el producto #315 đ
New HomePod, Google's AI projects, Uber's low-cost EVs, The UX of banking, Climate fintech growth, Microsoft & Alphabet layoffs, IC leadership in Product, & more
Hey team,
Welcome to a new edition of el producto
đ° The week in figures
$3B: Shein, a popular Chinese fast-fashion online retailer, is in talks to raise $3B at a ~$64B valuation, down >30% from its last valuation of ~$100B
$2.9B: Investors poured $2.9bn into climate fintech companies globally in 2022
$350M: PhonePe, the Indian mobile payments giant, raised $350M at a $12B valuation, doubling its $5.5B valuation from 2020
$87M: Wallapop, a Spanish peer-to-peer marketplace, raised $87.4M for its ongoing expansion in Europe; the startups significantly grew during COVID-19 as consumers looked for localized, less-wasteful purchases
-5%: Microsoft will cut <5% of its workforce (~10K jobs) and take a $1.2B charge in Q2 related to severance costs and lease consolidation
-6%: Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai announced a 6% RIF, which will impact ~12K employees; US employees will receive 16 weeks severance and 6 months of health benefits; Pichai took full responsibility for the cuts
-10%: Wayfair will cut 10% of its workforce (1750 employees) after cutting ~5% (870 jobs) back in August
-46%: Global funding for fintech companies was down 46% in 2022 to $75.2B; overall deal flow for fintech companies dropped by 8%, resulting in 5048 deals
-50%: According to AngelList, the median Series B valuation in 2022 dropped 50% from ~$250M to ~$125M from Q1 to Q4
đ° Q4 results
Netflix: revenue: $7.85B (+2% y/y), FCF: $332M, net income: $55.3M; added 7.7M net new subscribers; stock was up ~6% on the news
Roblox: DAUs: 62.5M (+18% y/y), estimated bookings: $430M-$439M (+17-20% y/y), shares are up ~12% on the news
đ° Whatâs going on
After more than 25 years leading Netflix, Reed Hastings is stepping down as Co-CEO and appointing Greg Peters to serve as Co-CEO with Ted Sarandos; Hastings will remain executive chairman of the board
Apple will delay the launch date of its lightweight AR glasses indefinitely due to technical challenges, but its mixed reality headset is still set to debut in 2023Â
Apple is developing a range of new smart home devices to further compete with Google and Amazon; this includes a smart tablet â described as âessentially a low-end iPadâ â that would be used to control smart home devices and support videos and FaceTime calls
Apple debuted a second-gen version of its HomePod, which has improved Siri integration and audio; the speaker has temperature and humidity sensors as well as sound recognition to identify smoke and carbon monoxide alarms
Google's Nest Team is currently working on a tracking device similar to Apple's AirTag under the codename "Grogu"
Google Cloud rolled out an AI technology that allows retailers to use imagery to track items on store shelves; the service will use a Google library with billions of data points to identify products from photos taken from multiple angles
Google execs met with co-founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page to discuss the threat of OpenAIâs ChatGPT; Google plans on releasing 20 new AI projects this year; AI projects Google is working on:
An image generator that can both create and edit images
 A code generation tool, PaLM-Coder 2, which could rival Microsoft's GitHub Copilot
An upgraded version of the AI Test Kitchen app, where users can interact with experimental AI technologies, including LaMDA, Google's language model for conversations
A "Colab + Android Studio" tool to help developers more easily create apps for Android phones
A tool that summarizes videos by creating new ones
A wallpaper maker for Pixel smartphones
A green screen mode for YouTube
A "Shopping Try-on" feature
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said the company plans to integrate OpenAI's technology, such as ChatGPT, into all of its products
Uber is working with automakers to design low-cost EVs for its ride-hailing and delivery businesses
Twitter updated its developer agreement, officially banning third-party apps; last week, third-party apps such as Tweetbot, Echofon, and Twitterific stopped working as users could not log in and access their Twitter feeds
Twitter developing âCoinsâ feature with Stripe payments; the new feature will allow users to reward individual tweets with âAwardsâ using âCoins,â which can be withdrawn at a $50 minimum threshold
Gas, a positivity-focused semi-anonymous poll-based app popular with teens, has been acquired by Discord; Gas had >1M DAUs in October;Â its team will join Discord and keep the app running
Crypto lending platform Genesis Global is preparing to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy; Genesis previously cut 30% of its staff earlier this monthÂ
Peter Thielâs Founders Fund closed nearly all of its crypto positions last Spring, shortly before the market crashed, generating ~$1.8B in returns
Alibaba plans to offer buy now pay later features across Europe; the Chinese internet company will team up with the fintech firm Splitit Payments to add the features on AliExpress
The Chinese government has authorized the mobility tech company Didi to reopen new user registration in China; China's move could signal a shift away from the regulatory crackdown that Didi and numerous other tech companies have been subject to since 2021
đ Good reads
Five steps to starting your product-led growth motion, part 2. A guide to setting up your PLG infrastructure, tool stack, and team, by Hila Qu for Lennyâs newsletter
The UX of banking - whatâs changed in 2023? Peter Ramsey brings another great case-study on UK banks and challengers like Monzo, Starling or Revolut. An article well worth reading for anyone interested in banking and FinTech
Normalize IC leadership. Elena Verna & Leah Tharin's take on Leadership vs Management roles in Product. We should be building career paths around peopleâs superpowers, not forcing them down a one-size-fits-all road. Fortunately, more companies are starting to develop IC tracks, and adding roles such as Staff of Principal PMâ
The paradox of goals, by Anne-Laure Le Cunffâ. Setting goals is a guarantee for disillusionment whether we reach the desired state or not, and yet working toward goals is an important part of evolving as a person. How can we resolve this paradox?
Scott Gallowayâs 2023 predictions. Interesting perspectives on current and near-future affairs. Will Meta rebound?
đ Emerging trends
ChatGPT craze
Nick Babich used ChatGPT to create an entire mobile app
Jens-Fabian Goetzmann interviewed ChatGPT for a PM role, and it almost got the job
Thatâs all for today! Let me know what you think by replying back to this email or commenting on Substack
Angel
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