đ» The Misinformation Nightmare
Whatâs happened this week in the Tech & Startup world? đ The worldâs biggest IPO was cancelled last-minute, gig-economy companies are the real (or only?) winners of the election so far and Santa Claus goes virtual đ
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The Grapevine Newsflash đ„
11 tech & startup stories in 183 very short seconds.
đ„The Election Misinformation Nightmare! The election has been dominating our newsfeeds for the past week, so weâre keen to not overload you any further. If you read just one thing, make it this article by TechCrunch on how Twitter and Facebook reacted to Trump falsely claiming victory. Want more info? Checkout CNNâs take here.
âThe Worldâs Largest IPO Isnât HappeningâŠYet. Just two days before Ant Group was due to go public and raise an expected minimum of $34bn, the Shanghai Stock Exchange suspended the listing due to a concern from the Chinese regulators around their microloan business. This could have a significant effect on both the companyâs valuation and earnings potential. One to watch.
đThe Gig-Economy Wins The Election đ Gig-economy companies won an all-important vote in California that means they donât need to consider their workers as employees (and thus provide the necessary benefits and protections). Uber, Lyft, Doordash and two other companies contributed around $200m to support the measure, making it the most expensive ballot campaign in California history.
đ»WhatsApp Announced Disappearing Messages! This will enable users to send messages that disappear after 7 days. Seem spooky? Checkout this explainer piece here.
đ Santa Calls! Itâs the news youâve all been waiting for⊠Santa is coming this year, but virtually. When actor James Bartlett lost his job in the pandemic, he created a website for people to book zoom calls with Santa. Check it out here.
đ» Algorithmic Ads. Spotify has begun to allow artists and labels to influence more of what their algorithm promotes in their radio or autoplay. In return, Spotify pays artists a lower per-play rate compared to finding the songs normaly. If you want to understand how Spotify artists make money (and why a non top-tier artist makes only $12 a month) - have a quick read of this article.
đšâ $75m? For A Newsletter? Business Insider has acquired a dominant stake in Morning Brew, a business and tech newsletter with 2m subscribers, for an alleged $75m. Checkout Business Insidersâ announcement and justification here.
đâCultural Sovereigntyâ! Canada has moved to force streaming services like Netflix, Amazon Prime & Disney+ to set aside some of their revenue to fund domestic TV and music production. Good luck getting those guys to help fund what is essentially their competition.
đ±Why Social Media Polarizes Us. Facebook, Twitter and others are often attacked for only showing content that agrees with your viewpoint. Proposed solutions are centred around highlighting content from people who disagree with you, however, some studies are showing this makes the problem worse. Algorithms are designed to show you the extreme versions of different viewpoints because those get the most emotional attention - causing ârepulsionâ. Russian bots are already using this tactic. Learn more here.
đFornite Sneaks Past Apple Apple & Epic Games has been in a fight over the 30% Apple store fee - something thatâs becoming an increasing bone of contention for many. As a work-around, Fortnite are taking advantage of Nvidiaâs cloud gaming platform that runs in Safari - meaning people can play on their iPhones and Apple wonât get a cut of sales. Letâs see how this plays out.
đ€How To Destroy A Tech Monopoly! Benedict Evans, a prominent VC and ex A16z partner, has recorded a brilliant 40-minute podcast called âHow to destroy a tech monopolyâ, covering competition between the big techs, the different types of tech monopoly and the tricks monopolies use to convince you they have competitors! Listen on Spotify here or Apple Podcasts here.
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If youâre anything like us, good food and family meals played a big part in getting you through lockdown earlier in the year â and lockdown 2.0 will be no different đ„Ą Luckily, our friends at Uber have given UK Grapevine (sorry everyone else!) subscribers some handy discount and promo codes. These include a 10% discount on Uber Eats until the end of the year, ÂŁ10 off your first order, and 25% of your next 5 Uber rides (please read gov. guidelines before travelling) đ°
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