Alvin’s Newsletter: No. 5
Weekly newsletter on what I saw interesting in tech, venture capital and business.
📰 News
Zoox’s $1.2B exit to Amazon: Amazon announced they would be acquiring Zoox, a self-driving start-up, for approx. $1.2B (reported). The Zoox story is a great Australian story - a Melbournian starts a super ambitious company in 2012, gets backed by some of Australia’s best tech VCs, goes on to create a billion dollar plus company and exits to Amazon. For the backers and founders, financially the outcome might not be VC like returns. Zoox raised $500M at a $3.2B valuation in 2018, a significant premium to the reported $1.2B sale by Amazon, and raised close to $1B in total over its lifetime. Some shareholders will likely just get their money back on the deal while others may not see much at all depending on the structure of the cap. table. That is venture capital. Regardless, kudos to all involved. Link
Jacinda Arden - the most excellent of communicators: Having seen a number of video’s of Jacinda Arden speaking in different contexts, it is evidently clear she is a master in communicating. One of the best I have seen. Her prowess has especially shown through during times of crisis - her speeches and actions after the Christchurch shootings and her speech which garnered comparisons to others around the world announcing Covid restrictions in New Zealand. Watching her speak, you can see she employs all the tools at her disposal to come across as endearing, affable and authentic. Communicating 101 - gestures, eye-contact, tone, facial expressions - but not only how she says things but what she says. And a master of both. This week she did one of her less formal videos. A LinkedIn update. Yes - a head of state doing a LinkedIn update! Link
📚 Reading
Olympus calls it quits on its camera business after 84 years. Link
The guide on how to re-open travel safely during this Covid era. Link
The most irrational trade in history. Link
Canva’s backlink empire and their road to $6B. Link
🦖 Entertaining & Interesting things
Apple killed skeuomorphism 7 years ago, now it is bringing in neumorphism. Link
CBA’s relatively new Chairman under-siege from some of its prev board. Unusual. Link
If you’re OCD about your fonts, it might be time to upgrade your monitor. Link
Youtube copies TikTok. Link
Cash, bonds, hybrids and risk. Link
🎧 Podcasts
The best podcast episodes last week according to Bosco Tan:
The Culture at Netflix (Land of Giants) - 39 mins: First episode of season 2 of Land of Giants. (Season 1 profiled Amazon - also very good). This episode gives a snapshot of why culture is so critical for Netflix. We get a glimpse of what it’s like to work there and get an understanding why the decision to make the big $100m House of Cards bet wasn’t so much of a cultural stretch. Link
Oprah; the OG Influencer (Acquired) - 128 mins: You get a car 👉, you get a car 👈, you get a car! 🚗From extreme hardship as a child, a run of luck which lead to her breakout, to the innate business acumen which elevated her to billionaire mogul status. This well researched episode profiles Oprah’s rise and suggests how she might just be the blueprint for the influencer age. Link
Cracking the Consumer Code in 2020 (Venture Stories) - 37 mins: 2020 is unlike any other year in recent memory. The consumer behaviour shift will be faster than ever coming out of COVID. Here, the discussion is on the evolving D2C model, fintech and other industries that might see a pop coming out. Link
Accounting for Art (Revisionist History) - 46 mins: No one tells non-fiction stories quite like Malcolm Gladwell. Here he unwraps the fascinating quirk which allows museums to not account for the dollar value of their art collections. The story then traverses the hoarder’s psychology, a Tolkien reference and how one museum is cutting against that grain. Link
📹 TikToks
What astronauts see as they re-enter Earth’s atmosphere. Link
Storm Troopers dancing to Michael Jackson’s Thriller. Link
Bezos in the early days talking about Amazon the book store. Link
Thanos getting beat up to The Guardians of the Galaxy intro. Link