el producto #265 🚀
Fintech-enabled marketplaces, DAOs and the future of work, Twitter downvotes, Unlisted iOS apps, Big Tech earnings, Disney's metaverse, The UX of Amazon, & more
Welcome to a new edition of el producto
🎰 The week in figures
$1.35B: Cruise raises $1.35B from SoftBank and opens its public waiting list for free rides in San Francisco; SoftBank invested $900M in 2018 and committed to an additional $1.35B tranche when Cruise was ready for commercial deployment (then expected in 2019); following raises from Microsoft and Walmart during the first half of last year, Cruise claimed a $30B valuation
$285M: TTTech Auto, which develops safety software for automated driving systems, raises $285M at a $1B valuation from Aptiv and Audi; TTTech's software manages data from sensors and safety systems and aids in the development of new driving and safety software
$250M: Chargebee, which offers a subscription and billing management platform for SaaS companies, raises $250M at a $3.5B valuation; the firm provides tools for automating recurring billing and invoicing, up-selling, price model experiments, and more; customers include Freshworks and Okta
$240M: Austin-based eCommerce service Cart.com received $240M funding; the funds will be used to fuel expansion into new regions and double the workforce to 300 in Austin in the next year; Cart.com’s value proposition is offering lower fee cuts as compared to larger eCommerce establishments such as Amazon – which reportedly charges a 20% cut – and providing end-to-end online store solutions to small businesses; the company provides assistance related to setting up online stores, digital marketing, logistics, sales analytics, and other services
$207M: Blockdaemon, which develops a platform for deploying and managing blockchain-related tech, raises $207M Series C for a $3.25B post-money valuation; the software includes tools for node operations, payment rails, staking-as-a-service, more
$165M: Indian social commerce startup DealShare raised $165M at a $1.6B valuation; DealShare employs the community group buying model, where a coalition of buyers purchases items in bulk at discounted prices
$150M: Wayflyer, which offers e-commerce financing with revenue-based repayments, raises $150M Series B at a $1.6B valuation; e-commerce companies typically borrow $300k-$400k to cover inventory, shipping costs, etc; customers include furniture brand Branch and Hamama, which offers products for growing food at home
$150M: Trust Machines, which seeks to establish an ecosystem of Web3 apps based on Bitcoin, raises $150M; Co-Founder and CEO Muneeb Ali previously co-founded and led Hiro Systems, which builds tools for the Stacks ecosystem
$125M: Productboard has raised a $125M Series D, at a 1.73B valuation
$125M: E-scooter-sharing firm Superpedestrian raises $125M Series C; the MIT spinout plans to launch scooters featuring its Pedestrian Defense system, which detects and corrects unsafe riding, across 25 cities this year
$100M: NFT collectibles firm Pixel Vault raises $100M; the startup previously launched a collection of real and virtual comic books based on the CryptoPunks NFT collection; the company ultimately plans a universe of comic book heroes to serve as the foundation for various media
$56M: Financial management software firm Pennylane raises $56M Series A; the French startup serves accountants and SMEs; Pennylane, founded by ex-Booking.com’s colleagues Arthur Waller and Tancrède Besnard, plans to grow its workforce from 180 members to 500 by year's end
$7.5M: Decentraland, a metaverse play-to-earn platform, has earned $7.5M in revenue and 6,000 DAU in 3 months on Decentral Games' casino.; Decentraland is a virtual game that allows players to buy and sell digital real estate, create digital art, and play casino games while interacting with other users in the virtual world; these numbers are still fairly small, but when you consider open metaverses, the number of users is pretty substantial (Opensea has over 50,000 DAU, and the NFT marketplace was valued at $13.3B); Decentraland is built on the Ethereum blockchain, and when it first launched in 2017, a plot of land was being sold for $20. In Nov. 2021, the Metaverse group bought a parcel of digital land for $2.43M
500: Over 500 mobile apps are now using the term “metaverse” in their title or description, hoping to attract new users; many of the apps use other terms like crypto, NFTs, AR and VR alongside the word metaverse. these include: Roblox, IMVU, Play Together, Hotel Hideaway: Virtual World, Granny’s House, Highrise: Social Metaverse App, KuCoin, Binance TR and Gemini
📰 What’s going on
Twitter is expanding a test of its downvote button worldwide after receiving positive feedback about the feature; the actual tallies of downvotes are hidden to the public as well as the person who posted the tweet; after an initial test among web users, Twitter is now expanding the feature to Android and iOS
The iOS 15.4 beta added support for web app push notifications; up until now, iOS Safari had no ability to send push notifications to users, and the addition will enable it as it exists on macOS for the first time; both of the two new APIs - "Built-In Web Notifications" and "Push API" - are turned off by default in the present beta
Apple appears to support WebXR applications on Safari and its forthcoming AR/VR headset; although the company did not make any announcement, the evidence comes from the four new features that were spotted for WebXR in the latest Safari in iOS 15.4 beta project; WebXR enables developers to deliver AR and VR experiences straight from a web browser; the 4 new features on iOS 15.4 beta include:
WebXR Augmented Reality Mode
WebXR Device API
WebXR Gamepads module
WebXR Hand Input Module
iOS developers can now publish unlisted apps on the App Store to cater to a specific group of users; unlisted apps will not appear in any App Store categories, recommendations, search results, or other listings; developers can distribute their unlisted apps by sharing private links with their intended users
Meta is rolling out a "personal boundary" system in its social VR platform to combat virtual harassment; the default feature coming to Meta's Horizon Worlds and Horizon Venues apps will make it feel like other users' avatars are nearly four feet away; the system will make users' hands disappear when they enter the personal space of other avatars, giving everyone a two-foot radius
The Walt Disney Company is pushing forward into the metaverse, as indicated by its latest NFT and metaverse job postings; currently, there are four job openings that require expertise in NFTs and "knowledge of and passion for digital and NFT;" other postings might indicate a future of entertainment in the metaverse, including "AR/VR, Filters, NFTs, Livestreams"
DeepMind, Alphabet's AI lab, said its machine learning system AlphaCode can write computer programs on par with human coders; AlphaCode achieved an estimated rank in the top 54% of 10 programming contests, marking the first time an AI-based code generator system has performed consistently at the competitive level
GameStop to launch an NFT marketplace built on the Immutable X platform later this year; Immutable, the platform's creator, has also partnered with GameStop to establish a developers' fund of up to $100M; NFT firms currently using the Immutable X platform will have the option of featuring their collections on GameStop's marketplace
AI software is being used to generate art for NFTs in record amounts; the apps being used include Hotpot.ai's NFT generator and Wombo's Dream app, which uses AI to generate original works based on only a single text description
Amazon will increase the annual cost of a Prime membership in the US (other markets expected) from $119 to $139, while the monthly fee will rise from $12.99 to $14.99
Figma launched a new Enterprise price plan and new FigJam plans; the move marks an effort to bring in more teams and help them collaborate easily on the platform; FigJam is available for free in the Starter plan with unlimited personal whiteboards and three shared whiteboards with unlimited collaborators; FigJam Professional and Organization plans are available at $3 and $5 per editor, respectively; an Enterprise plan at $75 per editor per month to manage and support more people involved in the design process; features of the Figma Enterprise plan include workspaces to create dedicated places for different projects, tools to delegate administrative tasks, and the ability to define a guest access policy
Shopify received a patent for body-measuring technology to help consumers identify the right clothing size; Shopify argued the technology was necessary since clothing brands have different sizing standards; the technology would enable Shopify to collect measurement data by having users upload images or videos via an app
Canva announced its acquisition of Flourish for an undisclosed sum; Flourish is a data visualization platform based in the U.K. and has over 800k customers; the entire 40-member team of Flourish will be taken under Canva
Pendo acquires Mind the Product, the world’s largest community of product managers; “we’re committed to ensuring Mind the Product stays Mind the Product—its content, events, meetups, training, and more will happen as usual“
Digital health firm Withings acquires 8fit, an app featuring workout routines, personalized diet planning, meditation sessions, and more; terms undisclosed; Withings, which offers connected scales, health-focused smartwatches, and other health-tracking products, plans to integrate 8fit's features into its existing software suite
Pinterest will expand its AR "try-on" feature to let users visualize what furniture would look like in their home; Pinterest has partnered with multiple retailers, including Walmart and Wayfair; the feature is only available in the U.S., but it will be rolled out in other markets in the future; consumers can check out over 80,000 furniture products via Pinterest's shoppable Pins
Grindr, a dating app focused on LGBTQ users, disappears from Apple's Chinese App Store and local Android app stores; the Play Store does not serve China; authorities in Beijing recently announced a new initiative to police online content ahead of the Winter Olympics; former owner Beijing Kunlun Tech sold the app to investors in 2020 after the US called for divestment due to national security concerns
India is finally warming up to cryptocurrency with its announcement of a digital Rupee and a crypto income tax; although the proposal of a 30% tax on the income generated from the transfer of digital assets seems steep, it means that any concern of India banning crypto altogether appears to be off the table
💸 Q4 financials
Alphabet ($1.83T market cap) Q4 beats: $75.33B revenue, up 32% YoY ($72.17B expected); $61.24B ad revenue, up 33%; $8.63B YouTube ad revenue ($8.87B expected); $5.54B Google Cloud revenue ($5.47B expected); $13.43B in traffic acquisition costs ($12.84B expected); $30.69 EPS ($27.34 expected)
Amazon ($1.53T market cap) Q4 mixed: $137.4B revenue, up 9.4% YoY ($137.6B expected); $17.8B AWS revenue ($17.3B expected); $9.7B ad services revenue, up 32%; $5.80 EPS (adjusted, $3.57 expected); the company forecasts $112B-$117B in revenue for Q1
Meta ($887.3B market cap) Q4 mixed: $33.67B revenue ($33.4B expected); $11.57 average revenue per user ($11.38 expected); 1.93B DAU (1.95B expected); 2.91B MAU (2.95B expected); $3.67 EPS ($3.84 expected); Meta forecasted $27B-$29B in revenue for Q1 ($30.15B expected); the stock fell ~20% following the report
Paypal ($148.14B) Q4 misses: Q4 revenue $6.9B, +13% YoY; Q4 net income $1.3B, +3% YoY. Full-year revenue $25.37B, +18% YoY; Full-year net income $4.17B; Q4 Total Payment Volume (TPV) $339.5B, +23% YoY, and full-year TPV $1.25T, +33% YoY;
Snap ($62.64B) Q4 beats: Q4 revenue $1.3B vs $1.2B expected; DAU 319M vs 316.9M expected
Spotify ($33.41B) Q4 beats: Q4 revenue $3.025B, +24% YoY; Premium revenue $2.58B, +22% YoY; ad-supported revenue $443M, +40% YoY; 406M MAU, +18% YoY; Paid subscribers rose to 180, +16% YoY
📚 Good reads
Amazon’s UX case study. Every screen in the Amazon app is a masterclass in psychology (for better or worse). The folks at growth.design did it again - don’t miss this interactive case study!
The Experimentation Gap - How statistical decision making has evolved, yet most companies haven’t kept up; by Davis Treybig
When / How to use OKRs and actually succeed. A refresher on key concepts and common pitfalls on OKRs by Christina Wodtke, author of Radical Focus (the book that gave popularity to OKRs)
Discovering and leveraging your circle of competence, by Dr. Hannah England for Ness Labs. “If your goal is to avoid risk, you should stick to your circle of competence; however, if your goal is to innovate, you will be better off stepping outside of your circle so you can come up with non-obvious solutions”
The new operating manual for fintech-enabled marketplaces. Pete Flint (NfX) on the multiple ways that fintech is empowering marketplaces (from bundling to Web3 and tokenization), what went wrong, and what can go well in the near future
15 Leaders in Product Inclusion and Accessibility. Last week, Lisa Zane reached out to her Twitter and LinkedIn contacts asking about who’s work to follow in this space. The result, is this list of 15 awesome humans paving the way to a more inclusive and accessible world. Thank you Lisa (and of course, every single person on that list!)
Virtual assistants trends to watch in 2022. Nick Babich shares some interesting insights on how assistants have been evolving, and where to find the next opportunities
7 ways to increase your odds of getting promoted, by Lenny Rachitsky:
1. Deliver more impact
2. Take on more scope
3. Demonstrate that you’ve addressed a gap
4. Find an influential champion
5. Pay attention to who gets promoted
6. Ask for it
7. Quit and go work somewhere else
🔮 Emerging trends
DAOs and the future of work. Ben Schecter on what the future of work (around DAOs) can look like, and the different roles that their participants may have; some of the models raising popularity include: learn-to-earn, play-to-earn, or invest-to-earn
The next big trend in NFTs: the bull case for music:
Music NFTs represent a new monetization model for artists
Most music NFTs are simply digital collectibles, like online vinyl, that carry no ownership rights to the underlying IP
With Spotify paying $3,700 per million streams while music NFTs sell for thousands each, it may benefit musicians to focus on growing a niche, passionate web3 community rather than playing the numbers game with Spotify
Have a great weekend
Angel
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