What I Wrote Last Week
Business
Buc-ee’s, a Pit Stop to Refuel Cars, Stomachs and Souls, Spreads Beyond Texas. I have never been to a Buc-ee’s before, so it’s really interesting to read about a cult-like devotion from its fans. The giant size and inventory work in the chain’s favor when everything goes swimmingly as it can leverage economies of scale. However, I wonder what it would be like when trouble comes up. Cost cutting would go against the very DNA of this store.
He Revolutionized Travel. Can Airbnb’s Founder Redesign Your Entire Life? I like some of the management ideas that Brian Chesky proposed. And I admire what he has accomplished at just 43 years old. However, it’s hard to completely buy into his vision for AirBnb when the stock not only trailed the S&P500, but also was down in the last 5 years. When will the company turn the page to reward shareholders?
How Amazon’s Broken Returns Process Is Driving Sellers To Leave Amazon. The return process is an example of how Amazon has to manage the multi-sided platform that is its enormous e-commerce engine. Shoppers like to return stuff, especially the Prime subscribers who specifically pay an annual fee for the speed and convenience. On the other hand, sellers don’t like returns which present a real expense. Amazon obviously wants to please both sides, if possible, but the company’d be wise to prioritize consumers. As you can see from the clip, sellers want to leave the platform, but can’t. Fish where the fish are, even if it’s not the most comfortable place.
At Amazon’s Biggest Data Center, Everything Is Supersized for A.I. “The facility will consume 2.2 gigawatts of electricity — enough to power a million homes. Each year, it will use millions of gallons of water to keep the chips from overheating. And it was built with a single customer in mind: the A.I. start-up Anthropic, which aims to create an A.I. system that matches the human brain.” Isn’t it too big a concentration risk?
How The Fresh Market and Lidl are striving to stay relevant with shoppers. I said it before that the best way for grocers to compete with Walmart and Amazon was to have unique and exciting assortment that couldn’t be found anywhere. Two grocers from different segments of the market agreed. The first job is to source exclusive goods. The second is to make sure shoppers know about those goods or at least know they can be unexpectedly wowed while shopping there. Aldi, Trader Joe’s, Costco and Sam’s Club are a few names that come to my mind.
Other Stuff I Find Interesting
Anthropic wins key US ruling on AI training in authors’ copyright lawsuit. I can see why the judge ruled that AI models are transformative and therefore the proper use of books to train the models is allowed under the current copyrights laws. Anthropic will be on the hooks for some compensation as it pirated books illegally. The punishment has to be harsh enought to deter similar pirating in the future. As long as noone can read a book in full through a chatbot, isn’t this a good thing for publishers as they can sell a lot of books digitally to AI companies?
The Improbable Rise of Zohran Mamdani. It’s remarkable why a guy with an “unremarkable” record as a State Assembly member could become the favorite to win the Mayor seat of such a city as New York. If it’s not proof of the American Dream, I don’t know what is. In terms of his promises, affordability resonates with the majority of voters and it’s the right message in this environment. However, anything that goes against the free market usually has terrible side effects and consequences. So we’ll have to wait and see if, when elected, he will go through with the campaign promises or if those will bring out the unwanted consequences.
Trump wants to end birthright citizenship. Where do other countries stand? I support ending birthright citizenship for tourists who come here to give birth to exploit the system and to some extent, refugees who just come here and whose status is still in question. I understand every parent wants the best for their child and I’d love for my child to be an American if I were one of those refugees. But I think that we need to be reasonable here. Only folks with a working visa like H1B or permanent residents should have the privilege. These folks already live in the US for a while and demonstrate the intent to settle here for a long time and contribute to the society. For America, it is a powerful tool to attract immigrant talents. Who doesn’t want to set up a better future for their kids?
Brazil rules that social media platforms are responsible for users’ posts. Online abuse and misinformation are really serious problems, but I fear that this new ruling from Brazil’s top court will push big techs into fear and extreme caution that they will curb free speech. And that is as big, if not bigger, a problem than misinformation.
The Trump administration claims roads in forests prevent wildfires. Researchers disagree. Is it about lowering fire risks or boosting commercial logging?
Stats
27% of consumers expect to be unable to pay a bill in full in the next 12 months
Minh Quang Duong 
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