What I wrote last week
Bank of America stung by CFPB; Uber finally approved by Domino’s Pizza
Business
WhatsApp voice notes are revolutionizing farming in Senegal. You can be mad at Facebook and the surveillance tracking it puts on users. Or you can find Zuck’s obsession with Metaverse frivolous. Nonetheless, you’ll have to admit two things: 1/ Facebook is world-class at making money, tons of money and 2/ its products do help the world. How WhatsApp helps farmers in Senegal is an example
Inside Aldi’s strategy to slash grocery prices. I love Aldi. My wife and I go there every week for groceries. The reason is very simple. We want good and cheap groceries there. We know that we are there to buy groceries and can get in and out in 10′. The store we go to even has self checkout lanes nowadays, so it’s even more convenient than how it was in the past. It may sound straightforward, but read the article and perhaps my entry on Aldi to learn how they do it. It requires world-class discipline and execution.
Top 100 Retailers 2023 List. Some interesting revenue estimates and growth on privately held companies like Ikea US, Aldi, Meijer or Sephora
Retailers Set Higher Bars for Free Shipping as Delivery Costs Surge. I consider this an opportunity for the likes of Amazon, Walmart or Uber. Here’s why. Small merchants, or even medium-sized ones, cannot afford rising delivery costs, but online shopping is an important appeal to a lot of consumers. The big retailers or a delivery service like Uber can take advantage of this trend by subsidizing some of the costs. Such a move will attract more merchants to sign up and good things will happen. Such subsidies will undoubtedly impose a financial hit, but in the long run, these multi-sided marketplaces will benefit from having more merchants in the fold.
Bob Iger Isn’t Having Much Fun. Bob Iger is going to have a busy three years ahead as the House of Mouse is littered with problems to solve. Deteriorating business fundamentals, a lack of an established successor, a departing CFO, a challenging environment, impact Wall Street and a decreasing stock price. To be clear, I am not saying that Bob Iger is an angel here. He can’t come in and claim that every single problem that Disney has stems from decisions made by Bob Chapek. Bob Chapek was fired from his job, but he had to deal with Covid and was handed the things that were decided by…Bob Iger. Hence, if anything, Iger is just cleaning up some of his own mess
How Netflix Plans Total Global Domination, One Korean Drama at a Time. “Instead of creating shows and movies that appeal to all 190 countries where the service is available, Netflix is focusing on content that resonates with a single market’s audience. The overseas content has taken on even greater significance with Hollywood effectively shut down. The comedies and dramas produced outside the United States, like the ideas being decided on in that Seoul conference room, could be some of the only new content on offer. A few months later, when Ms. Kim began in her role as Netflix’s first content executive in Asia with a focus on South Korea, she warned the company’s executives: “Don’t expect miracles.” Ms. Kim said she needed to make Netflix feel less foreign and sell creators on why they should work with the company.“
Other stuff I find interesting
America is wrapped in miles of toxic lead cables. “Lead levels in sediment and soil at more than four dozen locations tested by the Journal exceeded safety recommendations set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. At the New Iberia fishing spot, lead leaching into the sediment near a cable in June 2022 measured 14.5 times the EPA threshold for areas where children play. “We’ve been fishing here since we were kids,” said Tyrin Jones, 27 years old, who grew up a few blocks away. For many years, telecom companies have known about the lead-covered cables and the potential risks of exposure to their workers, according to documents and interviews with former employees. They were also aware that lead was potentially leaching into the environment, but haven’t meaningfully acted on potential health risks to the surrounding communities or made efforts to monitor the cables.”
How China Came to Dominate the World’s Largest Nickel Source for Electric Cars. To maintain its competitive advantages and keep China’s power in check, the US really needs to start, as soon as possible, to secure the source of rare minerals and key elements such as nickel. I don’t look down on China’s technological advances, but I don’t believe that the US wouldn’t be able to help Indonesia the way China did. No freaking way.
The Last Place on Earth Any Tourist Should Go. It’s quite a somber read to be honest. Not only is it because going to the Arctic is carbon-intensive, but the article reveals that what makes the area unique in the first place is going away gradually because of climate change.
Once hailed for decriminalizing drugs, Portugal is now having doubts. Portugal’s move to decriminalize drugs is a perfect example of how complex public policies are. Some policies can bring forth positive results at first and concerning trends later. Some observers in Portal attributed the declining impact of the decriminalization to the shrinking budget, showing that even the most thought-out plan needs care and investment. Plus, each country is different in its social fabric and economic health. What works in one country may not work in others. Last but not least, timing is also important. The change in our societies over time may render an effective policy from 20 years ago ineffective now.
How to Do Great Work. Admittedly, I am not a fan of Paul Graham’s ego and self-centered tweets at times, but he does produce some great essays. This is one of them. “Use the advantages of youth when you have them, and the advantages of age once you have those. The advantages of youth are energy, time, optimism, and freedom. The advantages of age are knowledge, efficiency, money, and power. With effort you can acquire some of the latter when young and keep some of the former when old. The old also have the advantage of knowing which advantages they have. The young often have them without realizing it. The biggest is probably time. The young have no idea how rich they are in time. The best way to turn this time to advantage is to use it in slightly frivolous ways: to learn about something you don’t need to know about, just out of curiosity, or to try building something just because it would be cool, or to become freakishly good at something. That “slightly” is an important qualification. Spend time lavishly when you’re young, but don’t simply waste it. There’s a big difference between doing something you worry might be a waste of time and doing something you know for sure will be. The former is at least a bet, and possibly a better one than you think.”
Stats
“U.S. new-vehicle sales were estimated to have risen about 13% during the first half of the year”
14% of Americans have opened a new checking account so far this year
Of those who opened a new checking account, 72% are Gen Zers or Millennials
Heatwave last summer killed 61,000 people in Europe
Private label sales rose 8.2% in first half of year
Minh Quang Duong 
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