Might Tech Companies Become Nonprofits?
Given the early mission of the internet to democratize information, it’s somewhat surprising that we don’t see more nonprofits operating in the tech space. Wikipedia is the strongest example of what that model might look like. In New York, The Driver Cooperative (TDC), is trying to launch a ridesharing app that would get closer to […]
The Future of On Demand Retail
We’ve seen how Ghost Kitchens have started to change the face of restaurants. Ghost Kitchens are essentially restaurants with no physical space for customers which means they are delivery-only restaurants. And in fact, some Ghost Kitchens will actually support multiple online-only restaurants from the same location. The economics of Ghost Kitchens are very different than […]
The Competitive World of Bird Watching
…anyone can view rankings of the top eBirders in different hot spots, counties, states, and entire countries. You can even peruse a list of the top 100 eBirders in the world. These types of competitive lists have birthed trends like endless Big Years, in which birders constantly compete to see who can spot the most species in a year. […]
Reid Hoffman’s Airbnb Reflections
Reid Hoffman posted some reflections on Greylock’s investment in Airbnb. Reid is a wonderful writer and his post is provides a wonderful narrative on how the investment came about. The part that caught me was this: Part of the reason that Blitzscaling opens with the Airbnb story is that it demonstrates how when you win a winner-take-most […]
Facebook’s Antitrust Woes
Tim Wu is out with a few things press keeps getting wrong about the Facebook antitrust case. Tim’s second point is most insights. The government doesn’t have a duty to prove that Instagram or WhatsApp, absent the merger, would have become significant competitors. Too many journalists have been falling for this assertion — and reporting […]
COVID and New Product Introduction
In March I wrote about the impact COVID was going to have on new product introduction (NPI). Google delayed the release of its new Pixel smartphone by several months. The newest iPhone line-up was a month later this year. And last week Ford announced they would be delaying next year’s Bronco launch. So even some […]
Growing Unemployment Across States
Roughly one in ten workers have filed for unemployment in the last three weeks. Here’s a look at estimated unemployment by state: Three states might have unemployment rates over 20% right now: Michigan, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island. 15 states (and the District of Columbia) likely have unemployment rates over 15%: Alaska, California, District of Columbia, […]
The Fed’s Growing Balance Sheet
Over the last two weeks, the Federal Reserve has added over $500B a week to its balance sheet. Until March 2020, the largest weekly increase in the Fed Balance sheet was $292 billion (October 2008). There were two weeks in October 2008 that saw the Fed’s balance sheet increase more than $200 billion. Until March […]
Making Sense of the Unprecedented March 2020 Job Losses in the Hospitality Sector
The loss of hospitality jobs in March 2020 is unprecedented. When we have April data in a month, we’ll see the U.S. economy suffered more hospitality job losses in two months than during the entirety of the last recession. The leisure and hospitality sector includes businesses like hotels, restaurants, bars, casinos, amusements parts, museums. Some […]
When Nearly Every Astros Game from 2017 is on YouTube
As reported in the Wall Street Journal, Tony Adams watched 8,274 pitches thrown to Astros hitters during 58 home games from the 2017 season. He logged his results on signstealingscandal.com. Adams broke down every pitch to Astros hitters, noted if he discerned a bang, and included a direct link to each pitch.
