Titstare is a fictional mobile application centred on pictures of men staring at women and their breasts. It was introduced at a 2013 hackathon at TechCrunch 's TechCrunch Disrupt conference in San Francisco, California by two Australian developers. Titstare became the subject of public controversy, with the skit being described as symptomatic of sexist attitudes in Silicon Valley 's startup culture. Conference organizers later apologized for the misogynistic presentation.
28-630: TechCrunch , a technology news website, was established in 2005 and acquired by internet giant AOL in September 2010. The acquisition was seen by AOL as a move towards solidifying its position as a provider of technical content and was announced at the 2010 edition of the annual conference sponsored by TechCrunch, known as Disrupt. Disrupt events, generally held early in the fall of each year, are conclaves which bring together representatives of startup companies, industry insiders, and interested others for presentations and networking, typically also including
56-479: A billion customers. As a result, Verizon lowered its offer for Yahoo! by $ 350 million to $ 4.48 billion. The AOL deal and subsequent Yahoo! purchase were led by Verizon's management team, including Lowell McAdam (CEO), Marni Walden (EVP Product) and Tim Armstrong . Walden had been tasked with merging the two entities and delivering on the promise of moving Verizon from an analog to digital platforms business. Walden exited Verizon in 2017 and as later events revealed,
84-549: A new entity called Yahoo . Starting in New York City in 2010, TechCrunch hosts an annual tech conference, TechCrunch Disrupt, in several cities in the United States and Europe. TechCrunch Disrupt brings innovators, entrepreneurs, investors, and tech enthusiasts worldwide. At Disrupt, attendees can witness groundbreaking startups pitch their ideas to a panel of judges, participate in networking events, and explore
112-406: A series of mild breast-related jokes and puns – tying in with their humorously intended product. This generated a mixed response from the assembled crowd, running the gamut from indignation to uncomfortable laughter to genuine appreciation of the "twisted kind of standup" intended by the presenters. Titstare was accused of adding to the institutionalized sexism, known as brogrammer culture, in
140-530: A technology event hosted in several cities across the United States, Europe, and China. TechCrunch was founded in June 2005 by Archimedes Ventures, led by partners Michael Arrington and Keith Teare . In 2010, AOL acquired the company for approximately $ 25 million. As of 2013, TechCrunch was available in English, Chinese (managed by Chinese tech news company TechNode), and Japanese. TechCrunch France
168-735: A ten percent stake in the new group. The acquisition was completed on September 1, 2021. The company is headquartered in Manhattan , New York. As of December 2019 , the company employed about 10,350 people. A year after the completion of the AOL acquisition, Verizon announced a $ 4.8 billion deal for Yahoo!'s core Internet business, to invest in the Internet company's search , news , finance , sports , video , emails and Tumblr products. Yahoo! announced in September and December 2016 two major Internet security breaches affecting more than
196-504: Is getting a thorough screening from this hackathon onward. Any type of sexism or other discriminatory and/or derogatory speech will not be allowed.... We are sorry. The creators themselves took to Twitter with a speedy apology, stating "sorry if we offended some of you, very unintentional. Just a fun Aussie hack." Commenting on the affair in The Guardian , journalist Amy Gray faulted conference organizers, whom she presumed knew about
224-413: The 2015 acquisition of AOL and Yahoo! by Verizon , the site was owned by Verizon Media from 2015 through 2021. In 2021, Verizon sold its media assets, including AOL, Yahoo!, and TechCrunch, to the private equity firm Apollo Global Management . Apollo integrated them into a new entity called Yahoo! Inc. In addition to its news reporting, TechCrunch is also known for its annual Disrupt conference,
252-455: The American tech industry. Response was immediate and primarily negative; journalist Abby Ohlheiser wrote that the app's intent, the agglomeration of photos of men staring at partially clothed female cleavage, effectively trivialized the right of women to consent . After he defended the app against allegations of misogyny on Twitter, Business Insider Chief technology officer Pax Dickinson
280-607: The Oath apps and Samsung's own Galaxy and Game Launcher apps. On September 12, 2018, it was announced that K. Guru Gowrappan would succeed Tim Armstrong as CEO, effective October 1. On December 3, 2018, the company declared a new set of rules for the Tumblr community that took effect December 17, 2018, banning "adult content". This move raised objections that it harms their LGBTQ community, sexual abuse survivors, sex workers, adult content blogs, and other bloggers. The move came after
308-531: The Tumblr app was removed from the Apple App Store due to issues with child pornography, leading some to speculate that the ban may have been made to regain access to the App Store. In December 2018, Verizon announced that it was cutting 10% of Oath's workforce and would write down the value of the business by $ 4.6B. Verizon management blamed competitive pressures and that the business never achieved
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#1732775254433336-518: The Verizon Media would be acquired by Apollo Global Management for roughly $ 5 billion, and would simply be known as Yahoo following the closure of the deal, with Verizon retaining a minor 10% stake in the new group. The acquisition was completed on September 1, 2021, with the company now known as Yahoo. On September 10, 2021, Jim Lanzone , who had most recently served as CEO of Tinder , was named CEO of Yahoo, succeeding Gowrappan. Some of
364-572: The annual Crunchies award ceremony to award startups, internet, and technology innovations. At the first award ceremony in 2007, Facebook won the award for best startup. TechCrunch announced in 2017 that it would end the Crunchies. The company was criticized for allowing developers to present the Titstare application created by participants in a hackathon at TechCrunch Disrupt 2013. The application allows users to "stare at tits". In 2011,
392-558: The anticipated benefits. The move wiped out all of the goodwill on the balance sheets that accompanied the acquisitions. On January 8, 2019, Oath was renamed Verizon Media. In August 2019, Verizon sold Tumblr to Automattic , the owner of WordPress.com , for an undisclosed amount that was reportedly less than $ 3 million. In November 2020, Verizon sold HuffPost to BuzzFeed . in an all-stock deal, remaining minority shareholder in Buzzfeed. On May 3, 2021, Verizon announced that
420-493: The company. He announced that he would join the venture capital firm SOSV in December 2020 as a senior operating partner. His former role at TechCrunch was replaced by Matthew Panzarino, former editor-in-chief, and Joey Hinson, director of business operations. In 2021, Verizon sold its media assets, including AOL, Yahoo, and TechCrunch, to the private equity firm Apollo Global Management , and Apollo integrated them into
448-517: The content of presentations beforehand based upon mandatory pre-convention uploads of personal and project information. Gray felt the Titstare affair emblematic of a duality in the tech world, which was on the one hand perfectly meritocratic in theory, while in practice being an industry which "runs on privilege, with sexist and juvenile behaviour based on gender stereotypes being routinely displayed". Co-editor of TechCrunch Alexia Tsotsis said that
476-447: The day, deeming the presentations "misogynistic" and declaring: Sexism is a major problem in the tech industry, and we’ve worked hard to counteract it in our coverage and in our own hiring. Today’s issues resulted from a failure to properly screen our hackathons for inappropriate content ahead of time and establish clear guidelines for these submissions. Trust us, that changed as soon as we saw what happened at our show. Every presentation
504-620: The integration did not deliver the expected value. Two months before closing the deal for Yahoo!, Verizon announced it would place Yahoo! and AOL under an umbrella named Oath. The deal closed on June 13, 2017, and Oath was launched. Upon completion of the deal, Yahoo! CEO Marissa Mayer resigned. Yahoo! operations not acquired in the deal were renamed Altaba , a holding company whose primary assets are its 15.5 percent stake in Alibaba Group and 35.5 percent stake in Yahoo! Japan . After
532-468: The latest trends in technology through keynote speeches and panel discussions. It's a hub for collaboration, investment opportunities, and showcasing disruptive technologies that have the potential to reshape industries. Startup Battlefield is a startup competition. Monetary awards are presented at the TechCrunch Disrupt conferences. Startup Battlefield has a reputation for launching some of
560-921: The merger, Oath cut fifteen percent of the Yahoo-AOL workforce. In 2018, Altaba sold Yahoo! Japan to SoftBank Group . In April 2018, Helios and Matheson Analytics acquired the Moviefone movie listings website from Oath, in consideration for which Verizon took a stake in Helios and Matheson. In April 2018, Verizon sold Flickr to SmugMug , for an undisclosed amount. In May 2018, Verizon and Samsung agreed to terms that would preload four Oath mobile apps onto Samsung Galaxy S9 smartphones. The agreement includes Oath's Newsroom, Yahoo! Sports , Yahoo! Finance , and go90 mobile video apps (closed in July 2018), with integration of native Oath advertisements into both
588-464: The most successful companies in the tech industry. Notable startups that have been involved in the competition include Dropbox , Intuit Mint , Yammer , and CrateDB . From 2007 to 2015, TechCrunch operated Crunchbase , a website and online encyclopedia of information on startups, key people, funds, funding rounds, and events. In 2015, Crunchbase became a private entity and is no longer part of TechCrunch. From 2007 to 2017, TechCrunch sponsored
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#1732775254433616-469: The opportunity for collaborative hackathon sessions. It was at Disrupt 2013, held in San Francisco, that Australian programmers Jethro Batts and David Boulton debuted their new tongue-in-cheek mobile phone app , Titstare, described by the pair as "an app where you take photos of yourself staring at tits". On Sunday, September 8, the duo delivered their rehearsed one-minute-long presentation –
644-416: The presenters did not include the name of their app in the presentation list. TechCrunch TechCrunch is an American global online newspaper focusing on topics regarding high-tech and startup companies . It was founded in June 2005 by Archimedes Ventures, led by partners Michael Arrington and Keith Teare . In 2010, AOL acquired the company for approximately $ 25 million. Following
672-429: The site's editors and writers were criticized for possible ethics violations . These included claims that Arrington's investments in certain firms that the site had covered created a conflict of interest . The controversy that ensued eventually led to Arrington's departure, and other writers, including Paul Carr and Sarah Lacy , moved to another technology investment based media company. In 2014, TechCrunch Disrupt
700-543: Was briefly called Oath Inc . In December 2018, Verizon announced it would write down the combined value of its purchases of AOL and Yahoo! by $ 4.6 billion, roughly half; the company would be renamed Verizon Media the following month in January 2019. On May 3, 2021, Verizon announced that 90 percent of the division would be acquired by American private equity firm Apollo Global Management for roughly $ 5 billion, and would simply be known as Yahoo ; Verizon would retain
728-540: Was featured in an arc of the HBO series Silicon Valley . The characters' startup "Pied Piper" participates in a startup battle at TechCrunch Disrupt. Verizon Media Yahoo! Inc. is an American multinational technology company that focuses on media and online business. It is the second and current incarnation of the company, after Verizon Communications acquired the core assets of its predecessor and merged them with AOL in 2017. The resulting subsidiary entity
756-720: Was folded into the main TechCrunch.com site in October 2012. Boundless (formerly Verizon Media Japan), the Japanese subsidiary of the TechCrunch's parent company, closed TechCrunch Japan in May 2022 according to its "global strategy". Following the acquisition of AOL and Yahoo by Verizon , TechCrunch was owned by Verizon Media from 2015 through 2021. In August 2020, the COO of TechCrunch, Ned Desmond, stepped down after eight years in
784-428: Was forced to resign. Dickinson later wrote an apology, which was published on VentureBeat . Much of the criticism appeared on Twitter , with one representative tweet stating, "There goes my attempt to teach my 9 [year old] girl how welcoming tech industry is to women." TechCrunch was immediate in issuing a public apology for the Titstare presentation, as well as one for an offensive masturbation app presented later in
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