This week two major tech companies went public, Pandora acquired Rdio and Lyft financials leaked. The Cribs crew visited the visually stunning Minted HQ , and we discussed the rentpocalypse with the CEO of Zumper on Bullish . These are our biggest stories of the week. 1. As terror attacks put France into a national state of emergency last Friday, tech companies launched into disaster response mode . AirBnB contacted all hosts in Paris asking if they could take in those stranded in the city . Facebook let users alert their friends they were safe . Google offered free calls to Paris via Hangouts , as did Skype, Verizon and Sprint . Uber turned off surge pricing in the city for the weekend, despite initial reports to the contrary. Twitter helped people find a place to stay with the hashtag #PorteOuverte and kept the rest of the world informed. Tech companies did what many businesses did during a time of emergency: They lent a helping hand. 2. Just as soon as it was reported that Pandora was in talks to buy Rdio, the two sides have confirmed that an acquisition is indeed taking place. Pandora acquired “key assets” from Rdio for $75 million in cash as Rdio filed for bankruptcy and shut down. 3. Black Friday came a week early for Amazon shoppers. Amazon announced it will actually begin selling its Black Friday deals on Friday, November 20 instead of starting sales the day after Thanksgiving as is customary in the U.S. Amazon instead is offering 8 days of holiday deals with 10 “higher quality” deals starting at midnight on Thanksgiving, and up to 10 more on Black Friday. cat in amazon box 4. Are tech IPOs back in style ? Square made its NYSE debut with a little […]
