el producto #349 š
Klarna's success story, New iPhones, WhatsApp's integration of 3rd party apps, TikTok Shop, PLG resources, Duolingo music, How Nvidia operates & more
Hey team,
Happy weekend and welcome to a new edition ofĀ el producto!
š° The week in figures
$10B: MicrosoftĀ predicts its AI software business will reachĀ $10BĀ in revenue - faster than any other business in the history of software
$2.2B: In just half a decade, theĀ RevolutĀ alumniĀ ecosystem has pulled off an astonishing feat ā it now boasts a collective funding haul of $2.2B, surpassing the very company where it all began.Ā WhileĀ RevolutĀ itself has secured $1.7B in investments from 52 VCs since its inception in 2015, a remarkable 102 startups led by former Revolut team members have risen to prominence
$1.4B: Starlink generated $1.4B in revenue last year, up more than 6x from $222M in 2021
$500M: Databricks, an AI and data analytics software company, has secured overĀ $500M in funding, valuing the company at $43B
$379M: The EU fined TikTok ~$379M for breaching GDPR re: handling the data of children after a review by Ireland's DPC
$150M: VideoAmp, a startup that directly competes with Nielsen by offering tools to measure audience and ads, raised a $150M Series G at a $1.4B valuation
$123M: Spanish digital car subscription startup Revel securedĀ $123M funding
1M: X / Twitter competitorĀ BlueskyĀ hasĀ hit 1 million users. The product is currently invite only
65%: More than 65%Ā of startups, or 134 companies, in Y Combinator's summer cohort were developing AI-powered solutions for a wide range of use cases, including healthcare automation, customer service, sales outreach, coding, and game design
š° Whatās going on
Microsoft's attempt to avoid further regulatory scrutiny and potential penalties by unbundling Teams did not satisfy EU regulators, who are preparing a formal antitrust complaint against the company
Apple announced iPhone 15 Pro and Max with USB-C, new A17 chip, starting at $999 and $1199, respectively
Tim Cook has officially announced that the Apple Vision Pro is set to launch inĀ early 2024.Ā The mixed-reality headset will run VisionOS, a specialized operating system created by Apple exclusively for spatial computing
Apple will release iOS 17 to the public thisĀ Monday, September 18.Ā The update brings major changes to key iPhone apps and services, includingĀ new ringtones, the ability to createĀ iMessage stickers from photos, and the ability to leaveĀ FaceTime audio and video messages. Additional features include:
Live voicemail transcripts on the Home Screen
The ability to set more than one timer
A newĀ StandBy modeĀ that acts as a clock/information hub when the iPhone is horizontal and connected to a charger
The ability to activate Siri without having to say āhey"
Smarter autocorrect
Interactive widgets on the Lock Screen and Home Screen
"Check in"Ā location sharingĀ in the Messages app
AĀ new Journal appĀ with AI capabilities, which will likelyĀ launch later with iOS 17.1 or iOS 17.2
Google hasĀ granted early accessĀ to a handful of companies to try outĀ Gemini, its next-generated series of large language models. Gemini, built on the capabilities of DeepMind'sĀ AlphaGoĀ AI system, will reportedly be multimodal, integrating text, images, and other data types
GmailĀ isĀ developingĀ emoji reactions that would allow users to quickly respond to emails
WhatsAppĀ isĀ testing a new featureĀ that could open it up to other messaging apps. A new screen called Third-party apps is currently blank but itās understood the new feature is in testing ahead of the EUās new Digital Markets Act legislation which will require major messaging apps to be cross compatible. The company is alsoĀ rolling outĀ its Telegram-inspired Channels product to over 150 countries
Meta is developing aĀ powerful AI modelĀ to compete with OpenAI's GPT-4. Meta is aggressively acquiring advanced AI training chips and building out its data centers to develop the chatbot for potential release next year
TikTok started rolling out TikTok Shop to all US users, adding a marketplace button on the appās home screen; the service already has 200K+ sellers. Creators can now upload shoppable videos andĀ live streams and access a new affiliate program
TikTokĀ isĀ planningĀ a music subscription streaming service to compete with Spotify
Salesforce announced an AI chatbot for all of its apps called Einstein Copilot, which will launch via pilot this fall
Amazon isĀ releasing a toolĀ that helps sellers write product listings.Ā The e-commerce giant announced its generative AI-powered feature at the Amazon Accelerate conference
DuolingoĀ is rumoured to beĀ expandingĀ its offering to include music. The new product is under wraps at the moment but the company has started hiring for key positions to help develop it. If the new product follows in the footsteps of DuoLingo Math, itāll likely be a niche learning service for folks to focus on one skill set
Samsung is reportedly developing an XR headset that allows users toĀ smell virtual environments.Ā The high-end device, co-developed with Google and Qualcomm, is expected to feature a groundbreaking 3,000 ppi pixel density
š Good reads
How Jensen Huang runs Nvidia: questioning everything we think we know about how a company should operate. A short post by Dan Hockenmaier explaining how Nvidia is optimized for (1) attracting amazing people, (2) keeping the team as small as it can be, and (3) allowing information to travel as quickly as possible
Case study -Ā The inside story of how Metaās product team launched Threads. It took a small, nimble engineering team working alongside Metaās infrastructure teams to take Threads from zero to 100M people in record time with no major downtime
Why do providers and users leave platforms? By HBR.Ā "Disintermediation" is a key threat to platforms. The first thing platforms need to do isĀ to understand why users leaveĀ and why users feel the platform isn't adding significant value. The solution to disintermediation is straightforward: platforms should create more value than they extract. They should transition from being mere gatekeepers to value-adding partners. Some interesting ideas and examples are provided in the piece for reference
PLG - A resource bank. Product-led growthĀ has become almost synonymous with business strategy, especially in the SaaS world. This piece by OpenView Partners is meant for those who are starting out or refining their PLG journey.Ā Divided in complexities, and broken down into topics like - PLG's basics, implementation, pillars, metrics, tools, and technologies among other key focus areas, this is truly a PLG treasure trove
Evaluating how effective the Product strategy is. Measuring the impact of strategy is fundamental to hit the nail on the head, and David Pereira walks us through some fundamental aspects to consider
Klarnaās success story. From a first mover advantage, to a profitable model, this article explores the elements that have made Klarna so successful. āKlarna is able to borrow money at a cost, offset the cost through commission from retailers + some late fees, collect most of the money back, and at the end of this be profitableā.
Pricing a Gig: a strategic task and a design decision. NiceĀ read by MIT Sloan on the consequences and dependencies of policies for price-setting in marketplaces. While platforms like Uber control prices for streamlined operations, others like Upwork empower service providers to set rates. Customer-driven pricing, as seen on Temper, caters to specific needs but can misjudge market dynamics. Hybrid approaches, blending these models, can offer a more equitable and sustainable solution
How long does it take a unicorn to exit? Interesting data on successful startups by Visual Capitalist
Thatās all for today! Let me know what you think by replying back to this email or commenting on Substack
Angel