el producto #260 🎉
el producto #260 🎉
The startups we lost in 2021, Trends for 2022, Oculus sales records, Productivity apps, The Product complexity curve, POAP NFTs, BNPL growth, & more
Happy new year from el producto!
🎰 The week in figures
$100B: Buy now, pay later adoption (BNPL) continued to soar in 2021, after it gained popularity last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. US BNPL purchases grew from $24B in 2020 to around $100B this year
$4B: African startups raised a record $4B in 2021, a massive increase on the $1.5B in 2020 and a doubling of 2019’s $2B. 5 new unicorns were minted: 4 are fintech-focused (Flutterwave, OPay, Wave, and Chipper Cash), and the last is tech talent marketplace Andela. These companies were helped by a maturing market in the Big Four countries: Nigeria, South Africa, Egypt, and Kenya
$740M: SenseTime, the Chinese AI company, raised $740M from its IPO in Hong Kong, selling 1.5 billion shares priced at $0.49 (HK $3.85) each. The IPO debut raised the AI company’s valuation to $16.4B. US investors could not participate in the listing because SenseTime was blacklisted for its alleged involvement in monitoring Uyghur minorities in Xinjiang
$200M: M_Service JSC, parent of fintech app MoMo, raises ~$200M Series E for a $2B post-money valuation; the Vietnamese firm reportedly raised $100M+ in January; the company plans to focus on rural expansion with a new bill payment service and more
$200M: Paradox, a maker of conversational recruiting software, secured a $200M Series C at a valuation of $1.5B. Paradox's recruiting platform and AI assistant, Olivia, helps companies automate tasks such as scheduling interviews and onboarding. It has 500 clients and a three-year revenue growth rate of close to 2,000%. The company is now hiring in sales, Product Management, marketing, engineering, and other areas. Its offices are in Scottsdale, Baltimore, Chicago, Tel Aviv, Singapore, and Vietnam
$100M: Tackle, which helps SaaS firms sell through cloud marketplaces, raises $100M Series C at a $1.25B valuation; the platform supports five marketplaces, including AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud; Tackle claims 350 customers, including Dell, GitLab, and VMware
$86M: Jitendra Gupta's neobank Jupiter secured $86M in funding to further its customer acquisition efforts and expand into lending and wealth management. The fully digital bank has just under half a million users and is targeting 1M customers by April. The Series C round brings the startup's valuation to $710M, up from $300M in August. Gupta is a co-founder of fintech startup CitrusPay, which was acquired by PayU in 2016 for $130M. In 2019, he founded Jupiter, which released its beta this year. The fintech firm is now doubling its transaction volume each month and expects to end December with $60M in transactions
$80M: AppDirect, a San Francisco-based subscription commerce platform, received $80M funding. The company plans to utilize the incoming funds to support channel partner growth and establish AppDirect Capital, which will provide funding to its technology channel partners through the AppSmart Invest program. AppDirect was founded in 2009 with an aim to simplify the digital supply chain and facilitate the sale of products with third-party services
560 startups reached unicorn status in 2021; of those, 344 were headquartered in the US, compared to the 79 US-based that became unicorns in 2019.
As of today, there are over 1,000 new $1B+ private companiesÂ
The world’s unicorns are now collectively valued at over $3T
40%Â of all unicorns were created in 2021
Some new 2021 U.S. unicorns include Clubhouse, Cameo, and MoonPay
Tech stocks winners and losers of the year (companies worth at least $10B):
Best and Worst, 2021
AMC Entertainment (+1,121%)
GameStop (+694%)
Lucid (+268%)
Synaptics (+223%)
Asana (+152%)
Fortinet (+149%)
Nvidia (+132%)
Peloton (-77%)
Tencent (-69%)
Pinduoduo (-68%)
Coupa Software (-53%)
Alibaba (-53%)
Ring Central (-50%)
Zoom Video (-49%)
Best and Worst, 2020 & 2021 combined:
GameStop (+2,509%)
Tesla (+1,162%)
Nio (+1,067%)
Cloudflare (+699%)
Enphase Energy (+593%)
Zscaler (+579%)
Bill.com (+544%)
Tencent Music (-50%)
Alibaba (-48%)
Telefonica (-39%)
AT&T (-37%)
Trip.com (-34%)
ViacomCBS (-28%)
Discovery Inc. (-28%)
📰 What’s going on
Apple has hired Meta Platforms' PR chief Andrea Schubert as it prepares to unveil a mixed-reality headset sometime in late 2022. Schubert has been communications director for Meta's Reality Labs consumer hardware division since 2016, where she had led the company's AR, XR, Portal, and research communications teams. The upcoming high-end Apple device is expected to cost $1,000+, and have two 8K displays and advanced 3D sensors capable of hand tracking. On Christmas Day, Oculus VR became the most popular app in Apple's App Store for the first time, showing how popular the VR devices are becoming
WhatsApp is testing a new interface for voice calls and other features on iOS and Android. Leaked images of the new interface reveal some UI tweaks and new indicators for end-to-end encryption
The Oculus app, which is required for new users to set up a headset, rocketed up to #1 on the Apple App Store charts on Christmas, beating out popular and near-ubiquitous social media apps TikTok, YouTube and Instagram. If the Oculus app chart position indicates strong new headset take-up, then app sales numbers and player base growth shows that those new owners were keen to get in on VR experiences as well
Meta acquired AI.Reverie, which generates synthetic data for training AI, and consolidated the business into its Reality Labs division; terms undisclosed; AI.Reverie, which had raised $5.8M, previously held a contract with the Defense Department worth up to $950MÂ
Twitch co-founder Justin Kan’s Fractal NFT marketplace went live Thursday after its initial launch was delayed due to a hack that caused victims to lose $150k
CES 2022 organizers said they will not cancel the January trade show after AMD, OnePlus, and Microsoft became the latest companies to withdraw their in-person plans. The firms join T-Mobile, Google, Intel, and others that have shifted to a digital-only presence amid spiking coronavirus cases. CES will officially run from Jan. 5 through 8 in Las Vegas, with preshow events starting on Jan. 3
Xiaomi unveiled its flagship 12 Series smartphones in China, one of the first phones to run on Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chipset. The company could introduce the Xiaomi 12, Xiaomi 12 Pro, and/or Xiaomi 12X in other global markets next year. The base series 12 model has a 6.28-inch flexible OLED display with 2,400 × 1,080 resolution, Sony 50MP IMX766 camera, and a 120Hz refresh rate. The company also revealed its latest high-end smartwatch with a 1.43-inch AMOLED display and wireless noise-canceling headphones
📚 Good reads
The startups we lost in 2021. We hear a lot about the startups doing well, but it’s more important to learn why some didn’t make it long. What can we learn from Houseparty, Loon, Katerra and others that won’t see 2022?
Understanding the Product complexity curve. More features != better outcomes. In fact, more features can add complexity, until they hit a tipping point where each new feature decreases the incremental value for the user
Product/market-fit guidance. There are hundreds of articles (and different definitions) about PMF. Kazuki Nakayashiki has summarized the most relevant definitions and literature around the topic. A handy refresher for the experts, and a great intro for beginners on the topic
50 productivity app recommendations for 2022. From ToDos, to roadmapping, or chill, Coda shares an extensive list of cool products to help you stay productive
Big tech’s next biggie: the car. From self-driving technology to entertainment and search, Google, Apple and Amazon are trying to gain exclusive access to your vehicle
2022 Product Management trends by 13 Product professionals, curated by Userpilot
2022 web and app dev predictions, by Inside Web:
Progressive Web Apps (PWAs) that provide experience on par with native apps will be adopted by more businesses to attract more users. PWAs' advantages include faster launch, app-like experiences, seamless installation, and smooth updating and maintenance
Web 3.0 will change the fundamental way developers build websites. Current challenges for developers include learning a new programming language, adapting to new libraries and tools, and understanding blockchain concepts. The demand for web 3.0 developers is already high and will go higher next yearÂ
Chatbots will save retail, banking, and healthcare businesses approximately $11B annually by 2023. AI-powered chatbots will enhance the functionality of web applications
Cloud-based serverless architecture advantages include scalability, reduced web development costs, requires less technical assistance, and is a great approach to building small web applications
Building VR and AR apps are difficult, and businesses are trying to find to way to get their foot into the metaverse. Tools to ease the development process will be launched next year, and the demand for developers who can build such apps will be on the rise
There will be around 1B connected wearable devices by 2022. Android and iOS started rolling libraries and tools for developers to build apps for their wearable devices. Developers will be expected to create apps that can work seamlessly on wearables
Apps that leverage mCommerce to facilitate payments will see an increased adaption
Brands that use Beacon technology to provide location-specific information to users will be able to increase their conventions and provide a more engaged interaction to their customers
The dark theme symbolizes power, luxury, sophistication, and elegance. It is increasingly used in projects where the design is limited and minimalist, when a dramatic look is desired, or when it complements the branding colour scheme
Scrollytelling enables website creators to tell a compelling story with scroll illustration and animation, accompanied by audio. The visual storytelling medium experience will dominate many websites as users have become sick of websites with unnecessary content
In 2022, UI and UX designers must accommodate different screen sizes and pixels in their respective designs. Designers will have to design for mobile devices, laptops, TVs, large screens, in-car screens, and foldable phones - this should not be new, but will become even more relevant
More companies will start focusing on having accessible and inclusive design components in their websites that cater to users with special needs and from a wide range of social and cultural backgrounds
Users engage through data representation in the form of charts, static and interactive infographics, and illustrations
Oversized bold typography will make a comeback in 2022 and could replace the image banner lead.
3D e-commerce images will enable developers to showcase product details, boost interactivity, and increase average visit duration
A simple one-page website will become the norm to create clear messaging and communicate clearly
App style websites that amplify responsive design will make users feel more aligned with the content
Gender-neutral design with inclusive content and language will become a global standard
🔮 Emerging trends
POAP NFTs. Proof of Attendance Protocol (POAP) NFTs are NFTs that are used to represent a user’s participation in a particular event. These NFTs have grown in popularity both in digital spaces, like minting events, and physical space attendance as a way to discover early and consistent followers without the use of personally identifiable information. Since the start of 2021, the total number of wallets holding POAP NFTs has grown over 5x. POAP NFTs have the potential to further the growth of NFT collectibles because they enable early holders to be recognized for their entrance to a project, even if they are no longer holders of the actual NFT. For a subcategory of crypto that rewards early adopters and market entrants, holding claim to be the first holder of a CryptoPunk or other future project will further drive NFT collectors to go for mints in hopes of the next successful project. POAPs give NFT creators the ability to identify early users and reward them for driving the ecosystem. Companies like Adidas have already used POAPs: in the Into the Metaverse drop, POAP holders were given early access to the NFT release
Have a great weekend, and beginning of 2022!
Angel
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