Dreamforce will go virtual. The cancelations keep coming. Salesforce’s annual Dreamforce event, which brings nearly 200,000 people to SF every year, was scheduled for November but won’t be held this year — at least not in its traditional in-person sense. Instead, the company is hoping the event will move ahead in “new and virtual ways.” [CNBC]
Four-day workweek? Social media engagement tool Buffer just announced it’s going to allow its entire company to try out shortened workweeks throughout the month of May — and it will pay the team its full, five-day salary. CEO Joel Gascoigne said the company’s testing the four-day workweek in response to an employee survey that found workers were showing signs of stress and burnout due to the pandemic. [Built In SF]
Bill Gates-backed agtech in Berkeley. Pivot Bio announced last week that it closed on a $100 million Series C funding round that included participation from Bill Gates. The company offers a nitrogen fertilizer that is more sustainable and environmentally friendly than traditional synthetic fertilizers, which contribute to greenhouse gas emissions and pollute bodies of water. [Built In SF]
Fighting COVID-19 with drones. SF startup Zipline uses drones to deliver medical supplies and blood in Rwanda and Ghana, and is now hoping to bring that approach to the United States to help it tackle the COVID-19 crisis. The company says its technology could be used to distribute test kits, PPE and vaccines to rural parts of the country. [CNN]
‘The Wuhan I know.’ Tech worker Laura Gao is a part of Twitter’s product team by day, but by night she is a comic artist. Her self-published digital comic, The Wuhan I Know, is written about her hometown and has won praise for its vivid description of the city’s food, architecture, culture and history. The idea for the comic was sparked by the racist misnomer of COVID-19 as the “Chinese virus” and the accompanying rise in racial hostility many Asian Americans are experiencing due to the pandemic. [SF Chronicle]
Working from home with kids. Working remotely can already be a challenge for many people, but when you add young children into the equation, a productive work-from-home routine can feel like a pipe dream. We spoke with leaders at Cerego, Nutanix and Citi to learn how they are pulling it off. [Built In SF]
What were you doing when you were 15? San Carlos resident Yash Narayan just organized a 350-person, week-long hackathon. And he’s barely in high school. The tenth grader is CEO of NuevaHacks, which is currently working to find solutions to the many problems stemming from the COVID-19 outbreak. [SF Business Times]
Cruise pivots to food bank deliveries. The General Motors-owned self-driving car company is now putting some of its dormant autonomous vehicles to work delivering meals to food banks serving low-income Bay Area neighborhoods. The initiative started on April 16 and has already served up 3,700 meals — and there are plans to scale it up from here. [The Verge]
Plumbing help via video chat. Just when you thought this refresh was down the toilet, we’ve got another one for you: SF startup Plunjr is taking a unique approach to helping people with plumbing issues that arise during the pandemic. It’s launched a new mobile app that allows its technicians to assist customers without having to set foot in their homes — all thanks to video chat. Even better for customers: The company offers this service at a cheaper rate than its previous in-home visits. [SF Chronicle]
