What I wrote last week
A study that revealed people preferred an electric shock to being left alone with their own thoughts
Some interesting comments from Walt Disney CEO on the business
Business
How Ondo’s Customers Using Shop Pay Installments Are Spending 2x More Than Regular Customers. The concept of BNPL isn’t new. What is interesting is that it is now adopted for stuff like socks.
Apple admits why its own Files app was ranked first when users searched for competitor Dropbox. Not a good look for Apple. It does seem that the top brass at the company didn’t know about this issue at all and once the issue was revealed, it was opposed. However, the thing about being the top brass is that you have to take responsible for what your direct reports do.
An interesting presentation on Mistakes of Omission. If you are into investing, this presentation can be very thought-provoking. One of the things that I keep thinking about is whether I am paying too much for a business and whether I unnecessarily increase my average price. I haven’t invested for a long time, but so far, most of my biggest winners happen when I decided to increase my average
A look inside Google’s first store. I hope that Google will use these stores as a showroom to demonstrate to the end users the awesome features it releases every year. Yes, the company isn’t known for making great hardware like Apple is, but the stores’ functionality doesn’t need to be restricted to hardware only. They can be a place to bolster customer relationships and educate end users on a variety of Google services. How many Google features do you not know? How many do you actually know about but haven’t used because they all seem abstract and complex at first glance?
PayPal lowers their rates for U.S merchants on Visa/Mastercard transactions and raised rates for their own products. This is quite a bold move to compete with Stripe, Square and Authorize.net as well as to clearly showcase their position. PayPal is confident enough in the appeal of their own offerings that they think a rate hike is justified. Recently, PayPal has been very aggressive on multiple fronts: engaging merchants and acquiring new users. I got multiple offers from PayPal and Venmo recently from $5 to download the app, $10 to reactivate my Venmo account or $10 to refer a friend.
A couple of interesting posts by CNBC on Roku here and here. I am not working at Roku, so I don’t know what the culture is like. Even if I knew what it was like, it would still be difficult to make a generalization as a culture works for many but doesn’t for others. Still an interesting case study
What I found interesting
I saw millions compromise their Facebook accounts to fuel fake engagement
This is a story about a Japanese diplomat who courageously defied his own government to save hundreds of Jews decades ago. I had never heard of Chiune Sugihara. I am glad that I did this week
I am not a fan of the New York Times nor am I a subscriber. But this investigative piece on the train crash in Mexico City is excellent
Senate passed a bill that would make it easier for folks to unsubscribe online. What can I say? Long overdue. One of the things that rarely come out of the Senate. All those subscription services, especially newspapers outlets, should feel ashamed of themselves for making it overly difficult for consumers to unsubscribe. I hope they will make this kind of shenanigan illegal.
When you are keenly aware of your own struggles but blind to others’, it’s easy to assume you’re missing some skill or secret that others have.
When someone is viewed as more extraordinary than they are, you’re more likely to overvalue their opinion on things they have no special talent in.
Everyone’s dealing with problems they don’t advertise, at least until you get to know them well. Keep that in mind and you become more forgiving – to yourself and others.
Source: Harder Than It Looks, Not As Fun as It Seems
Stats that may interest you
Minh Quang Duong 