Technology

Disrupt San Francisco 2018, TechCrunchflagship technology conference, is back this fall on September 5-7, and itbigger and bolder than ever. Thatnot just hyperbole, people. We&ve staked out new digs at Moscone Center West — that means three times the floor space and more than 10,000 attendees.

Bigger crowds lead to more opportunities, especially when you have a tool to help you cut through the clutter and connect with the right early-stage startup founder — or find the perfect venture capitalist to fund your dream. CrunchMatch is that tool.

We first introduced CrunchMatch, our free, founder-investor connection platform (powered by Brella), at Disrupt SF 2017. Buy a Founder, Investor or Insider pass and you&ll be invited to fill out a CrunchMatch profile. Through the service you can suggest meetings, send, accept or decline invitations and reserve dedicated, private meeting spaces in the CrunchMatch Lounge.

Last year investors and founders used CrunchMatch to set up more than 1,300 meetings. This year, we expect that number to triple. Herewhat Luke Heron, CEO of TestCard.com, had to say about his CrunchMatch experience:

We used the CrunchMatch platform to schedule a bunch of meetings on our second day of the show. We met with six or seven VCs and, by and large, they were very positive meetings.

Whether your companymeets the investment criteria of a venture capitalist you just heard speak on the main stage or you see the perfect early-stage company pitch during Startup Battlefield, CrunchMatch will let you send a meeting invitation quickly and easily.

As a reminder, you&ll find a special focus on these tech categories at Disrupt SF 2018: AI, AR/VR, Blockchain, Biotech, Fintech, Gaming, Healthtech, Privacy/Security, Space, Mobility, Retail and Robotics.

You&ll find them all exhibiting in Startup Alley. Or you can join them and place your early-stage startup in front of thousands of potential customers, partners and investors. CrunchMatch will really save you time as you work your way through the Alley.

If you&re looking to invest in early-stage startups — or looking for funding — Disrupt San Francisco 2018 is where you want to be on September 5-7, and CrunchMatch is the tool you need to use. Don&t wait, purchase your Founder, Investor or Insider passes today.

Ride-sharing companies have long touted the cost benefits of their platforms. Well, depending on the city, it can be cheaper on a weekly basis to take an UberX or UberPOOL than it is to own a personal car, according to Kleiner Perkins Caufield Byers partner Mary Meeker 2018 annual internet trends report.

In four of the five largest cities in the U.S., it is indeed cheaper to rely on Uber than it is to own a car.Meekeranalysis took into account cost of gas, car insurance, maintenance and parking.

So, if you live in New York City, Chicago, Washington, D.C. or Los Angeles, itcheaper to take an Uber. But thatnot the case in Dallas, where the average weekly cost of car ownership is $65 compared to the average weekly Uber cost of $181.

Meekerreport also looked at the rise of on-demand workers in the U.S. Last year, there were 5.4 million on-demand workers in the country. This year, there are an estimated 6.8 million people working in the on-demand economy.

&These are big numbers,& Meeker said onstage, noting how these types of jobs are helping to supplement income for people, provide greater flexibility and improve work-life balance.

You can check out the full deck below.

In a policy change set for next month, the Trump administration is moving to shorten visas for Chinese students in fields like tech and engineering. While most visas are issued for the longest possible length of time under law, the new policy will allow U.S. officials to put a one-year cap on visas for Chinese graduate students who are &studying in fields like robotics, aviation and high-tech manufacturing,& according to the Associated Press.

A State Department official told The Hill that &Although the large majority of visas issued to Chinese nationals are issued for the maximum validity, consular officers may limit the validity of visas on a case-by-case basis& under the new rules.

Beyond the student limits, U.S. consulates and embassies reportedly received instructions that any Chinese citizen applying for a visa will need to secure additional special permission form the U.S. if they work in research or management for any company the U.S. Commerce Department lists as an entity &requiring higher scrutiny.&

The new visa policy shifts come as Trump is knee-deep in a controversial new tariff plan targeting Chinese trade and is intended to protect against the theft of U.S. intellectual property, or so the reasoning goes.

The visa change was signaled in the National Security Strategy report that the Trump administration issued in December. That document explains the rationale clearly:

The United States will review visa procedures to reduce economic theft by non-traditional intelligence collectors. We will consider restrictions on foreign STEM students from designated countries to ensure that intellectual property is not transferred to our competitors, while acknowledging the importance of recruiting the most advanced technical workforce to the United States.

The State Department noted these changes will go into effect starting on June 11.