Shyp, a once-hyped San Francisco-based startup that aimed to streamline sending packages, has shut down, Fast Company reports. It had laid off employees and scaled back operations last summer. The company had raised $63 million, mostly from Kleiner Perkins, whose John Doerr sat on its board.
Why it matters: No one enjoys hauling boxes to the UPS or Fedex counter, and startups love to promise to remove "friction" from our lives — but sometimes relieving inconvenience just isn't profitable.
Illustration: Eniola Odetunde/Axios
In her first week on the job, Amy Coney Barrett may be deciding which votes to count in the presidential election. By her third week, she’ll be deciding the fate of the Affordable Care Act.
Where it stands: The Senate votes on Barrett’s nomination tomorrow. If she’s confirmed, Chief Justice John Roberts is expected to swear her in at the Supreme Court within hours, an administration official tells Axios.
Photo: Ron Jenkins/Getty Images
The Biden campaign is rebuffing persistent pleas from Texas Democrats to spend at least $10 million in the Lone Star state, several people familiar with the talks tell Axios.
Why it matters: If Texas — which has 38 electoral votes and is steadily getting more blue, but hasn't backed a Democrat for president since 1976 — flipped to the Biden column, it would be game over. But the RealClearPolitics polling average stubbornly hovers at +2.6 for Trump — and Team Biden appears more focused on closer targets.
Photo illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios. Photo: Chris Carlson-Pool/Getty Images
A luxe election-night watch party at the Trump International Hotel on Pennsylvania Avenue is being planned for President Trump's donors, friends and advisers — but Trump's hand in it is minimal because he's "very superstitious" — people familiar with the plans tell Axios.
The big picture: This "mecca for all things MAGA," as one adviser described it, is one of three hubs where they say Trumpworld will watch returns. The others are the war room at campaign HQ in Rosslyn, Virginia, and the White House residence, where Trump and the first lady will gather close family and advisers before heading to the hotel later that night, the sources said.