el producto #402 🚀
Apple's digital driver's license, Free vs paid features, Amazon back to office, YouTube's new features, Snapchat's AI-feed, Failed pivots, Using scarcity, & more
Hi folks 👋
Happy weekend and welcome to a new edition of el producto.
Quick personal update: This week, after 3 amazing years in Los Angeles, I’m moving to New York (writing this from the air :)). I’m looking forward to meet Product folks in my new home city. If you happen to be around and would like to grab a coffee, feel free to ping me!
🎰 The week in figures
$210M: Physics Wallah, an Indian EdTech startup, has raised $210M Series at a $2.8B valuation. Despite the challenging environment for EdTech, Physics Wallah continues to thrive with over 46M students, $96.2M in revenue, and 2.5x revenue growth from March 2023-2024
-12.7%: An analyst’s warning that iPhone 16 series phones are underselling their predecessors weighed on Apple’s share price this week. An estimated 12.7% change in early sales compared to the iPhone 15 lineup is no joke. Will Apple still make oodles of money? Yes, but the company’s growth story could be under extreme pressure for the next few quarters
-30%: Postings for software development jobs are down more than 30% since Feb-2020
📰 What’s going on
YouTube hosted its Made on YouTube event this week and shared a bunch of announcements. It confirmed that it is testing a new feature that uses AI to generate ideas, titles and even full videos. Other announcements included plans to integrate Google’s most capable model for generating video, Veo, into YouTube Shorts that will allow users to generate backgrounds with generative AI, community hubs for superfans and a new interaction called ‘hypes’. Hypes allow users to give “hype points” to videos and the ones with the most hype points will increase their chances of discovery. Jessica Locke, the PM who worked on this last feature, says that the reason they built the feature was because they discovered users wanted to help artists with discovery. It’s interesting to see the link between discovery algorithms and user interaction become so explicit in this way - definitely one to watch
Google is adding a new daily calendar overview in newly opened Chrome tabs for Workspace users with easy access to schedules and video calls
Apple's digital driver's license. Apple has taken a major step forward in digital identity with the integration of California driver's licenses and state IDs into Apple Wallet. This initiative, part of the state's mobile driver's license (mDL) program, offers a more convenient and secure way to carry identifications. With encrypted data and NFC-enabled verification, users can now use their digital IDs at TSA checkpoints, select retailers, and even for age verification at bars and restaurants
Affirm opens BNPL offering to Apple Pay Users. The recently announced integration allows Apple Pay users in the U.S. to pay for purchases via iPhone and iPad over time using Affirm, breaking down their payments into biweekly or monthly installments
Amazon is heading back to the office. Two big news items from the e-commerce giant this week. First, it’s going back to 5 days per week in the office. That’s a change from its 3-day-weekly minimum. And high-level org leads are “expected to increase the ratio of individual contributors to managers by at least 15% by the end of the first quarter of 2025.” Lots of tech companies want to get flatter. One way to do so is to mandate a ratio shift. Let’s see how Amazon’s staff react — other companies are certainly watching
Amazon releases a video generator. Amazon has introduced an AI-powered video generator for advertisers that turns a product image into promotional short-form videos. The generator is currently in beta for select U.S. advertisers
Amazon adds PayPal as a payment option to Buy with Prime. Prime customers can use PayPal to check out on websites that have integrated the Buy with Prime API. Starting next year, Prime members can link their Amazon and PayPal accounts for automatic access to Prime benefits when using PayPal
Meta is moving under-18s to ‘teen’ accounts on Instagram. For kids on the photo-sharing service, that means default-private profiles, walls around unsolicited DMs, and limited notifications from 10 PM to 7 AM
Meta bans RT. After the U.S. government designated Russian state outlet RT as “under the Foreign Missions Act,” and RT was accused of funnelling millions of dollars into the US media landscape to push Kremlin talking points, Meta gave the outlet the boot
LinkedIn opts you into AI training. Collecting data for use in AI models is a race. The more quality and unique data that a tech company commands, the more unique — and potentially more valuable — their AI models can be. Hence, LinkedIn is making waves this week by opting users into its training data collection efforts. You can opt-out, but shouldn’t the opting go the other way around?
Snapchat's AI-powered feed and enhanced AR: a personalized experience. Snapchat is undergoing a major transformation with its most significant redesign in years, focusing on simplicity and personalization. The app now offers a more personalized experience, with an AI-driven "For You" feed that curates content tailored to individual preferences. Additionally, Snapchat has enhanced its augmented reality (AR) tools, opening up new possibilities for interactive experiences and creative expression
Revolut plans to expaln into the Middle East, backed by license applications and fresh investment from Abu Dhabi’s sovereign investor Mubadala. Nubank has just announced similar plans
Lionsgate teams up with Runway. A major studio has given an AI company its “content library in exchange for a new, custom AI model that the studio can use in the editing and production process.” Given the discord between media rights holders and AI companies, the Lionsgate-Runway tie-up is big news. As is the implied point that consumer media with AI elements is going to become the norm — and quickly
DeepL has launched an AI glossary generator designed for business translations. Companies can now create custom translation glossaries by uploading files like PDFs or .docs. It automatically extracts relevant terms and their translations from uploaded documents, reducing manual work in glossary creation, which helps Product teams to quickly expand internationally
📚 Good reads
Designing a protocol to get out of Slump Mode. Last week we shared about “Founder Mode” vs “Manager Mode,” but what can we do when we don’t feel like doing anything, aka “Slump Mode”? Anne-Laure Le Cunff explains the science behind why this happens, and what to do about it
and if you missed last week’s articles on Founder vs Manager mode, Paolo Lacche has just shared a fresh and sharp perspective summarizing key takeaways
Scarcity case-study. Growth.design shares a great visual case showing multiple examples on how to use scarcity ethically and effectively in your Products
Unfortunate startup pivots (a short list). Andrew Chen shares some examples of pivots that usually don’t work well, like adding chat/social, B2B to consumer, going free, and more
Should a feature be Free or Paid? Elena Verna shares her approach and considerations for new feature pricing, including a handy decision tree
Surprising lessons from 20,000 product experiments. Kyle Poyar explains what growth experiments not to run. Specifically, what you shouldn’t add to your website, statistically speaking
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