10/30/2020: Weekly Newsletter
Money
Ant IPO predicted to be biggest in history, ~$34B and already 5M individual orders placed. For six months until June 2020, it estimates it made revenues of ~$10.5B and net profit of ~$3B. Don't know much about Ant? This is a brief overview of the company founded by Jack Ma, who also created Alibaba from Business Insider. But I do take issue with the article's opening statement: "...many people likely have never heard of the tech affiliate company of Jack Ma's Alibaba." The company has ~1B users!...so I think saying 'most people haven't heard of it' is a pretty US-centric view...
Billtrust going public via SPAC
Strava, fitness tracker app (that I'm a frequent user of), seeking to raise funding @ $1B valuation
JPM exploring third parties to custody crypto
Coinbase launches debit card
SoFi gets ok on bank charter...which leads me to think...are all FinTechs headed towards becoming banks???
Saudi Arabia and making changes to the kafala worker system in 2021
Tech
This article makes the case that broadband is the larger antitrust issue we should be focused on
Section 230 congressional hearing and sound bites
Absolutely fascinating: Network science and how information spreads
Bias in algorithims and how this study highlights how black patients received fewer kidney transplants
Etc.
Hold Still is the British National Portrait Gallery's selection of 100 photos that citizens submitted they felt represented this year. I find a lot of them very moving and it provides quite a time capsule for 2020.
This one was one of my favorites, and I think sums up what a lot of parents are feeling right now. lol.
And this one led me down an internet rabbit hole to learn about the amazing impact of Sir Tom Moore--at 100 years old he committed to doing 100 laps around his garden to raise money for the NHS. It's an absolutely heartwarming story about how an original funding goal of £1,200 became £40M.
A wild story about cheating in poker and how one person was caught
Forbes' annual 30 under 30 list released...as a person who no longer qualifies as an "under 30"...I think we need a 30 over 30 list too! haha. Any suggestions for nominees?
Cecilia Chiang, legend & master of Chinese cuisine, passes away
