The end of interchange. “Credit card companies have had a good run extracting interchange from merchants for the last forty years, but those days are coming to an end.” Fred Wilson’s a pretty good predictor of the future, but I […]
Cannabis reclassified to Schedule III. Weed will now be much less illegal nationally, but with plenty of gray area and contradictory laws. “Trump ordered agencies to begin the formal process of reclassifying cannabis as a drug with medical value and […]
Your digital ‘property’ isn’t really yours. Do you own your gaming skins? “Legally, you don’t.” In a dramatic market move, Valve’s change in game rules for Counter-Strike 2 exposed a $2B loss in virtual investments, highlighting a blind spot in […]
The truth about delivery app tipping. Travis Kalanick argues, “Delivery app tipping isn’t about feedback mechanisms.. it’s a tool for maximizing price paid by consumers… eaters are economically irrational with tip.” This practice exploits human psychology to boost app revenues […]
The norm of haul culture. “Consumers’ bedrooms have become the new changing rooms, and ‘haul culture’ has made excessive purchasing the norm.” Gen Zers and me are apparently guilty of buying multiple sizes with the intention of returning most. However, […]
Coffee chains under pressure. Recent bankruptcies among coffee chains highlight challenges like high coffee prices, adverse weather, and costly tariffs. “Starbucks is in the midst of a restructuring plan that involves closing underperforming stores and cutting staff.” ~ learn more
They’re not hiding this turnaround. From Christian Friedland, cofounder of Build.com, who once shared the small town of Chico, CA with this company: “[Lulu’s Fashion Lounge (NASDAQ: LVLU)] is trading at 0.046x sales ($14.4M market cap on $316M revenue) – […]
Thrasio cofounder on the Operators podcast. “What’s it like to build the fastest-growing company in American history… and then watch it all come crashing down? We sat down with John Hefter, co-founder of the legendary Amazon aggregator Thrasio, for a […]
Shein’s first French stores. The Chinese e-commerce giant is stepping into physical retail, announcing plans to open its first stores in France. Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo is not a fan: “[this store] is contrary to the ecological and social ambitions […]
The last days of social media. Here’s a missive about the end of the era of social media, the start of the AI-generated content swamp era that we’re in now, and a hope for a future where someone has created […]