el producto #368 🚀
Dark design patterns, Apple to open up its ecosystem in EU, Netflix growth, TikTok's 30-min videos, Klarna subscriptions, Brex meltdown, Gen-AI narratives, Affirm accounts & more
Hey friends,
Happy weekend and welcome to a new edition of el producto!
🎰 The week in figures
$1B: Krutrim, an AI startup founded by Ola founder Bhavish Aggarwal, has raised a funding round that values it at $1B, making it India’s first AI unicorn
$200M: Bilt Rewards, which allows consumers to earn rewards on rent and daily neighborhood spend, raised $200M at a $3.1B valuation
$104M: Barcelona-based TravelPerk raises 104M, in a bet that AI will reshape corporate travel
1,900: Microsoft is reducing its workforce by 1,900 positions across its Activision Blizzard, Xbox, and ZeniMax teams. The layoffs, affecting 9% of Microsoft gaming employees, come three months after Microsoft finalized its $69B acquisition of Activision Blizzard
1,000: eBay announced plans to lay off about 1,000 full-time employees, or roughly 9% of its workforce. CEO Jamie Iannone said the cuts are necessary because eBay’s “overall headcount and expenses have outpaced the growth of our business”
700: Salesforce is cutting 700 jobs to “better focus its spending.” Around 1% of Salesforce's global workforce is being cut company-wide
20%: Brex is cutting 20% of its workforce and shaking up senior management in a new effort to slash its cash burn, as the fintech firm grapples with slower revenue growth. COO Michael Tannenbaum and CTO Cosmin Nicolaescu are both giving up their positions
17.3%: In 2023, Apple became the top smartphone company in China for the first time, reaching a record market share of 17.3%. However, overall smartphone sales in China hit a decade low last year, attributed to sluggish economic recovery and weak consumer demand
📰 What’s going on
Apple enthusiasts can now experience the Apple Vision Pro in AR through the Apple Store app, offering a unique virtual engagement before its official launch. This preview allows users to explore the product in a simulated environment, providing a detailed examination from various angles
Apple Podcasts to get auto-generated transcripts, making it easier for listeners to follow along shows
Apple will prompt iPhone users in Europe to choose their own default web browser as it works to comply with the EU's new tech law. With the iOS 17.4 update in March, iPhone users in the EU will be asked to select their preferred browser when opening Apple Safari for the first time
Apple announced that it will open NFC payment capabilities to third-party developers in Europe, following an antitrust investigation, which could spur innovation in European mobile payments and merchant PoS
Apple also announced it will allow European users to download apps and software from outside its own App Store to comply with the new regulations kicking in March
Apple has been quietly acquiring AI-focused companies and talent as it works to integrate on-device AI into upcoming iPhones. Apple has outpaced other tech competitors in acquiring AI startups, with a total of 21 purchases since 2017. Its most recent was AI video compression startup WaveOne in early 2023
Spotify announced plans to enable iPhone users in Europe to buy in-app subscriptions and audiobooks. Apple App Store bars apps like Spotify from charging consumers directly in most regions. The EU's new Digital Markets Act classifies Apple and other tech giants as "gatekeepers." Apple will be forced to let developers bill users directly, allowing them to avoid its App Store billing service which charges fees of up to 30%
Netflix announced Q4 results: revenue of $8.8B, up 12.5% YoY. Net profit rose to $938M, falling short of its forecast of $956M. 13.1M new subscribers in Q4, bringing its total subscriber base to 260.28M. The streaming giant said it aims to focus on expanding its entertainment offerings and growing its advertising business
Google is launching three new generative AI features in its Chrome web browser. The tools include an AI-powered tab organizer, an experimental writing assistant, and a browser theme generator
Google announces AI-powered features for education, including classroom management, accessibility, question creation, and lesson plans, as part of the Bett ed-tech event in the UK
Meta rolls out new DM restrictions on both Facebook and Instagram for teens that prevent anyone from messaging them unsolicitedly
Microsoft Teams has integrated its immersive platform, Microsoft Mesh, for 3D and VR meetings, now accessible on Meta Quest through a dedicated app. Mesh offers cross-platform virtual meetings and custom space creation for Teams Premium users
TikTok has been spotted testing the ability for users to upload 30-minute videos, signalling a move away from the short-form video format that made it popular
Swedish fintech company, Klarna, announces its subscription plan for $7.99 per month, featuring benefits like no added service fees, double rewards points, and access to exclusive discounts as it approaches an IPO
Following up on his claims that PayPal's newest product releases would "shock the world," new CEO Alex Chriss announced a new PayPal Checkout experience, a fast lane for guest checkouts, smart receipts, advanced offers, and AI-driven product recommendations and cashback. PayPal's stock dropped on the news
BNPL provider Affirm announced that it is launching a spending account tied to its debit card, which will offer savings account-type interest, ATM access and direct deposit
Nintendo plans to introduce a new Switch gaming console in 2024 with an 8" LCD screen; the current seven-year-old Switch has sold over 132M units
Baidu partners with Samsung to integrate its Ernie chatbot into Galaxy S24 smartphones in China, allowing users to translate calls in real-time
Telegram rolls out upgrades as part of its January feature drop, including “view-once” video and audio messages, the ability to pause recording while sending a video or audio message, and new read-time controls
Docker launches Docker Build Cloud, a fully managed service that allows development teams to offload their image builds to the cloud, speeding up build times by 39x
Japan plans to use avatars, robots, and AI in construction, trucking, farming, and retail to alleviate an estimated labor shortage of 11M people by 2040
📚 Good reads
Write an engaging Amazon's 6-pager narrative with GenAI. You may be familiar with Amazon-style narratives, and with how tedious can be writing them. Adam Faik shares with us how to perfect them using few simple GPT prompts. As he points out on this useful article: “GenAI can help you write a narrative but cannot write it for you. You should still be writing a narrative yourself, with your own critical thinking and imperfections. You should use GenAI as an assistant to challenge you“
Why noise increases churn. Peter Ramsey explores how to reduce clutter to improve churn. Have you ever turned off an extractor fan, and been immediately surprised by how much quieter the room is? The human brain has an amazing ability to "turn down" a specific stimulus, but the relief of sudden silence demonstrates that it was still weighing on your subconscious
How to nail product market fit with clear Jobs-To-Be-Done - Letterboxd app. The folks at Growth.Design are back with another great visual case-study; this time showing us how an onboarding experience should NOT be done, and how JTBD can help designing a better experience
Dark design patterns PMs should be aware of. Jakob Nielsen explains the most powerful design patterns, their impact on UX, and ethical considerations. Reminding and reading about dark patterns should be a mandatory PM exercise every few months - perhaps more important than those compliance trainings your company spams you with
The ten truths of customer-centric product teams. Leslie Grandy, Founder and Principal at The Product Guild, shares 10 important principles to follow to be a customer-centric product team
That’s all for this week. As usual, feel free to reach out and share your thoughts by replying back to this email or commenting on Substack
Thanks for your support!
Angel