News
UK Government backtracks exam algorithm: Controversy reigned in England this week as A-Level results determined by a government mandated “algorithm” were released to students. It soon became clear that weighting based on schools’ previous exam result history was severely hindering star pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds, with many being denied university places as a result. Thankfully common sense prevailed and after reneging on the initial deal, schools were allowed to revert to predicted grades. With education secretary Gavin Williamson spotted on holiday a week before results day, it was another embarrassing development in the Covid-19 saga. What’s worse is that it could easily have been avoided: one father foresaw the flaws several months before results day. Link
Birmingham’s golden child: This week saw UK fitness clothing brand Gymshark seal $200m of investment from US private equity firm General Atlantic. The deal values the Solihull company at a touch over $1.4bn, making Ben Francis, the 28 yo founder, one of Britain’s most successful entrepreneurs. Retaining a 70% ownership stake, he has eschewed traditional super fast, venture funded growth in favour of an organic model based around influencer marketing, an area largely ignored by the big sportswear players he hopes to challenge. With a typically younger demographic made up of heavy social media users, Gymshark are hoping to take the fight to the likes of Nike and Adidas, and it will be interesting to follow their progress over the coming few years. From a personal experience of the product, I feel they have some way to go yet but $200m of liquidity is as good a place as any to get chasing. You can hear about the deal from the founder himself here (kudos for his transparency).
AirBnb & Palantir IPOs: The former officially filed to go public this week (no filing docs released yet, details to follow), while the latter announced plans to go public before inadvertently releasing losses through an S-1 document leak. In addition, the leaked document would give the founders of the big-data software company (including Peter Thiel) 49.999999% (yes, six 9s) of voting power regardless of ownership structure. In perpetuity. While stopping (just) short of a majority, it is certainly unorthodox: giving the CEO that much control of a public, multi billion dollar company regardless of ownership is tantamount to an unimaginable (tax-free) fortune. Link
Short Read
Dot-Com survivors give their verdict on the current tech boom: A perspective from Wall Street. Still, with the huge information asymmetry in the 90s, it was a completely different world. Link
Long Read
The (bigger) benefits of physical activity: People dramatically over report physical activity, so the benefits of actual activity (now measured) are about 2.5x better for you than had been thought. Very interesting finding. Link
Interesting Things
This Missouri home, with an attached 9-cell jailhouse accessible through the kitchen, is up for sale: Only $350k too. Link
Ryan Reynolds backed Aviation Gin acquired by Diageo: Or, the rise of the celebrity VC. Link
This week in 1994: Jeff Bezos posts the first job advertisement for Amazon. Back when it was called Cadabra (not very catchy, was it). Well worth a read below:
Does school matter: Research finds that each year of schooling increases IQ by 1-5 points, and these effects persist for a lifetime. The analysis, by Ritchie & Tucker-Drob concludes: “Education appears to be the most consistent, robust and durable method yet to be identified for raising intelligence.” Link
Apple logo lawsuit: The tech giant has filed a notice of opposition against a meal prep company, believing the logos are too similar. I mean you couldn’t make this up. Take a look:
Trumps re-designs White House Rose Garden: Despite appearing to be as gauche a change as one might imagine from Melania, apparently the hallowed ground was in need of a much needed upgrade. Still, the Twittersphere didn’t deem that an appropriate excuse. Link