Rishi Taparia - Issue #99
This week we explore DoorDash’s surprise purchase of Caviar, China’s fight to bring AI into the classroom, Greenland’s melting ice caps, what ice cream can teach us about modern society and more. Enjoy!
Commerce and Fintech
DoorDash is buying Caviar from Square in a deal worth $410 million – TechCrunch
Color me surprised! DoorDash has reached an agreement with Square to purchase on-demand food delivery and catering business Caviar that Square had reportedly been looking to shop as of a few years ago. As part of the acquisition DoorDash has agreed to pay Square $410 million in cash and preferred DoorDash stock, making Square a shareholder in the delivery company who’s most recent valuation topped $12bn. What surprises me the most is Gokul Rajaram is heading DoorDash with Caviar. A seasoned executive who has worked at Google, Facebook and Square, I’m surprised Square to see Square let him go. That said, jumping ship to another unicorn on the verge of going public that could use executive presence is not a bad way to do so.
BofA to End Payments Joint Venture With First Data Next June
As expected, BofA is ending its payments JV with First Data (aka fiserdata), choosing to bring an increasingly valuable and critical part of the payments value chain back in house. BofA has also recently brought over Guy Harris and Wally Mlynarski, two (in my opinion) forward thinking payments executives over from Elavon (US Bank’s payment processing arm) to run the effort and shore up the team. I’d be surprised if BofA didn’t make some more strategic moves going forward, particularly given their balance sheet and the need to show some wins, and quickly, or risk being at a further disadvantage to Chase.
Amazon Wants to Rule the Grocery Aisles, and Not Just at Whole Foods
It should come as no surprise that Amazon has grocery ambitions that extend beyond giving Amazon Prime users discounts at Whole Foods. According to this report by the Times, “in early 2017, a memo circulated inside Amazon that imagined an ambitious new grocery chain. The document was written like a news release, a common practice for ideas being weighed inside the company, with the title “Grocery Shopping for Everyone.”” A few months and $13 billion later Amazon was the proud owner of Whole Foods. Now, however, instead of Amazonifying an existing experience, they are considering “one built from the ground up that would change how people buy groceries.”
Technology
China has started a grand experiment in AI education. It could reshape how the world learns.
In recent years, China and Chinese technology companies have taken on an audacious goal: pursue “intelligent education” with AI. Over the last few years, thanks to lax privacy standards, a willing population and an intensely competitive educational system, “tens of millions of students now use some form of AI to learn—whether through extracurricular tutoring programs like Squirrel’s, through digital learning platforms like 17ZuoYe, or even in their main classrooms.” As these edtech unicorns now turn their sights to international markets, how will the rest of the world respond?
Good for Google, Bad for America
A few weeks ago billionaire investor, contrarian, Gawker killer and Trump supporter Peter Thiel attacked Google on national television, stating that the US government should investigate the company, without offering much around why. Trump responded via Twitter (because, of course he did) that the government will look into it and naturally, it turned into a big brouhaha. This week, Thiel wrote an op-ed in the NYTimes going into some more detail as to his bold claim. His argument: at its core, artificial intelligence is a military technology, so why is Google sharing it with China?
Facebook owns Instagram and WhatsApp and plans to make that obvious
Facebook seems to be having some identity issues. According to internal sources, the company is undergoing a massive rebrand of both Instagram and WhatsApp. The huge change? The company is rebranding both apps to say they’re “from Facebook.” You know, in case you forgot $20bn of acquisitions…
Climate and Energy
Greenland's Melting: Heat Waves Are Changing the Landscape Before Their Eyes
Greenland is home to the world’s second largest ice sheet (no, the largest is not in Iceland…Iceland is green, Greenland is icy) and this ice sheet is disappearing, fast. The heat wave that hit Europe last week has now hit the Arctic. What that did to the ice sheet? It lost 11 billion tons of ice…on Thursday. To put that into perspective, this July Greenland’s ice sheet lost 197 billion tons of ice – approximately 80 million Olympic swimming pools. What is normal for this time of year? Between 60-70 billion tons at this time of year.
Under Brazil’s Far-Right Leader, Amazon Protections Slashed and Forests Fall
Elections have consequences. In the case of Brazil, those consequences could have a greater global impact than people originally bargained for. Populist President Jair Bolsonaro, who “has been fined personally for violating environmental regulations,” is sticking to his promise to curb enforcement against deforestation of the Amazon, saying limiting access to the world’s largest rainforest (roughly the size of the forty-eight contiguous United States) would hinder economic growth.
Protecting the Amazon was at the heart of Brazil’s environmental policy for much of the past two decades. At one point, Brazil’s success in slowing the deforestation rate made it an international example of conservation and the effort to fight climate change.
The two trends — the increase in deforestation and the government’s increasing reluctance to confront illegal activity — is alarming researchers, environmentalists and former officials who contend that Mr. Bolsonaro’s tenure could lead to staggering losses of one of the world’s most important resources.
Nada bem.
China just built a 250-acre solar farm shaped like a giant panda
Who says energy can’t be fun?
A new solar power plant in Datong, China, however, decided to have a little fun with its design. China Merchants New Energy Group, one of the country’s largest clean energy operators, built a 248-acre solar farm in the shape of a giant panda.
Panda, panda, panda, panda.
Random Tidbits
The big scoop: what a day with an ice-cream man taught me about modern Britain
A luscious piece that had me craving ice cream, Sirin Kale follows Ice Cream Tony, a 51 year veteran ice cream truck man, on his route around Eastbourne, England. His journey leads him to discover not only how to make the perfect cone, but how Britain has changed over the last decade.
The Psychology of Prediction
A useful checklist that “describes 12 common flaws, errors, and misadventures that occur in people’s heads when predictions are made.”
Your willingness to believe a prediction is influenced by how much you need that prediction to be true. If you tell me you’ve found a way to double my money in a week, I’m not going to believe you by default. But if my family was starving and I owed someone money next month that I don’t have, I would listen. I would probably believe whatever crazy prediction you have, because I’d desperately want and need it to be right.
Buying Coffee Won’t Make You Poor
Coffee gets a bad rap from personal-finance gurus, railing as though the cost of the daily latte or flat white is going to materially impact your ability to retire. Granted, $5 for a small Philharmonic, light cream, no sweet is a tad absurd but let’s all get a grip!
Quote I’ve been thinking about: “A failure is not always a mistake, it may simply be the best one can do under the circumstances.” — B. F. Skinner