el producto #396 đ
Managing your Manager, Airbnb & Uber results and upcoming products, Amazon social commerce, Lyft Price Lock, 100 books to help you grow, Productivity principles & more
Hi folks đ
Happy weekend and welcome to a new edition of el producto!
đ° The week in figures
$300M: Beijing-based Text AI Model startup Moonshot raised $300M at a $3.3B valuation
$250M: San Francisco startup Abnormal Security, which offers AI-based email protection, raised a $250M Series D at $5.1B
$120M: CloudPay, an independent provider of global payroll and payment solutions, raised $120M
$212M: Stori, a Mexican neobank and credit platform for underserved consumers, raised $105M in new equity and $107M in debt
91.2M: Redditâs daily active users are up 51% to 91.2M
$20: Apple may charge up to $20 for its advanced AI features this fall. Apple Intelligence launched in beta last month with the iOS 18.1 developer beta. The AI improve Siri, summarize and rewrite text, generate images, transcribe calls, & more
x7: Perplexity AI is booming, with its revenues surging seven-fold this year and a fresh $250M funding round boosting its valuation to $3B. The startup, known for answering 250M questions last month, is shifting gears from subscriptions to ads, squaring off with Google. Despite some bumps in the road, like plagiarism claims, Perplexity is laser-focused on redefining AI search with a unique revenue-sharing model for publishers
đ¸ Q2 results
Airbnb: missed analyst expectations and warned of slowing demand from U.S. customers. Airbnb posted revenue of $2.75B (slightly above the $2.74B expected). Despite an 11%YoY revenue increase, net income fell to $555M from $650M in the same quarter last year. The company projected Q3 revenue of $3.67B to $3.73B but noted a likely moderation in growth for its âNights and Experiencesâ category. It also observed shorter booking lead times globally and some signs of slowing demand from U.S. guests. Despite these challenges, Airbnb recorded its highest Q2 bookings at 125.1M Nights and Experiences, with strong growth in APAC and LATAM. The company highlighted the removal of over 200k low-quality listings through its quality system
Disney: surpassed analyst expectations, with revenue of $23.16B vs expected $23.07B. Total segment operating income rose 19% to $4.225B, driven by its streaming business, which turned a profit earlier than expected. Disney's combined streaming services (Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+) posted an operating profit of $47M, contrasting with a $512M loss the previous year. Disney+ Core subscribers increased by 1% to 118.3M, and Hulu subscribers grew by 2% to 51.1M. The entertainment segment's revenue grew 4%, while traditional TV networks' revenue dropped 7%. CEO Bob Iger highlighted the success of Disney's content and upcoming enhancements, including a crackdown on password sharing and further streaming price hikes. Overall revenue increased by 4% to $23.155B, with ESPN seeing a 5% rise in revenue driven by domestic advertising growth
Lyft: Despite achieving GAAP profitability for the first time, Lyft's third-quarter forecast fell short of analyst expectations, with projected gross bookings between $4 and $4.1B and adjusted core earnings of $90M to $95M
Robinhood: results beat estimates on meme-stock, crypto-trading boom. The brokerage also teased the launch of an upcoming desktop version of its mobile trading app. Robinhood's transaction-based revenue surged 69% to $327M in the quarter
Uber: surpassed expectations, with a 16% revenue increase to $10.70B and gross bookings up 19% to $39.95B. The ride-sharing segment's revenue rose 25% to $6.13B, surpassing the $5.94B estimate, while the delivery business generated $3.29B, just short of the $3.32B forecast. Self-driving vehicle trips on Uber's platform increased sixfold, thanks to partnerships with Waymo and Waabi
đ° Whatâs going on
Google has rehired Character.AI co-founders Noam Shazeer and Daniel De Freitas and secured a non-exclusive license to use the startup's AI technology. Shazeer, De Freitas, and about 30 members of Character.AI's research team are joining Googleâs AI unit, DeepMind
Google Wallet launched an 'everything else' feature to let users turn any legal document â business cards, loyalty cards, student IDs â into a pass in users' wallets
9 years later, Google is finally giving its Nest products a much-needed update. One of these is the use of AI-powered descriptions of key events on Nest cameras. A simple but super helpful example of how product teams can use AI to add genuinely helpful new features to specific use cases
Chrome is getting a new feature that works similar to its new âcircle to searchâ capabilities on mobile. Chrome on desktop will allow you to select text and perform a search in a sidebar without leaving your browser. Chrome is still the worldâs most popular browser and Google has been busy developing new entry points into search as it faces competition from new LLM competitors like Perplexity and OpenAIâs new search tool
OpenAI has reportedly developed a tool that would allow users to detect whether content was made by ChatGPT or not. It is understood to be accurate 99.9% of the time but reports suggest OpenAI is conflicted about releasing it to the wider public since it could stigmatize non-native English speakers
Meta is in talks with actors, including Judi Dench and Keegan-Michael Key, to feature their voices in AI projects, including a digital assistant called MetaAI. The company plans to use the MetaAI voices across its platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, WhatsApp, and its Ray-Ban Meta glasses
AWS has unveiled improvements to its image generator Amazon Titan Image Generator v2. One of the features that could be of interest to Product teams is the ability for designers to output images which match a companyâs brand colors
Amazon is stepping up its social commerce game by launching deals directly on TikTok and Pinterest. Now, users can snag Amazon products without leaving their favorite app (impulse buys are easier than ever). This latest move shows Amazonâs intent to dominate where social media meets e-commerce, blending entertainment and retail into one experience
Lyft is piloting a new feature called Price Lock, allowing riders to purchase a monthly subscription to cap prices for specific routes at specific times. This aims to address the inconsistency of surge pricing, especially for daily commuters. The subscription will likely cost under $5 monthly, with current testing showing a price of $2.99. This new initiative is expected to enhance rider conversion rates, particularly in markets like Phoenix, Baltimore, and Orlando, where reductions in surge pricing have shown positive results
TikTok will permanently withdraw its controversial âLite Rewardsâ program which rewarded users who watched videos, liked content or invited friends to join with points which could be converted into Amazon vouchers. EU regulators said that âThe available brain time of young Europeans is not a currency for social media - and it never will beâ
Airbnb is shaking things up with new services that go beyond just booking stays. They're rolling out co-hosting to help property owners manage listings and bringing back "Experiences" with a new angleâthink personal chefs and mid-stay cleanings. Despite a rocky financial quarter, Airbnb is betting big on these new features to redefine its brand and spark growth
Automattic, the company behind WordPress.com, just dropped a game-changer for bloggersâan AI writing tool named "Write Brief with AI." This assistant helps you cut the fluff, making your posts clearer and snappier by suggesting simpler sentences and tweaking tones
đ Good reads
Sam Altmanâs productivity principles. If youâre looking for ways to boost your productivity, this guide neatly summarizes some of the key takeaways from Sam Altmanâs piece on productivity
100 books to help you grow. Jaryd Hermann shares a great curated list (and trackable database) of business books that you can use it to find your next read
Boom time startups vs Gloom time startups. Why founders benefit from starting new companies during a recession. Andrew Chen shares a nice analysis of the pros and cons of starting up a business in good or bad economy scenarios
Managing your Manager, by Julie Zhuo. Stop tolerating mediocre management and recognize your role as the main character in your career journey, not just a supporting role
The curse of knowledge - the cognitive bias that occurs when someone incorrectly assumes that others have enough background to understand. Anne-Laure Le Cunff explains how to avoid the negative effects of the curse of knowledge by constantly questioning your assumptions
Make an org chart you want to ship. Nan Yu, Head of Product at Linear, unpacks why founders should be suspicious of symmetry in their team structure, and offers a three-part framework on how to optimize for an âheirloom tomatoâ org chart
Thatâs 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