Tech2Take: Recent Episodes
Johnny Giorgis, Michael Chen
Michael and Johnny discuss recent Technology and Business trends and observe where technology is going with an eye on unmet gaps and opportunities.
Elon Musk has officially filed to terminate his $44B bid for Twitter. Has he come to his senses?
Recorded Date: Sunday, July 9, 2022
Time Stamps
- 00:00:20: Is Elon done with Twitter?
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US law makers are looking to enforce unified ports across all phones. Where does this leave Apple? Will they be forced to abandon their lightening port and adopt USB-C?
Recorded Date: Sunday, July 1, 2022
Time Stamps
- 00:00:20: Is Apple's lightening screwed?
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Tech companies are slowing down their investments in hiring and products, and laying off employees. Has the tech bubble burst or this is a short term downturn that is being over dramatized?
Recorded Date: Sunday, June 19, 2022
Time Stamps
- 00:00:20: Are we ready for the lean years?
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The tech drama continues between Elon Musk and Twitter regarding Twitter's fake accounts problems. What will happen next?
Recorded Date: Sunday, June 16, 2022
Time Stamps
- 00:00:20: Will Twitter bend to Elon Musk's demands?
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With Snap's announcement reducing reveune and profit forecasts, is it the start of the end for the internet advertising industry?
Recorded Date: Sunday, May 29, 2022
Time Stamps
- 00:00:20: Is Snap the canary in the coal mine?
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Elon has paused his Twitter acquisition on pause as he does his due diligence on their spam user count. Is Elon having second thoughts?
Recorded Date: Sunday, May 15, 2022
Time Stamps
- 00:00:20: What's going on here?
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Google I/O 2022 brought an incredible set of hardware announcements. Do Google's efforts pay off here or they are too little, too late?
Recorded Date: Sunday, May 15, 2022
Time Stamps
- 00:00:20: Are Google's hardware moves too little too late?
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The Amazon Labor Union lost its most recent union vote. Were the workers wrong to vote against unionizing?
Recorded Date: Thursday, May 5, 2022
Time Stamps
- 00:00:20: Was not unionizing the right choice?
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We look at Big Tech's 2022 first-quarter earnings. Who are the winners and losers?
Recorded Date: Thursday, April 28, 2022
Time Stamps
- 00:00:20: Earnings Discussion
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So Elon purchased Twitter. What will he do in his first 100 days as Twitter's new sole owner?
Recorded Date: Monday, April 26, 2022
Time Stamps
- 00:00:20: Elon's first 100 days
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Have we reached peak Netflix? Their recent abysmal earnings would indicate so. We debate if this is the start of the end of Netflix or the start of its reinvention.
Recorded Date: Thursday, April 20, 2022
Time Stamps
- 00:00:20: Netflix's future
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Everyone is talking about Elon Musk. Is he serious about acquiring Twitter? Is he just trolling us? We debate the merits and demerits of Elon Musk owning Twitter.
Recorded Date: Sunday, April 17, 2022
Time Stamps
- 00:00:20: Elon's Twitter Offer
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Which tech executive could defeat Vladimir Putin in hand-to-hand combat? In this episode of Tech2Take, we offer up our ideal tech candidate to replace Elon Musk in his own challenge.
Recorded Date: Sunday, March 20, 2022
Time Stamps
- 00:00:20: Elon's fistfight challenge
- 00:10:07: Portfolio Check
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In this episode of Tech2Take, we each give our solo take on separate topics - the resurrected TikTok Oracle trusted technology deal and what the reaction to Meta's recent benefits cutback show regarding the normalization of the 12+ hour workday.
Recorded Date: Sunday, March 13, 2022
Time Stamps
- 00:00:39: TikTok Oracle Deal Update
- 00:04:20: Tech Benefits & Long Hours
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In this episode of Tech2Take, we debate the impact of American tech firms cutting off Russia, and whether Ford has hit its mid-life crisis with its move to split its business.
Recorded Date: Sunday, March 6, 2022
Time Stamps
- 00:00:25: American tech firms cut off Russia
- 00:06:22: Ford Splits its business
- 00:16:15: Portfolio Check
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In this episode of Tech2Take, we talk about the tragedy in Ukraine, and on a lighter note, we pitch untold Silicon Valley stories for TV producers.
Recorded Date: Sunday, February 27, 2022
Time Stamps
- 00:00:25: The Tech Stories Behind the Ukraine News
- 00:04:55: Silicon Valley TV ideas
- 00:10:14: Portfolio Check
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In this episode of Tech2Take, we consider if Snap is making a comeback, and is it the start of Tesla losing its EV crown.
Recorded Date: Sunday, February 20, 2022
Time Stamps
- 00:00:25: Is it the return of the Snap?
- 00:04:26: It is the beginning of the end for Tesla?
- 00:10:23: Portfolio Check
Highlights
- Snap is finally being seen for what it is, lil league social media
- In life, you go all in. In business, you stay in your lane
- Tesla is no longer recommended by Consumer Reports
- Tesla finally has some legitimate competition after over a decade
- Has Consumer Reports made it personal with Tesla?
- Is Tesla still the King?
- Shorting ARK is proving profitable
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In this episode of Tech2Take, we ask if it's time to buy real estate... in the Metaverse, and are Peloton's best days behind them?
Recorded Date: Sunday, February 13, 2022
Time Stamps
- 00:00:25: Is it time to buy some Metaverse homes?
- 00:07:05: Is it over for Peloton?
- 00:12:23: Portfolio Check
Highlights
- Metaverse Real Estate & Mortgages are here
- Why would you invest in something you can't touch?
- Is this all speculative buying?
- Johnny is moving to Ohio for the prices
- Is Peloton hinting at their subscription heavy future with their new CEO?
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In this episode of Tech2Take, we debate Nike's foul or fair move to sue StockX for selling sneaker NFTs, and did Spotify make a mistake by buying Joe Rogan's podcast?
Recorded Date: Sunday, February 6, 2022
Time Stamps
- 00:00:25: Nike sues StockX
- 00:06:01: Spotify's Joe Rogan problem
- 00:14:44: Portfolio Check
Highlights
- Nike is blocking real innovation after being late to the party
- The NFT lawsuits have began
- The law is foul
- StockX should make their own shoes and put them on NFTs
- Is Spotify right to stand the ground they are standing on?
- Can Spotify be both a publisher and a platform at the same time?
- Spotify should invest in our podcast
Links
- Nike cries foul over virtual shoes, suing retailer that sells sneaker NFTs
- An IP lawyer explains what counts as NFT theft when ‘stealing’ is as easy as right-click and save
- Miramax sues Quentin Tarantino over 'Pulp Fiction' NFTs
- Spotify’s attempt to use the Facebook playbook over Joe Rogan won’t wash
- Jon Stewart said musicians like Neil Young pulling their music from Spotify is an 'overreaction' to Joe Rogan and a 'mistake'
- Polarizing is profitable – Just ask Spotify or Zucker
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We check in on our portfolios at the 7-month mark of our 1-year challenge. With the recent market turmoils, what new strategies are we adapting to keep our portfolios afloat? Do we continue on the ARK train or abandon ship?
Recorded Date: Sunday, January 30, 2022
Time Stamps
- 00:00:25: Strategy for rebalancing
- 00:08:49: Stock Picks
Highlights
- We are beating ARK at their own game
- Is it time to panic yet?
- Johnny is embracing day trading with excel sheets
- Have these companies bottomed out?
- Is it time to start shorting ARK investments?
- What investment strategy are you following amidst the market turmoil?
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In this episode of Tech2Take, we debate whether Microsoft's announced acquisition of Activision is good or bad idea, and is it time to panic due to the recent stock market fall or time to double up?
Recorded Date: Sunday, January 23, 2022
Time Stamps
- 00:00:25: MSFT buys Activision Blizzard
- 00:07:01: Stocks: Time to Panic?
- 00:10:16: Portfolio Check
Highlights
- The realm of Azeroth has fallen, King Nadella now sits on the Frozen throne
- Microsoft is paying straight cash homie
- Is this Microsoft embracing its post-Xbox future?
- Microsoft's mixed history with acquired game studios may doom its Activision acquisition
- Is this Microsoft's metaverse play?
- Where is the value of metaverse going to be? Gaming? Work?
- Are we in a tech correction?
- Is it time to panic and run for the hills?
- Is now the opportunity to invest while the market is down?
Links
- Microsoft to acquire Activision Blizzard to bring the joy and community of gaming to everyone, across every device
- Monopoly money: is Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard good for gaming?
- Microsoft to gobble up Activision in $69 billion metaverse bet
- Microsoft’s Xbox Game Pass service grows to 25 million subscribers
- Xbox CEO Phil Spencer on reviving old Activision games as Microsoft positions itself as tech’s gaming company
- Nasdaq tumbles 2% Friday, notches worst week since 2020 and falls deeper into correction territory
- Nasdaq is on the brink of plunging into correction territory. Here’s why Wall Street predicts more pain ahead
- A much-needed market correction
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In this episode of Tech2Take, we debate whether the European tech scene can compete with the US, and which side are we on in the messaging fight with Apple vs Google.
Recorded Date: Sunday, January 16, 2022
Time Stamps
- 00:00:25: EU > US?
- 00:07:16: Google vs Apple
- 00:14:58: Portfolio Check
Highlights
- Johnny should consider sticking around in Europe
- The European tech market is hot
- Does Europe's heterogenous market hurt or help it?
- Is Google just being a cry baby?
- Is Google secretly asking Apple for advice?
- Our portfolios continue to drop
- Block's renaming was a blockhead move
- We are better than Cathie Woods!
Links
- Goldman predicts the euro area will outgrow the U.S. economy over the next two years
- JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon says there’s a chance Fed could lift interest rates ‘six or seven times’
- Interest rate hike could come as soon as March, Fed's Brainard signals
- After ruining Android messaging, Google says iMessage is too powerful
- A decade and a half of instability: The history of Google messaging apps
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In this episode of Tech2Take, we debate whether BlackBerry lost the smartphone market or Apple stole it from them, and share our thoughts on the Elizabeth Holmes verdict.
Recorded Date: Sunday, January 9, 2022
Time Stamps
- 00:00:25: Did Apple Win or BlackBerry Lose
- 00:07:00: Holmes Verdict in
- 00:13:45: Portfolio Check
Highlights
- Your BlackBerry has stopped working
- Could BlackBerry have been part of the mobile os cabal today?
- Did BlackBerry peak in Highschool?
- Holmes has been charged for stealing money from wealthy investors
- Why have Theranos & Holmes caught so much media attention?
- Is Elizabeth Holmes a celebrity?
- We can't escape the stock bloodbath
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We start the new year by reviewing our inaugural Whiskey Bet, before sharing our predictions for this year. We each make 5 bold predictions followed up by our early picks for Company and Person of the Year in 2022.
Recorded Date: Sunday, January 2, 2022
Time Stamps
- 00:00:25: 2021 Bets Results
- 00:05:42: 2022 Bets
Highlights
- Michael has become an Oracle
- Who will be acquired this year?
- What will happen to the EV market this year?
- Will we be back in the office by end of the year?
- Which Chinese company will be delisted from American exchanges?
- Will you be able to play Fortnite on your iOS devices?
- Which tech company will be kicked out of a major world economy?
- Who's the next Tech CEO to step down?
- If the test doesn't fit, you must acquit
- Who will be the most newsworthy person of 2022?
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It is the second annual Golden Compass Awards where we recognize awesome products, influential people, and big missteps. Was 2021 a repeat of 2020? Will any person, product, or company win in back-to-back years? Who broke through the noise? Tune in to find out.
Recorded Date: Sunday, December 26, 2021
Time Stamps
- 00:00:25: Breakout Award
- 00:03:55: Trend of the Year
- 00:06:09: Fail of the Year
- 00:08:54: Product of the Year
- 00:10:10: Person of the Year
- 00:12:51: Company of the Year
Highlights
- Nubank is banking without assault rifles
- Rivian is further proof of the hotness of the EV market
- Africa startups had a banger year with several new unicorns
- Crypto has gone mainstream after over a decade
- Didi alone has brought down Chinese tech stocks
- Covid vaccines have helped us come back to some level of normalcy
- It was the retail investors' year
- We have both contributed to Apple's bottom line
- 2021 is 2020's sequel
- 2021 was our deep dive into FinTech
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What a year it has been! Resignations have occurred, more electric vehicles have been released, new Macbook Pros have been purchased, and Peloton's stock has collapsed.
On this episode of Tech2Take, we debate who we think will win the trend, product, and fail of the year ahead of next week's Golden Compass 2021 Awards.
Recorded Date: Sunday, December 19, 2021
Time Stamps
- 00:00:25: Golden Compass Awards
- 00:01:00: Trend of the Year
- 00:06:40: Product of the Year
- 00:10:18: Fail of the Year
Highlights
- What's the biggest trend of the year?
- How we work & make money is changing
- It's not hybrid, it's electric
- There's a growing range of electric vehicle options
- The overdue back to basics Macbook Pro is a warm welcome
- Disney+ and Marvel had a banger year
- Streaming wars are won by content
- How could Google Stadia fail so hard?
- When your product is in Sex and the City, you are part of the cultural zeitgeist
- It wasn't Peloton's year
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On this episode of tech2take we discuss who won the latest round of the ongoing Apple vs Epic lawsuit, and who could be the future king of Electric Vehicles sales.
Recorded Date: Sunday, December 12, 2021
Time Stamps
- 00:00:25: Apple gets a delay in their favor
- 00:06:20: Who will win the EV market?
- 00:15:18: Portfolio Check
Highlights
- Apple has been the Teflon Don, will it remain so?
- Diplomacy is best delivered at the point of a lance
- The consumer is the real loser
- Will Ford become the EV king?
- Charging strategies are a differentiator
- Don't underestimate customer nostalgia, love for existing brands
- Michael's ruthless strategy is working
Links
- Epic v. Apple ruling put on hold after appeals court grants a stay
- Ford to triple production capacity for the all-electric Mustang Mach E by 2023
- Nissan to invest $17.6 billion over next five years to ramp up electric vehicle offering
- The Electric Future Has a Dark Side
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On this episode of tech2take we look at Didi delisting and Jack Dorsey departing from Twitter.
Recorded Date: Sunday, December 5, 2021
Time Stamps
- 00:00:25: Didi delisting
- 00:06:00: Dorsey steps down as CEO
- 00:12:05: Portfolio Check
Highlights
- You don't want to upset the Chinese government
- Retail investors lose out when they can't invest easily
- When was the last time Jack Dorsey was legitimately the CEO of Twitter?
- Is this more of the same for Twitter?
- Twitter having a full time CEO is an improvement
- Is Twitter preparing to sell?
- The markets and our portfolios are in the red this week
- When you see red, that's the time to be aggressive
Links
- With Its Exit, Didi Sends a Signal: China No Longer Needs Wall Street
- How Didi’s data debacle doomed China’s love affair with Wall Street
- Jack steps back
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We check in on our tech investment portfolios after 6 months. We discuss our strategies moving forward and rebalance our portfolios.
Recorded Date: Sunday, November 28, 2021
Time Stamps
- 00:00:25: Tech Investment Portfolio
- 00:02:45: Our strategies
Highlights
- Michael is going for semi-broke!
- Johnny continues to sell out of stocks
- Stock growth is the only thing that matters now
- Can Alibaba's stock go any lower?
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During this special Thanksgiving episode, we share what products and trends we are thankful for.
Recorded Date: Sunday, November 21, 2021
Time Stamps
- 00:00:25: What are we thankful for?
- 00:01:20: Products
- 00:05:35: Trends
Highlights
- The Pro laptop is a Pro laptop again
- Our audio has evolved
- 2021 has taken half of zoom's stock
- Food options have exploded thanks to delivery apps
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Is it a big deal or not that Discord users shot down crypto wallet integration? What's next for Peloton?
Recorded Date: Sunday, November 14, 2021
Time Stamps
- 00:00:25: Discord Users Shoot Down NFTs - Big Deal or No Big Deal
- 00:07:15: What’s next for Peloton?
- 00:14:37: Portfolio Check
Highlights
- Do cryptocurrencies & NFTs have a PR problem?
- Who is really crypto for? Is it simply a money making scheme?
- Is it the end of the road for Peloton? Is their hype train over?
- Peloton got injected with growth hormones
- Peloton's stock is down 60% this year while Planet Fitness is up 25%
Links
- Discord CEO backs away from hinted NFT integration after backlash
- Discord CEO says the company won’t add a crypto wallet — for now
- Discord CEO Tweets
- Peloton 2021 Q4 earnings
- Peloton Reportedly Freezes Hiring As Shares Plunge 35% Following Dismal Earnings
- Peloton shares fall 25% as company posts wider-than-expected loss and slashes full-year outlook
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Is China still the land of opportunity for foreign tech companies? Will more companies shut off facial recognization software?
Recorded Date: Sunday, November 7, 2021
Time Stamps
- 00:00:25: Is China still the land of opportunity for foreign tech companies?
- 00:06:45: Will more companies shut off facial recognization software?
- 00:13:05: Portfolio Check
Highlights
- Can companies afford to quit on China at this time? Can they follow Evernote's example?
- Facebook no longer needs faces
- There's too many opportunities and potential applications of facial recognition
- Are companies waiting for more regulation of facial recognition?
- American companies cannot sit and watch Chinese companies advance facial recognition technology
Links
- Apple iPhone Sales In China Picking Up Pace
- About Microsoft’s Presence in China
- Yahoo becomes latest foreign tech company to pull out of China
- Samsung admits defeat in China’s vast smartphone market
- An Update On Our Use of Face Recognition
- The Fight Over Police Use Of Facial Recognition Technology
- Evernote China amazing
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We look at 2021 Q1 earnings and give our hot takes for several companies.
Recorded Date: Sunday, October 31, 2021
Time Stamps
- 00:00:25: Intel
- 00:03:55: Meta
- 00:09:20: Amazon
- 00:12:05: Tesla
- 00:14:03: Portfolio Check
Highlights
- Intel is chasing after Apple, a lost cause - is it all over for Intel?
- Are Google and Facebook worried about Apple's ad business?
- Tiktok has already beat Facebook on video
- Have we reached peak Facebook? Will Meta mountain drive more revenue & profit?
- This is only the beginning of Amazon's dominance
- Is Tesla the most overvalued company of all time?
- Where's the $900 B value of the auto industry?
- Hype tech giveth and Hype tech taketh away
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Is the Metaverse the future? Who won the week of new product announcements?
Recorded Date: Sunday, October 24, 2021
Time Stamps
- 00:00:25: Is the Metaverse the future?
- 00:07:25: Who won the week?
- 00:15:34: Portfolio Check
Highlights
- Are we already in the Metaverse?
- Zoom will evolve into Meta Zoom
- Google's Real Tone is a game changer, several decades late
- Samsung will let you customize your phone, as if that matters
- The chip makers are winning
- Google makes the yoked phones
Links
- The Metaverse Articles
- Samsung Galaxy Unpacked recap — Galaxy Z Flip 3 Bespoke and new Galaxy Watch 4 features
- Google's five years of software support for the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro has a relatively large caveat
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Will GCP ever catch up? Will Elizabeth Holmes see a single day inside of a prison cell?
Recorded Date: Sunday, October 17, 2021
Time Stamps
- 00:00:25: Will GCP ever catch up?
- 00:10:20: Theranos Trial
- 00:19:00: Portfolio Check
Highlights
- Wendy's is getting into the AI game
- Can GCP catch up to Azure?
- Elizabeth Holmes was Adam Neuman before Adam Neuman
- Will Elizabeth Holmes see the inside of a prison cell?
- Why aren't the CEOs and investors that funded Theranos being taken to task?
- Johnny missed the BABA train while Michael's $1 investment is paying off!
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Who are the top 5 currently tenured CEOs? Is Social Media bad for kids?
Recorded Date: Sunday, October 10, 2021
Time Stamps
- 00:00:25: Rank ‘Em - Top CEOs
- 00:09:20: Is Social Media Bad for Kids?
- 00:13:48: Portfolio Check
Highlights
- Reed Hastings inspired Apple TV+, Amazon Prime, Disney Plus
- Satya Nadella has returned $1T to investors since he became CEO
- Andy Jassy & Satya Nadella have very similar stories
- Dora the Explorer can certainly hear us
- Alibaba's stock is up!
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We give our takes on the numerous government hearings and evaluate Tim Cook's effectiveness as a CEO.
Recorded Date: Sunday, October 3, 2021
Time Stamps
- 00:00:25: What’s the word?
- 00:05:52: Is Tim Cook a good CEO?
- 00:17:04: Portfolio Check
Highlights
- What will Facebook do about Finsta?
- Congress wants the Google iPhone
- Apple has optimized itself to a $2T market
- Has Apple been more innovative under Tim Cook?
- You are holding it wrong
- What type of CEO does Apple need next?
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We debate on which government is doing a better job of managing its tech industry - China or the United States? Does China's ever firmer grip or the United States' loose handling win out?
Recorded Date: Sunday, September 26, 2021
Time Stamps
- 00:00:25: Have Chinese Regulators Gone too far?
- 00:12:12: Which Government is better for tech - USA or China?
- 00:25:58: Portfolio Check
Highlights
- Is China discouraging its future entrepreneurs?
- Can an Alibaba like company be founded under today's environment in China?
- Microsoft is small potatoes in the cloud computing industry
- Is China like a helicopter parent to its burgeoning companies?
- Captain America can't get a loan thanks to the FICO score
- Which country has created more innovations in their population's day to day lives?
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We look at 2021 Q1 earnings for some of the companies we had invested in - Alibaba, Roku, Bill.com and Peloton. We cover the numbers and discuss takeaways.
Recorded Date: Sunday, September 19, 2021
Time Stamps
- 00:00:25: News of the week
- 00:04:07: BABA
- 00:09:06: ROKU
- 00:13:17: BILL
- 00:16:40: PTON
Highlights
- Michael needs Touch ID back before he buys a new iPhone
- Russia is getting Apple & Google to do their dirty work
- Alibaba continues to be a strong business
- How overvalued is Roku's stock?
- Bill.com lost money but it's stock went up 20%
- Peloton is running in place (except its treadmill)
Links
- Everything Announced at Today's Apple Event
- Apple and Google bow to pressure in Russia to remove Kremlin critic’s tactical voting app
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We check in on our portfolios 2 months into our 1 year challenge. We share our learnings and what strategies and changes we will be making to our portfolios moving forward.
Recorded Date: Sunday, September 12, 2021
Time Stamps
- 00:00:25: News of the Week
- 00:06:06: Rebalancing the portfolios
Highlights
- Who are smart glasses for?
- Epic epicly lost their lawsuit against Apple, both sides declared Victory
- Disney is trying to keep its talent happy by sticking to theatrical releases moving forward
- Johnny learns about momentum trading
- Michael is going in on Chinese stocks
Links
- Facebook debuts its Ray-Ban Stories smart sunglasses
- APPLE AND EPIC BOTH LOST TODAY
- Disney says the rest of its 2021 slate of movies will have exclusive theatrical releases
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We look at Mr. Negative himself, Michael Burry, who is known for shorting the US housing market. We discuss his investment philosophy and whether that is a worthy investment strategy for the retail investor. We also walk through some shorting scenarios to get a better understanding of how it works.
Recorded Date: Sunday, September 5, 2021
Time Stamps
- 00:00:25: Michael Burry
- 00:04:50: Investment Philosophy
- 00:07:47: Do we want to invest like Michael Burry?
- 00:22:35: Portfolio Check
Highlights
- Michael wants you to swear to him
- Michael Burry is famous for shorting the US housing market
- Burry is an anti-Tesla and anti-ARK, and an early believer in GameStop
- At what price would you buy 100 shares of Amazon?
- You got to take taxes and inflation into account
Links
- Michael Burry, The Hedge Fund Genius Who Started GameStop’s 4,000% Rise, Sold Before Its Reddit Surge
- Michael Burry Bets Against Cathie Wood’s ARKK
- The Big Short (movie)
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We continue our series by looking at Charlie Munger's story and investment philosophy and whether that is a worthy investment strategy for the retail investor.
Recorded Date: Sunday, August 29, 2021
Time Stamps
- 00:00:25: Charlie Munger
- 00:06:20: Investment Philosophy
- 00:18:47: Do we want to invest like Charlie?
- 00:24:13: Portfolio Check
Highlights
- Charlie Munger is too busy for the socials
- Seize opportunities when they arrive
- Munger is a big believer of Alibaba
- Mike is the Charlie Munger of our podcast
- Munger is not a believer of Bitcoin or Robinhood
Links
- Daily Journal Corp. Holdings
- Poor Charlie's Almanack
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We continue our series by looking at Chamath Palihapitiya's involvement with SPACs, its closest equivalent for the retail investor, IPOs and whether that is a worthy investment strategy.
Recorded Date: Sunday, August 22, 2021
Time Stamps
- 00:00:25: News of the Week
- 00:16:16: Chamath Palihapitiya
- 00:32:17: Portfolio Check
Highlights
- Michael doesn't trust the TSA
- Social Media companies inconsistent policies regarding Afghanistan situation
- Chinese government is getting closer to its companies
- FTC continues to go after Facebook
- Chamath is now recently associated with SPACs
- Charles Schwab needs to allow its customers to raise money for SPACs
- Johnny's paper money is invested in some recently IPO'd companies
Links
- The Untold History of Facebook’s Most Controversial Growth Tool
- CNBC Explains - What is a SPAC?
- The Taliban have taken control of Afghanistan again. How did we get here?
- Chinese government acquires stake in domestic unit of TikTok owner ByteDance in another sign of tech crackdown
- FTC says Facebook has been a monopoly ‘since at least 2011’ in amended antitrust complaint
- FTC files renewed antitrust complaint against Facebook
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We continue our series by looking at Cathie Wood's investment approaches and debating on whether we want to invest like her.
Recorded Date: Sunday, August 15, 2021
Time Stamps
- 00:00:25: News of the Week
- 00:03:46: Portfolio Check
- 00:05:15: Cathie Wood
- 00:10:40: Do we want to invest like Cathie Wood?
- 00:24:23: Wrap Up
Highlights
- There's potential blood on the digital streets with the new Open App Markets Act bill
- Michael is against this bill as it is considered anti-trust
- Why are we talking about Cathie Wood?
- ARK Invest was investing in cryptocurrencies when Bitcoin was at $200 a coin
- ARK Invest believes in the disruption, not the disrupter
Links
- Cathie's Ark
- ARK Invest
- ARK Invest Youtube Channel
- Alux - Cathie Wood
- A new Senate bill would totally upend Apple and Google’s app store dominance
- Apple and Google seem spooked by bill requiring more app stores and sideloading
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We wrap up the portfolio building with ARK's last 2 funds - ARKF and ARKG. Let the competition begin!
Recorded Date: Sunday, August 8, 2021
Time Stamps
- 00:00:25: News of the Week
- 00:03:00: Our Picks
- 00:18:33: Locking in the Orders
Highlights
- Johnny's luck in the market has run out
- China is not done going after its tech companies
- Michael is going all in on Biotech companies
Links
- ARK Invest
- ARKF ETF
- ARKG ETF
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The portfolio building continues as we move to ARKW, ARKX, and ARKQ investment funds. We share our thoughts on each company, putting them in either our Buy, Watch or Pass lists.
Recorded Date: Sunday, August 1, 2021
Time Stamps
- 00:00:25: News of the Week
- 00:07:29: Our Picks
- 00:34:44: Locking in the orders
Highlights
- The market has taken a tumble, driven mostly by Chinese regulations
- China is giving its Big Tech companies a public spanking
- Ads and E-commerce are growing sectors with plenty of opportunity
- Michael believes in Okta as Johnny believes in Roblox!
- Space and war go together
Links
- ARK Invest
- ARKW ETF
- ARKX ETF
- ARKQ ETF
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The portfolio building continues as we go through the rest of ARKK's companies. We share our thoughts on each company, putting them in either our Buy, Watch or Pass lists.
Recorded Date: Sunday, July 25, 2021
Time Stamps
- 00:00:20: News of the Week
- 00:05:07: Our Picks
- 00:35:00: Locking in the orders
Highlights
- Robinhood is on its IPO roadshow
- Getaround is alive, kicking and getting fined
- Michael is declaring an early victory for his current 2% advantage
- Demand for Gambling and Gaming has increased tremendously
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We continue building our portfolios by going through the remainder of ARKK's investment holdings. We share our thoughts on each company, putting them in either our Buy, Watch or Pass lists.
Recorded Date: Sunday, July 18, 2021
Time Stamps
- 00:00:40: News of the Week
- 00:05:57: Our ARKK Portfolio Status
- 00:10:10: ARKK Companies
Highlights
- RIP Biz Markie
- Blend's recent IPO
- Fedex is investing $100M into Delhivery
- The shorts are coming for ARKK
- Michael is bullish on CRISPR companies
- Johnny is bearish on Biotech companies
- Johnny has $13 on Jack Dorsey's firms - he better deliver!
- Recently IPO'd companies could be good deals
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We start building our portfolios by going through ARKK's Top 10 investment holdings. We share our thoughts on each company, putting them in either our Buy, Watch or, Pass lists.
Recorded Date: Sunday, July 11, 2021
Time Stamps
- 00:00:21: News of the Week
- 00:06:53: ARKK Top 10
- 00:14:28: Our Picks
- 00:35:41: Locking in the orders
Highlights
- Rich people going to space and rich people going after rich people
- We won't say no to having Billionaire's problems and Trillion Dollar government's problems
- Michael believes in platforms, not products!
- We both believe in Shopify!
- Which of ARKK's top 10 will go up or down the most?
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We kick off our next series, Investing in Tech! We will cover the companies in ARK's Innovation ETF, ARKK. We will build an investment portfolio of these companies and see how our respective portfolios do over the next year. The Portfolio Bet is born!
Recorded Date: Sunday, July 2, 2021
Time Stamps
- 00:00:18: News of the Week
- 00:06:44: Investing in tech competition begins
- 00:09:42: Why we picked ARKK
Highlights
- Didi has finally IPO'd following in Uber's footsteps!
- Johnny is preparing to hunt some Bison
- ARKK has gained a lot of media attention due to its success over the past year
- We are starting an investing competition with weekly check-ins
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We wrap up our Global Fintech Tour by looking at the opportunities worldwide. We discuss our big three takeaways from the tour and conclude by debating the region with the most opportunity over the next 5 - 10 years.
Recorded Date: Sunday, June 26, 2021
Time Stamps
- 00:00:18: Takeaways from our FinTech Tour
- 00:01:17: The impact of COVID-19 on FinTech
- 00:02:41: Unbanked Populations
- 00:04:32: Impact of country politics
- 00:06:13: Region with the most opportunity
Highlights
- Digitalization was tremendously increased and sped up as a result of COVID-19
- Investments and valuations of FinTech companies has exploded
- No bank takes big bank - having an unbanked population creates bigger opportunities
- Politics & Policies dictate the FinTech opportunities of the respective country & the region
- Some governments see the opportunities and are willing to pursue them
- What is the right region for the next FinTech company to come out and dominate in?
- The grass is greener where you water it
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We explore FinTech opportunities in South East Asia. The discussion focuses on the range of FinTech maturity within the region, the potential threat that external players could pose before we wrap up with a discussion on the opportunities.
In News of the Week, the US government has introduced a new Federal Holiday, Juneteenth to commemorate the emancipation of African American slaves.
Recorded Date: Sunday, June 20, 2021
Time Stamps
- 00:00:18: Juneteenth officially recognized as a Federal Holiday
- 00:01:20: Southeast Asia
- 00:05:26: Singapore
- 00:10:20: Indonesia
- 00:13:40: External Players
- 00:16:52: Are there opportunities in this region?
Highlights
- We have a new last-minute US Federal Holiday, Juneteenth
- Southeast Asia is full of opportunities for FinTech and the vultures are circling around
- 290 out of 675 M people are unbanked in the region, equivalent to the US population
- 40 M people came online for the first time in early 2020 as a result of COVID-19
- Singapore's banks run laps around American and European ones
- Will external players come in and take over South East Asia?
Links
- Grab and others see big chance in ASEAN digital banking
- Southeast Asia’s Fintech Boom
- Fintechs Expanding Across South-East Asia in 2021
- e-Conomy SEA 2020 Report
- Worldwide credit use 2017
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We explore FinTech opportunities in the European heartland. The discussion focuses on the lack of Peer to Peer payment systems, and why Europe is behind other regions.
Recorded Date: Sunday, June 13, 2021
Time Stamps
- 00:00:18: Is there a need for a Pan-Europe P2P payment company in Europe
- 00:05:10: Why isn’t there a big company already?
- 00:08:30: Are there big FinTech opportunities in Europe?
Highlights
- Where's the European equivalent of the Peer to Peer payment systems seen around the world?
- Can Joom be successful with JoomPay as Alibaba was successful with AliPay?
- What innovation can you add to Europe?
- It is all soccer's fault
- We are not here to take part, we are here to take over!
Links
- Top 50 FinTech Companies in Europe
- FinTech Landscape in Europe, USA, and Asia
- Joompay unveils EU-wide P2P payments app
- Square acquires European P2P payment app Verse
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We move up north with our Fintech tour to France, where this week we cover Ingenico. We discuss what they do and how successful they are before jumping into our Rich Tech Poor Tech analysis. Finally, we discuss their future outlook and opportunities for them to consider.
In News of the Week, the Nigerian government has banned Twitter in retaliation to Twitter deleting a tweet from their President.
Recorded Date: Sunday, June 5, 2021
Time Stamps
- 00:00:18: News of the Week
- 00:04:20: Ingenico Overview
- 00:08:49: Industry Value
- 00:13:49: User Value
- 00:15:09: Societal Value
- 00:16:51: Verdict and Future Outlook
Highlights
- Nigeria has banned Twitter in retaliation to Twitter deleting a tweet by the Nigerian President
- Will we see a Nigerian Twitter?
- We go to France where Johnny pronounces the names correctly
- Ingenico (Europe) and Verifone (US) collectively process 80% of all card payments globally
- Has this industry become fully commoditized?
- Can Ingenico thrive in a mobile-first world with P2P-based payments on the rise?
- Can they build the Square of Europe?
Links
- Ingenico
- Ingenico vs Verifone
- Twitter blocked in Nigeria after deleting a tweet by its president
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Michael and Johnny continue their Fintech tour in the Middle East by exploring a range of FinTech startups, going over what they do and their closest American equivalent. Finally, we wrap up with a discussion on why we see so many overlaps between MENA and US-based FinTech startups.
In News of the Week, Ford has joined the electric revolution with their new electric F-150 Lightning; and Amazon's acquisition of MGM is official.
Recorded Date: Sunday, May 30, 2021
Time Stamps
- 00:00:18: News of the Week
- 00:04:54: MENA startup showcase
- 00:17:54: Wrap up
Highlights
- Trucks are going electric! Ford F150 Lightning is the newest electric truck!
- Bond, it's Amazon Bond with my buddies, The Rocky & The Creed
- MENA FinTechs are growing rapidly
- Lots of the MENA FinTech companies are 1 to 1 equivalent to US based FinTech companies
Links
- The top Middle Eastern fintechs to watch in 2021
- Fintech to drive UAE's growth in 2020
- A Growing Industry: 5 of the Middle East's Biggest Fintech Startups
- Amazon buys MGM Studios for $8.45B
- Ford Targets Real Truck Users With Its Electric F-150 Lightning, Priced From $40,000
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Michael and Johnny continue their Fintech tour in the Middle East by exploring the Saudi Arabia-based company, Paytabs. We give it a rich tech poor tech assessment, discuss its future outlook and growth strategies.
In News of the Week, we get some updates on the ever-evolving streaming wars - Disney Plus subscriber numbers disappoint, and AT&T is spinning off WarnerMedia and merging it with Discover.
Recorded Date: Sunday, May 23, 2021
Time Stamps
- 00:00:18: News of the Week
- 00:03:10: Paytabs
- 00:06:28: User and Societal value
- 00:11:57: Industry Value
- 00:14:30: Final Verdict and Future Outlook
Highlights
- It is Disney's turn to disappoint the streaming analysts with only 103 M vs. 109 M subscribers expected
- We have a new player in the ever-evolving streaming wars! WarnerBros + Discovery
- We go further east to the Middle East, specifically Saudi Arabia
- Saudi Arabia has a young highly tech-literate population and a vision to move to a completely cashless country in 10 years
- Paytabs is the Stripe of Saudi Arabia
- How can Paytabs evolve its service? Could it make it easier to launch online businesses?
Links
- Paytabs
- Saudia Arabia's open banking plans
- Subscriber growth disappointment at Disney Plus
- AT&T to Spin Off WarnerMedia & Merge It with Discovery
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Michael and Johnny continue their African Fintech tour by heading down South to discover South Africa's Yoco. We evaluate its success and give it a rich tech poor tech assessment. We discuss its future outlook and what it should focus on for future growth.
Recorded Date: Friday, May 14, 2021
Time Stamps
- 00:00:18: Yoco Overview
- 00:07:00: Industry
- 00:08:45: User Value
- 00:12:30: Societal Value
- 00:16:23: Final Verdict
- 00:19:21: Future Outlook
Highlights
- Antarctica is the biggest FinTech opportunity, being completely unbanked!
- Yoco is a Square like company helping small businesses run and grow their businesses
- With more time, will Yoco have more impact on society?
- Numbers don't lie and we don't have them!
- Yoco should follow the Square playbook
Links
- Yoco
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Michael and Johnny continue their African Fintech tour by heading North to cover Fawry. We evaluate its success and look at the value it has provided for both its users and society as a whole. Finally, we debate what industry it should be classified in and wrap up our Rich Tech Poor Tech analysis. We also discuss its future outlook and whether this is a model that other cash-based societies can adopt.
In News of the Week, Elon Musk makes history by being the first guest host of Saturday Night Live with Asperger's. His appearance, which was expected to raise Doge coin's price even higher, instead had the opposite effect.
Recorded Date: Sunday, May 9, 2021
Time Stamps
- 00:00:18: News of the Week
- 00:02:20: Fawry
- 00:05:29: User value
- 00:10:38: Societal Value
- 00:16:15: Industry
- 00:20:24: Final Verdict
- 00:20:53: Future Outlook
Highlights
- Elon Musk makes more history by being the first guest host with Asperger's in SNL history
- Fawry has simplified payments for Egyptians
- Egypt is a large unbanked cash based society
- The same benefits an individual derives also extends to society
- Is Fawry's success an example of de-bundling the full banking experience?
- Can Fawry do more by transforming itself into a digital wallet?
- Fawry hasn't changed the game - what are they missing?
- Is this the model that other cash based societies can pursue as a starting point?
- Enjoy the ride to the top until the government comes after you - see Ant Financial
Links
- Fawry
- Banking for the unbanked
- Youtube: Tech companies boost finanical inclusion in Egypt
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Michael and Johnny look at 2021 Q1 earnings for Apple, Amazon, Alphabet, Microsoft, Facebook, Tesla, and Netflix. We cover the numbers, discuss the trends, and find takeaways from another earnings season.
Recorded Date: Sunday, May 2, 2021
Time Stamps
- 00:00:18: Earnings
- 00:06:09: Trends
- 00:19:29: Takeaways
Highlights
- It's earnings seasons! We counting the mullah!
- Amazon and Apple are in a class of their own in terms of revenue
- Netflix is a laggard in this group
- Uber rich just doesn't mean the same anymore
- Youtube is about to bring in as much revenue as Netflix! Which decreases Michael's disappointment in Youtube.
- Facebook has discovered the secret of charging more for and showing more ads
Links
- BI: Apple Earnings
- CNBC: Apple Earnings
- CNBC: Amazon Earnings
- BI: Amazon Earnings
- CNBC: Microsoft Earnings
- CNBC: Tesla Earnings
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Michael and Johnny continue their African Fintech tour by heading East to another OG, M-Pesa. We evaluate its success before diving into our Rich Tech or Poor Tech analysis, where we look at the industry, incremental user value, and incremental societal value. Finally, we discuss M-Pesa's future outlook.
In News of the Week, Apple held its 'Spring Loaded' event unleashing new Air tags, updated iPad Pros, iMacs, a royal fitting Purple iPhone, and an Apple TV with a functional remote.
Recorded Date: Sunday, April 25, 2021
Time Stamps
- 00:00:18: News of the Week
- 00:01:56: M-Pesa
- 00:05:32: Industry
- 00:08:48: User Value
- 00:11:00: Societal Value
- 00:18:13: Final Verdict
- 00:18:55: Future Outlook
Highlights
- iPhone says hello to royalty!
- Our podcast has found another potential acquirer in Apple as they push into Podcasts with their redesign & Subscription service
- M-Pesa is the OG in mobile-based payments service
- Is M-Pesa a Rich Tech or Poor Tech service?
- How have individuals benefited from M-Pesa?
- Going from cash payments to digital payments can contribute to reducing corruption
- What took the banks so long to react to all these newer FinTech companies?
- Can M-Pesa go into ecommerce?
- The End game is to become a multinational megacorp! Just like the banks
Links
- Apple 'Spring Loaded' event announcements
- The Story of M-Pesa
- History of M-Pesa
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Michael and Johnny start their African Fintech tour by discussing one of the OG's, Interswitch. We evaluate its success before diving into our Rich Tech or Poor Tech analysis, where we look at the industry, incremental user value, and incremental societal value. Finally, we discuss Interswitch's future outlook.
In News of the Week, Coinbase has gone public via a direct listing with shares initially popping before dropping by end of the day.
Recorded Date: Sunday, April 18, 2021
Time Stamps
- 00:00:18: News of the Week
- 00:02:51: Interswitch
- 00:06:00: Industry
- 00:08:35: Incremental User Value
- 00:13:25: Incremental Societal Value
- 00:14:19: Final Verdict
- 00:15:37: Future Outlook
Highlights
- Coinbase has gone public via a direct listing - the stock exchange got listed on the stock exchange!
- Interswitch is one of the grand daddy's of African FinTech companies
- Interswitch's founder, Mitchell Elegbe set out to build the Nigerian fintech ecosystem
- Is Interswitch a Rich Tech or Poor company?
- The rise of Interswitch has directly contributed to a decrease in physical transactions
- Interswitch operates in over 20 countries across Africa
- Is Interswitch's future impact limited by the constraints of the Nigerian government?
- Can Interswitch contribute to the mobile money story that is lacking in Nigeria compared to Kenya?
- Can Interswitch take their ball to another country and capitalize on mobile money?
Links
- Coinbase IPO
- Visa 20% stake in Interswitch
- Payment Switch vs. Payment Gateway
- Podcast - Interswitch
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Michael and Johnny wrap up their US FinTech tour by reflecting on their learnings. They look at the US FinTech landscape, the common strategies that this new generation of FinTech companies have employed, and what opportunities still remain in the US.
In News of the Week, the Chinese government has fined Alibaba $2.8B for monopolistic practices - for forcing its Chinese merchants to sell exclusively on one e-commerce platform instead of letting them choose freely among different services.
Recorded Date: Sunday, April 10, 2021
Time Stamps
- 00:00:18: News of the Week
- 00:03:10: US Fintech Opportunities
- 00:05:06: Common Strategies
- 00:13:36: US opportunities?
- 00:19:45: Summary
Highlights
- Chinese government fines Alibaba $2.8 B for monopolistic practices - will the US follow suit with it's large tech companies?
- What are the FinTech opportunities in the United States?
- Companies are becoming banks to work with banks for people who are banked
- What common strategies are these companies employing?
- Do these companies have a cap on how large they can get that is determined by the existing giants?
- Michael learned budgeting and how to file taxes in high school
- How can we encourage the use of bitcoin as a currency vs. an investment?
Links
- Alibaba Group hit with record $2.8 billion
- Greenlight card
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Michael and Johnny look at COBOL, the 62 year old programming language that was brought to the forefront of everyone's mind last year during the early days of the pandemic. We discuss why it is relevant today more than ever, walk through its history and motivation behind its creation before wrapping up with a discussion on its future.
Recorded Date: Sunday, April 4, 2021
Time Stamps
- 00:00:18: Why are we talking about COBOL?
- 00:03:25: History of COBOL
- 00:12:36: Is COBOL here to stay?
Highlights
- Why is COBOL so important in 2021 62 years after it was created?
- COVID-19 pandemic brought COBOL to the forefront of people's minds
- There are over 200 billion lines of COBOL code in production today
- 43% of banking systems are built on COBOL and 95% percent of ATM swipes rely on COBOL code
- The government was highly involved in pursuing the advancement of technology in the 60s
- COBOL and the mainframe have been attached at the hip
- Any company that has been in business for more than 30 years uses mainframes and COBOL
- Who needs to interface at the level of COBOL and mainframes?
- Michael now believes in the blockchain as it is written in C++, not COBOL
Links
- Unemployment Checks are being held up by a coding language almost nobody knows
- 'COBOL Cowboys' Aim To Rescue Sluggish State Unemployment Systems
- Wanted urgently: People who know a half century-old computer language so states can process unemployment claims
- Programming Languages Genealogical Tree Simple
- Programming Languages Genealogical Tree FUll
- Who uses mainframes and why do they do it?
- Why The Mainframe Still Matters in 2020
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Michael and Johnny look at Coinbase, the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the US on the verge of going public. We first introduce Coinbase and discuss what factors led to its success. We evaluate its industry, incremental value to users and society before wrapping up with our Rich Tech Poor Tech verdict.
In News of the Week, Slack has made all of us one team via their new Slack Connect feature which they released before pulling back due to privacy concerns. It allowed anyone to directly message anyone else on Slack.
Recorded Date: Sunday, March 28, 2021
Time Stamps
- 00:00:18: News of the Week
- 00:01:46: Coinbase Intro
- 00:04:34: Industry
- 00:08:45: User Value
- 00:13:26: Societal Value
- 00:21:52: Final Verdict
Highlights
- We are all teammates now working at SlackForce thanks to Slack Connect
- Coinbase is successful by meeting the minimum requirements needed for an exchange
- What industry is Coinbase in?
- Have users gained a lot of value from Coinbase?
- Has Coinbase simply introduced people to the fine art of speculation?
- What value has Bitcoin added to society?
- Can Coinbase do more to help realize its mission?
- Coinbase hasn't increased the demand for Bitcoin
- Coinbase has built a successful business servicing an existing demand
Links
- Coinbase Going Public - What You Need to Know
- Coinbase IPO: Buy, Wait, or Avoid? (Why Chamath is worried)
- Coinbase Strategy Teardown
- The Fierce Battle for the Soul of Bitcoin
- Coinbase - Mission, Vision & Strategy
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Michael and Johnny look at Consumer Credit around the world. We first introduce the concept of credit, the culture of credit, and what it enables in terms of FinTech services. We look at credit around the world, who are the biggest players and card scheme issuers, and finally, we dive into specific country trends.
Recorded Date: Sunday, March 21, 2021
Time Stamps
- 00:00:18: Introduction To Credit
- 00:03:28: Credit around the world
- 00:07:25: Specific Country Trends
Highlights
- Is credit an innovation driver?
- In an alternative reality, Square is a briefcase company called Rectangle
- Global consumer Credit is not as big as we think it is in the West
- How is consumer credit used in different countries?
- What factors contribute to a country's willingness to use credit?
Links
- Top 5 Credit Card Companies in Nigeria
- Percent of people with credit cards
- Lending Tree - US Mortgage Statistics 2019
- Credit Cards - Ownership Statistics
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Michael and Johnny look at Plaid, the API service powering the hottest Fintech consumer apps today. We look at the "financial access" part of the Financial Service industry, discuss the value Plaid adds to its users and how society as a whole has benefited from it. We wrap up with a verdict and debate Plaid's future.
In News of the Week, one of Michael's Whiskey bets comes true - there is a new African Fintech Unicorn, Flutterwave, which raised $170M at a $1 B valuation.
Recorded Date: Sunday, March 14, 2021
Time Stamps
- 00:00:18: News of the Week
- 00:02:48: Plaid Intro
- 00:05:01: Industry
- 00:11:11: User Value
- 00:16:31: Societal Value
- 00:18:39: Final Verdict & Future
Highlights
- Michael's whiskey bet pays off - There is a new African Fintech Unicorn (Flutterwave)
- Plaid is helping power this new generation of consumer facing applications
- Plaid is in Financial Plumbing
- What value are users getting from Plaid?
- What value has society derived from Plaid?
- Could Plaid IPO in the next 12 - 18 months?
- If the banks came together to build a unified API, would Plaid be in trouble?
- Could they be an international player?
Links
- African payments company Flutterwave raises $170M, now valued at over $1B
- Plaid
- Quovo
- HBS Innovative Platforms - Plaid
- Fintech's Happy Plumbers
- Why Visa Paid $5.3B for Plaid
- The Hidden Power of Plaid
- Visa is acquiring Plaid for $5.3 billion, 2x its final private valuation
- Plaid & Visa broke up before getting together
- Plaid raising at $15bn as employees pitched $1,200 per share
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Michael and Johnny look at Intuit, the 3 decades old (surprising right?) company that has become the default way for 60% of individual tax filers in the US. We look at the “tax industry” as a whole, Intuit’s contributions or lack thereof to improving the overall tax system, and wonder whatever happened to all those innovative features that Mint was supposed to develop.
In News of the Week, Square acquires a majority stake in Tidal, the music streaming service co-founded by Jay-Z and his wealthy friends.
Recorded Date: Sunday, March 7, 2021
Time Stamps
- 00:00:18: News of the Week
- 00:03:14: Intuit Intro
- 00:04:24: Industry
- 00:08:39: User Value
- 00:15:19: Societal Value
- 00:17:53: Final Verdict
Highlights
- What's the sign of true friendship except for buying one's failing company?
- Square is acquiring a majority stake of Tidal - NFTs!
- What is Intuit's key strategy?
- Is Intuit a Rich Tech or Poor Tech company?
- What is the user value of all of Intuit's products?
- Intuit benefits from an overcomplicated tax law
- How valuable is Intuit to Society?
- Who is the most likely company to challenge Intuit's dominance?
Links
- Square’s $297 Million Tidal Deal Launches Its Music Dominance Quest
- Computer History Museum - The Intuit Story
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Michael and Johnny continue their FinTech series by looking at Insurance Technology companies Lemonade, MetroMile, and Root Insurance. We go over the founders' backgrounds, company histories, products, and keys to success. We dive into how they generate revenue and make a judgment on Rich Tech or Poor Tech.
We live stream on Twitch Sundays at 9:30 AM PST!
Recorded Date: Sunday, February 28, 2021
Time Stamps
- 00:00:18: Overview of Insurance Industry
- 00:04:12: Company Overviews
- 00:09:10: Products and Differentiation
- 00:17:20: Future Outlook
- 00:32:48: Rich Tech Poor Tech
Highlights
- $1.3T in insurance premiums was paid in the US in 2019.
- The top ten home insurance providers have an average of 104 years of company history
- What innovations/points of innovation are these companies providing?
- Is big alternative data and machine learning models enough of a differentiator?
- How much privacy are people willing to trade to save money on insurance?
- What does it say about an industry when the biggest differentiation is saving customers money?
- How much insurance do we really need vs. what we have been led to believe?
- Is Insurance Tech a Rich Tech or Poor Tech space?
- Root is an Insurance company using technology
- MetroMile is moving into the enterprise SaaS business
- Lemonade is not your typical insurance company
- If you're at 50%, you're not rich
Links
- Lemonade - Business Model
- B Corp
- Root Insurance
- Root - A Passion for Insurance: Growing Up in the Business
- Root - Business Model
- MetroMile
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Michael and Johnny continue their FinTech series by looking at SoFi. We go over the founders' backgrounds, company history, walk through its products, and its keys to its success. We dive into how they generate revenue, and determine whether it is a Rich Tech or Poor Tech company. We wrap up with a discussion on their future as they are about to IPO in the near future (2021 Q1).
In the News of the Week, Robinhood, Reddit, Melvin Capital & Roaring Kitty showed up in Congress to explain the GameStop stock debacle, and SpaceX's latest funding round brought its valuation to $75B.
We live stream on Twitch Sundays at 9:30 AM PST!
Recorded Date: Sunday, February 21, 2021
Time Stamps
- 00:00:18: News of the Week
- 00:04:08: Student Loan Debt
- 00:06:57: SoFi Founding
- 00:11:52: Products
- 00:15:09: Revenue Streams
- 00:19:44: Keys to Success
- 00:29:52: Rich Tech Poor Tech
- 00:44:05: Conclusions
Highlights
- Robinhood, Reddit, Melvin Capital & Roaring Kitty went to Congress
- Elon Musk's SpaceX recent funding round brings their valuation to $75B
- Americans owed more than $1.7T in student loans as of 2020Q3
- SoFi initially aimed to provide MBA students with no fee loans provided by alumni
- SoFi has effectively leveraged partnerships with other prominent companies
- HENRY - High Earners Not Rich Yet
- What incremental value has SoFi added to users and society as a whole?
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Michael and Johnny continue their FinTech series by looking at Robinhood. We go over the founders' backgrounds, company history, walk through its products, and keys to its success. We dive into how they generate revenue and the controversies they have been involved in. Finally, we determine whether it is a Rich Tech or Poor Tech company.
In the News of the Week, we discuss the growing opposition to NVidia's acquisition of ARM from the likes of Microsoft, Google, and Qualcomm.
We live stream on Twitch Sundays at 9:30 AM PST!
Recorded Date: Sunday, February 14, 2021
Time Stamps
- 00:00:18: News of the Week
- 00:04:44: Founders and History
- 00:13:00: Products
- 00:15:55: Keys to Success
- 00:24:37: How do they make money?/Controversies
- 00:41:39: Rich Tech Poor Tech
Highlights
- The Switzerland of Chip manufacturing is being invaded
- NVidia's acquisition of ARM is facing opposition from Google, Microsoft, and Qualcomm
- Robinhood - do they steal from the rich and give to the poor? Or do they steal from the rich and give to themselves?
- Lehman and Wall St's collapse was a pivotal moment for the co-founders
- When you don't charge through the front, you have to charge through the back
- Who pioneered Payment for Order Flow?
- What incremental value did Robinhood bring to the individual and society as a whole?
Links
- Google, Microsoft, Qualcomm Protest Nvidia’s Acquisition of Arm Ltd.
- Microsoft, Google, and Qualcomm are reportedly nervous about Nvidia acquiring Arm
- The Inside Story Of Robinhood’s Billionaire Founders, Option Kid Cowboys And The Wall Street Sharks That Feed On Them
- Youtube: How Robinhood Makes Money
- Youtube: How Robinhood App Crashed on the best day in Wall Street history
- Jared Leto, Snoop Dogg invest in Robinhood
- Google Ventures-backed app makers test wisdom of stock-picking crowd
- Crunchbase Company Profile
- Business Insider - Interview with Vlad Tenev
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Michael and Johnny look at 2020 Q4 earnings for Apple, Amazon, Alphabet, Alibaba, Microsoft, Facebook, and Tesla. We cover the numbers, discuss the market's reaction, and decipher if this is sustainable.
In the News of the Week, Jeff Bezos is stepping down as CEO to become the Chairman of Amazon, while Andy Jassy is becoming the CEO of Amazon.
We live stream on Twitch Sundays at 9 AM PST!
Recorded Date: Sunday, February 7, 2021
Time Stamps
- 00:00:18: News of the Week
- 00:02:27: Earnings Season
- 00:03:37: Apple
- 00:09:27: Amazon
- 00:20:26: Alphabet
- 00:27:05: Alibaba
- 00:31:43: Microsoft
- 00:36:29: Facebook
- 00:39:41: Tesla
Highlights
- Johnny's boss, Jeff Bezos is stepping down and Andy Jassy, AWS' CEO is becoming Amazon's CEO
- It's earnings season! One Hundred Billion Dollars+
- There were no bad earnings for Big Tech
- The party doesn't start until Apple walks in
- Apple brought in a record $111B+ in revenue - sales could have been more!
- Amazon booked a record $125.56B in revenue and shipped 1 billion + products
- For Google and Facebook, ads have bounced back
- Someone at Youtube has been heeding Michael's advice
- Alibaba continues to grow tremendously
- Facebook has called out Apple as a competitor
- Tesla delivered almost 500,000 cars over 2020 and achieved first year of profitability
- It is good to be in Big Tech - but is this sustainable? Can they maintain this rate of growth?
Links
- Amazon will have a new CEO as Jeff Bezos transitions to executive chair later this year
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Michael and Johnny look at Square and Cash App. We go over its company history, its founders, walk through its products, and its keys to success. We dive deeper into Cash App, how it differentiated itself from competing products like Venmo, and what it means for the larger FinTech ecosystem. Finally, we determine whether it is a Rich Tech or Poor Tech company.
In the News of the Week, Ant Group has proposed becoming a financial holding company, and a Reddit forum has driven GameStop and other stocks' prices through the roof bringing scrutiny to the trading app, Robinhood. Who are they robbing from?
We live stream on Twitch Sundays at 9 AM PST!
Recorded Date: Sunday, January 31, 2021
Time Stamps
- 00:00:18: News of the Week
- 00:08:15: Fintech National Tour 2021
- 00:09:21: Founders and History
- 00:17:40: Products
- 00:27:22: Keys to Success
- 00:35:15: Rich Tech Poor Tech
Highlights
- Ant Group has submitted a plan to restructure itself into a financial holding company with oversights by the Chinese regulators
- Reddit's WallStreetBets and their actions on GameStop and other stocks has captured the attention of the world
- Will Robinhood continue to operate?
- Square is an e-commerce ecosystem
- Square had 4 key people from its early days - Jack, Jim, Robert & Tristan
- It has a range of products serving small businesses (sellers) and consumers (buyers)
- What has led to Square's success? Who can take over their turf?
- Square's strategy summary: Never Settle & Be Cool
- Is Square a Rich Tech or Poor Tech company?
- If you outsource a hitman, you're not responsible for the death
Links
- Jack Ma's Ant Group reportedly plans to transform into a financial holding company overseen by China's central bank
- Twitter - The Untold Story of Reddit's Golden Investor: The God of $GME
- WallStreetBets Founder Reckons With Legacy Amid Stock-Market Frenzy
- Reuters - Square Company
- Square CFO Amrita Ahuja on firm’s ‘three horizons of growth,’ offering fractional share investing
- Tristan O’Tierney, Square co-founder, dies at 35
- Square Hardware Products
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Michael and Johnny look at the Brazilian neobank, Nubank. We look at its company history, walk through its products, and the keys to its success. We also share our outlook on the future of the company, what's its defensive moat, and how it could potentially differentiate itself from the larger banks. Finally, we determine whether it is a Rich Tech or Poor Tech company.
In the News of the Week, we cover the union-busting and delaying that happened at Instacart and Amazon.
We live stream on Twitch Sundays at 9 AM PST!
Recorded Date: Sunday, January 24, 2021
Time Stamps
- 00:00:18: News of the Week
- 00:04:20: Nubank Overview
- 00:04:56: Founders and History
- 00:20:53: Products and Keys to Success
- 00:28:31: Future Outlook
- 00:36:10: Rich Tech or Poor Tech
Highlights
- Unions are being busted in Tech - Instacart and Amazon
- Nubank is a Brazilian Neobank
- Nubank CEO: "Brazilian banks were akin to going through a first class security experience for an economy class treatment"
- Nubank has an 80-90% referral rate leading to no marketing expenses
- Michael flexes his Span-tuguese
- Johnny is learning some Portuguese
- Are they really going for the unbanked?
- Will they be a regional or global player?
- At what point will the large Brazilian banks start paying attention to Nubank?
- Can they be the AliPay for Brazil?
- What is Nubank's moat?
- Are they a Rich Tech or Poor Tech company?
- Nubank is still early in its journey
Links
- Instacart is firing every employee who voted to unionize
- Amazon tries to delay warehouse union vote in Alabama
- Nubank: About Us
- Build a Bank: Nubank with Edward Wible
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Michael and Johnny look at Alibaba's first subsidiary, the finance giant Ant Group. We look at its company history, walk through its products, and the keys to its success. We also discuss the recent controversy around its pulled IPO amidst the Chinese government's growing concerns about its monopoly power. Finally, we determine whether it is a Rich Tech or Poor Tech company.
In the News of the Week, we cover Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk duking it out for the wealthiest person; and we take a look at all the great products showcased during CES 2021.
We live stream on Twitch Sundays at 9 AM PST!
Recorded Date: Sunday, January 17, 2021
Time Stamps
- 00:00:18: News of the Week
- 00:06:07: ANT Group History
- 00:11:53: Products and Success
- 00:17:48: Monopoly Controversy
- 00:28:42: Rich Tech or Poor Tech
Highlights
- Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk are duking it out for the world's wealthiest person
- CES 2021 happened remotely this year
- Ant Group has grown from its start as an escrow service to offering a broad range of financial services
- It has 6 product lines
- Was Jack Ma correct to highlight the short comings of the Basel Accords?
- Were the Chinese regulators right to pull Ant Group's IPO?
- Is Ant Group a Rich Tech or Poor Tech company?
- If it acts like a duck and it quakes like a duck, we should regulate it like a bank
Links
- Is the Richest Person In the World Elon Musk or Jeff Bezos?
- Best of CES 2021
- Ant Group Company Profile
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Michael and Johnny look at Alibaba, the Chinese e-commerce giant. We look at Jack Ma's story of resilience and Alibaba's company history. We also discuss the keys to its success and determine whether it is a Rich Tech or Poor Tech company, finally we wrap with our Ideas of the Week for Alibaba.
In the News of the Week, we cover the de-platforming of President Trump following the violent protests at Capitol Hill and Slack giving everyone the first workday off by going down for a few hours.
We started live streaming on Twitch Sundays at 9 AM PST!
Recorded Date: Sunday, January 10, 2021
Time Stamps
- 00:00:18: News of the Week
- 00:10:37: Alibaba overview
- 00:14:30: The story of Jack Ma
- 00:21:59: The history of Alibaba
- 00:26:06: Keys to Success
- 00:35:09: Rich Tech or Poor Tech
- 00:43:07: Ideas of the Week
Highlights
- The De-platforming of President Trump following the violent protests at Capitol Hill
- Slack joined the big leagues (Amazon, Google) by showing they can also be down for a few hours on the first workday of the year
- Alibaba is not the Amazon of China - it is the Amazon, eBay, and Paypal of China
- Jack Ma's story is very inspiring - so many failures led to such resilience and perspective
- How does an English teacher become the multi-billionaire Founder/CEO/Chairman of a global tech company?
- What made Alibaba so successful?
- Could anyone else have built Alibaba into what it is today?
- Is Alibaba a Rich Tech or Poor Tech company?
- How can you grow Alibaba?
Links
- The deplatforming of President Trump
- A major Slack outage welcomed us back to work this morning
- Alibaba Group
- Meet the 18 original founders of Alibaba
- Understanding the Alibaba Business Model
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Michael and Johnny begin the new year with the inaugural Whiskey Bet. We each make 5 bold predictions followed up by our early picks for Company and Person of the Year in 2021. We wrap up by discussing potential Stock Fails of 2021 - which stocks will end 2021 in worse shape than they entered it?
In the News of the Week, we cover the China vs Alibaba/Jack Ma news which had resulted in Ant Group's IPO being pulled last November, Amazon entering the Podcast space by acquiring Wondery, and finally Adobe sunsetting Flash for good.
Recorded Date: Sunday, January 3, 2021
Time Stamps
- 00:00:18: News of the Week
- 00:07:34: New Years Resolutions & Predictions
- 00:23:58: Summary of Bets
- 00:26:15: Company/Person of the Year Predictions
- 00:34:00: Stock Fails of the Year
Highlights
- What will happen this year? Who's predictions will come true?
- Jack Ma and Alibaba are in trouble with the Chinese government - Where is Jack Ma?
- Amazon purchases Wondery, taking its first step into becoming our potential parent company
- Begun the Podcasting wars have
- Adobe is finally sunsetting Flash
- What will happen to Google Cloud Platform? Can TikTok save Oracle Cloud?
- Are At Home Stocks eventually screwed? Can the likes of Zoom and Peloton survive?
- Michael wants to introduce Drive-By Vaccinations
- Will big conferences be held elsewhere instead of in the USA?
- Will any Big Tech companies be broken up this year?
- Will another Unicorn come out of Africa this year?
- Who's likely to get bought? Zoom or Okta?
- How will Disney+ perform this year?
- Will there be more Unicorns created in the East than the West this year?
Links
- How China Lost Patience With Jack Ma, Its Loudest Billionaire
- Amazon Buys Wondery as Podcasting Race Continues
- Adobe Flash rides off into the sunset
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Michael and Johnny host the inaugural Golden Compass Awards of 2020. We have awards across categories ranging from stock and innovation to person, product, and breakout company of the year. Our committee has debated long and hard to decide the winners.
Recorded Date: Sunday, December 27, 2020
Time Stamps
- 00:00:18: Golden Compass Intros
- 00:01:55: Stock of the Year
- 00:04:42: Innovation of the Year
- 00:08:20: Breakout company of the year
- 00:11:34: The Next Up Award
- 00:14:20: Person of the Year
- 00:17:50: Product of the Year
- 00:21:46: Non-American Company of the Year
- 00:26:24: Company of the Year
- 00:31:40: Spotlight Awards
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Michael and Johnny wrap up the top Tech stories of 2020 from 5 to 1. From the Streaming Wars to the growth in Cloud Computing services, to the rise of remote work and the at-home economy, 2020 has been full of both the highest of highs and lowest of lows.
In the News of the Week, Facebook is hitting back on Apple via a newspaper ad regarding Apple's new iOS 14 opt-in privacy settings, Google had an outage across several different services due to issues arising while migrating user authentication system.
Recorded Date: Sunday, December 20, 2020
Time Stamps
- 00:00:18: News of the Week
- 00:09:17: The Streaming Wars
- 00:14:40: The Growth of Cloud
- 00:19:15: The rise of Remote Work
- 00:22:03: The Bytedance Sale
- 00:30:18: WFH stocks
Highlights
- Facebook is hitting back at Apple regarding their new iOS 14 opt-in privacy settings via an ad in the newspaper
- Google had multiple outages across its various products while attempting to migrate user authentication systems
- Began the stream wars have and we have our first casualty
- The increasing embrace and growth of Cloud Computing Services
- Johnny has graduated from Mr AWS to Mr Cloud
- The world of work has gone remote
- TikTok and WeChat were almost banned!
- The rise of work from home and its ramifications
Links
- Facebook hits back at Apple with second critical newspaper ad
- Google Blames Gmail, YouTube Outage on Error in User ID System
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Michael and Johnny look at the most entertaining Tech fails of 2020. From Microsoft calling it quits on the Live Streaming wars to the Twitter hack or Quibi's failures; we cover the bad, hilarious, and funny failures of 2020.
In the News of the Week, Oracle and Hewlett Packard along with Elon Musk are moving out of the San Francisco Bay Area, the US government and 46 state attorney generals have launched antitrust lawsuits against Facebook, and Uber has sold off its self-driving car and flying taxis divisions.
Recorded Date: Sunday, December 13, 2020
Time Stamps
- 00:00:18: News of the Week
- 00:05:56: Mixer is shut down
- 00:16:05: The Twitter Hack
- 00:21:39: Bots take over retail
- 00:29:19: Quibi's untimely ending
- 00:41:00: Future fails?
Highlights
- Companies and people are continuing to leave the Bay Area with Oracle, HP, and Elon Musk being the latest to announce
- US government and 46 state attorney generals have launched antitrust lawsuits against Facebook
- Uber has sold its self-driving and flying cars groups
- Today, we look at the bad, hilarious and funny
- Where did Microsoft go wrong with Mixer? Why didn't they better integrate with Xbox Live?
- Michael will be waiting a long time for his Christmas Playstation 5 present
- Who has actually bought a Playstation 5/Xbox Series X that they don't plan on selling?
- How many ways can you lose $2 B in 6 months?
Links
- Oracle is headed to Texas now, too
- U.S. government, states launch antitrust lawsuits against Facebook
- Motor Mouth: Uber is in full retreat
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Michael and Johnny look at the top Tech stories of 2020 from 10 to 6. From new Tech IPOs and trillion-dollar companies to the massive number of tech layoffs, 2020 has been full of both the highest of highs and lowest of lows.
In the News of the Week, Slack is being acquired by Salesforce, AWS had kicked off its annual conference, Re:Invent which will be a 3-week virtual conference this year; and finally, Google has another unhappy former employee with AI Ethics leader, Timnit Gebru leaving after being told to retract a paper from an upcoming conference.
Recorded Date: Sunday, December 6, 2020
Time Stamps
- 00:00:18: News of the Week
- 00:10:50: Programming Schedule for rest of year
- 00:12:30: The return of big tech IPOs
- 00:21:27: The rise of Tesla
- 00:24:49: Tech layoffs due to COVID
- 00:32:41: Processor breakthroughs
Highlights
- Slack is getting acquired by Salesforce for slacking off
- Will Salesforce acquire Okta next with its current enterprise software acquisition streak?
- AWS ReInvent has started with 3 weeks of cloud fun & new product announcements
- Google had an HR snafu with AI Ethics leader, Timnit Gebru
- We cover stories 10-6 this week and then 5-1 in 2 weeks
- Plenty of Tech IPOs this year
- 4 Tech companies are now worth more than $1 Trillion
- This has been Tesla's year
- Layoffs.fyi lists laid off tech workers (for those hiring)
- With the gig economy, how many more people that aren't full-time employees were impacted?
- The innovation of the year goes to Apple's M1 & Nvidia's new 3000 GPU series and the continued rise of ARM
Links
- Salesforce buys Slack in a $27.7B megadeal
- How Microsoft crushed Slack
- Andy Jassy’s 10 Boldest Statements At AWS re:Invent 2020
- Timnit Gebru’s actual paper may explain why Google ejected her
- More than 1,200 Google workers condemn firing of AI scientist Timnit Gebru
- We read the paper that forced Timnit Gebru out of Google. Here’s what it says
- Youtube - How Apple Just Changed the Entire Industry
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Michael and Johnny look at Paystack, the Nigerian Payments company recently acquired by Stripe for $200 M. We look at its history, it's co-founders' background, discuss its keys to success, the future outlook for the company, and the overall ecosystem, before wrapping up with our Rich Tech Poor Tech analysis.
In the News of the Week, Tiktok has received yet another extension to sell their US based business, Tony Hseih, the influential former Zappos CEO has unfortunately passed away, and AWS suffered an outage while trying to increase capacity for one its services.
Recorded Date: Sunday, November 29, 2020
Time Stamps
- 00:00:18: News of the Week
- 00:11:40: What is Paystack?
- 00:21:10: Keys to Success
- 00:33:37: Rich Tech Poor Tech
Highlights
- Tiktok has received another extension to sell their US business
- Tony Hseih's untimely passing on November 27th - CEO of Zappos, worked on revitalizing the old downtown of Las Vegas
- AWS had an outage in one of their regions while trying to increase capacity for one of their services, knocking out a good portion of websites and connected devices
- Paystack, the great Nigerian payments company recently acquired by Stripe for $200 M
- Paystack is doing 5 times the volume what Nigeria was doing 5 years ago in terms of online payments
- Should Paystack have remained independent? Should the Nigerian government have prevented the acquisition?
- Will this acquisition spur a wave of acquisitions from Paystack's other big investors, Visa and Tencent?
- How much more would it have cost Stripe to build a Paystack competitor?
- Is Paystack a Rich Tech or Poor Tech company?
Links
- ByteDance gets another extension from US government for TikTok sale
- Tony Hsieh, Zappos Luminary Who Revolutionized the Shoe Business, Dies at 46
- Prolonged AWS outage takes down a big chunk of the internet
- Paystack
- The Paystack Story - Interview with Cofounder/CTO
- Building from Ground Up with Shola Akinlade, CEO - Paystack
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Michael and Johnny look at Rocket Internet, the Germany based Internet company known for its wide range of technology startup investments such as Jumia, HelloFresh, Zolando, etc. We look at its history, its co-founders' background, its model and share our thoughts on why we feel the way we feel about this company before concluding with our Rich Tech Poor Tech analysis.
In the News of the Week, Airbnb has filed its IPO paperwork for December despite the difficult year the travel and hospitality industry has faced; and Apple's ARM based M1 Mac computers are off to a great start with a flurry of positive reviews. Is it time that we trade in our intelligence for our arms?
Recorded Date: Sunday, November 22, 2020
Time Stamps
- 00:00:18: News of the Week
- 00:07:30: Rocket Internet - Why the Hate?
- 00:12:50: The Rocket Model
- 00:32:38: Necessary Evil?
- 00:39:06: Rich Tech Poor Tech
Highlights
- Airbnb has finally filed its IPO plans for December
- Apple's new ARM based M1 Mac computers are off to some great reviews
- Rocket Internet, the tech colonizers
- Michael has no sympathy for the devil
- Rocket Internet is a European internet company co-founded by 3 German brothers
- Rocket Internet is Germany efficiency at its best when applied to Software/Tech Entrepreneurship
- Do we hate them or we do secretly admire them?
- How different are Silicon Valley companies from Rocket Internet?
- There's a difference between bringing Amazon to a new country vs. localizing a e-commerce business to the local needs
- Rocket Internet is proving what others have been unable to do - there is opportunity in previously ignored areas/markets
- Do you hate the player or hate the game?
- Silicon Valley built Silicon Valley - no external entity could have built it
- Is Rocket Internet a Rich Tech or Poor Tech company?
- Can Rocket Internet's model last? Are they not creating their nonexistence by showcasing that there are opportunities out there
Links
- Apple’s first-gen M1 chips have already upended our concept of laptop performance
- Why Apple’s M1 Chip Could be a Real Threat to Intel and AMD
- Long-Awaited Airbnb IPO Emerges From Coronavirus Wreckage
- Rocket Internet
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Michael and Johnny look at Tencent, one of China's largest technology companies, and discuss its history, its founders, keys to its fast and vast success, as well as its parallels with Facebook before wrapping it up with whether it is a Rich Tech or Poor Tech company.
In the News of the Week, TikTok feels forgotten by the US government, Uber is reconsidering its driverless future, Bots have resulted in Playstation 5/Xbox Series X prices reaching thousands of dollars, and last but not least Pfizer's recently announced 90% effective vaccine has had repercussions for all of the Stay At Home stocks.
Recorded Date: Sunday, November 15, 2020
Time Stamps
- 00:00:18: News of the Week
- 00:12:18: Tencent History
- 00:19:59: Keys to success
- 00:21:46: Tencent vs Facebook - brothers from a different mother?
- 00:36:02: Rich Tech Poor Tech
Highlights
- The Trump administration has forgotten about trying to ban TikTok, so TikTok would like to know what’s up
- Uber is reportedly considering selling its Self Driving Car unit, Uber Advanced Technologies Group (ATG)
- Pfizer's 90% effective vaccine has resulted in the stay at home stocks taking a tumble
- Bots have hogged the Playstation 5/Xbox Series X sales and resulted in online resale values of thousands of dollars
- On top of being 50 cent's younger yet more successful sibling, Tencent does everything software related
- What factors led to Tencent's success today? Was it their embrace of payments early on?
- Do Tencent and Facebook parallel each other in their history up until Tencent embraced payments around 2014?
- Was Facebook's inability to operate in China what allowed Tencent to leap forward?
- Is Tencent modern-day Sony?
- Is Tencent a Rich Tech or Poor Tech company?
Links
- TikTok says the Trump administration has forgotten about trying to ban it, would like to know what’s up
- Uber reportedly may sell its self-driving car division to rival Aurora
- Pfizer says COVID-19 vaccine is looking 90 percent effective
- Zoom and other ‘stay-at-home’ stocks got crushed on the positive vaccine news
- PS5 and Xbox Series X scalpers are currently seeking upwards of $5,000 on eBay
- China Internet Users Growth 1
- China Internet Users Growth 2
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Michael and Johnny continue their discussion on SoftBank, focusing on their Vision Fund, their impact on the startup world, and more recently their adventures in the US stock market.
In the News of the Week, the Chinese government delays Ant Group's IPO in a bid to introduce further regulation; and Proposition 22 passes in California which will allow gig workers the flexibility they desire with additional benefits.
Recorded Date: Sunday, November 8, 2020
Time Stamps
- 00:00:18: News of the Week
- 00:06:22: Follow the money vision fund structure
- 00:11:28: What happens when you throw money around?
- 00:13:30: King Maker or Bubble Maker?
Highlights
- Ant Group's record IPO has been delayed by the Chinese government so they can introduce stricter regulations
- Proposition 22 passed in California - the areas that voted against it were mostly in the tech-based counties
- Does tech continue to be out of touch with its users?
- We need to have more compassion, not just more empathy
- Inspired by Son, Johnny has a $100 M vision for our podcast
- SoftBank has to return $120 B in returns for it to break even in its Vision Fund I venture
- SoftBank has diversified its money-making operations, becoming one of the largest options traders in the US stock market
- Is this another example of an out of control founder with a practically unlimited money fund?
- Do people still trust SoftBank's investing decisions enough to follow them? Has their recent track record hurt them?
- SoftBank is a net giver of opportunities via the investments they make - not everyone is mature enough to handle those opportunities
Links
- In Halting Ant's IPO, China Sends a Warning to Business
- Proposition 22 passes: What the gig work measure means for drivers, customers
- Vision Fund
- SoftBank Vision Fund Complicated Future
- I wouldn't take that money - Saudi Arabia SoftBank Investment
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Michael and Johnny look at 2020 Q3 earnings for Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google. We cover the numbers and debate the market's reaction, and what is next in terms of growth for each of these companies.
In the News of the Week, Ant Group is expected to go public raising a record $34 B, and lockdowns are back in Europe.
Recorded Date: Sunday, November 1, 2020
Time Stamps
- 00:00:18: News of the Week
- 00:07:48: Amazon
- 00:18:56: Apple
- 00:26:54: Facebook and Alphabet
- 00:41:33: Wrap up
Highlights
- Lockdowns are back with a vengeance!
- Michael has embraced work from home until the end of 2021
- We are on the verge of the US Elections
- Ant Group is about to pull off the largest IPO by raising $34 B and valued at over $300 B
- Amazon continues to shatter all records with e-commerce overtaking AWS in terms of revenue growth
- Amazon has 50% more employees this year than last year
- Apple's services business continues to grow as it can't find more people to sell its phones to
- Why did Google's stock go up while the rest fell after announcing earnings?
- How quickly can Facebook become America's WeChat?
- Can Facebook serve as an alternative selling place for brands instead of Amazon?
Links
- Ant Group IPO
- Amazon Press Release
- Business Insider
- Amazon Pandemic Savings
- Apple Press Release
- Apple Earnings
- Apple Earnings 2
- Facebook Press Release
- Facebook earnings
- Earnings Transcript
- Google Earnings
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Michael and Johnny look at the recently unmasked NASDAQ Whale, Former VC Extraordinaire SoftBank. We cover its visionary founder, Masayoshi Son's story, SoftBank's history and investments.
In the News of the Week, Quibi is shutting down, Snap had a great 3rd quarter, and Twilio is acquiring Segment.
Recorded Date: Sunday, October 25, 2020
Time Stamps
- 00:00:18: News of the Week
- 00:08:00: Softbank History
- 00:18:48: Notable Acquisitions
- 00:25:04: Financials
Highlights
- Michael correctly predicted Quibi would shut down before the end of the year
- Snap had a great 3rd quarter - is this the start of their redemption arc?
- TikTok is stories
- Twilio's Segment acquisition is interesting!
- SoftBank is a ubiquitous power behind a lot of the things in the tech world
- Mark Cuban is the American Masayoshi Son
- SoftBank has been riding the right waves in technology trends since its founding
- Would SoftBank have been allowed to acquire a majority stake in a major American telecommunications firm today?
- SoftBank has the Infinity Gauntlet of the Ride-Sharing Industry
- SoftBank may be the only technology company that is known more for its investments in other firms than its own products/services - should it still be considered a technology company?
Links
- Quibi shut down in early December
- Snap stock rockets up after surprise earnings beat
- Twilio confirms it is buying Segment for $3.2 B in all-stock deal
- Wikipedia: SoftBank
- What is SoftBank? (youtube)
- SoftBank dominates the global ride-sharing industry
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Michael and Johnny look at the recent tech IPOs - Asana, Snowflake, SumoLogic, and Palantir. We discuss their histories, business models, and future outlooks in terms of whether they are a worthy investment or not.
In the News of the Week, Apple has new iPhones and Stripe continues its international expansion with the acquisition of Nigeria's Paystack.
Recorded Date: Sunday, October 18, 2020
Time Stamps
- 00:00:18: News of the Week
- 00:04:12: Asana
- 00:10:30: Snowflake
- 00:20:04: SumoLogic
- 00:22:20: Palantir
Highlights
- It's time for another iPhone!
- Stripe acquired the rest of Nigeria's Paystack
- Asana is striving to make us all more productive and efficient at work!
- But they are making more money and losing more money - will they remain an independent company?
- Snowflake's stock has skyrocketed since their IPO last month
- Will Snowflake get acquired?
- Can SumoLogic carve a niche for itself in the industry?
- Palantir should be considered a defense contractor firm instead of a Silicon Valley tech firm
- Will Palantir be better served by going public vs remaining private?
Links
- Apple's new iPhone 12 Series
- Stripe's Paystack acquisition
- Snowflake White Paper
- Snowflake vs Redshift
- 5 Things to Know about Asana's direct listing
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That's ITT! The Finale! Michael and Johnny wrap up their International Technology Tour with a Finale episode. We discuss our surprises and learnings before ranking the top tech hubs over the next 10 years and in 30 years.
In the News of the Week, Oracle and Google go back to the Supreme Court, Apple vs Fortnite legal battle continues, and IBM is splitting itself into two companies (IBM & New Co. very original!).
Recorded Date: Sunday, October 11, 2020
Time Stamps
- 00:00:21: News of the Week
- 00:06:35: Wrap Up ITT
- 00:18:25: Ranking areas we are most excited about
Highlights
- Oracle and Google are back in front of the Supreme Court where Java was compared to a bunch of things
- Apple won't be forced to bring back Fortnite on the App Store
- IBM is splitting itself up into 2 companies
- Our first International Tech Tour comes to an end
- There is plenty of innovation outside of Silicon Valley & the USA
- What attributes contribute to the difference in entrepreneurship between North America and Europe?
- The common Success Factors - government policies, high-quality educational institutions, capital
- There are many fintech models across the world
- What are the exciting tech hubs for the next decade? How about by 2050?
Links
- Supreme Court Hears Copyright Battle Between Google and Oracle
- Apple Does Not Need to Return Fortnite to App Store, Judge Rules
- IBM to split into two companies by end of 2021
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Michael and Johnny continue their International Technology Tour in the Great White North, AKA Canada. Covering the big guys first, we discuss Nortel and BlackBerry, before jumping to trends and an overview of the startup scene. We wrap up with Johnny sharing his philosophy on immigration and thoughts on the future of Canada's tech scene.
In the News of the Week, Google has their turn in having their new product announcements covered - new Pixel phones, Google Chromecast and Nest Audio are coming soon!
Recorded Date: Sunday, October 4, 2020
Time Stamps
- 00:00:32: News of the Week
- 00:04:35: Canada Tech
- 00:09:51: Nortel and Blackberry
- 00:22:25: Trends
- 00:26:40: Startup Scene
- 00:31:50: The Future of Canada
Highlights
- Google had a busy week with its new product announcements
- Canada is so special, it gets its own episode!
- Canada's big tech companies tend to be more service-based vs product based
- BlackBerry continued to grow 4 years after Apple's iPhone was released
- BlackBerry could have been part of the Trilogy of Mobile OS's had they acted sooner
- Canada has lots of foreign money in the form of American funding
- Toronto alone has created more tech jobs than any other tech hub in North America in the past 5 years
- There's plenty of opportunity for Canadian firms to chart their own paths a la Shopify without being acquired by a larger foreign group
Links
- The 7 biggest announcements from Google’s Pixel 5 event
- Nortel
- BlackBerry Limited
- Canada Startup Scene
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Michael and Johnny continue their International Technology Tour in Latin America. Starting off with an overview of their top 10 largest companies and largest industries, we look at notable tech hubs, startups, and trends. Wrapping up, we compare and contrast the Latin America tech scene maturity with that of Africa's, given their similarities.
In the News of the Week, we cover the slew of product announcements from Amazon covering their Alexa devices, new Ring surveillance drone and more.
Recorded Date: Sunday, September 27, 2020
Time Stamps
- 00:00:19: News of the Week
- 00:10:19: Latin America Largest Companies
- 00:22:07: Growing tech Hubs
- 00:31:30: Wrapping Up
Highlights
- Amazon had a set of product announcements
- The top 10 largest companies are made up of 5 Mexican, 4 Brazilian, and 1 Chilean company
- If everyone else is doping, you'd have to be a dope not to dope
- Brazil created its aircraft industry out of a need to connect its coastal cities (Embraer)
- Chile, Mexico, and Brazil are known to have notable tech hubs on the continent
- There is a lot of promising tech activity in South America
- Comparing and contrasting the state of tech in Africa vs South America
Links
- Amazon's fall hardware event
- Wikipedia: South America Economy
- South America Offshore Oil Global Leader
- Wikipedia: Latin America economy
- Top 25 companies by revenue
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Michael and Johnny continue their International Technology Tour by exploring Africa's startup scene. Starting off with an overview of the continent's tech hubs, we look at notable startups, discussing the first 'African' tech IPO on the New York Stock Exchange, and observe some companies that are solving problems unique to the continent.
In the News of the Week, we cover the latest on the TikTok deal (Oracle & Walmart), the US government turning their attention to Tencent, the pre-order fiasco of the new NVidia video cards, and Snowflake's IPO.
Recorded Date: Sunday, September 20, 2020
Time Stamps
- 00:00:18: Packed News Week
- 00:13:00: African Startup Scene
- 00:15:33: Incubators and Accelerators
- 00:20:01: Notable Startups
- 00:44:59: Final thoughts on Africa Tech
Highlights
- It's all about the startups :)
- Oracle & Walmart are in the final running for acquiring parts of TikTok
- NVidia has moved forward with their ARM purchase from SoftBank
- Africa is one of the fastest-growing tech markets in the world by volumes, YOY expansion in VC, startup formation, and tech hubs
- There are over 400 active hubs, accelerators, and incubators
- You can't talk about Jumia without talking about Rocket Internet
- There are interesting startups solving problems unique to the continent
- Technology outpaces government
- Foreign entrepreneurs should ensure the benefits of a successful venture are also returned to local communities
- We don't want the tech industry to become like the mining industry
- Where are the wealthy Africans? Why are they not more involved in the tech industry in a larger capacity?
- We are excited about the promise of the tech industry in the continent
Links
- Diving deep into Africa's blossoming tech scene
- A look at Africa's 443 tech hubs
- Africa's record level startup investment in 2018
- CCHub Nigerian
- MEST
- iHub
- The Jumia Mafia
- Why 2019 was a hot year for Africa's tech startup
- 10 African startups to watch 2020
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Michael and Johnny continue their International Technology Tour by exploring Africa's traditional industries - oil, mining; China's Belt and Road initiative within the continent; and the largest companies by market capitalization.
In the News of the Week, we cover Apple's evolving App Store policies, Microsoft's next-gen Xbox consoles, upcoming Apple and Sony Playstation events, and Nvidia potentially buying ARM from SoftBank (as of the episode recording).
Recorded Date: Sunday, September 13, 2020
Time Stamps
- 00:00:18: News of the Week
- 00:09:24: Overview
- 00:15:51: Telecomms
- 00:24:18: Oil
- 00:33:02: Mining
- 00:39:42: Belt and Road
Highlights
- Apple is evolving its App Store policies to appease developers
- Microsoft has released the details of their next-gen Xbox consoles
- Upcoming week of Apple and Sony Playstation events
- Nvidia potentially buying ARM from SoftBank (as of episode recording)
- Our cities are covered in smoke
- Today, we land on the great continent of Africa
- The most valuable company in Africa is a tech company
- The largest Africa telecommunications company is the 8th largest in the world
- Safaricom's MPESA is one of the first successful mobile money-based systems
- Canada is secretly an African country bordering Wakanda
- Africa's mining industry is the largest in the world
- China's Belt & Road initiative covers 3 continents encompassing 60% of the world population
- The 65 countries that have signed onto the program account for 30% of the world's GDP and 75% of its energy reserves
Links
- Apple's new App Store guidelines
- Africa's largest companies by market value
- MTN Group
- MTN Group Controversies
- List of Mobile Network Operators
- Safaricom
- African Oil Corp
- Sonatrach
- Inside Africa's Oil & Gas Industry in 2019
- Africa's Top 5 Oil & Gas Investment Hotspots
- Leading mining companies in Africa by 2019 revenue
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Michael and Johnny continue their International Technology Tour by exploring Europe's startup scene. Starting off with an overview of the continent followed up by looking at the up and coming Swiss Crypto Valley and UK's various tech hubs, finally, we wrap up with some honorable mentions from the rest of the continent.
In the News of the Week, we discuss Apple's statement regarding their stance on the new Chinese privacy rules regarding Hong Kong user data and their recent delay for iOS Ad Tracking software changes.
Recorded Date: Sunday, September 6, 2020
Time Stamps
- 00:00:18: Apple in the news
- 00:09:43: European Startup Scene
- 00:16:29: Swiss Crypto Valley
- 00:30:24: UK Hubs
- 00:39:36: Honorable Mentions
- 00:43:54: Wrapping Up
Highlights
- Why is Apple suddenly delaying their iPhone Ad Tracking Changes that rattled the Ad Industry? What is their motivation for delaying this?
- London, Berlin, and Paris have accounted for the lion's share of the VC funding and are home to some of the largest startups on the continent
- Venture capital is diversifying and growing in other areas - Spain, Belgium, Italy, Denmark, etc
- European Startups raised a record over $34 B in 2019 alone
- Zug, a town with a population of ~30K is the home to Switzerland's Crypto Valley has over 800 crypto companies
- The UK has several tech hubs - Silicon Roundabout, Silicon Glen, Silicon Fen, Silicon Gorge
- Several ingredients that contribute to an area becoming a tech hub: easy of access to transportation, favorable government policies, access to universities/research facilities, and access to funding (VC, corporate)
- European startup scene continues to mature
Links
- Next Silicon Valley is in Europe
- Switzerland's Crypto Valley
- Switzerland's Crypto Valley seeks government bailout
- Swiss Financial Authority Releases ICO-Specific Regulatory Guidelines
- Berlin Silicon Allee
- UK Tech Investments
- Apple Delays iPhone Ad Tracking Changes That Rattled Industry
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Michael and Johnny continue their International Technology Tour by traveling West to Europe. We look at the largest companies by market cap which span the following industries - Enterprise, Telecommunications, Semiconductors, Payments and Services.
In the News of the Week, we discuss Chadwick Boseman's untimely passing and his strength for making over 8 movies while fighting late-stage cancer. We discuss the latest on the ongoing Epic vs Apple legal battle, and Tiktok's continuing will they sell? drama.
Recorded Date: Sunday, August 30, 2020
Time Stamps
- 00:00:18: RIP Chadwick Boseman
- 00:01:45: News Updates
- 00:06:33: Euro-tech
- 00:08:57: SAP
- 00:13:32: Telecoms
- 00:21:23: Semiconductors
- 00:24:10: Payments and Services
- 00:30:14: Takeaways
Highlights
- If Chadwick Boseman can make all those movies while fighting late-stage cancer, no one has an excuse
- Will China's new technology export law prevent Tiktok's sale?
- Anyone who worked at any large company probably interacted with SAP
- Michael threw a Nokia N1100 from the 6th floor of a building onto a concrete pavement and it still worked!
- Sony Ericsson phones were gorgeous forward looking phones of their times
- The Semiconductor industry is so large, that you can focus on one aspect of it and still be a $35 B business
- Companies have to compete within their own countries first before being able to go to other neighboring countries in Europe
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Michael and Johnny continue their International Technology Tour still in the Asia-Pacific region. Specifically, we look at the largest companies in the internet industries - E-Commerce, Messaging, Payments, as well as the large financial institutions that fund them.
Recorded Date: Sunday, August 23, 2020
Time Stamps
- 00:00:21: E-commerce
- 00:13:24: The "WeChat" Companies
- 00:24:57: SoftBank
- 00:29:21: APAC Conclusion
Highlights
- While the traditional industries have started leaving the U.S., the internet industry is still dominated by the U.S. with China starting to rival them now
- JD Worldwide had its start in the analog world much like Netflix before pivoting to be an e-commerce offering
- Southeast Asia with a population of over 600 M is an interesting area to look at for tech
- There is no direct equivalent U.S. company to China's Tencent
- Is WeChat the most successful social media company in the world?
- Can any other company reach parity or near parity with what Tencent has built with WeChat?
- SoftBank's Vision Fund has investments across the following categories - Consumer, Enterprise, Fintech, Frontier Tech, Health Tech, Real Estate, Transportation + Logistics
- Is the U.S. the world leader in technology for those starting their career today?
- How come Australia is not playing a more prominent role in tech compared to China and India?
- Michael always assumed his internet experience was THE experience on the internet - he no longer believes that - his is only one of the many internet experiences out there
Links
- 2015 - Top 10 E-Commerce Businesses in Asia
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Michael and Johnny start their International Technology Tour by looking at the Asia-Pacific region. Specifically, we look at the largest companies in the traditional industries - Telecommunications and Manufacturing.
In the News of the Week, we discuss Epic's fight with Apple and Google over their respective mobile app store policies of charging 30% and enforcing all developers to use their payment systems.
Recorded Date: Sunday, August 16, 2020
Time Stamps
- 00:00:20: Epic vs Google and Apple
- 00:06:42: Start of our world tour
- 00:07:50: Jio
- 00:16:00: Huawei
- 00:23:59: Samsung
- 00:32:28: Foxconn
- 00:36:12: TSMC
- 00:39:45: Sony and Japanese Hardware Makers
- 00:44:11: Shenzhen
- 00:45:50: Regional Trends
Highlights
- You either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become a monopoly
- Will Apple change their App Store policies with these mounting opposition from smaller and large companies alike?
- Our world tour across the oceans begins!
- The rise of Samsung represents the rising dominance of South Korean firms over Japanese firms
Links
- How Jio became India's biggest telecom network
- How Jio manages to make profits
- Western Nations close doors on Huawei
- Huawei cannot use Google App store/services
- Samsung - South Korea's Chaebol
- Wikipedia - Foxconn
- Wikipedia - Terry Gou
- Wikipedia - Largest Tech Companies by Revenue
- Foxconn CEO: China no longer 'world's factory' due to Trump trade war
- Epic vs Apple/Google
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Michael and Johnny look at a second week of tech earnings - Zoom, Tesla, Netflix, Shopify, Twitter, Twilio, and Uber. We discuss the state of the tech economy and the new opportunities presenting themselves during this lockdown.
In the News of the Week, we cover the escalating saga of Chinese apps being banned and Twitter's second chance at owning short-form video through a long-shot merger with TikTok.
Recorded Date: Sunday, August 9, 2020
Time Stamps
- 00:00:18: TikTok Update
- 00:03:15: Twitter's second chance at short-form video
- 00:06:48: More Earnings
- 00:34:01: The state of the tech economy
- 00:39:22: New opportunities in lockdown?
Highlights
- The saga continues - The TikTok ban has become an all-out assault on Chinese apps with the expanded ban on WeChat
- This will also hurt American companies as they won't be able to advertise on WeChat which is how they can reach the Chinese consumer
- Twitter has a type
- Who needs whom more? Twitter or TikTok? Why would TikTok merge with Twitter?
- It is still a Zoom world
- Elon Musk moonwalked into the earnings call - Tesla made more revenue than Youtube
- Is Netflix losing steam with guidance lower than half of the expectations net subscribers growth next quarter?
- As expected, Shopify had a blockbuster quarter with revenue up 97%
- Twilio's position allows it to provide a view into which industries are thriving and which industries are suffering
- Uber's self-driving car division brought in revenue for the first time
- Twitter IPO'd in 2013; Uber IPO'd in 2019 - their share prices are $5 apart
- Twitter has been surviving all these years so it could be available for when TikTok came around
- Uber is able to lean on its different divisions - what will Lyft be able to do to survive?
Links
- Trump issues orders banning TikTok and WeChat from operating in 45 days if they are not sold by Chinese parent companies
- U.S. Action Against TikTok And WeChat Symbolizes A Global Backlash Against China Inc.
- TikTok is reportedly planning to challenge the Trump Administration ban
- Twilio Earnings
- Uber Earnings
- Deeply impacted by Uber's disappointing June quarter loss
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Michael and Johnny look at 2020 Q2 earnings for Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Google and Microsoft and ponder how Big Tech stock continues to rise while the rest of the country goes down.
In the News of the Week, we follow up on the ongoing Tiktok drama and discuss this week's Big Tech Congressional hearings.
Recorded Date: Sunday, August 2, 2020
Time Stamps
- 00:00:21: Uptake on Tiktok ban
- 00:06:24: Congressional Hearings
- 00:13:25: The Gang of Four
- 00:36:29: Future Predictions
Highlights
- Will Microsoft acquire a part of Tiktok?
- Is this the price of success for a foreign tech company operating in the US?
- Microsoft is like that guy who saw all his friends get invited to the party with the cool kids and he wasn't invited
- Does Microsoft matter any more?
- The trend continues of tech going up while the country goes down
- People are buying more computers, iPads in addition to using more online services
- Amazon's Earnings Per Share was $10.30 vs $1.50 10Xing it!
- Is Google over-diversified compared to its peers? During this storm, their less diversified peers seem to be doing better
- Microsoft's business units are quite creative!
- These companies that are doing great continue to be uncertain regarding the upcoming quarters and issuing guidance
- The market just doesn't represent reality
Links
- Amazon Earnings
- Apple posts blowout third quarter, with sales up 11% despite coronavirus disruptions
- Apple announces 4-for-1 stock split
- Apple Reports Q3 Results
- Facebook Earnings
- Google Earnings
- Microsoft Earnings
- Trump's threatened TikTok ban could motivate young users to vote, some say
- Trump vows to ban TikTok app from U.S.
- The winners and losers of the big tech congressional hearings
- Big Tech’s Antitrust Hearing: What You Need to Know
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Michael and Johnny look at Tiktok, the history of its parent company and its founder, what makes it work, how it compares to its Social Media competitors like Instagram and Facebook, and the potential impact the US and India bans may have on it and its growth.
In the News of the Week, we discuss the new GPT-3 NLP model, what it represents, and the related trends; also we debate the potential impacts of the US government's recent policies towards international students on the tech and startup space.
Recorded Date: Sunday, July 26, 2020
Ideas of the Week:
- The Canadian and US government will approach Michael and Johnny to build a TikTok alternative
- Johnny will take the money and go on vacation (aka treason)
- How can you take out TikTok? What are its shortcomings? What would be the next consumer-facing social media interface that comes after TikTok?
- A streaming company could come after this space that TikTok occupies
- Go after all video consumption on the internet and put it into your system -> you go back to the age of the Television!
- Take government money, create a TikTok clone on AWS - guaranteed instant success!
Time Stamps
- 00:00:20: GPT-3
- 00:03:03: Student Visas and impact on tech?
- 00:08:14: TikTok
- 00:13:34: What makes TikTok Work?
- 00:37:55: Rich Tech Poor Tech
- 00:43:50: Ideas of the week
Rich Tech Poor Tech
- Industry: Entertainment -> Rich Tech
- Product: Democratization of Entertainment like other Social Media companies -> Rich Tech
- Labor: Mainly Software Engineers, Product, Designers, Mobile, AI Engineers; No manual labor; Upwards mobility exists -> Rich Tech
- Customers: Creators unable to make money directly on the platform but indirectly do via the fame and opportunities -> Rich Tech
- Society: Consumers gain entertainment, it generates wealth for founders, employees, ads, not so much rest of society -> Poor Tech
- Verdict: Tiktok is a Rich Tech Company
Highlights
- With the continued evolution of the GPT models and other advances, is the barrier of entry to doing machine learning becoming so low, it will be commoditized?
- Will this lead to No Code tools incorporating some ML capabilities?
- Will the US government's continued unfriendly policies against international students lead to long term impacts?
- Which countries' students will lose out if we move to remote only schools?
- How would you describe TikTok?
- TikTok became the video memes generator
- Tiktok introduced a new user interface experience with the constant loading of videos right after the other powered by their AI relevance engine
- The existing social media companies can't change their main interface to become more like TikTok
- USSR was unable to make an alternative to Coca-Cola and Pepsi, so had to resort to making a deal with them
Links
- TikTok
- Wikipedia - Tiktok
- Wikipedia - ByteDance
- Wikipedia - Zhang Yiming
- Why everyone is talking about the A.I. text generator released by an Elon Musk-backed lab
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Michael and Johnny survey the No-Code Movement landscape, covering the history and progress of various services, and finally, look at whether we can use No Code tools to re-create existing popular apps. To wrap up, we give ourselves a No-Code Challenge: to build something in the next month using the only No-Code tools.
In the News of the Week, we discuss Twitter's big hack, and as a follow up to the previous week's discussion on the potential Tiktok ban, we look at Instagram's new Reels feature.
Recorded Date: Sunday, July 19, 2020
Time Stamps
- 00:00:21: Instagram Reels
- 00:02:52: Twitter Hack
- 00:09:25: Security Tip & Textbooks?
- 00:12:03: The No-Code Movement
- 00:18:26: Selected Services
- 00:28:45: Can we remake popular apps with no code?
- 00:55:18: No-code Challenge
Highlights
- Will Instagram Reels do to Tiktok what Instagram Stories did to Snapchat?
- Reels is coming from Instagram, while Lasso was Facebook's take on Tiktok - Will more people bite now?
- Our not so important Twitter handle was not hacked!
- What else do we not know about the Twitter hack?
- A system that allows you to do Create/Update actions on user accounts is pretty shady
- Michael is "such a baller" that Amazon calls him to verify his purchase
- Can you use No Code tools to build an equivalent to popular apps of today?
- The Big Boys are starting to enter this space - will this be a further boon with the built-in vendor lock-in?
- No Code Tools are currently missing Scaling, AI capabilities, Robust search capabilities, any form of security, messaging, location-based services, performance
- Will No Code Tools reach the bar of Software Engineers?
- Can we make app development on mobile possible with these tools?
- These No Code Tools are further democratizing the ability to build Internet-based Software businesses
- What is the role of a designer in these No Code solutions?
Links
- Wikipedia - No-Code Development Platform
- Wikipedia - Low-Code Development Platform
- The Low-Code/No-Code Movement: More Disruptive Than You Realize
- Low-code and no-code development platforms
- Why AWS built a no-code tool
- IndieHackers - Creating a $200k Side Project Without Writing a Line of Code with Ben Tossell of Makerpad
- What Really Is Low-Code/No-Code Development?
- No-code movement: building startups without code
- notrealtwitter.com
- Makerpad
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Michael and Johnny look at Twitch, a live video streaming service that exploded in popularity with its early focus on Video Games.
In the News of the Week, we cover Quibi's recent floundering and challenges, and the Tiktok ban discussions happening within the American government and American corporations.
Recorded Date: Sunday, July 12, 2020
Ideas of the Week:
- Build a lifestyle streaming service specific for lifestyle streaming & figure out the features to make this a superior experience (better mobile experience)
- Build a streaming service for people who like to go out to restaurants, want to review food and have people eat with them
Time Stamps
- 00:00:18: Quibi Already Floundering
- 00:03:34: Tik Tok Ban?
- 00:13:00: Twitch
- 00:23:57: Keys to Success
- 00:44:21: Rich Tech Poor Tech
- 00:51:16: Ideas of the Week
Highlights
- Michael's prediction regarding Quibi's early demise looks like its coming true
- Netflix is having its moment with almost 60 original titles landing in July alone
- Hamilton is boasting Disney+'s numbers
- Will the US government ban Tiktok? Will Apple and Google agree to remove it from their App Stores?
- Twitch is a video live streaming service with a focus on video game streaming
- Twitch has a diverse group of co-founders
- Twitch Plays Pokemon, a social experiment consisting of a crowdsourced attempt to play Pokemon went viral in 2014
- Google almost acquired Twitch via its Youtube subsidiary but stopped short due to anti-trust concerns
- Twitch's hyper-focus on Gaming allowed it to ride the wave and enabled the wave of Video Game popularity and the rise of E-Sports
- Why is streaming so successful? Is it due to the authenticity it provides?
- What were the factors that contributed to Twitch's success?
- What industry is Twitch in?
- The Friendship industry has yet to be monetized
- Can you pitch an idea against Twitch?
- Michael wants to be Twitch's R&D lab like Snap is Facebook's R&D lab
Links
- Wikipedia - Twitch
- Wikipedia - Justin.tv
- Twitch raises 20 million esports market booming
- The US government is considering a TikTok ban, says secretary of state
- Quibi reportedly lost 90 percent of early users after their free trials expired
- Netflix is straight up flexing at this point (2020/06/24)
- Hamilton's importance to Disney Plus
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Michael and Johnny look at Twilio, another SaaS company that has been growing during the COVID-19 pandemic. We explore its history, its CEO's interesting background, the company's keys to success, and what its future potentially looks like. Finally, we evaluate it against our Rich Tech Poor Tech criteria.
In the News of the Week, we look at the recent revelations around apps copying iOS clipboard contents when they weren't supposed to and discuss Facebook's Ad Boycott and its potential ramifications.
Recorded Date: Sunday, July 5, 2020
Ideas of the Week:
- Twilio should not sell itself!
- Create a Codeless Ecosystem by combining Shopify, Stripe, Twilio with a No-Code platform to enable non-developers to build online businesses via a one-stop shop solution
Time Stamps
- 00:00:25: iOS clipboard privacy issue exposed
- 00:08:50: Facebook Ad Boycott
- 00:16:03: Twilio
- 00:26:01: Keys to success
- 00:39:59: The Future of Twilio
- 00:44:05: Rich Tech or Poor Tech
- 00:50:15: Ideas of the week
Highlights
-
- Over 50 iOS apps caught copying clipboard contents when they aren't supposed to thanks to new iOS 14 policies/privacy alerts
-
- There will be more privacy revelations that come out of iOS 14's new policies
-
- What privacy should users expect & what value do they get for sharing their PII?
-
- When you need to add a communication layer to your app/service, you use Twilio
-
- Being in the early days of AWS, Twilio's co-founder & CEO, Jeff Lawson had a front-row seat to the power of build cloud infrastructure businesses
-
- Built a call center product after noticing its users were building their own solutions on the Twilio platform
-
- Twilio's stock increased from $77 to $232 since pandemic due to general positive trends in cloud businesses
-
- Twilio's developer-centric marketing, ease of use, reliability contributed
-
- Keys to its success: ease of use, reliability, listening to customers, having a good product, good business culture, hiring the right people, and cultivating good partnerships
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- Who would purchase Twilio? Microsoft, Google, or AWS could make a play
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- Can Twilio become part of these Tier 2 sized companies that can continue to thrive as an independent company?
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- Twilio has democratized Telecommunications and lowered the barrier for apps to communicate with their customers sooner
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- Industry: Telecommunications is an expensive business with high barriers of entry -> Rich Tech
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- Labor: Mostly white-collar labor, good benefits & wages, any employee can potentially become CEO -> Rich Tech
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- Wealth Generation for clients: Clients are able to unlock the ability to communicate with their own customers sooner thanks to Twilio -> Rich Tech
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- Wealth Generator for society: Enable the growth of other companies serving as a Revenue Accelerator, so it generates wealth indirectly
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- Twilio is a Rich Tech company
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In this very special & personal episode, we take a break from our usual programming and bring together some of our friends to share their experiences being Black In Tech. We discuss how the recent events have affected us, our experiences being a black person in tech, what we believe responsibilities are and should be, and advice for people of color starting their career in tech today.
Recorded Date: Sunday, June 28, 2020
Time Stamps
- @00:02:45: How has this past month affected you?
- @00:10:40: African Time Arrival
- @00:26:40: Being a Black Person in Tech
- @00:45:40: Our responsibilities in the workspace
- @01:14:00: Advice for someone of color starting their career in tech today
Highlights
- Is it because of COVID-19 and the lockdown that people have come out in full force over George Floyd's untimely and inhumane death? We have had these issues for a long time yet this is the first global response we have seen
- We had race riots in LA in 1992 - has social media made it just more visible for everyone to see?
- Tens of millions of people had to lose their jobs for people to be in a position to protest racism in our society
- This time around feels very different, but this is only the beginning - we still have a lot of work
- The problem with racism is that it is a social experiment that has been perfected over centuries
- Having your own back in your job is very important
- Being randomly selected every single time
- The stereotype is based on the color of your skin - you are considered black regardless of your background, nationality, ethnicity
- Being the only one or one of the few, we are constantly wondering whether we are the diversity hires/stand-ins
- You can't use hard work alone to get your way out of everything
- Why should it be my responsibility to educate you when there are a plethora of resources out there (books, podcasts, documentaries, movies, etc)?
- We have a responsibility to lend a helping hand to more junior employees in our organizations
- We are all in tech because we are waiting on our MCAT results to come in so we can become doctors as our parents wished for us
- Seek safe spaces that allow you to speak about your experience with someone that can listen to you and provide you with a prospective
- NESBI Clubs (https://nsbe.org/home.aspx) are a great place to seek a community & support
- Be sure and do not have any doubt that you deserve to be in that room
- Get something out of the pain and anger that you will experience
- Have that friend or group of friends you meet with on a regular basis to help get perspective and help each other
- Advocate for yourself and express what you want to your manager, your colleagues and your hire ups
- We need more black entrepreneurs willing to ditch the standard path of corporate America and build businesses
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Michael and Johnny look at Reddit - its history, what led to its success, its controversies and wrap up with an animated discussion on whether it is a Rich Tech or a Poor Tech company.
In the News of the Week, we cover Apple’s App Store policy inconsistencies with their recent treatment of Hey, Basecamp’s newest app, and discuss Big Tech’s increased commitment to diversity.
Recorded Date: Sunday, June 21, 2020
Ideas of the Week:
- Ideas for: Reddit should hire content moderators like Facebook, Google - at least they will get paid!
- Ideas Against: Absolving Section 230 would lead to Reddit going out
Time Stamps
- @00:01:10: Apple’s App Store Inconsistencies
- @00:04:54: Companies increasing their commitments to diversity
- @00:12:13: Main Topic - Reddit
- @00:15:12: Reddit’s History & Success Factors
- @00:21:00: Reddit’s Controversies
- @00:28:00: What is Reddit’s value?
- @00:32:44: Rich Tech or Poor Tech
- @00:47:50: Ideas of the Week
Highlights
- Reed Hastings, Netflix CEO is donating $120 M to the United Negro College Fund & 2 historically Black colleges
- Can all these companies move the needle on diversity & inclusion with all these increased commitments?
- Why can’t these tech companies tackle diversity like they tackle new problems/opportunities?
- Can we honestly say that these companies which are the innovation leaders of the most innovative field in the entire world are putting the same effort into solving these problems as they are into the next money-making product?
- If you say you want to solve this problem, why don’t you solve it like you solve your business problems?
- Reddit aims to be the Front Page of the Internet
- Reddit cofounders Steve & Alexis were part of Y Combinator’s first batch of startups
- Reddit almost failed before it got started as they wrote it first in Common Lisp before re-writing it in Python
- Reddit succeeded because Digg failed
- Reddit’s controversies list has its own Wikipedia page
- Industry: Product isn’t news yet uses the same monetization strategies; Is it the new replacement for the Town Square -> By definition, Poor Tech
- Labor: Mainly White Collar inside the company, yet they have more moderators that work for free yet; Any employee can become CEO -> Poor Tech
- Customers: Don’t gain monetary wealth from using Reddit -> Poor Tech
- Contribution to Society: No monetary wealth created for Society -> Poor Tech
- Verdict: Reddit is a Poor Tech company
- Reddit has somehow succeeded despite itself like Twitter
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Michael and Johnny look at Stripe, a relatively unknown outside of the tech industry, but with massive global impact. We discuss its brilliant sibling founders, what led them to start Stripe, Stripe's product history, and how it became so successful. Its future and potential impact are discussed with a final discussion on whether it is a Rich Tech or Poor Tech company.
In Follow-Ups, we cover the hiring of Michael Seibel to Reddit's board of directors and HBO simplifying their HBO apps.
Recorded Date: Sunday, June 14, 2020
Ideas of the Week:
- Ideas for: None. This is a company killing it on all cylinders!
- Ideas Against: Build international partnerships (China, African & Asian countries) to build a moat against Stripe's advancements. It won't be a technical product
Time Stamps
- @00:00:59: HBO Now Rebranding
- @00:02:46: New Board Member of Reddit Selected
- @00:09:49: Main Topic: Stripe
- @00:18:34: Product History
- @00:21:48: What Makes Stripe Successful?
- @00:35:20: What is the future of Stripe?
- @00:47:47: Rich Tech or Poor Tech
- @00:51:45: Ideas of the Week
Highlights
- HBO Go: For when you on the go; HBO Max for non-mobile devices; HBO Plus for the Plus Size Experience; HBO Now was for right now!
- Michael Seibel has become the newest board member of Reddit, a startup veteran who is currently CEO of Y Combinator
- Stripe is the perfect microcosm for what was happening in Silicon Valley in the past decade
- Stripe grew with their 1 product for 5 years right along with other Tech Unicorns that were its customers
- Rise of APIs contributed to Stripe's rise in the past decade
- Stripe's ease of use and focus on developers who would build the products helped them succeed
- Could Stripe & Shopify merge one day?
- Their Atlas product which allows anyone to register a US-based corporation sent them to the stratosphere
- Will geopolitics limit Stripe's growth if people don't want to create US-based companies?
- Could Stripe allow you to incorporate in China?
- Would Stripe become the new gateway to internet commerce?
- Shareholders: Its in the Financial Services Industry -> By definition, Rich Tech
- Employees: White Collar enabling more White Collars; Any employee can become CEO -> Rich Tech
- Customers: Have enabled many startups and large companies by allowing them to easily accept money from their customers -> Rich Tech
- Contribution to Society: People can now easily join the Internet E-Commerce space and start accepting money -> Rich Tech
- Stripe is a white-collar labor company enabling more white-collar labor
- Michael won't join Stripe due to their SQL interface. He will join for nothing less than to run their whole Data & Analytics organization
- What Stripe offers is the ease of access to American Commerce. If this becomes less appealing, Stripe can become less appealing
Links
- San Francisco Chronicle - 2nd most valuable U.S. startup to leave SF as city loses another headquarters
- Wired UK - The untold story of Stripe, the secretive $20bn startup driving Apple, Amazon and Facebook (October 2018)
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Michael and Johnny continue to look at Spotify, its controversies with artists, its impact on the music industry, its future in podcasting, and deliver their final verdict on whether it is Rich Tech or Poor Tech.
In the News of the Week, we discuss Alexis Ohanian, the Reddit Cofounder’s recent move to step down from the board asking for his replacement to be a black person, and Trudeau’s prolonged moment of awkward silence.
Recorded Date: Sunday, June 7, 2020
Ideas of the Week:
- Accessory embedded cameras that allow one-button streaming
- Get into the clothing industry to allow people one-button streaming of those precious moments + use their algorithms to come up with the perfect background music to the recorded event
Time Stamps
- @00:02:22: Reddit Co-founder Steps Down from Board
- @00:15:12: Trudeau’s Comments on US Protests
- @00:20:35: Taylor Swift vs Spotify
- @00:28:13: Jay-Z vs Spotify
- @00:33:20: Spotify vs everyone
- @00:35:43: The Future of Spotify
- @00:43:55: Spotify Rich Tech or Poor Tech
- @00:54:15: Ideas of the week
Highlights
- Will Alexis’s move lead others to seek out under-represented and capable people?
- Artists are paid $0.0006/individual stream on Spotify’s basic tier and $0.008/individual stream on Spotify’s premium tier
- Taylor Swift’s ‘Fearless’ tour brought $75 M
- 2018, Taylor Swift’s ‘Reputation’ tour broke records bringing in $345 M from just 38 shows - $9 M per show average
- You can’t make 10% of that from streaming
- Are we moving to a world where the more we use something, the more people will be paid for it? With CD’s and tapes, you bought it once and could replay it as long as the CD/tape was not damaged. With streaming, artists are paid by how much each of their products is consumed
- Could Tidal have had a bigger impact if it catered to highlighting up and coming artists?
- Are we moving to a world where we no longer own our media? We stream and rent it? It is available today and gone tomorrow to potentially come back someday in the future?
- What does the future of podcasts look like with Spotify muscling its way in and making podcasts exclusive to it?
- Are people loyal enough to podcasts that they will switch to using Spotify?
- Spotify better improve their podcast description previews
- Will Spotify become the gateway to podcasts in the future?
- New month, new rich tech poor tech definition :)
- Shareholders: Spotify is another distribution arm to the music industry -> Obscenely Rich Tech
- Employees: Spotify only employees are mostly white-collar; any employee can become CEO -> Rich Tech
- Customers: Enriches our lives in many ways, monetary wealth is not one of them -> Poor Tech
- Contribution to Society: Not spotlighting new acts, artists still need record labels; made it very convenient for customers to consume music legally but that hasn’t translated to more artist wealth -> Poor Tech
- Verdict: Spotify is a Poor Tech company!
- They have a great engineering culture & being very data-driven, Johnny would gladly work for Spotify
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Michael and Johnny look at Spotify, what the company does, its history, and what made it so successful including its acquisition history and strategy, its partnership with the music industry, and its continuous user-focused philosophy.
In Follow-Ups, we discuss Forbes's latest report showing Kylie Jenner is not quite a billionaire.
In the News of the Week, we lament the loss of George Floyd and the reverberating consequences of his death that are being felt in the US and around the world.
Recorded Date: Sunday, May 31, 2020
Time Stamps
- @00:01:21: Kylie is not a Billionaire!
- @00:03:20: Section 230 under fire
- @00:09:15: Our thoughts on the tragic passing of George Floyd
- @00:14:20: Spotify Overview
- @00:16:57: Spotify History
- @00:22:41: What made Spotify successful?
- @00:33:58: Spotify Acquisition History and Strategy
- @00:39:40: Would Spotify be as successful without all the upfront capital?
Highlights
- How can you stand being anything less than a billionaire at $900 M?
- A report on fake billionaire lies comes out during a time where over 10's of millions have lost their jobs
- Shopify is still great!
- Atlanta's mayor's powerful call for the youth to use their votes instead of looting and damaging their communities
- Daniel Ek wanted to create Spotify to tackle music piracy and to allow his friends to discover good music
- Michael and Johnny weren't building websites at 13 as they were busy adjusting to life in new countries
- Spotify made it so convenient for users to consume music that they ran laps around their competitors at the time
- Spotify focused on technology, data analytics in their early acquisitions
- Podcasts have become their latest acquisition targets
- Could Spotify have been as successful if its founders didn't have money?
- Did the music labels treat Spotify differently as a result of their experience with Apple?
- We no longer talk about music piracy
- Spotify's success = changing the music ownership model, right people to solve the right problem, proper acquisitions, access to music via partnerships, personalization & recommendation engine, social aspect and sharing
Links
- NPR - As Trump Targe Twitter's Lel Shid, Experts Ha A Warning (2020/05/30)
- NPR - Stung By Twitter, Tru Sig Executive Ord To Weaken Soci Med Companies (2020/05/28)
- CNET - Best music streaming service for 2020: Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon, Tidal and YouTube
- Music Streaming Services Users
- Atlanta Mayor talks to protestors to vote
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Michael and Johnny look at Shopify, what the company does, its history, and how it has become so successful in this age of Amazon.
In Follow-Ups, we look at Peloton’s recent announcement of going downmarket with a cheaper bike offering, and SoulCycle’s delayed response to Peloton.
Recorded Date: Sunday, May 24, 2020
Ideas of the Week:
- Idea for the company: Surface small and local Shopify powered businesses so people can support them
- Michael created a Twitter account to track local San Francisco Shopify powered companies
- Idea against the company: Amazon already has all the pieces together to take on Shopify
- Instagram is a logistics business away from competing with Shopify
- Amazon is a business philosophy away from competing with Shopify
Time Stamps
- @00:01:21: Follow-ups from the last episode
- @00:09:16: Main Topic: Shopify
- @00:10:51: What is Shopify?
- @00:16:36: The History of Shopify
- @00:25:11: Why is Shopify Successful?
- @00:33:18: Drop-shipping entrepreneurs
- @00:42:24: The Future of Shopify
- @00:51:04: Would Johny Work for Shopify?
- @00:51:39: Verdict Rich Tech or Poor Tech
- @00:55:17: Ideas of the week
Highlights
- Peloton should have rode out this lockdown boom before announcing their intention of going downmarket with a cheaper bike
- Shopify & Salesforce are similar in that they are platform companies that sit in the background and power their clients
- Its stock has tripled since mid-March
- Shopify is the Anti-Amazon
- If Amazon is the mall, Shopify is empowering the mom & pop shops
- Shopify empowers people to be entrepreneurs
- If so many people are losing their jobs and there is no demand, how are people able to sell so much via their Shopify stores?
- Is Shopify now where Amazon was back in 2010?
- Can Shopify power 90% of everything you buy online?
- Can Facebook/Instagram muscle their way into Shopify’s turf?
- Is Shopify a future new tech giant?
- Rich Tech: Wealth generous (empower entrepreneurs)
- Poor Tech: Labour (Fulfillment)
- A wash: Direct Sales
- Verdict: Shopify is Rich Tech!
Links
- Wikipedia - Shopify
- Shopify 2020 Q1 Financial Results
- Shopify’s First Flagship: Why We Opened a New Space for Business Owners in Downtown L.A.
- Heinz Online Shop
- E-Commerce at Scale: Inside Shopify’s Tech Stack - Stackshare.io
- Youtube - Shopify COO talks strong Q4 earnings, holiday sales and business investments
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Michael and Johnny look at Peloton, what led to its success, and try to figure out how this exercise company has become so successful before and during the time of country-wide lockdowns.
In the News of the Week, we look at the US government’s upcoming anti-trust investigation into Google, the latest tech corporate takeovers of Facebook acquiring Giphy and Uber attempting to merge with Grubhub, and finally Twitter’s announcement that employees may work from home forever!
Recorded Date: Sunday, May 17, 2020
Ideas of the Week:
- Johnny: “We should use data”
- Michael: “Make a fitness tracker”
Time Stamps
- @00:01:20: Google Anti-Trust Litigation
- @00:09:25: Corporate takeover - Uber of Grubhub, Facebook of Giphy
- @00:13:16: Main Topic - Peloton
- @00:21:10: Why is Peloton Successful?
- @00:46:02: What does the future hold for Peloton?
- @00:53:38: Is Peloton Recession-proof?
- @00:59:65: Verdict - Rich Tech or Poor Tech?
- @01:03:00: Ideas of the Week
Highlights
- America is not breaking up any of the tech giants
- Advertising has always been a richest 3 horse race - Before Google, Facebook, Amazon, it was CBS, NBC, ABC that dominated advertising (TV), and before them newspapers
- Peloton is in the very rare position of having 5 co-founders who remained with the company until its post IPO (2012 - 2019) with one cofounder leaving in early 2020
- Peloton’s stay at home stock has doubled since mid-March going from ~$19 to ~$48
- Peloton did everything they tell you not to do in entrepreneurship school - they built their own bikes, their own tablets and record their own content leading to a very high upfront cost
- Rise of Soul Cycle led to the rise of Peloton
- The convergence of fitness, social community and internet has led to the current Peloton moment
- Why doesn’t Peloton have more competitors?
- Can SoulCycle compete with Peloton?
- Is Peloton the Apple of Spin Bikes?
- Peloton hit all the right waves at the right time - people’s sense of fitness community merged with technology
- Peloton spent on marketing in 1 quarter what Disney spent on advertising Avengers Endgame!
- They spent on marketing in 2020 quarter 1, what they spent during the entire year of 2017
- If there was a single company that represented 2010 - 2020, it’s Peloton
- Is Peloton a mass-market product? Will they go downmarket with a more affordable product?
- Can they learn from Fitbit’s failure and evolve into more areas?
- You can have the money to buy all the weights you want, but if Amazon cannot fulfill them, you are stuck
- Peloton is now part of our remote company starter kit
- Rich Tech: Fitness, Media
- Poor Tech: Manufacturing, Non-wealth generating
- Verdict: Peloton is a Rich Tech
Links
- Wikipedia: Peloton (company)
- Peloton: The Peloton Story
- Peloton founder goes from Kickstarter to a US$450-million fortune
- How Peloton Went From Kickstarter to Multibillion-Dollar IPO in 6 Years
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Michael and Johnny look at tech companies hurt most during this pandemic crisis and discuss the impacts of job losses and the long term health of the industry at large.
In the News of the Week, Disney furloughs 100,000 employees, but reopened up it's Shanghai park for the first time after the Covid-19 crisis swept through China.
Recorded Date: Sunday, May 10, 2020
Ideas of the Week:
- Make it super easy to create Airbnb clones, market it everywhere, making it very easy for hosts to one-click upload their details across the board
- Great idea to create a cleaning company and partner with Airbnb
Time Stamps
- @00:02:04: Disney During COVID-19
- @00:08:17: Tech Losers of COVID-19
- @00:18:13: What will happen to Airbnb?
- @00:29:18: Is the gig model to blame?
- @00:39:00: Johnny invents a novel face detection algorithm
- @00:40:24: Is this going to accelerate automation?
- @00:47:25: Is a new bubble going to form?
- @00:55:55: Is there rich and poor tech?
- @00:59:21: Ideas of the week
Highlights
- Disney with ~93.5M streaming users is a little under half of Netflix's 182M subscribers (Disney+ (54.5M) + Hulu (31.1M) + ESPN+ (7.9M))
- Disney has furloughed 100,000 employees - more than double the number of employees let go by startups (~45,000 at time of recording)
- Lyft & Uber have not graduated to the Earnings Per Share Group
- If you say you managed to stabilize, your stock went up post-earnings call
- ~9000 people were laid off between Uber, Lyft & Airbnb -> how many more people are actually impacted that aren't accounted for in these numbers? Could it be more than 10X, >90,000 people?
- If you're going to get laid off, Airbnb is the company to be laid off from
- Why didn't Airbnb hosts post their places on multiple platforms?
- Gig economy companies put people to work for money. The nature of their business requires interaction with people.
- In comparison to what Uber does, Amazon looks like a bastion for worker rights
- Uber has an opportunity to lead by proactively providing PPE to their drivers without leaving it to work at each state level
- Will a new industry like biotech rise up during this time?
- The Age of the Unicorns was spurred on by cheap money that low interest rates enabled. This led to the rise of unprofitable businesses. Will this cycle continue again over the next 5 - 10 years?
- No one is taking on the big tech companies at their core businesses.
- If the government isn't going to protect workers, it isn't going to go after these companies
Links
- Youtube: Can Airbnb Survive?
- Layoffs.fyi Tracker
- SF Chronicle - Bay Area Layoff Tracker
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Michael and Johnny look at Tech Earnings of the companies winning during this pandemic crisis and discuss the takeaways and factors behind their current success.
In the News of the Week, we look at whether privacy is over with the rise of coronavirus tracing apps, Zoom’s surprise decision of going with Oracle Cloud, and Uber and Lyft’s layoffs. In follow-ups, we discuss Zoom incorrectly reporting their daily active users and the impact of COVID-19 on the meatpacking industry.
Recorded Date: Sunday, May 3, 2020
Ideas of the Week:
- One-click sell my car! - A Repo man that pays you
Time Stamps * @00:01:24: Zoom goofs on DAU number * @00:02:22: 4000 Meat Packing Workers Infected with Covid-19 * @00:05:22: Is privacy over? * @00:11:10: Zoom Choose Oracle Cloud * @00:16:33: Uber and Lyft Layoffs * @00:20:00: Main Topic: Tech Earnings Review * @00:21:19: Online Ads - Facebook and Google * @00:27:13: Should Youtube be making more money? * @00:33:36: Microsoft Earnings * @00:37:56: Apple Earnings * @00:42:53: Is Tesla Unstoppable? * @00:55:05: Who is the biggest winner? * @01:07:37: Mixing the Kool-aid: Zoom the first meme company * @01:11:19: Johnny really likes the movie Wall-E
Highlights * If I start turning off the Wifi on my phone, I might as well go back to a flip phone * The last stop was the government fining companies over privacy intrusions and issues. Is it over if the government just lets them do it now? The concerted use of data to track our every moves and interactions * It’s a multi-cloud world. You mean there isn’t just one cloud - there are many smaller clouds * Will we see more consolidation in the gig economy companies? Will stronger companies acquire weaker companies? * More people spend time on Youtube than any other part of the internet and they can make only $4 B in a quarter. Netflix makes ~$1.5 B more than Youtube with a fraction of the number of users * Will COVID-19 stop the infrastructure build-out of 5G causing Apple’s anticipated first 5G phone to not sell as well? * Will Tesla take down Volkswagen and Toyota? * Who continues to be a winner in a sustained COVID-19 social distancing world? * The tech companies winning now are those that spent the past few years investing in new areas of growth that is paying off for them now * Is it their inability to settle has led to this winning moment during this crisis? * Are these tech companies the titans of industry in the 21st century? Or are they already? * None of the tech companies that were created since the 2008-2009 Great Depression are in our list of winners - Twitter, Airbnb, Uber, Lyft * Companies that primarily depended on physical interactions that have extended their business to online services are able * Will Netflix be around in 50 years?
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Michael and Johnny look at the Gig Economy, its rise in prominence since the Great Recession, some of the main players, the laws and controversies of the industry, and the impact of COVID-19 on the industry. Michael is put in charge of AirBnB (reluctantly) and tasked with navigating its survival during a prolonged pandemic crisis. Finally, can the gig economy strike a balance between growth and ensuring workers are not exploited?
In the Pre-Show & News of the Week, we look at Zoom’s rivals going after it, Amazon’s white-collar and blue-collar employees starting to collaborate and protest, and Facebook investing into Jio.
Recorded Date: Sunday, April 26, 2020
Ideas of the Week:
- How to make virtual conferences more natural? Not have only one person speak at a time; have breakout rooms within the same call
- Surround Sound Audio (Dolby). Create a virtual “physical” table and apply locational surround sound to your conversation
Time Stamps
- @0:05:05 - New Rivals come for Zoom
- @0:13:20 - Amazon Workers Protest
- @0:20:30 - Facebook Invests in Jilo
- @0:25:43 - Main Topic: The Gig Economy
- @0:36:17 - The laws and controversies of the Gig Economy
- @0:47:56 - Covid-19 impact on the Gig Economy
- @0:54:09 - If you were the CEO of … Airbnb
- @0:59:52 - How can the gig economy strike a balance
- @1:03:01 - Ideas of the week
- @1:11:54 - Mixing the Kool-aid for the Gig Economy
Highlights
- Google & Facebook have billions of users while Zoom has hundreds of millions - Zoom’s user base is unlikely to be exclusive to itself - could Google, Facebook, Microsoft be treating video conferencing as a feature and not a product? A feature they can simply add to their already long list of features?
- Amazon has always been against its workers
- Amount of value that is added to me by a service makes me overlook the litany of problems that it has
- We still have ‘Uber for X’ Products in 2020
- Gig Economy Categories - Traditional gigs have gone online; New generation that allows people to monetize their unused resources (car, real estate, time) via smartphones - Specialists vs Odd Jobs
- Airbnb - the gig economy company for rich people
- Is there a single one of these gig economy companies that don’t have terrible controversies associated with them?
- Does AB5 actually apply to any big company that it was meant to apply to?
- How can I be a Product Manager for a product with a driver-side if I have never put myself in the shoes of a driver, especially when the barrier of entry to being an Uber driver is so low?
- Uber cares about the quality of your car more than the quality of you
- What would you do if you were the CEO of Airbnb and how would you survive a prolonged pandemic crisis?
- If it takes growing at all costs to survive in this space, then exploitation will continue
- Uber - Deliver essential items proving how critical we are as a transportation layer
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Michael and Johnny look at Zoom, its backstory, the factors that led to its success in recent years, its explosion in popularity during this coronavirus pandemic crisis, and the resulting scrutiny on its security and privacy policies.
In the News of the Week, we look at the US pushing for re-opening, essential sports in Florida, companies that are continuing to flourish, and Amazon’s incredible $10,000/second 2020 Q1 results.
Recorded Date: Sunday, April 19, 2020
Ideas of the Week:
- Drone aided Doctoring - AR-enabled camera drones
- Audio Transcription services on top of Zoom/other virtual conference apps
Time Stamps
- @0:05:53 - The US reopens
- @0:11:35 - Pro Wrestling is essential
- @0:15:28 - Companies that are flourishing in this time
- @0:19:10 - Amazon making huge gains
- @0:27:27 - The intriguing backstory of Zoom
- @0:34:43 - Zoom’s competitors and strategies, shortfalls
- @0:47:31 - Zoom’s security issues
- @0:55:13 - Software Development == Magic?
- @0:59:00 - What would you have done as CEO of Zoom?
- @1:02:00 - The Future of Zoom
- @1:11:20 - Ideas of the week
Highlights
- Ease of use was a key differentiating factor for Zoom’s success - if you had to enter 1 password to join a meeting, would it still be as easy to use? Is that friction sufficient enough to ensure Zoom would not have grown to the level of usage and popularity it has?
- End to end encryption is hard to do, hard to prove, hard to explain
- Zoom’s existence is tied to the behaviors of the current crisis continuing - will Zoom usage and growth fall off a cliff post coronavirus or can they keep the momentum going?
- Zoom has grown from 10 M active users in December 2019 to 200 M active users in March 2020 - will it still retain 100 M active users a year from now?
- Will the extended lockdown lead us to continue to use these virtual meeting apps like Zoom in the long run more than we did before?
- Meetups have become global virtual events that anyone can attend
- Who are Zoom’s competitors? Is it other virtual conference apps or other streaming related apps (e.g. Twitch)?
Links
- NBC - Trump unveils three-phase plan for states to reopen amid coronavirus pandemic (2020/4/16)
- Inc - Telehealth Startups Rake in Money During the Pandemic
- The Guardian - $10,000 a second? Amazon’s results could be amazing (2020/4/18)
- Engadget - Amazon lets sellers resume shipping ‘non-essential’ items to warehouses (2020/4/13)
- Techcrunch - Verizon buys BlueJeans (2020/04/16)
- Techcrunch.com - Grain, a startup built expressly atop of Zoom, has raised $4 million (2020/04/16)
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Michael and Johnny look at WeWork - what made it special, how it failed so spectacularly. Michael discusses how he would have positioned WeWork and the potential he saw with the idea.
In the Pre-Show & News of the Week, we look at Yelp layoffs, Facebook finally innovating again during this crisis, when we expect to go back to ‘normal’ post COVID-19, bandwidth issues with internet services and Michael running for President of the USA.
Recorded Date: Sunday, April 12, 2020
Ideas of the Week
- How can we recapture the lost potential of WeWork with a fraction of the cost?
- Switzerland for the Internet of Things space - handle the fragmentation of the IoT space
- Is there potential for the Internet of Things for Smart Offices?
- Can you be the $1 billion WeWork company? Can you recreate a brand and a suite of lifestyle apps?
- Can companies offer their staff additional unique perks via the use of IoT devices in the office? What is missing in the office?
Time Stamps
- @0:01:26: Yelp Lays off over 1000 of its staff
- @0:13:22: Facebook Donates Portals
- @0:20:32: When we will get back to “normal”
- @0:26:17: Bandwidth issues with internet services
- @0:29:00: Michael runs for President
- @0:31:28: Main Topic - WeWork
- @0:34:15: What made WeWork work?
- @0:47:14: Selling the Kool-Aid
- @0:57:40: How much of WeWork’s failure can be attributed to the rise of non-profitable VC dependent startups?
- @1:05:10: Ideas of the Week
Highlights
- Facebook releasing lots of interesting features/apps to help people cope with this current pandemic crisis -> opportunity for them to innovate more than they have
- It took a crisis to make Facebook this usefully innovative again
- Did WeWork just get unlucky that they tried to IPO when people were finally coming to their senses regarding these Silicon Valley unicorns?
- Space is more valuable than anything but time & WeWork started with this - physical space and a brand that communicated community and a new approach to working
- Should WeWork have IPO’d in 2017 when the environment was much more friendly to tech IPOs?
- When we get our next idea, we will think 100x and go get 100x VC money. Who needs a million dollars when you can get a billion dollars?
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Michael and Johnny look at the growing Streaming Wars by comparing the newcomers with the current streaming giant, Netflix. We look at each company’s financials, the number of subscribers, price, content, and trends.
In the Pre-Show & News of the Week, we discuss updates on the escalating COVID-19 pandemic crisis, how we are handling the extended working from home, and the growing impact on society and businesses.
Recorded Date: Sunday, March 8, 2020
Ideas of the Week: App to social distance navigate people through retail stores -> inspired by reserved trips at Disney Resorts
Time Stamps
- @00:01:24: Pre-Show - COVID-19 & Working from Home Updates
- @00:09:22: News of the Week
- @00:30:09: Main Contenders in the Streaming war
- @00:34:17: Contender Groupings - Tier 1, Tier 2, Tier 3, Up & Coming
- @00:35:27: Netflix’s biggest challenge
- @00:49:21: Is Disney+ inevitable?
- @00:57:08: Tier 2 Pretenders?
- @01:04:42: Pillars of Success in the Streaming Wars
- @01:07:22: Johnny channels Charlie Sheen
- @01:18:00: Google + Will Smith
- @01:21:05: Ideas of the Week - Intelligent Channel Guide with Auto Subscription capabilities; Location-based organization of traffic
Highlights
Pillars of Success in the Streaming Wars
- Historical Content
Disney
NBC
Netflix with Originals (2011)
HBO 2. Money
Everyone except Quibi (VC money) 3. Ongoing Content
Netflix
Disney
Amazon Prime Video
HBO
Hulu
Apple TV+
Hulu
Peacock (NBC Universal) 4. Technology
Netflix
Amazon Prime Video
Apple TV+ 5. Talent to write great and compelling stories
- How can Netflix expand their business?
Merchandising?
Pull an Amazon and get into a secondary business?
Expand on Open Source contributions?
Expand into China? * Is Disney+ inevitable for parents with young children & young adults with their range of brand properties (Disney, Marvel, Pixar, Star Wars, National Geography)? * Is acquisitions a viable strategy for Apple? Will that prompt Amazon into competing for an acquisition? * Is there space for more players?
Could Google with Youtube muscle into this space?
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Michael and Johnny look at the growing Streaming Wars and identify all the players in the space.
Recorded Date: Sunday, March 29, 2020
Ideas of the Week: Intelligent Channel Guide with Auto Subscription capabilities
Time Stamps
- @00:01:45: COVID-19 & Working from Home Updates
- @00:09:40: News of the Week
- @00:24:30: Streaming Wars
- @00:25:55: Netflix
- @00:28:07: Disney+
- @00:34:34: HBO Max
- @00:40:40: Hulu
- @00:46:18: NBC Peacock
- @00:50:27: Apple TV+
- @00:55:10: Amazon Prime Video
- @01:02:00: Ideas of the Week
Links
- Declining Ad Rates May Signal a Reset for Startup SEM Strategies
- Groupon Axes CEO and COO
- SoftBank is letting internet satellite company OneWeb file for bankruptcy
- SoftBank May Not Buy $3 Billion in WeWork Shares
- SoftBank $41 Billion Asset Sale
- Increased streaming straining the internet
- PSN Download Speeds Slowed in USA and Europe to Preserve Internet Bandwidth
- Disney+ Subscribers
- Disney Cash on hand
- Disney+ Subscribers Update
- Hulu Pricing
- Wikipedia - List_of_original_programs_distributed_by_Hulu
- Hulu Statistics
- Netflix vs Hulu - Streaming Service Showdown
- Apple TV+ Subscribers (January)
- Apple TV+ Subscribers 2 (February)
- Apple Cash on Hand
- Netflix Reigns Supreme
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Michael and Johnny reflect back on the 2010 - 2019 period of Gaming. We discuss Johnny’s favorite game from the decade along with the growing trends of the decade in the gaming industry.
In the Pre-Show, we discuss updates on the escalating COVID-19 pandemic crisis, how we are adjusting to working from home, and the continued impact on society and businesses.
Recorded Date: Sunday, March 22, 2020
Ideas of the Week
- Social Time for Remote Workers?
- Rise of Health Tech
Time Stamps
- @00:01:23: COVID-19 & Working from Home Updates
- @00:17:04: Horrible Transition into handling Remote Work
- @00:23:47: Staying Sane with Fitness & Gym Equipment at Home
- @00:30:05: How Companies are responding to COVID-19 pandemic crisis
- @00:47:22: Video Games during 2010 - 2019
- @00:48:20: Johnny’s #1 - Assassin’s Creed 2
- @00:54:05: Video Game Trends during 2010 - 2019
- @01:10:55: Ideas of the Week - Remote Social; Rise of Health Tech
Links
News of the Week
- Tiktok donates 3 million to Arnold Schwarzeneggers Charity Feeding Kids
- Quantifying Coming Recession
- Lyft Offers Medical Supply and Meal Delivery during Coronavirus Pandemic
- Keep Calm and Switch to SD
- EU Restricts Travel
- Facebook commitment to help small businesses during COVID-19 Pandemic
- 3 Retailers to Win - Amazon, Walmart, Costco
- Techcrunch: YC startup Felix wants to replace antibiotics with programmable viruses (2020/03/21)
Gaming
- 2010-2019 Video Games
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Michael and Johnny reflect back on the 2000 - 2009 period of Gaming. We discuss Michael’s top 3 games along with the trends of the decade in the gaming industry.
In the Pre-Show, we discuss updates on the escalating COVID-19 pandemic crisis, how we are adjusting to working from home, and the continued impact on society and businesses.
News of the week
- Oil war between Saudi and Russia - Will it speed up our desire for electrification? What is its impact on the US oil industry?
- Yahoo Mobile - Does Yahoo have some type of brand recognition with a market segment that Verizon wants?
Recorded Date: Sunday, March 15, 2020
Time Stamps
- @00:01:21: Escalation of COVID-19 & Work from Home
- @00:08:04: News of the Week
- @00:28:55: COVID-19 Continued Impact and Future
- @00:44:48: Video Games during 2000 - 2009
- @00:46:21: Michael’s #3 - GTA Vice City
- @00:56:51: Michael’s #2 - Fallout 3
- @01:08:44: Michael’s #1 - Bioshock
- @01:23:34: Best 2000 - 2009 Gaming Memory
Links
News of the Week
- TechCrunch: Yahoo Mobile (2020/03/11)
- TechCrunch: Slack Calls are having connectivity issues (2020/03/11)
- NY Times: Working from Home (2020/03/10)
Gaming
- Wikipedia - 2000s in Video Games
- Wikipedia - 2010s in Video Games
- Wikipedia - Playstation 2
- Playstation Games
- GameSpot - Playstation 3 Discussions
- Wikipedia - Xbox Games List
- Wikipedia - Xbox 360 Games List
- Wikipedia - Xbox One Games List
- Wikipedia - Playstation 4 Games List
- Wikipedia - Best Selling Game Consoles
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Michael and Johnny discuss the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on their day-to-day lives, as well as its impact on the tech industry as a whole.
In News of the Week, we look at activist investors trying to force Twitter CEO, Jack Dorsey out; and Panera’s recently announced unlimited subscription plan.
Recorded Date: Sunday, March 8, 2020
Time Stamps
- @00:01:26: News of the Week
- @00:20:05: COVID-19 and its impact on society & business
- @00:35:89: Rise of Remote Work during COVID-19 crisis
- @00:42:33: Will this cause the rise of more automation?
- @00:51:48: Shopping & Living during COVID-19 crisis
- @01:03:14: Business who will lose and gain during COVID-19 crisis
Links
- NY Times: Italy Locks Down Much of the Country’s North Over the Coronavirus (2020/03/07)
- Business Insider: Panera Unlimted Coffee Subscription Review (2020-03)
- The Verge: Stanford cancels in-person classes due to coronavirus (2020/3/7)
- The Verge: A canceled trip to Africa won’t be enough to save Jack Dorsey’s job (2020/3/6)
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Michael and Johnny look at the state of remote work. We look at the remote first companies, the types of jobs that are remote, the technologies enabling the growing remote movement, how we can start our own remote tech company, as well as the future of remote work.
Recorded Date: Sunday, March 1, 2020
Time Stamps
- @01:15: News of the week
- @05:31: Remote Work
- @49:25: Future of Remote Work & role of VR?
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Michael Chen interrogates Johnny about his use of Google Maps - Is it really as useful and invaluable as he thinks it is? Is it worth the privacy cost?
Recorded Date: Sunday, February 23, 2020
News of the Week
- Virgin Galactic stock is up 500% since the beginning of 2020
Time Stamps
- @00:00:59: News of the Week
- @00:18:36: What Apps can we live with and what can we not live with? How does Privacy play a role?
- @00:32:58: What kind of data and how much are we giving Google Maps?
- @00:39:32: What is the value of the location history to Google?
- @00:46:40: What service or value does a tech company need to give you for you to think it's a fair exchange for all your location information?
- @01:00:04: Would you pay Google to avoid having your data used for advertising purposes?
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Michael and Johnny discuss the rising importance of privacy in technology. We cover GDPR, CCPA, the various products and services we trust and don't trust from the giant tech companies, the challenges of ensuring digital privacy, the future of privacy in technology, and technology's role in enabling better privacy.
Recorded Date: Sunday, February 16, 2020
Ideas of the Week Transparency and enabling the user to know what's going on with their data, giving them the ability to decide on whether they want to continue to use or opt-out.
- Summarize privacy policies of different tech companies
- Summarize where your data goes through the different companies
- Get a human for how to Opt-out of different services
- Transparency into how your data is used - remind me of the value you are providing me as a service
Time Stamps
- @01:57: GDPR
- @05:55: CCPA
- @09:45: What data is protected under GDPR
- @12:28: What are data rights? Implications of the right to forget? What does it look like in practice?
- @16:24: Look at consumer tech giants, their products & level of trust
- @25:24: What value do you get from giving these tech companies your data?
- @38:10: Rank companies by the level of trust
- @39:51: Role of technology in Privacy
- @47:45: Opportunity for innovation in Privacy
Links * The Birth Of GDPR: What Is It And What You Need To Know (2018/05/25) * Wikipedia: Bundesdatenschutzgesetz * CCPA Privacy Law Rocky Start * CCPA Makes the Digital Industry Feel like Charlie Brown * Youtube: Superbowl Commercial * Wikipedia: Privacy concerns regarding Google * Amazon Bolsters Alexa Privacy after User Trust takes a hit * Amazon Ring Hacks Lawsuit * Facebook Data Privacy Scandal a Cheat Sheet * Apple's hypocritical defense of data privacy * Can Privacy be a big business? A wave of Startups think so * Udacity Secure & Private AI Scholarship * Wikipedia - Differential Privacy
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Michael and Johnny look at Tesla’s Q4 2019 Earnings - we summarize by sector and discuss the growing trends and outlooks for Tesla as a company.
Recorded Date: Sunday, February 2, 2020
Time Stamps * @01:02: Tesla Stock * @03:44: Tesla Earnings Summary & Questions * @09:03: Which Tesla sector/industry is most exciting to you? * @32:05: Will Tesla survive the oncoming wave of traditional car manufacturers coming in? * @43:30: What are some gaps in the car industry? What is missing? * @46:43: Will your next car be a Tesla? * @52:31: Would you work at Tesla? * @54:04: Would you take a Model S or a Model S worth of TSLA stock?
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Michael and Johnny look at Microsoft's Q4 2019 earnings, inspecting their earnings by industries and discussing the growing trends and outlooks for Microsoft as a company.
Recorded Date: Sunday, January 26, 2020
Time Stamps * @01:46: Why Johnny picked Microsoft? * @03:22: Sector by Sector breakdown * @17:29: What else was interesting? -> Microsoft Teams vs Slack * @21:30: Niche Communications Markets Opportunities * @25:50: Environmental Initiatives * @27:39: Microsoft Surface Growth vs Apple Macbooks * @30:41: Microsoft Earnings Summary * @33:10: Looking ahead at Tesla Earnings episode
Links * Microsoft Q2 2020 Earnings Calls Transcript * Business Insider: Slack vs Microsoft Teams
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In this Podcast kickoff episode, Michael and Johnny reflect back on the 2010s in Technology discussing trends, surprises, disappointments and what they expect in the next 10 years.
Recorded Date: Saturday, January 18, 2020
Time Stamps * @00:24: What happened in tech over this past decade? * @03:05: Countries that rose * @06:30: Next 10 Years * @15:21: Will the US maintain its lead? * @16:51: Who else besides China and the U.S. will rise? * @18:34: Big Bets
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