Clubhouse announces plans for creator payments and raises new funding led by Andreessen Horowitz

Clubhouse, an audio based social media app launched year, despite still being in it’s beta phase the business has amassed 2 million users and a valuation of $1 billion. On this short road to 2 million users a conversation about how clubhouse might monetise itself began, the ideas thrown around have ranged from podcast subscriptions to sponsored rooms. In this article we learn more about the revenue model that Clubhouse is choosing to begin with, creator tipping and also about their last funding round which was led by A16z. 

As an Industrial Economics graduate, I tend to get a little giddy when I come across articles, papers, pretty much anything that examines calls into question the behaviour of Titans of industry like Facebook, Amazon and Apple. I believe that the way these companies are being regulated is extremely outdated and needs to be redefined. I came across an amazing paper called the ‘Amazon’s Antitrust Paradox’ written by Lina M. Khan a remarkable American Scholar specialising in antitrust and competition law in the US. The paper argues that the current framework for judging whether Amazon and other conglomerates are behaving competitively is outdated, Khan argues that it isn’t enough to judge a business’ practice by whether or not it is ‘favourable’ to the consumer because well doing so has and will continue to leave massive loopholes for anti competitive practices.
 

Natalie Massenet’s Imaginary Ventures Raises $160 Million for Second Fund

I have a profound admiration for Natalie Massanet, she stood up against the majority of the luxury fashion industry pioneering it’s  digitalisation. I think Ms Massanet is a visionary and so I follow her moves quite closely. This Bof article talks how the latest fund that Imaginary VC (a vc firm run by Massanet & Nick Brown) have just raised.

There is a thin line between brand infamy and being over exposed, in the early 2000s Burberry felt that it’s brand had crossed that line. It’s tartan print was the official uniform of ‘chavs’  and so the business adopted a strategy to take ownership of its brand image cutting down the inclusion of the tartan to just 10% of it’s clothing. Today luxury fashion houses (depending on their popularity) find themselves over exposed online. Daniel Lee’s  Bottega Veneta, arguably the hottest fashion house of the past two seasons is seeking to address it excessive exposure by coming offline, this Vogue article explores this reasoning why.

Becoming a Monopoly Was Always Facebook’s Goal :‘Copy, acquire, and kill’

Ever since reading Sarah Frier’s No Filter I have been quite suspicious of Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook’s agenda. In my mind the pair are one in the same with Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and Frankenstein’s monster. Dramatic I know but I really think the analogy holds! This article written by Will Oremus  basically puts forward the case (a very compelling one might I add)  that Facebook’s strategy was always to become a monopoly, the evidence is strong. I came away from article thinking that the case for  Facebook being broken up like Standard Oil had been is growing. I also wondered whether a business having such a goal in any way impacts an investor’s decision making process. If I as investor am aware that a business’s strategy for growth is likely to court the sustained attention of regulators am I still inclined to invest? 

There is a lot of talk about whether or not we are in tech bubble, the debate at time seems never ending. So far the actions that speculators have been able to take so har has been (1) buy into these companies (2) sit on the sidelines and evangelise that ‘the end times are coming’ for these startup. Tomio Geron writes about Apeira Capital and it plans to short startups for the WSJ. It’s super interesting and in opinion a really good idea.

UK watchdog plans global revenue fines if Big Tech behaves badly

Excited to see how this plays out. First is regulation on revenue, then ethics and then hopefully fluid interpretation on anticompetitive practices... 

Kanye West Signs Multiyear Deal to Sell Yeezy Line at GAP

Kanye West’s Yeezy label is coming to Gap, offering a men’s, women’s and kids line called Yeezy Gap that will hit stores and online next year. This is part of a multiyear partnership that will build on the ‘aesthetic and success’ of the existing Yeezy brand. Given Gap’s struggles turning the business around, the ability to ride on the coat tails of Yeezy’s business valued at $3 billion by BoA is welcome. 

"How Pandemics Fuel the Fall of Small Businesses and the Rise of the Mega Corporation"

This fashion law article examines the relationships between pandemics and the concentration of wealth into the hands of urban entrepreneurs from the 14th century till today. Eleanor Russell (a PhD candidate at University of Cambridge)  and Martin Parker (Professor of Organization Studies at the University of Bristol) put forward the case that the effects of business models, the size of businesses and  adoption of technology are  defining factors in who the winners have been  (during prior pandemics) and will likely be as we emerge from the Covid -19 pandemic. With a special focus on the 'Age of Amazon" this is recommended reading from us at Strategy&Silks.