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To get a roundup of \u2019s biggest and most important stories delivered to your inbox every day at 3 p.m. PDT,<\/em> subscribe here<\/em>.<\/em><\/p>\n Whazzaaaaaaa, we\u2019re back with another round of newsy goodness on this fine Tuesday. It\u2019s a pretty wild news day today, with a bunch of startup high-jinx. Check out the site for all of it, of course, but we\u2019ve selected some of the stories that piqued our attention today. Let\u2019s gooooo! \u2014 Christine<\/a> and Haje<\/a><\/p>\n Watching startups play extreme hardball is our kind of spectator sport. In this case, only a year after going public, app growth and monetization agency AppLovin submitted an unsolicited proposal today to buy the game engine Unity in a deal worth $20 billion. But there\u2019s a catch: Unity would have to terminate its recent deal to merge with ironSource, an AppLovin competitor, Amanda<\/a> reports.<\/p>\n While plenty of crypto investors have scaled back their breakneck pace of startup investing as they wait for more clarity on the macro environment, Lucas<\/a> reports that there have never been more firms and more money dedicated to blockchain venture investing. Portal Ventures closes on $35 million debut fund to feed the beast.<\/p>\n RealOpen\u2019s latest product, RealScore, is a crypto credit scoring system for buyers and sellers of luxury real estate, Anita<\/a> reports. Headed up by \u2018Selling Sunset\u2019 star Christine Quinn, the brokerage primarily serves high-net-worth clients who want to purchase property using cryptocurrency.<\/p>\n More more more more more more more:<\/p>\n Image Credits:<\/strong> erhui1979 (opens in a new window)<\/span> \/ Getty Images<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Early-stage startups put a lot of time and energy into marketing and acquisition: These levers direct new customers into the top of your sales funnel to drive growth. And investors love growth.<\/p>\n But in August 2022, they like revenue even better, which is why Jonathan Martinez says companies should turn their attention to down-funnel metrics.<\/p>\n \u201cVarying messaging by user cohort is your largest lever for moving users through the funnel,\u201d writes Martinez in his latest TC+ post. \u201cIt\u2019s imperative to slice users into their respective buckets, because it opens the opportunity for unique targeting and messaging.\u201d<\/p>\n (+ is our membership program, which helps founders and startup teams get ahead.<\/em> You can sign up here<\/em>.)<\/em><\/p>\n India game firms are not accepting the \u201cgame over\u201d vibe they are getting from the country\u2019s prime minister if the ban on Battlegrounds Mobile India continues. Some firms are decrying the ban as an \u201cunfortunate event\u201d and said such \u201carbitrary decisions run counter to established principles and will deny opportunities to an entire generation of youth in India,\u201d Manish<\/a> reports.<\/p>\n We have a gaggle of Google news today, starting with a fun story from Ivan<\/a> about the search engine giant launching a website to help children practice reading. That is followed by talk of the company\u2019s new campaign aimed at pressuring Apple into adopting Rich Communication Service, or RCS, which is a protocol designed to improve messaging between Android and iOS users, Aisha<\/a> writes.<\/p>\n Brian<\/a> has been following the movement of the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022 as it moved through both houses of Congress and to President Biden for his signature. He explains what this new bill, focused on U.S. semiconductor protection, entails.<\/p>\nThe Top 3<\/h2>\n
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Startups and VC<\/h2>\n
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To optimize for growth, study your down-funnel metrics<\/h2>\n
Big Tech Inc.<\/h2>\n
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