Tracy Chou’s Block Party is fighting online trolls—and the startup ecosystem itself

Tracy Chou has dealt with online harassment since high school. Now she's channeling her expertise on the topic and her programming skills into a new product called Block Party, which helps users manage abusive messages on Twitter. But Chou has struggled to raise money to build her company, and has coded her product largely as a one-woman team with $1.5 million in venture funding. Now, she's facing a new challenge: A well-capitalized startup called Sentropy launched a very similar product just weeks after Block Party's public debut. The two startups have largely different tactics: Sentropy has raised significantly more money because it is primarily an enterprise company, while Chou is focused on building a consumer brand. But Chou is fighting an uphill battle, competing against a free product launched by a team with nearly 10 times the resources. Is it a rigged game? Read more here. —Katharine Schwab   tech Tracy Chou’s Block Party is fighting online trolls—and the startup ecosystem itself Chou has struggled to raise funding for her tool to help manage harassment on Twitter. Now she’s going up against a competitor with far more resources.   co.design Herman Miller’s new office line is the anti-cubicle The new OE1 line embraces a more flexible, less prescriptive workplace.   impact This L.A. mall could be reinvented as housing and worker-owned co-ops The bold plan for the Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza has raised $28 million dollars to try to begin to implement a new approach to urban redevelopment.

Brands can no longer please both China and the West. They’re going to have to pick a side, and there will be fallout whatever they choose.” Jude Blanchette, chair of China studies at the nonprofit Center for Strategic and International Studies READ MORE

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