Rishi Taparia - Issue #100
Issue 100! This week we look at Stripe’s entry into the lending business, Kara Swisher’s view on life, why everyone should write, Tuesdays with Morrie and more. Enjoy!
Issue 100!
I’m back after taking a few weeks off this summer with a special issue: number 100! Thank you for your ongoing readership and support. Going forward I’m making a few changes to the overall structure of the weekly email. I’m going to be taking a more free flowing approach to the weekly instead of focusing the articles into the previously specific categories. There will be links and posts largely on whatever I find interesting or compelled to write about. To be sure, you can expect a lot of fintech, commerce and tech related posts, but the forced categorization made the process feel more burdensome than I wanted. So I’m scrapping it! I hope you enjoy the new format and, as always, please provide feedback if you have it.
Stripe launches Stripe Capital to make instant loan offers to customers on its platform
Back in February Stripe announced a fundraise as well as a partnership with Funding Circle to get into lending. I mentioned then that Stripe not entering into lending themselves was an interesting move.
This implies that Stripe is now NOT (yet) getting into the lending business themselves. Unlike rival Square who has seen their share price run up massively thanks to the success of Square Capital, Stripe is actively taking steps to stay out of that business. Stripe has all the pieces they need to build what one can only imagine would be a solid lending business - a captive customer base, risk models, money movement capability and access to the capital markets - and yet are choosing to leave it (and the lucrative business that comes along with it) to others. That, coupled with the additional capital, seems too coincidental. Which gets us back to the start - Stripe knows something we don’t. It will be wise to pay attention.
As it turns out, they were biding their time, building their models, and getting the pieces in place to launch Stripe Captial which they did this week. In typical Stripe fashion it is clean and transparent in its documentation and execution, and I’m sure will make for a number of very happy customers. With Stripe Sessions taking place next week, I’m guessing we’re in for a slew of additional news from the company.
Kara Swisher on Ambition, Bad Bosses, and Having a Baby at 56
Kara Swisher is a force of nature, a reporter who has been covering technology and Silicon Valley since the 90s and is “also one of the only reporters who can make Mark Zuckerberg sweat through his hoodie.” She is, as the youths say it these days, doing the most. This interview with Kara explores what makes her tick, her philosophy on life and how she approaches work and parenthood. I like her even more after this! Some of the nuggets that resonated the most below:
Bragging is different than saying what it is. When I suck at something, I say I suck at it. But I know what I’m good at.
Becoming a parent didn’t lessen my ambition, but it did make me more sanguine about work. It makes me spend even less time worrying about what people think of me. When something bad happens at work, or someone gives me a hard time, I’m like, “I don’t need youto like me. I have dogs. I have kids. I need themto like me.” If I fail at being a parent, I feel terrible, but if I fail at some work thing, I’m like, Oh, well. Not everything’s a four-alarm fire. If something goes wrong, a lot of people are like, “What are we going to do!?” And I’m like, “Something else.”
I do have talent, but I also put in the time. I’m not embarrassed about it either, and I don’t pretend it’s not important.
If I can’t do something well, I drop it.
Why Everyone Should Write
One reason I started writing this ‘Collection of Thoughts on Random Things I Find Interesting That I Send To People Who May Also Be Interested’, or ‘newsletter’ as it’s called these days, was to force myself to write more. This post by Morgan Housel eloquently discusses the benefits of writing and is now my standard response to the question, “Why do you want to write?”
We’re all brimming with opinions on these topics that we may never discuss, even with ourselves. Like phantom intelligence. Intuition is strong enough to put these ideas into practice. But intuition isn’t a tool; it’s a safety net at best, and is more often the fuel of biased decisions. Turning gut feelings into tools means understanding their origin, limits, and how they interact with other ideas. Which requires turning them into words. And writing is the best way to do that. Writing crystallizes ideas in ways thinking on its own will never accomplish.
Report: U.S. Payment Card Market Tops $6T
In 2018 Americans spent a record $6.13 trillion on goods and services via credit card according to The Nilson Report. According to the release, “commercial card spending is up 11.7 percent, compared to consumer card spending, which grew by 10.1 percent. Commercial card spending was $1.39 trillion last year. Consumer card spending was $4.74 trillion.” Thing to watch out for: Current credit card debt outstanding sitting at over $1 trillion with more accounts that are at least 90 days behind on payments.
Moneyness: Starbucks, monetary superpower
It pays to be working in financial services! In this post JP Koning compiles a series of tweets that go through one of Starbucks’ most valuable assets: it’s loyalty program. Starbucks reports over $1.6bn in outstanding liabilities against stored value cards - aka money that is sitting in Starbucks digital wallets and gift cards that customers have essentially lent to the coffee giant for free.
Taps’ Notes: Tuesdays With Morrie
I read Tuesdays with Morrie: An Old Man, a Young Man, and Life’s Greatest Lesson by Mitch Albom and reviewed it as part of my ongoing series. I thoroughly recommend this book, no matter who you are and what stage of life you’re in. Thank me later!
Quote I’ve been thinking about: “Learn to question yourself: Why this anger or resentment? Where does this incessant need for attention come from? Under such scrutiny, your emotions will lose their hold on you. You will begin to think for yourself instead of reacting to what others give you. Emotions tend to narrow the mind, making us focus on one or two ideas that satisfy our immediate desire for power or attention, ideas that usually backfire.” - Robert Greene, The Laws of Human Nature