Business
Don’t Read History for Lessons. It’s true that history is one of, if not, the best teachers that we can have. The problem is that it’s often context-dependent and we have to be careful when using history for lessons. This post explains why
($) Netflix Seeks to Renegotiate Deals to Show Ads Next to Popular Shows. “When Netflix wanted to offer customers the ability to download content, it had to renegotiate its licensing agreements with outside suppliers. The price tag for download rights was an additional 10% to 15% of the agreement, one studio executive said. In discussions with content providers, Netflix has declined to provide details on its advertising plans, including where it will place commercials, what content will be on the platform or what it will charge consumers for the service, studio executives said. Entertainment-industry attorney John Berlinski said if Netflix doesn’t have an explicit agreement allowing it to place ads in and around content, it could face risks in doing so. Since top talent and producers often get a share of profits from successful shows, they will be keenly interested in whether studios collect bigger paychecks from Netflix after amending their deals.”
VW creates new company and enters global battery business. This is another signal that electric vehicles will be the future. VW believes so and puts money where their mouth is with a €20 billion investment in a battery company. A strategic investment to control their fate as much as possible. Plus, the US already crossed the critical point of mass adoption a couple of weeks ago.
($) Big-Name Investors Pour Billions Into Clean Hydrogen Projects. “The newest wager is on a Nebraska startup trying to upend the burgeoning industry of clean hydrogen with a process that uses natural gas but traps carbon by producing an ingredient vital for everyday products like car tires.” Monolith is the name of the startup. On their website, they have a simple demonstration of the process. It looks super interesting and a real boost to our fight against climate change. I’d love to learn more about how they source the natural gas required for this process and how that’d affect the net outcome on our environment.
A really great episode on Rolex. I didn’t know that Rolex was managed by a non-profit organization. It’s also mind-blowing the length Rolex goes to protect their brand integrity and products.
How peak events like Prime Day helped Amazon navigate the pandemic. A look into how Amazon does forecasting. It is hard.
Lessons from History: The 1990s Semiconductor Cycle(s)
A wonderful talk by Howard Marks at Goldman Sachs
Other things I find interesting
In Sri Lanka, Organic Farming Went Catastrophically Wrong. An example of when an ill-conceived and poorly-thought-out policy led to an economic and social disaster
Lifestyles. Another banger post from Morgan Housel. “I have no idea how to find the perfect balance between internal and external benchmarks. But I know there’s a strong social pull toward external measures – chasing a path someone else set, whether you enjoy it or not. Social media makes it ten times more powerful. But I also know there’s a strong natural desire for internal measures – being independent, following your quirky habits, and doing what you want, when you want, with whom you want. That’s what people actually want. Last year I had dinner with a financial advisor who has a client that gets angry when hearing about portfolio returns or benchmarks. None of that matters to the client; All he cares about is whether he has enough money to keep traveling with his wife. That’s his sole benchmark. “Everyone else can stress out about outperforming each other,” he says. “I just like Europe.”
Stats
June U.S. eGrocery sales total $7.2 billion
Prime members purchased more than 300 million items worldwide this year
Minh Quang Duong 