What I Wrote Last Week
Learning More About Myself After 3 Weeks Of Traveling
Business
Some consumers are punting big purchases like pools and mattresses. This feels like a time when some companies must think about how to generate services revenue instead of relying on dollars from big ticket items.
Business Breakdowns – Duolingo. A nice breakdown of this language learning app. I didn’t think much about this business until our trip to Europe. I kid you not, on our way to Toledo from Madrid, I heard one person on the train use Duolingo. And it’s the same for every city we went to. If that’s not proof that the app has serious popularity and warrants consideration, I don’t know what is.
Fintech nightmare: ‘I have nearly $38,000 tied up’ after Synapse bankruptcy. Fintech startups have a disadvantage in scale compared to established financial institutions. When I say scale, I don’t mean only in the number of accounts or capital. It’s also in reputation and branding. Fintechs carry the stigma that they don’t offer security. Examples like the one related to Synapse only exacerbate the problem.
Buy now, pay later companies must adhere to credit card standards, consumer agency says. These companies welcome the news because I think they knew that after the Supreme Court ruling, they wouldn’t be able to fight the CFPB much more. This will definitely add more overheads and disadvantage smaller BNPL providers. But hey, it’s never easy to make money. And I can’t wait to see the reaction when the agency requires credit reporting.
Interviews with factory employees refute Shein’s promises to make improvements. Sweat shops never went away. They have always been here. Shein is the latest example.
Other Stuff I Find Interesting
How to Build a $20 Billion Semiconductor Fab. Whenever I read about semiconductor, I find myself in awe of what we, as a society, have achieved.
Scarlett Johansson says OpenAI ripped off her voice after she told the company not to use it in software. The two leading researchers who served on the safety committee at OpenAI recently resigned, citing disagreements with the leadership team over the direction of the company. Today, a prominent actress exposed the company for using her voice without consent. If AI has the capability to inflict harm and a leading player in the field has trouble demonstrating that they have the moral compass, are we going to have a big problem down the line? Uber under Kalanick had a huge PR problem. It took years and a great CEO in Dara to fix it. Will OpenAI have the same scenario waiting for it?
Why Cocoa Farmers Are GPS Mapping Where Their Beans Are Grown. In general, I support initiatives that can slow down deforestation. We need more trees everywhere. The EU is essentially using whatever few tools it has at its disposal to affect earlier stages in the supply chain. I can appreciate that. However, the technical challenge is compounded by the historic drought.
Renting Forever and Trying to Create a Strong Financial Future. “Owning a home isn’t a magic bullet to secure retirement. Mr. Rogers has seen how being “house poor” has affected older family members, one of whom has three-quarters of her net worth tied up in her house. That situation leaves people with the option of borrowing against the equity in their home or selling the home to get at the value within it. “If you’re buying something like a broad-based U.S. stock index, you’re just kind of buying a slice of the entire U.S. economy,” Mr. Rogers said. “When you buy a house, your risk is concentrated literally down to one house, in one neighborhood, in one state.”
Stats
Almost 49,000 Hyundai Elantra cars were stolen in the US in 2023, the most of any model
Minh Quang Duong 
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