Alvin’s Newsletter: No. 7
Weekly newsletter on what I saw interesting in tech, venture capital and business.
📰 News
Uber + Postmates deal: A humorous article on the deal by Matt Levine from Bloomberg, calling the food delivery industry a ‘perpetual-motion machine of implausible consequences’. 😅 I don’t disagree! The core argument is that the explosion in growth is due to a deluge of VC money subsidising the industry which would otherwise fail due to the current unit economics. The deal is great for Postmates - a good $700m+ on their last val. in a market where they are the smallest of their peers and the alternative of having raising more into this climate may be difficult unless you are strong which they are not. For Uber - great - all stock deal with equity markets sky high, Uber Eats being the saving glory in their business atm, get one under the belt after losing the Grub Hub deal and a step closer to that elusive monopoly they need. The deal is super important for the whole industry - consolidation must happen for these companies to survive or they will end up eating each others future profits and their VC funding into oblivion. Link
📚 Reading
Another Australian, Troy Hunt, on the story behind ‘Have I Been Pwned’. Link
Uber considering moving its engineering to India. Link
New Relic CEO giving employees the hard line via memo. Link
In light of Uber acquiring Postmates, report by CB Insights on how the Uber business works. Link
More information on the Zoox and Amazon deal from Reuters. Link
🦖 Entertaining & Interesting things
F1 capes - a look into the aero-dynamics at the front of an F1 car. Link
H.266 video codec has been released. Big news for the next 5 years of video. Link
Dior launched their Autumn Haute Couture winter collection with this amazing video (as opposed to a show). Link
Sony Playstation’s automated factory. Link
Grading tuna fish for sushi with AI. Link
🎧 Podcasts
The best podcast episodes last week according to Bosco Tan:
Glen Chrysler, Glen Ford (This American Life) - 75 mins: Classic episode of This American Life from 7 years ago replayed. Reminiscent of the cult film Glengarry Glen Ross, this is a story of a sales team trying to meet a monthly target in a Long Island Jeep dealer. You will get to know the personalities and their tribulations. You’ll also learn how to get the best deal on a car next time round. Link
Latest Science on Coronavirus (The Daily) - 29 mins: As US (and Melbourne locally) brace for record Coronavirus numbers, some new science has emerged. This episode recaps all the latest, including the good and the bad news. The bad; how the virus may not be just respiratory as originally thought. The good; how the virus may be on the cusp of turning into a seasonal common cold. Link
Media Gurus Dissect Quibi (The Bill Simmons Podcast) - 98 mins (Quibi discussion starts at 54:05): There’s probably only a few people with better insight on new-media than Bill Simmons. Especially when it comes to content. Here he talks to the ex-Editor in Chief of The Hollywood Reporter Matthew Belloni to break down what went wrong with Quibi. From its over-ambitious assumptions and the missteps in execution. Starts midway through. However, if if you’re also closely following the NBA restart, then the first half is a great listen also. Link
India, TikTok Ban and Geopolitics (Exponent) - 56 mins: In this episode of the Stratechery podcast, Ben and James break down the geopolitic reasoning behind the recent Indian TikTok ban. Super dense with lots of insight on India and China, from discussion of Facebook’s investment into Jio, Bytedance’s history and strategy, the evolution of social media, China’s firewall strategy to a debate on how the US should react. Link
📹 TikToks
Stormtroopers enforcing social distancing. Should be everywhere. Link
Melbourne 108 with low clouds. With Star Wars theme. 😆 Link
Tom Cruise actual stunt video. Looks like he does them. Link
Blue whale super close. Link