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Wed. 07/20 – Netflix Earnings Not SO Bad Jul 20, 2022

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Netflix reported earnings that weren’t as bad as even they had been telegraphing. So that’s something. The court case is already going against how Elon Musk hoped it would go. What’s up with everyone leaving Neuralink? And a deep-dive look at BeReal. Is it the next big thing or just the latest fad?

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Netflix loses fewer subscribers than expected and says cheaper ad tier is coming in early 2023 (CNBC)
Twitter-Musk trial on $44 billion deal set to begin in October after Musk loses effort to delay (CNBC)
A Neuralink cofounder left Elon Musk's brain-chip company, leaving it with just 2 of its 8 founding members (Insider)
Google Begins Publicly Testing Its AR Glasses (CNET)
Fad or frenzy, BeReal is having a real moment right now (FastCompany)
Why BeReal is breaking out (Platformer)

Tue. 07/19 – Amazon Sues Facebook (Group Admins) Jul 19, 2022

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Amazon is stepping up its war against bogus product reviews. Netflix is testing more crackdowns on password sharing. Slack is raising prices. ESPN+ is raising prices. But one streaming service is actually LOWERING prices? And mark your calendars, cause the Fall product launch season is upon us.

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Amazon sues admins from 10,000 Facebook groups over fake reviews (TechCrunch)
Netflix Tests Another Way to Charge for Password Sharing (Bloomberg)
Apple Sued Over Apple Pay, Accused of Antitrust Violations (Bloomberg)
Slack is increasing prices and changing the way its free plan works (TechCrunch)
ESPN+ Monthly Subscription to Rise $3 as Disney Strives for Streaming Profits (Variety)
Crunchyroll is lowering monthly subscription fees in almost 100 regions (Engadget)
Samsung confirms August 10th Unpacked event date with ‘cryptic’ puzzle (The Verge)
WD begins shipping 22TB Red Pro, Purple Pro and Gold HDDs (Club386)

Mon. 07/18 – It’s Vibe Shifts All The Way Down Jul 18, 2022

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Everything we cover is in a full vibe shift of… pulling back. Coinbase sent some eyebrows up over the weekend, but insolvency is off the table. Right? Right? Adam Newmann’s crypto startup is hitting the pause button. All the rapid delivery startups that flooded New York City last year seem to be done. Poof. And is Silicon Valley itself definitively shrinking?

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(Portfolio Profile) ArcX Jul 16, 2022

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Ride Home Fund's latest investment: the smart ring/device controller ArcX! More at https://arcx.fit/

Invest in ArcX via the Ride Home Fund here.

Fri. 07/15 – The “Vibe Shift” At Amazon Jul 15, 2022

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Now the haircuts have come for Stripe, but they took theirs voluntarily. Who’s responsible for the big hole on Celsius’ balance sheet? Twitter wants to let devs make their own timelines. Will Amazon voluntarily exit the white label business. And, of course, the Weekend Longreads Suggestions.

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Stripe Cuts Internal Valuation by 28% (WSJ)
Celsius Discloses $1.19 Billion Deficit in Bankruptcy Filing (Bloomberg)
Twitter is testing custom timelines, and first one is about The Bachelorette (TechCrunch)
Amazon Has Been Slashing Private-Label Selection Amid Weak Sales (WSJ)

Weekend Longreads Suggestions:

How Three Arrows Capital Blew Up and Set Off a Crypto Contagion (Bloomberg)
The Standards Innovation Paradox (Michael Mignano Medium)
Siberia or Japan? Expert Google Maps Players Can Tell at a Glimpse. (NYTimes)
Advanced E.V. Batteries Move From Labs to Mass Production (NYTimes)
How the Webb sends its hundred-megapixel images a million miles back to Earth (TechCrunch)
The Webb Space Telescope’s Profound Data Challenges (iee Spectrum)

Thu. 07/14 – Is TikTok A Threat To Google Search? Jul 14, 2022

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Celsius files for bankruptcy. Tesla loses a key Autopilot exec. Netflix chooses Microsoft for it’s ads partnership. Could TikTok be a long-term problem for Google Search? And the reviews are in for the new Macbook Airs with M2 chips.

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Embattled crypto lender Celsius files for bankruptcy protection (CNBC)
Inside Celsius: how one of crypto’s biggest lenders ground to a halt (Financial Times)
Tesla AI leader Andrej Karpathy announces he’s leaving the company (CNBC)
Netflix is partnering with Microsoft for its new ad-supported tier (The Verge)
Google Cloud launches its first Arm-based VMs (TechCrunch)
Google exec suggests Instagram and TikTok are eating into Google’s core products, Search and Maps (TechCrunch)
APPLE’S NEW MACBOOK AIR M2 IS THE START OF A WHOLE NEW AIR-A (The Verge)

Wed. 07/13 – Twitter Takes The Gloves Off Jul 13, 2022

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Twitter officially sues Elon Musk and by the sound of things, has decided to go to the mattresses. Has Apple officially cut ties with Jony Ive? Here come the tech mergers and acquisitions. How streaming has officially killed traditional tv by at least one measure. And an interesting new gadget. Nothing. I’ll explain.

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Twitter Sues Musk After He Tries Backing Out of $44 Billion Deal (NYTimes)
15 Revelations in Twitter’s Suit Against Elon Musk (Intelligencer)
Apple Ends Consulting Agreement With Jony Ive, Its Former Design Leader (NYTimes)
Unity is merging with Ironsource in an all-stock deal valuing Ironsource at $4.4B in a big consolidation play for gaming (TechCrunch)
Read the memo Google’s CEO sent employees about a hiring slowdown (The Verge)
Nothing officially announces flashy Phone 1, starting at £399 (The Verge)
HBO & HBO Max Smash Past Netflix In Total Emmy Nominations As Hulu & Apple Score Strong Showings (Deadline)

Tue. 07/12 – What If (And Hear Me Out) We Actually Owned The Things We Buy? Jul 12, 2022

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Liquidators say they can't find the Three Arrows Capital founders. The FTC will crack down on data-anonymization claims. Another smart home company decides to brick some of the hardware that people paid good money for. Hopin is the latest highflyer to fall to earth with layoffs. And what it’s like to work at Twitter right now.

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Mon. 07/11 – What Happens Now With Elon And Twitter. Jul 11, 2022

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The famous stock market player Bernard Baruch once said, paraphrasing: Whatever men attempt, they seem driven to overdo. When hopes are soaring, I always repeat to myself that two and two still make four. The main purpose of the market is to make fools of as many people as possible. Today, stories of this lesson being learned by both major VC firms and Elon Musk. Oh, and how North Korean hackers infiltrate companies.

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