Programming note: this is the last “regular” newsletter of 2020. We will return on Thursday (aka Christmas Eve) solely to spotlight this week’s “Where’s Pete?” winner, and then take the following week off. We will return in full on Jan. 5, 2021. Have a great holiday season!
2020's Most-Read
As part of turning the page on this gosh-forsaken year, we take our annual stroll through GrepBeat’s 20 most-read stories of the year. One surprise: neither of the two most-read stories of 2020 were actually published in 2020. (We'll explain.) Of the 2020 stories with the most clicks, the top two—and four of the top 20—were from Tricia Lucas’ Meet... Q&A series. So take a walk down recent-memory lane by clicking the link to see the whole list, complete with snarky commentary by yours truly.
Jurassic's World
GrepBeat sister company Jurassic Capital (we’re both under the Colopy Ventures umbrella) announced its third investment yesterday with a $2.9M infusion into Wilmington-based Performance Culture, a startup that develops and sells a performance-management software platform to companies worldwide. Performance Culture is right up Jurassic’s alley as a regional, B2B SaaS startup that Jurassic can help get to the next level. We just hope the Performance Culture team can get up to speed quickly on Colopy Ventures’ famed Secret Santa exchange, because the clock is ticking. Read more about the deal here.
Flippin' Good Idea
TechWire recently profiled the soon-to-launch Flip Factory App, a new startup from two Triangle-area general contractors, Jake Harris and Juan Huerta. The big idea is to make house-flipping easier and more efficient for all parties, from home buyers/sellers to lenders to subcontractors. Flip Factor just raised $150K of a planned $4M round, though in the form of profit shares rather than equity—which means Jake and Juan still split the full ownership 50/50. Hey, if you’ve got the projected cash flow to pull that off, more power to you.
We're No. 1!
In the very last list-related item we’ll do in 2020, Raleigh goes out on a high note with the No. 1 spot in the Doing Business North America rankings compiled by Arizona State University. The report is designed to measure the “ease of doing business,” and you know it’s very accurate when Austin stumbles in at No. 42. The criteria focus on the “regulatory burdens” on SMBs (small- to medium-sized businesses) from “birth... to death.” What, nothing on the afterlife? TechWire has more details.
Guess where Pete is and (maybe) win a GrepBeat mug!
This will be the last mug awarded in 2020, so make it count. Send your guesses here!
