sigh. Look, everyone has competition, and it was really surprising to me that the company didn't make more out of its competition. There are other people out there that have found ways of getting quantitative data for mental health, and it makes a lot of sense to include that when you're talking about the competitive landscape. Next, let's talk about the company's ask and use of funds slide. Huh. It feels like the company just scribbled down a wish list on a napkin after too many drinks. Investors need specifics, not a fuzzy roadmap to nowhere. Smart goals, folks, have you ever heard of them? Now, really explaining what it is that you're trying to accomplish with the money that

• 9:37Speaker 01

  the investors give you is kind of a no-brainer. Like, I don't understand why people don't get this right more often. Finally, the company's team slide. It looks like a who's who of impressive titles and job backgrounds, but it feels like all flash and no substance. Are these industry titans actually involved with the company, or are they just name-dropped for vanity? Investors need more than a parade of just credentials. They need a team that's in the trenches, that is uniquely suited to run this particular company. If your team slide is unable to tell that part of the story, you either need a better team slide, or you need a better team. So just to recap some of the advice here. Metrics for the win.

• 10:17Speaker 01

  Investors are numbers people, so lean into that and lead with the cold, hard facts. Remember to have a clear introduction. Context is everything. And make sure that you have a little bit of time spent at the beginning of the pitch to set the scene. It pays major dividends so people can follow your story further down the line. And remember traction. Traction is everything. If you have it, shout it from the rooftops. Now, there's a few things to keep in mind as well. For one thing, competition. No company exists in a vacuum. You have to explain how and where you fit in and how you're different from the existing competitors. Remember to really focus on your use of funds. You're asking somebody to crack open their piggy bank to give you a huge stash of cash. Tell them what that buys them. Tell them your plans.

• 11:02Speaker 01

  Explain why you need the money. And finally, team roles. Help the investors understand who the founding team is and why they're worth placing a bet on. Super important, a little bit too easy to get wrong. All right, you can read the full pitch deck on techcrunch.com. Check out the link in the show notes. And that's it for today's episode, but don't you worry. Equity will be back on Wednesday. If you want to keep up with us in the meantime, you can follow me on at Hyer on X and Equity is on X and threads under the handle EquityPod. If you want to submit your pitch deck to the Pitch Deck teardown, check out today's edition in the show notes and follow the Submit Your Deck link. Thank you again for listening and we'll talk again soon.

• 11:43Speaker 02

  Equity is produced by Teresa Loconsolo with editing by Kel. Bryce Durbin is our illustrator and we'd like to give a big thanks to our audience development team and Henry Pickavet, who manages TechCrunch audio products. Thanks so much for listening and we'll talk to you next time.