With the integration of new technologies, the desk phone is gradually becoming obsolete in the workplace. One company, Dialpad, is looking to "kill the desk phone," and make it a thing of the past. Craig Walker, CEO of Dialpad, sits down with us to discuss why it is so important for small businesses to eliminate phone bills.
Walker has a long history of changing the way people communicate. As the original creator of what is now known as Google Voice, he is no stranger to revolutionizing workplace conversations. Now, his company is launching the world's first free business phone system to give small businesses an edge.
The company's new service eliminates the monthly phone bill for small office and home office workers, as well as small businesses with up to five employees. Dialpad includes voice, video, messaging and meetings. It's also integrated with Microsoft Office 365, and Google's G Suite. Key clients include Uber, WeWork, and InstaCart.
The largest car search platform in India, Cardekho, recently raised $250 million in what the company calls a pre-IPO round led by leapfrog investments. The funding bumps CarDekho above unicorn status with a $1.2 billion valuation. The company currently has a catalogue of more than 3,000 pre-owned cars for online purchases and hopes to expand with the new funding. Partner and co-head of South Asian investment for LeapFrog Stewart Langdon joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
E-scooter company Bird made its public debut on the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday. CFO Yibo Ling joined Cheddar to discuss what made the company launch a SPAC IPO now. Ling noted one of the deciding factors was the need to scale the business to help take "gas-guzzling cars off the road" by growing into more locations. "A large portion of our proceeds will go to fund expansion into these new geographies," he said.
Thuc Vu, CEO and co-founder of Ohmnilabs, joins 'Cheddar Innovates' to discuss how robots are playing a role in the return to the office, and what's in store for the future of the robotics industry.
Joan E. Solsman, a senior reporter at CNET, joined Cheddar's "Opening Bell" to talk about Netflix moving to offer mobile video games for Android users as part of their subscription. She said this is likely one "baby step" for the streaming giant as it moves into the space. "You can see what Netflix wants to do eventually down the line is have these great ambitions to make their service be more than just passive TV, movies," she said. "They're moving more into merchandising, that they're moving more into in-person experiences. They're trying to broaden a way, which is a great thing to do when everyone keeps talking about metaverses."
