News:
LinkedIn Stories: Yup, you read that right. I mean, really? Do we not get enough sales spiel through Instagram and Facebook? Apparently not, as the professional networking site owned by Microsoft this week announced it would be introducing user stories as part of a “user-friendly” redesign. Link
UK Covid app: We finally went digital this week as a coronavirus tracing app was rolled out nationwide. But criticism has been pouring in: while the app is compliant with external track and trace signups, it can’t accept data from the NHS’s own test results platform. Which means that the whole thing is sort of, well… pointless. Link
More Facebook Controversy: More! Yup - this time, they’re being sued for watching Instagram users through the unauthorised use of the iPhone camera, even while they weren’t on the app. Facebook denied the report, blaming a “bug.” This comes only a month after they were accused of using facial recognition data to illegally harvest the biometric data of more than 100m users. If you haven’t already, I’d recommend the Social Dilemma on Netflix for even more social media home truths. Link
Short Read:
A British tech migration? Tech workers from the UK are moving to warmer countries as winter approaches, and some have speculated that London’s “Tech City” may never be the same. Link
Long Read:
The Airbnb Hedgefund: The story of the CFO who quietly built a hedge fund within the finance department that eventually made up 30% of the company’s revenue. What a way to make the most of the working capital built up through visitor deposits. Link
Interesting Things:
Peter Thiel’s autumn: As the world reels from the pandemic, some haven’t had a bad year at all. In particular, contrarian entrepreneur and VC Peter Thiel. Cross-disciplinary excellence.
Palantir IPO (co-founder)
Asana IPO (investor)
Opendoor (investor)
Bridgetown SPAC (founder)
Spotify co-founder backs Europe: In a keynote speech delivered this week, Spotify CEO and co-founder Daniel Elk announced that he’s devoting $1bn of his own personal resources to fund ground breaking startups, in order to generate more “European super-companies.” You can find the details here
Amazon to open a further 100 fulfilment & distribution centres in September: This follows a record $88.9 bn second quarter in sales. Link
The Athlete Jet: Check out the pictures of this Boeing 787 by Nike, designed to make travel more efficient (read, luxurious) for elite athletes. Sleep pods, therapy rooms and workout rooms. Is this the future of travel for professional sports teams?
What it’s like to actually go through an IPO: Frank honesty from CEO & co-founder of Okta, Todd McKinnon. Link
A $5k iPhone: Check out this Twitter user, selling his iPhone XS with now defunct TikTok, WeChat, Flappy Bird and Fortnite for $5,000.
Can you IPO luxury goods? Masterworks, an app founded in 2017, thinks so. Having hosted the mini-IPOs of artworks by Andy Warhol and Banksy, they have devised a novel way of democratising the ownership of exclusive cars, racehorses and tokens as the demand for alternative asset classes rages on. Link