Direct listings vs. IPOs gain traction
Using a direct listing to take a company public is a technique gaining momentum for companies that are less concerned about becoming public than raising additional money. Spotify and Slack employed the technique in 2019, and five or more companies are considering direct listings in 2020, including GitLab, AirBnB and DoorDash. The method is leading Wall Street banks to become far more flexible with traditional IPOs. CNBC
dis-rup-shun: Companies in general, and tech companies specifically, are savvy about communicating and reaching potential markets with current digital marketing tools. For companies flush with venture investments, Wall Street’s rigid rules for holding periods and over-sized fees are simply not needed and are being bypassed. Seeing the damage inflicted on the retail brokerage industry by Internet stock trading platforms, Wall Street will work fervently to not lose one of its biggest paydays — the IPO. The disruption has already begun, however, and the IPO fee structure will never be what it was.
The Irishman helps Netflix gain cred
Netflix is counting on giant blockbusters such as The Irishman, viewed by 26 million households in its first week, to attract the top film producers to make great movies and series. CNBC
dis-rup-shun: Netflix was amazing until others, namely Amazon, offered more new release content, albeit for an up-charge. Then there was everyone else — including Warner and Disney that control vast catalogs and have studios where the best of the industry are created. Differentiation is no longer about convenience or price, but about offering “must watch” content. Whatever streaming service is not required for participation in the all important water cooler conversation will be purged from the overtaxed credit card account. Netflix has declared that its production budget will secure its place in the must watch category.
What are smart glasses 2.0?
North brought its lighter, more-stylish Focals line of smart glasses to market in 2019. It is now turning its sights to Focals 2.0 — thinner, more powerful with better display. The second generation of smart glasses will likely remain priced at around $600, and will continue to be the leader in alternative ways to view smartphone generated images. TechCrunch
dis-rup-shun: It is rough be on the bleeding edge of a new product category and smart glasses seem to be a bit like the slow adoption of wearables — some good offerings but consumers took a few years to be convinced they needed the product. Apple is said to be working on AR glasses and, as soon as the company enters the market, North can expect to be acquired by Google, Facebook, Amazon, or some other large brand that wants to enjoy the benefits of Apple creating a new category while having to compete. North will have to continue to survive by serving early adopters until a big brand can generate viral demand for the category. Perhaps Warby Parker is that brand.
Rating cloud services on environmental responsibility
Cloud computing is the future of computing and is the economic engine fueling massive growth by Amazon, Microsoft, Google and others. These services consume massive amounts of computing power, and electricity. Wired has evaluated the practices of the biggest three cloud providers and rates them. Google received an overall score of B+, Microsoft a B, and Amazon Web Services was scored C+. Factors considered include use of renewable energy, use of efficiency algorithms to maximize cycles per watt, and creative ways to reduce emissions, such as Microsoft’s location of data centers on the ocean floor.
dis-rup-shun: Amazon, the largest cloud provider by far, appears to have grown so quickly that it has struggled to keep apace with zero carbon pledges made by its competition. The socially conscious tech giants, however, will drive creation of renewable energy production at large scale, helping to make energy storage more viable. Expect companies to make purchase decisions of cloud providers with environmental responsibility an important priority, behind price.