What I wrote last week
Apple is gaining share in advertising; Disney is contemplating an Amazon Prime like subscription
Business
The optimal amount of fraud is non-zero. A great post on fraud as an unavoidable risk of doing business
How Capital One Became A Leading Digital Bank. Some folks say that Capital One’s rise as one of the premier credit card issuers results from its robust data analytics. That may be true, but it’s still just a surface-level observation. What really drives Capital One’s growth is their investment in infrastructure & talent, as well as smart design of process to utilize such resources. In this article, you’ll see their CIO discuss this topic at length. As someone who works in the credit card industry, I admire what they have done and can really see why they are successful.
($) Amazon Is Still Trying to Digest Whole Foods. Integrating any multi-billion acquisition is always a challenge, but the task is even more daunting when the acquirer has to divert focus and resources to its own grocery effort. To that end, it’s impossible for outsiders to judge whether this move has been a success so far since Amazon doesn’t break out Whole Foods’ individual performance. Asking Amazon’s executives for their evaluation is similar to asking a barber if you need a haircut. It’s always going to be biased opinions.
The Facebook button is disappearing from websites as consumers demand better privacy. In the past, Facebook log-in button was all over the Internet. It was convenient and people weren’t aware of how Facebook did surveillance tracking over them. Now, the public knows and they don’t trust Facebook. The lack of trust leads to low usage as well as causes websites to be concerned about being collateral damage. As a consequence, websites don’t want anything to do with the then popular blue button. This is a prime example of how Facebook’s bad reputation is biting them in the behind and unfortunately for them it will not be the last as long as their business model is advertising based on surveillance tracking. “According to his company’s data, out of a sample of 10,000 sign-ins, 42.7% of users signed in with Google, 26.5% used Apple, 20.1% signed in via email and just 10.7% used Facebook.”
The Long Tail: The Internet and the Business of Niche
Other stuff I find interesting
Less is more agile. I agree with a lot of points that this article brought up. The traditional Waterfall method of delivering software had downsides which were especially exposed when software became increasingly complex. Only when technology got sufficiently sophisticated did we come up with a new methodology that is more efficient and allows us to incorporate changes faster. That’s Agile. But at the end of the day, Agile is just a tool and how useful it is depends a lot on who is using it and for what purposes. It’s NOT helpful to blindly follow what the coaches that have no knowledge of your organization’s culture or business say. It’s NOT helpful either to keep preaching the benefits of Agile while ignoring its downsides and what it demands from practitioners. What works for some won’t work for others. Just be mindful of what you sign up to.
I Worked at Capital One for Five Years. This Is How We Justified Piling Debt on Poor Customers. Consumer loan issuers do address real consumer needs. Health emergencies, family tragedy, desire to investment, etc. Sudden need for capital infusion. However, these issuers make most money from interest income, meaning that they WANT you to pay interest and not to default. That’s clearly not in line with the best interest of borrowers. Capital One, in this case, is just an example.
Bones: Why Utah’s desert is a paleontologist’s playground. “Only a very tiny percentage of species that ever existed on Earth have been fossilized,” according to the U.S. Geological Survey. Of those that have, only a fraction have been discovered. That’s in part due to accessibility; many fossils are likely buried so deeply that they’re unreachable. But it’s also because paleontology, as a science, remains fairly new. This particular site, now known as T2, is the confirmed resting place of a tyrannosaur, which may be the first complete adult specimen of an incredibly rare species. And the fact that it lies under 10 feet of ancient sandstone conglomerate in the Utah desert is no coincidence. Utah has been known as a paleontological treasure chest since the late 19th century. In fact, the Utah History Encyclopedia says the state boasts a “prolific fossil record that spans the entire ‘Age of Dinosaurs.’”
European cities look to phase out cars in ‘transportation revolution’. “Across the continent, urban centers are restricting cars from entering certain parts of cities as well as imposing new fees. In Paris, which holds car-free Sundays, only newer, less-polluting diesel and gasoline-powered cars can travel into “low-emission zones” across the city; by 2030, only electric or hydrogen will be able to enter the French capital at all. In Norway, where 78% of new vehicles are electric, Oslo eliminated most on-street parking spots in the city’s core. The medieval Belgian city of Ghent limits vehicles in the city center by offering free shuttles from low-priced car parks on its periphery. Drivers heading into London during business hours must pay congestion fees of $17 a day and further entry fees of $15 simply to enter “ultra-low-emission zones”; in some parts of the city, cars will soon be forbidden altogether.”
Vietnam’s Mu Cang Chai in ripe rice season a feast for the eyes. Beautiful as it is, this part of Vietnam is quite dangerous to get to. Some folks already lost their life because of treacherous roads and conditions. One of my friends nearly lost hers a few months ago. Definitely not for conservative and risk-adverse folks like myself, but I would love for the world to see my country and what we have to offer.
Stats
China Accounts for 36% of Global Peanut Output
Apple TV+ allegedly surpasses 6% of the global market share
Minh Quang Duong 