What I wrote last week
Lights Out – Debunking The Myth Of GE & Jack Welch
Business
Business Breakdowns on PayPal. A great Business Breakdowns episode on PayPal. Though familiar with many points discussed in the interview, I definitely learned a few things from Elliott, especially the technical details. Fraud is indeed a perennial issue in payments. I honestly didn’t value this value proposition from PayPal as I should. I also agree with Elliott that switching the strategy from top-line growth to engagement is the right call. He was right to call out the leadership churn and competition as the biggest risks to PayPal. Overall, a valuable source of information for anyone interested in PayPal or payments.
A Short 100-Question Diligence Checklist. Don’t assume that you remember everything. Hence, having a checklist is valuable.
Is Upstart Stock A Buy Or Sell Now? A very good writeup on Upstart. If you are an investor of the stock or if you are interested, have a look.
Amazon Plans Ad Tier for Prime Video Streaming Service. For Amazon, the move will open up two more revenue streams: a lower subscription plan and more ads. What’s interesting is which kinds of advertisers will want to promote their products or services on Prime Video. Amazon Ads appeals to clients because Amazon Prime customers are more likely to take actions right away than on other platforms. It’s not the same with Prime Video. When you are watching a movie or a series, you won’t want to stop and go shopping. The reasoning leads me to believe that Prime Video ads will excite brand advertisers more than performance ones.
Meta warned it faces ‘heavy sanctions’ in EU if it fails to fix child protection issues on Instagram. I am equally excited and annoyed by the EU at times. In some cases, the EU asks the right questions and acts to hold big corporations like Meta accountable. However, they can pass some questionable regulations and express unpragmatic idealism. In this particular scenario, I can get behind their effort to make Facebook firm up child protection on its platforms.
The Binge Purge TV’s streaming model is broken. It’s also not going away. For Hollywood, figuring that out will be a horror show. “One analog for Netflix’s impact is Uber — another investor-funded agent of chaos that upended an industry without plans for a sustainable future. Uber maimed the taxi systems in various cities; when its own finances became questionable, those old fleets didn’t magically reconstitute. But just as users have gotten hooked on the ease of ordering a car via app, there’s no going back to cable TV and carriage fees, either. Instead, streamers are experimenting with other business models.“
How Samsung became the world’s No. 2 advanced chipmaker and set the stage for a U.S. manufacturing boom. “Samsung is building a $17 billion chip fabrication plant, or fab, in Taylor, Texas, where it’s promised to start the first U.S. production of advanced chips next year. The company announced an ambitious new road map in October, pursuing a goal to triple capacity of leading-edge manufacturing, and to make industry-leading 2-nanometer chips by 2025 and get them down to 1.4-nanometer by 2027. If Samsung hits their targets, they’ll leapfrog ahead of TSMC, but that’s a big if,” Patel said. “TSMC is the only one that the industry trusts to hit their road map.””
Jensen Huang’s commencement speech at NTU. I still prefer Steve Job’s speech, which is arguably the best ever delivered, but it’s a reminder that success today comes after humiliating mistakes and failures.
Other stuff I find interesting
Why AI Will Save The World. Before going into the article, you may want to know that Marc is the co-founder of a16z, a renowned VC firm that has made a lot of investments in AI. In other words, he MAY be motivated to be positive and optimistic about AI. With that being said, while I am skeptical about AI and very fed up with the constant mention of the term, I found the article fair and nuanced. Marc backed up his points with logic and historical lessons. He even admitted two things that I wholly agreed with: 1/ there is no absolute freedom of speech and 2/ bad actors can use AI to inflict harm. I think his piece is a valuable contribution to the current dialogue on one of the hottest topics around.
Venezuelan migrants helped build Colombia’s tech scene. Now the country is kicking them out. Every coin has two sides. That’s why I believe that even having talented entrepreneurs and migrants has downsides. The thing; though, is that every country blessed to attract such talents should do everything possible to keep them staying. Whatever issue the Colombian government is trying to fix, I believe, won’t be as serious as having to win back immigrant talents after they leave. Just terrible policies and myopia.
Inside Roman Abramovich’s Quest for Portuguese Citizenship—An All-Access Pass to the EU. A fascinating tale that will reveal an interesting fact about the immigration system of Portugal
Cristiano Ronaldo vs Lionel Messi: who was the greatest footballer? Messi is the greatest player that ever played the game. Cristiano Ronaldo is right behind him on the list. Both offer incredible inspiration for future generations. What a career Ronaldo Nazario would have had without injuries and his unhealthy lifestyle
Stats
Couples in the US spend 15-16 months planning and preparing for a wedding
As of May 24, 2023, American consumers had $989 billion in credit card debt. Extraordinary
Minh Quang Duong 
Leave a comment