- Will's Weekly Roundup
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- Will's Weekly Roundup
Will's Weekly Roundup is a weekly newsletter of curated tech, business, and startup news (and what I'm thinking about).
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Headlines
The tech and business headlines you missed (or need to see again)...
US-Mexico border egg seizures surged 300%+ as Americans look for cheaper eggs. LINK
The average US 30-year mortgage rate dropped below 6% for the first time since September. LINK
Tim Cook says Apple layoffs are “a last resort kind of thing.” LINK
Goldman Sachs slashed CEO David Solomon's pay by 29% to $25M. LINK
New York venture capital seed funding fell 48% QoQ in Q4. LINK
Google’s new AI software (MusicLM) turns text into music. LINK
Fidelity, which helped Musk finance his $44 billion takeover, slashed the carrying price of its shares by 9.58% between the end of November and the end of December. LINK
On a year-over-year basis, US payments volume was up 14% with debit up 13% and credit up 14%, according to Visa's CFO. LINK
Southwest Airlines has an increase in flight cancellations and a deceleration in bookings primarily for January and February 2023 travel, which are assumed to be associated with their operational disruption back in December. They estimate a negative revenue impact between $300-350 million in Q1 of 2023. LINK
ChatGPT may be the fastest-growing consumer app in internet history, reaching 100 million users in just over 2 months. LINK
TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew will testify before Congress in March about its privacy and data security concerns. LINK
Over 100k US workers were laid off in January, with tech accounting for 41% of cuts. LINK
Twitter and Facebook/Meta have both unbanned Trump’s accounts, but he hasn’t been active yet (likely because of his involvement in his own social media platform ‘Truth Social’). LINK
Luxury EV maker Lotus agrees to go public at a $5.4 billion valuation. LINK
Instagram’s co-founders are back with Artifact, a kind of TikTok for text. LINK
Roku and Tubi will now feature HBO content. LINK
Snapchat crosses 2 million paid subscribers for "Snapchat Plus" ($3.99/month), which allows users to pin someone as their #1 friend, see the general GPS travel direction of friends, and more. LINK
Ideas
Some ideas I'm thinking about...
Less than 50% of consumers connect their smart appliances like fridges and ovens to the internet. LINK
‘Orange Juice futures’ are a thing, and they just hit their latest high since 2016 because of limited supply. LINK
There's finally a straightforward yet comprehensive beginner explanation of Web 3. LINK
When Meta’s share price surged 21% on Thursday due to the company’s cost-cutting measures, Mark Zuckerberg saw his net worth grow by roughly $12 billion — bringing the value of his fortune to about $69 billion. LINK
The issue of tech companies being overstaffed lies in their excessive number of management levels. LINK
The US accounts for 1/5th of investments in Chinese AI firms. LINK
80% of workers who quit in the ‘Great Resignation’ have regrets. LINK
To estimate how long a non-perishable item (like a trend or specific technology) will last, take the amount of time it has already existed and multiply it by two. This technique is called the Lindy Effect, which suggests that the longer something has survived to exist, the more likely it is to continue existing in the future. LINK
There’s a website that takes normal text and rewords it with GenZ slang. LINK
Scythe Robotics has brought autonomous driving to commercial (grass) mowers. LINK
There’s a semi-permanent health sensor patch (made by Levels Health) that helps you see how food affects your health so you can optimize your nutrition and activity. LINK
PlaylistAI is an app that creates playlists on Spotify and Apple Music from AI prompts, images, videos, and your most-listened-to music. LINK
Non-business and tech ideas I’m thinking about…
How did a Chinese spy balloon manage to travel across the US and reach Myrtle Beach, South Carolina before being shot down? LINK
Five things to know about Nikki Haley as she prepares for the 2024 race. LINK
Picks
Atlantic Article - “The Man Who Moves Markets: how Carson Block uses covert techniques to uncover fraud for profit. LINK
Article - “Professionalize the Police: An obvious major reform needs more attention than it's getting.” LINK
Visuals
Tech companies founded during periods of austerity were able to become much larger companies than those that weren’t. (Size of the bubble reflects the company's market cap. Grey bars indicate a recession).
The popularity of search terms 'AI' and 'Crypto' on Google.
The number of workers needed at S&P 500 companies to generate $1 million in revenue.
The timeline of the Chinese spy balloon’s eight-day journey.
Quotes
“It's a funny thing about life, once you begin to take note of the things you are grateful for, you begin to lose sight of the things that you lack.” — Germany Kent
"Formal education will make you a living. Self-education will make you a fortune." — Jim Rohn
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