el producto #270 🚀
Twitter Shops, ETH 2.0, Amazon stock split & radio app, Barça+NFTs, Product Strategy Stack, New Apple products, Stripe crypto, Robinhood cards, & more
Welcome to a new edition of el producto
🎰 The week in figures
$8.5B: Pony.ai, a startup building a fleet of autonomous robotaxis, was valued at $8.5B after the first close of its Series D fundraising; Pony said it has ~$1B on its balance sheet; the company has over 1000 employees and is testing in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Irvine, and Fremont
$5.4B: Alphabet has reached an agreement to buy Mandiant, a public cybersecurity company, for $5.4B; the acquisition will be used to boost their cloud offering; Microsoft was rumored to be in acquisition talks with Mandiant in early February; Mandiant’s projected 2022 revenue is ~$560M
$2B: Visa closed the acquisition of Swedish open banking platform Tink for $2B; Visa announced its intent to acquire Tink in June last year; Tink facilitates transactions between financial institutions, fintechs, and merchants via an API
$800M: Indian Edtech company Byju’s raised an $800M funding at a $22B valuation; Byju’s is also looking to raise up to $1B in a pre-IPO round; the online learning platform boasts 150 million global users and 7.5 million paid annual subscribers; Byju’s product portfolio now includes personal tutoring in India, and has also started tutoring services in the U.S., U.K., Brazil, Indonesia, Mexico, and Australia
$300M: Acorns raised a $300M Series F at $2B valuation; the new capital will be used in part to explore acquisitions; six weeks ago Acorns said it was halting its planned $2.2B SPAC, opting instead for an IPO
$245M: Stax, an Orlando-based payment processing startup, raised $245M at a $1B valuation; Stax charges a flat SaaS fee for access to its payments platform, unlike most competitors which charge on a per-transaction basis
$240M: Real estate investing platform Roofstock closed a $240M Series E at a $1.94B post-money valuation; the Oakland-based company provides a marketplace for properties and portfolios of Single Family Rentals; Roofstock claims to have processed $5B in transaction volume
$240M: Cart.com, a platform providing businesses with e-commerce and fulfillment capabilities, raised $240M; the company has 3,000 vendors using its tools and claims that its revenue grew by 400% in the last 12 months
$200M: Australia-based Immutable raised $200M Series C funding at a $2.5B valuation; Immutable’s NFT trading platform, Immutable X, is based on the Ethereum-based Layer 2 protocol; the platform’s USP is high-transaction throughput, zero gas fees, instantaneous transaction and withdrawal facility, and high security of transactions; tt co-developed GameStop’s NFT marketplace and launched a joint $100M fund to support developers
$135M: Form-building SaaS platform Typeform raised a $135M Series A at a $925M post-money valuation; the Barcelona-based startup has raised a total of $187M; ARR has tripled since 2018, now exceeding $70M; the company claims an NPS of 61
$125M: Ardoq announced a $125M Series D led at a valuation over $300M; Norway-based Ardoq provides software to migrate and manage business process in the cloud, which helps customers create interconnected systems between departments; 30% of their customers are in the Nordics, and the rest are split between Europe and the US
+2700%: Russians are downloading VPN apps amid increased state censorship measures;Sensor Tower said the top five VPN apps jumped nearly 2,700% in the past week
-80%: Daily trading volume on NFT platform OpenSea dropped ~80% to ~$50M/day from February to March; avg selling price of an NFT has dropped ~48% since November; avg Bored Ape price fell ~44% over the past two weeks
📰 What’s going on
Twitter began piloting Twitter Shops, where merchants can highlight up to 50 products on their accounts; while consumers can view products within the Twitter app, the check-out process occurs on the merchant's website; Shops is currently free for merchants and only available for US consumers with iOS devices
Amazon launched the beta version of its free-to-use internet radio app Amp; hosts can schedule events, bring on live-callers and play songs from Amazon’s licensed catalog of music; Amazon announced cornerstone hosts from the music industry including Nicki Minaj and radio industry like Guy Raz; this will compete with other social audio apps like Spotify’s Greenroom, Clubhouse, Callin, Twitter Spaces and Facebook Audio Live Rooms
Amazon stock surged 5% after news that the company plans a 20-to-1 stock split; the split is its first since Sept. 1, 1999; the split will take effect in June; shareholders will get their new shares at close on June 3, and trading at the split-adjusted basis will start June 6
Google rolled out a bunch of new Android features and updates:
Google Photos: Pixel users and Google One members will be able to use the portrait blur feature in more types of photos, such as pets and plants
Gboard: The keyboard's grammar correction will roll out to all Android users rather than just Pixel users; Google is also updating Gboard with 2,000 more emoji mashup stickers
Nearby share: Android 6+ users will be able to share photos, videos, and more with multiple people nearby at the same time
Google TV: It's getting a Highlights tab that aggregates shows, news, and reviews based on what a person watches
Pay for parking: Users will be able to use their voice to pay for parking in ParkMobile zones in 400+ US cities; they can also check parking status and extend time using Google Assistan
Live Transcribe: The free speech-to-text transcription app will be updated to work in offline mode
Screen Time widget: The new widget shows the three apps a user spends the most time on in a day; users can set daily timers for apps or pause them for certain time periods
Messages by Google will now properly display iOS emoji reactions on Android; Google still advocates that iOS switch to the RCS messaging standard instead of SMS
Peloton will test new monthly subscription service where customers pay a single Bike and Connected Fitness subscription ($60-$100/ month), with the option to cancel any time; currently the company offers a Bike purchase ($1,495 & $2,495) and separate subscription ($39/mo); their new offer will only be available in-person in select markets and will include a non-refundable delivery and setup fee of $249
Whatsapp released a new browser security extension called Code Verify in partnership with Cloudflare; Code Verify validates the authenticity of the WhatsApp web client, aiming to prevent bad actors from modifying the code and spying on users while messaging; the extension is open-source and available on Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, and Mozilla Firefox
Facebook updated its Community Help feature to allow Ukrainians to more easily find reliable information from local U.N. agencies and the Red Cross about where to find medical help, how to get assistance and more; the feature will appear for Ukrainian users both in and outside the country across Facebook and will also point to Ukraine’s State Emergency Services information helpline on WhatsApp. Meanwhile, Russia is banning Instagram on March 14th
Microsoft opened its Startups Founders Hub to all startups; any founder with just an idea can gain access to the program's offerings; startups will receive Azure credits in varying amounts depending on their development stage; a startup in the ideation stage will receive $1,000 in credits, increasing up to $120,000 in credits for startups scaling up
Apple introduced a bunch of new hardware at Tuesday's Peek Performance event:
Mac Studio: a desktop system that looks like the Mac Mini on the outside but packs a lot more power on the inside; features both Apple’s M1 Max chip and a new, even more powerful processor, the M1 Ultra; includes four Thunderbolt 4 ports as well as a 10Gb Ethernet port, two USB-A ports, two USB-C ports (10 Gbps on M1 Max systems, 40 Gbps/Thunderbolt 4 on M1 Ultra systems), an SD card slot, an HDMI, and an audio jack; it supports Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.0
Apple Studio Display: A 27-inch monitor with 5K resolution, 600 nits of brightness,12-megapixel front-facing camera, and more. Starts at $1,599.
iPad Air 5: Latest tablet version with eight-core M1 chip, 5G connectivity, and 12MP front-facing camera. Starts at $599.
iPhone SE 3: with an A15 Bionic chip; the design is the same as the previous-generation iPhone SE; it also features a more durable design, using the same front and back glass as the iPhone 13; the iPhone SE 3 also now supports 5G connectivity as well as improved battery life thanks to the efficiency of the A15 Bionic chip on the inside
Apple M1 Ultra chip: New Apple Silicon combines two M1 Max chips for up to 128GB of unified memory. It's launching in the Mac Studio (see above)
New iPhone colors: The iPhone 13 will be available in “green” and the iPhone 13 Pro in “alpine green”
The co-founders of LinkedIn and DeepMind have collaborated to form Inflection AI, a startup developing AI software to help people better communicate with computers; the co-founders are LinkedIn's Reid Hoffman, DeepMind's Mustafa Suleyman, and former DeepMind researcher Karén Simonyan; Suleyman will serve as CEO, and Simonyan will be chief scientist; the Silicon Valley-based startup aims to develop a suite of new technologies that will enable people to speak to computers in plain language
EBay revealed its digital wallet at its 2022 investor day on Thursday; the wallet would let merchants use their revenue to purchase more items from eBay's marketplace and cover selling fees; the wallet will reportedly be rolled out in Q2
Stripe is getting into the crypto payments business; after dropping bitcoin in 2018, Stripe is once again supporting cryptocurrencies — this time with broad support for a range of crypto businesses, including exchanges, on-ramps, wallets and NFT marketplaces; Stripe partnered with FTX to improve payments processing and build a fiat-to-crypto on-ramp for the crypto exchange; FTX had previously integrated Stripe Identity to improve its KYC processes
Pinterest said it will introduce an in-app checkout feature; Pinterest said it has partnered with Shopify to pilot the feature for a limited number of U.S. merchants; Pinterest will also introduce a new Your Shop feature that will show users personalized commerce pages based on their history
Tinder is letting US users access background checks; this is enabled by Garbo, a nonprofit Tinder parent Match Group invested in last year; the app will launch the Garbo website, which can typically identify the match with a name and phone number; the first 500K total searches will be free, up to two per user, then they will be $2.50 each to fund Garbo’s operations
Instacart rolled out new in-store navigation and live phone support to the shoppers using its platform; shoppers will be able to view an interactive map that includes item locations, in an initial pilot with 15 retail partners across more than 80 stores in 17 US states and Canada
TikTok launched a music distribution and marketing platform, called SoundOn, to help artists upload to Bytedance-owned TikTok and Resso, as well as Apple Music, Spotify, and others; SoundOn will pay 100% of royalties to creators on ByteDance-owned platforms; on other streaming services, artists will receive 100% in their first year, but SoundOn will take a 10% cut starting in year two
TikTok is beta testing a program to allow crypto ads; the beta (currently running tests in the US and Canada) is a program that, if rolled out widely, could allow crypto advertisers to bypass some of the red tape they currently face on the platform
Robinhood is working on a new Cash Card that promises no monthly fees, in-network ATM fees, overdraft fees or account minimums
Bahamas-based Crypto exchange FTX is expanding to offer services in Europe and the Middle East, opening offices in Switzerland and Cyprus; FTX is the third largest crypto exchange by spot volume
FC Barcelona has announced its intent to enter the metaverse and NFT space; Joan Laporta, president of the club, talked about the upcoming moves the club will be making, stating: "In recent times, there has been a lot of attention to blockchain products and services such as NFTs and metaverse. We should be able to offer digital products to our members, our fans that will align with the value of the club and generate a very interesting emotional experience;" the club is building the infrastructure to support the vision and also hinted at the possibility of launching a cryptocurrency token; the club launched Barca Studios, which will serve as an innovation hub and introduce new technologies and offer new products and services relevant to today's market demand
Chinese ecommerce JD.com Q4 earnings: revenue of $43.6B (up 23% y/y), net loss of $800M; FY 2021 results: revenue of $149.3B (up 27.6% y/y), net loss of $600M (down 107% y/y); annual active customer accounts increased 20.7% to 569.7M; JD.com trails Alibaba (1.28B) and Pinduoduo (867.3M) in latest-reported active ecommerce accounts
📚 Good reads
Set “Non-Goals” and build a Product strategy stack — lessons for Product leaders by Ravi Mehta, ex-VP of Product at Tripadvisor and ex-CPO at Tinder; “Creating a product strategy without a thorough understanding of the company strategy is like going to the grocery store with a list of ingredients to buy, but without a plan for the recipes you want to cook“
How Twitter plans to add its next 100M users. ‘We need to make the product more participatory and approachable’
Why should Product Managers always push for a soft launch? A brief read by Janna Bastow on the benefits of soft-launching products
Startup Salary and Equity Database by Topstartups.io. A helpful tool for those trying to understand a job offer or trying to negotiate a pay rise
🔮 Emerging trends
Ethereum 2.0. Over 10M ETH is now locked in the ETH 2.0 staking contract — marking a huge milestone. This essentially means that investors are collectively betting over $25B that Ethereum's move to proof of stake will be a success
ETH 2.0?:
ETH 2.0 is the most anticipated update in the protocol's history
The update moves Ethereum's core consensus mechanism from Proof of Work (PoW) to Proof of Stake (PoS)
PoW vs. PoS:
Ethereum's current consensus mechanism, Proof of Work, is an energy-intensive process that requires miners to process transactions
ETH 2.0 swaps miners for PoS validators, who stake their ETH, creating an economic incentive to only process valid transactions
More on validators and staking:
The 10M in ETH is parceled into batches of 32
Each batch of 32 ETH is a validator on the Ethereum Beacon Chain
Anyone with 32 ETH can set up their own node, or they can opt to sacrifice some staking yield for the ease of joining a pool
Stay safe
Angel
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🇺🇦 Help Ukraine - I will re-direct 100% of el producto earnings from this and upcoming weeks to the UN Crisis Relief Fund for Ukraine. If you want to help, see resources from the tech community:
Real ways you can help Ukraine as a foreigner: Extensive list of resources, from hosting refugees, to donation and volunteering opportunities
Help Ukraine Win: A collection of resources and info on how foreigners can help
Help Ukraine: Another detailed resource for how those outside Ukraine can help
Help Ukraine | Crowdsourced List: A list of resources to help Ukraine with crowdsourced info
We Stand With Ukraine Website Badge: A simple website badge to show support for Ukraine
Pro Ukraine Website Banner: A website banner that directs Russian users to Help Ukraine Win — for Russian civilians who want to support Ukraine
I am offering 1-1 consultations with Product professionals affected by the conflict (whether need help finding a new job abroad, pivoting a product, etc)
More here. These resources provide various ways to help, from suggestions on where to donate (if you are able) to petitions that you can sign and more to support Ukraine