Rishi Taparia - Issue #91
First, a very happy Mother’s Day to all the superheroes out there! Thank you for all you do. This week we look at BofA thinking about breaking up with First Data, a call to break up Facebook from one of its co-founders, Harley Davidson going electric, the political future of the US and more. Enjoy!
Commerce and Fintech
Are U.S. Malls Dead? Not If Gen Z Keeps Shopping the Way They Do
It turns out malls may not be dead after all. Apparently the next generation of U.S. buyers isn’t shopping like their parents, they are shopping like their grandparents. In a survey conducted of 13-19 year olds, over 75% said they prefer shopping for apparel in physical stores, with that number over 80% for personal care products. The notion that digitally native, younger shoppers would shun physical experiences seems not to be the case. The trick seems to be combining the physical experience with the digital experience. Or better still, do away with the difference entirely - the experience is the experience, and will meld physical, digital and maybe at some point, metaphysical…
Bank of America Considers Scrapping First Data Payments Partnership
There’s trouble in First Data paradise. Bank of America, one of First Data’s (now Fiserv’s) mega joint venture partners (merchants processing credit cards through BofA are really doing it through FD) is considering dissolving the huge payment-processing joint venture it has with First Data and developing its own. According to BofA CEO Brian Moynihan, “The modern payment system is our foundation for the future,” and apparently FD just hasn’t been cutting it, with “clients [having] experienced delays getting money from customers…and outages [keeping] merchants from accepting cards for short periods.” Bad news bears for FD if true. We’ll know soon enough - the contract between the two companies requires a year’s notice in the event of termination. It’s scheduled to renew in June 2020.
Card payments outstrip cash for first time in Germany
Even among the most skeptical, card payments are increasing. For the first time ever, German card payments exceeded cash payments. Grounded in a history of privacy concerns and abhorrence for debt, German’s skepticism for card payments has meant cash has long been king to the point where even in a country as developed as Germany it was tough to pay with cards. A gradual increase in card payments – along with growing trust in the medium – has seen a major uplift in card based payments, particularly for big ticket items. Over three quarters of all transactions were cash transactions, but volumes had cards eke out a win over cash.
Technology
It’s Time to Break Up Facebook
Chris Hughes, co-founder of Facebook and Mark Zuckerberg’s friend from Harvard, op-ed this week on why Facebook needs to be broken up. He makes a compelling argument, and his relationship with Zuck and the company is sure to at least have more politicians ponder how they would regulate the company. The challenge I found in his argument, however, was his focus on the power that has amassed to Mark vs. the company itself. In focusing on “Mark’s influence”, the fact that “Mark alone can decide how to configure Facebook’s algorithms to determine what people see in their News Feeds”, that “he sets the rules for how to distinguish violent and incendiary speech from the merely offensive, and he can choose to shut down a competitor by acquiring, blocking or copying it”, Hughes is focusing on the man atop the company or, at the very least, equating the two. However, the government going after individuals is a very different thing than going after a company. Whether other presidential candidates or legislators follow Elizabeth Warren’s lead or not will be telling.
Uber's IPO Price Fell 7.6%, Making It One of the Worst Mega IPOs Ever
Uber much anticipated IPO took place this week, capping off a tumultuous week in the markets. It was not an auspicious debut for the ridesharing giant, as the stock dropped almost 8% thanks to the ongoing trade war between the US and China, as well as Lyft’s underperformance in the public sector. Regardless of day one market performance, a major milestone for a truly transformative company.
How exactly Stitch Fix’s “Tinder for clothes” learns your style
At the outset, picking what clothes a customer may want to wear doesn’t seem all too challenging. Tens of thousands of people get paid every year to do just that in malls and fashion boutiques around the world. Now, translating that into an algorithm that can do this for customers you don’t even have yet? More challenging. A terrific piece on Stitch Fix and their approach to data and clothing, creating style maps and “Tinder for clothes”.
Climate and Energy
Harley-Davidson’s LiveWire Electric Motorcycle Is Redefining The Brand
Harley Davidson is going electric. Coming in 2019, the all-new LiveWire electric motorcycle will go 0 to 60 in 3 seconds, have 140 miles of city range, and have the ability to full charge in an hour. With a screen replacing gauges and dials that can do everything from pair bluetooth and display navigation, and paired with an app that can tell you battery levels, location and alert in the event of theft, this is Harley’s step into the future. As the author puts it:
And if the old guard is appalled by the loss of gleaming cylinder heads and thumpy exhaust note, let them consider LiveWire’s carefully executed details, which include a brightly finished polished aluminum motor case and the faint mechanical sound of its gear set, whose pitch and volume escalate with speed. Harley’s future may not be loud, but it certainly is bright.
US Surpasses 2 Million Solar Installations as Industry Looks to 'Dominate' the 2020s
The first million solar panels took 40 years to install. The next million took 3 years. The solar market’s rapid growth has “reshaped the energy conversation in this country,” says Abigail Ross-Hopper, president and CEO of the Solar Energy Industries Association. A $17bn industry today, estimates have the industry doubling again in 5 years time as solar “becomes the dominant new form of energy generation.” Not bad for an industry that barely existed 10 years ago to one that now employs over 300,000 people (and growing 15% a year).
Google Maps now tells you if an EV charging station is in use
If there was any question about EV penetration, consider it answered. Google Maps has been updated showing you not only the location of charging stations for your electric car, Google Maps now also shows you whether they’re currently in use or not. Available across the US and UK, for Google to do anything to a core application like Maps means serious business.
Random Tidbits
Young Democrats May Control the Political Future
An engaging piece, supported with quite a bit of polling data, that suggests Democrats are rapidly becoming the party of the young and the various consequences of this shift. Democrats are “rapidly becoming the party of the young”, while Republicans are "leaning ever more heavily on retirees”. A generational war is coming, the authors argue, and come the mid-2020s, the change is going to result in a major shift towards left leaning policies. “Key liberal priorities — universal Medicare, student-loan forgiveness, immigration reform, a Green New Deal — will have a decent chance of becoming law.”
The 'Future Book' Is Here, but It's Not What We Expected
Visionaries thought technology would change books. Instead, it’s changed everything about publishing a book. An excellent long read about the ‘future book’ and what reading, writing and publishing looks like today compared to what we expected.
How to reduce digital distractions: advice from medieval monks
Let’s get medieval, and learn from the great tools for concentration practiced by the nuns and monks of the Middle Ages. Amazing, the similarities there are in topics that distract the mind through time.
Quote I’m thinking about: “God could not be everywhere, and therefore he made mothers.” Rudyard Kipling