When your startup’s core mission is set to be turned upside down – TechCrunch

Welcome to Startups Weekly, a fresh look at this week’s startup news and trends. To get this in your inbox, subscribe here.

Hey Jane, a digital health startup increasing access to abortion pills, makes sense. It is a direct-to-consumer pharmacy that aims to meet consumers where they are, which is especially important as the pandemic’s extended stay continues.

Hey Jane’s core product has significant red tape to deal with. Its main product, the abortion pill, is banned or restricted in several states. Add the fact that Roe v. Wade will be canceled and the future of the world may collide with the startup’s mission to expand healthcare. Hey, Jane pretty much highlights the potential—and promise—of telehealth startups. But it also cuts to the heart of an overly politicized issue.

Earlier this month, I wrote about how digital health startups are preparing for a post-Roe world. At the time, Hey Jane co-founder Kiki Friedman said the rollover made mail-order abortion care “now probably the most viable form of access for most of the country.” An obstacle, she expects, will be a lack of education among consumers about drug-induced abortions. The majority of abortions performed in the U.S. are through medication, except that she says few people are educated about the nuances of medical abortion. “It is imperative that we continue to educate people about this safe, effective and common abortion option,” she wrote in a statement.

But now I want to continue these reactions the next day. Next week, I plan to interview Friedman for TechCrunch’s Equity podcast and ask her how to build a company when the mission can be irreversibly challenged by our government; we’ll talk about the origin story and how they plan to turn in the future. I want her to tell me what’s confusing the world about telemedicine’s ability to answer the biggest questions in healthcare right now, and where startups can fit into the future solution. Also, do they actually raise a growth circle? For the answers, be sure to watch the Equity episode wherever you get podcasts, and heck, why not start now?

In the rest of this newsletter, we’ll talk about another round of startup layoffs, why your MVP isn’t an MVP, and a fintech company that’s betting it can make even your local credit card wish for some Netflix & Chill time. As always, you can support me by forwarding this newsletter to a friend or follow me on twitter or my blog.

More layoffs in startupland

Unfortunately, there’s more where that came from last week. Tech workers experienced another tough week of layoffs and hiring freezes coming from startups like Section4, Latch, and DataRobot. We’ve collected some of the famous workforce cuts in one post.

Here’s why it’s important: The impact was felt across industries ranging from education to security, as well as stages from post-Series A startups to recent SPAC startups. To me, this shows how widespread this pullback is, regardless of the phase your company is in. It’s not just cash-rich tech unicorns cutting staff; these are also early-stage startups.

Your MVP is neither minimal, viable, nor a product

I’ve been thinking about this headline from Haje Jan Kamps this past week because it evokes one of those preconceived notions about startups that everyone else happily accepts without much of a fight. Aka, my sweet spot (and my weakness). In this post, Kamps goes into why MVP is “such a profound misnomer” and what to focus on instead.

Here’s why it’s important: Kamps’ new framework and series of questions to ask your first product should make the complexity of an MVP a little more accessible. And I’ll end with his kick:

“I don’t have a suggestion for a better name for an MVP, just don’t fall into the trap of thinking of it as a product that is viable or necessarily small, simple, or easy. Some MVPs are complex. However, the idea is to use as little of your valuable resources as possible to get your questions answered.

The Queen of Jay Z A

For the deal of the week that you may not have come across, I choose Altro! Co-founded by Michael Broughton and Ayush Jain, this fintech startup believes that access to credit should be free – so it found an atypical way to help people build credit.

Here’s why it’s important: Altros, which raised an $18 million Series A this week, helps people build credit through recurring forms of payment like digital subscriptions to Netflix, Spotify and Hulu. It stands out because many banks targeting low-income, historically disenfranchised people want to bypass credit ratings altogether — while Altros wants to change access to an established system. I highly recommend reading Mary Ann’s story of the company’s origins, fundraising journey and spotlight – and subscribing to her newsletter, The Interchange.

During the week

Seen on TechCrunch

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Until next time,

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