Business
The firms hoping to cut down on wasted cosmetics. An admirable startup built on an applaudable belief in sustainability. However, it’s a completely different matter to commercialize personalized cosmetics produced by 3D printing and compete with deep-pocket rivals in a competitive industry.
Bosses mean it this time: Return to the office or get a new job! Like a lot of other topics, remote vs in-office is complex. What works for one person doesn’t work for others. What is successful at one company may likely fail at another. The answer is most likely on a case-by-case basis. Hence, I like that this article covers the issue on multiple fronts, articulating the pros and cons of in-office and remote.
The Value of a Customer. “The iPhone customer is 7.4 times more valuable than the Android customer. This highlights that Apple has effectively grown and discriminated customers effectively. It obtained not just 1 billion customers but the best 1 billion customers. How to discriminate effectively is the holy grail of marketing. The naïve approach is to keep prices high. But that usually only results in a “luxury” branding and a small base that tends not to grow. The alternative “premium” approach is to offer functionality and multiple tiers and distribution options and financing and merchandising. There is no simple formula.”
Spotify’s $1 Billion Podcast Bet Turns Into a Serial Drama. One has to wonder if this is time for a change in leadership at Spotify. Daniel has been the founder CEO of Spotify since the very beginning. Yet, the streaming service hasn’t turned in profits in its entire history despite being a dominant player. Plunders like this and the nagging unprofitability raise questions over whether Daniel Ek should continue to lead Spotify moving forward. I know that the two companies are not the same, but Uber is now profitable under Dara, who is not a founder.
Disney’s wildest ride: Iger, Chapek and the making of an epic succession mess. Business schools must study what happened at Disney from 2019 to now, as an epic example of how corporate governance fails. It’s no longer a secret or a surprise that Disney’s leadership and Board didn’t do their job in the last few years. But the article which is tremendous reporting details a failure of shocking proportion.
How BYD snatched Tesla’s crown. “Analysts say the secret to BYD’s success is its battery technology, which allows it to compete on both price and performance. The Atto 3, for example, is equipped with BYD’s own “blade battery,” which uses an innovative structure to increase the energy density of its lithium iron phosphate technology. This way, it can compete with batteries that use the more energy-dense but also more expensive lithium, cobalt, and nickel. The blade batteries work so well that even car makers like Tesla have started using them.”
Other stuff I find interesting
UK scientists tackle the taboo subject of periods in polar research. I hope that female researchers will no longer be deterred from entering fieldwork by this kind of issues. They are not inferior to male counterparts. Hence, they should not be at disadvantage by their bodies.
How Secure Act 2.0 Impacts Investors. The new Secure Act 2.0 offers parents and investors more flexibility on 529 plans. Once in effect, the new rules allow parents to roll over a 529 fund into a Roth IRA on several conditions. The first is that an eligible 529 fund must have been open for at least 15 years by the time of the roll-over. Secondly, both the 529 and Roth IRA funds have to have the same beneficiary. Also, there is a lifetime limit of $35,000 on how much can be transferred to a Roth IRA beneficiary. The roll-over is subject to annual Roth IRA contribution limit, so if it’s capped at $6,000 a year, it will take a beneficiary 6 years to max out that $35,000 limit.
The road that’s the ‘Eighth World Wonder’. Added to my bucket list because the photos look absolutely stunning
Guess who’s getting the world’s first self-sovereign national digital ID? Even though it sounds good, let’s wait for a few years to see if there are any problems stemming from a national digital ID system built on blockchain.
Why Chinese EV battery manufacturers are flocking to Hungary. I didn’t know Hungary has such a good relationship with China and there was a big Chinese community in the country
Stats
“Workforce participation rates were 57.7% among women and 68.2% among men as of August”
Minh Quang Duong 
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