Robinhood has once again found itself in hot water after users were unable to make crypto trades during a big trading day.
In March of 2020, Robinhood experienced a series of outages on some of the biggest market days. Users were outraged when they were unable to cash in, leading to threats of class-action lawsuits and customers abandoning the platform.
It seems history is repeating itself, with the company once again experiencing issues, this time during a massive surge in the Dogecoin cryptocurrency. The issues caused some people to incorrectly think Robinhood was intentionally blocking Dogecoin trading, much like it did when users were driving Gamestop’s infamous rally.
The company says crypto trading has been fixed.
Update: Crypto trading is now fully restored. Like others, we were experiencing unprecedented demand for Robinhood Crypto services, which created issues with crypto trading. We’ve resolved the issue and apologize for the inconvenience.
“It should not be called a credit card for sure in part because it’s sort of the anti-credit card,” says Affirm co-founder and CEO Max Levchin. “I don’t need to be provocative but the idea of credit cards fundamentally is to get you to spend, get into debt, and stay in debt. Literally, every single one of these things is the exact opposite for Affirm’s card.”
Max Levchin, CEO of Affirm, describes the company’s debit card as the anti-credit card:
Affirm’s Debit Card Is The Anti-Credit Card
It should not be called a credit card for sure in part because it’s sort of the anti-credit card. I don’t need to be provocative but the idea of credit cards fundamentally is to get you to spend, get into debt, and stay in debt. You will not know when you’re done paying off any specific purchase. You’re not really sure exactly how much you’re gonna pay. You should actually expect late fees if you miss a payment.
Literally, every single one of these things is the exact opposite for Affirm’s card. You know exactly what you’re going to pay. You know exactly what the schedule of repayment is and there’ll be no late fees under any circumstances. It’s sort of the exact opposite in many ways. It does serve the same purpose. You get to pay for things right now or over time.
Card Form Factor Is Extraordinarily Elegant
I don’t really know how long the card as a form factor will be with us, but I do think it’s extraordinarily elegant. The majority of the offline world certainly in the US still transacts with plastic and chips these days so I think it’s important to meet the customer where they are. I do know that our user base is primarily millennials and Gen Z’s. They love their debit cards they love to transact with them offline.
The purpose of this product was to bring by functionality that they have really loved online and really offline as well with us but have never had in a card. Particularly, a card that is embedded inside their daily everyday spend tool. The debit card form factor is a metaphor for everyday spend and that’s what we’re trying to get to.
What I Care About Is The Return Of The Country
The primary signal that I care about is the return of the country. We’re all kind of holding our breath a little bit to see when vaccines are coming. There are a bunch of reopenings and, knock on wood, everything sort of starts to come back to a little bit more normal. There’s just an incredible amount of opportunity to grow with this product that we have. It’s seen so much adoption in areas like travel, which has been effectively zero growth for the last several quarters because of the pandemic.
There are lots of interesting new challenges as the country reopens. The dominant thread is that there is that reopening creates a lot more opportunity for this product. We have proven that this product is what our customer wants and needs. This debit card will absolutely meet them where they are as they hopefully come out of their houses and go into restaurants and coffee shops and start traveling and buy tickets.
Affirm’s Debit Card Is The Anti-Credit Card, Says CEO Max Levchin
“We are arming the rebels… the entrepreneurs, the small business owners, the independent brands, and the rebels are winning,” says Shopify President Harley Finkelstein. “It feels like the retail world that would have existed in 2030 was pulled back to 2020. We have seen this massive catalyst to an acceleration in digitalization in commerce and retail. We are writing the future of commerce and entrepreneurs are really the heroes of the Shopify story.”
Shopify President Harley Finkelstein says the rebels―the entrepreneurs and the small business owners―are the heroes of the Shopify story… and the rebels are winning:
We Are Arming The Rebels
There’s a lot to be optimistic about even in the second half of 2021. It feels like the retail world that would have existed in 2030 was pulled back to 2020. We certainly have seen this massive catalyst to an acceleration in digitalization in commerce and retail. But actually, we are writing the future of commerce and entrepreneurs are really the heroes of the Shopify story. We are arming the rebels… the entrepreneurs, the small business owners, the independent brands, and the rebels are winning.
Consumers have been voting with their wallets for the last ten months or so to buy from independent brands wherever possible. In 2020, 47 million consumers purchased from a Shopify merchant. That’s up 52 from 2019. Our merchant’s performance helped expand Shopify’s lead on an aggregated basis to be the second-largest e-commerce retailer in the U.S. Shopify is now about nine percent of all US ecom. If you think about it, Shopify is a proxy for independent retail and for direct-to-consumer retail.
Shop Pay Launches Accelerated Checkout
We only succeed when our merchants do. This has led to us having more than 1.7 million merchants on Shopify. This includes people from first-time entrepreneurs making their first sale every 28 seconds to the likes of O’Neill and Hallmark and Herman Miller and Purina. Diageo, who also just launched in Shopify and in Q4 alone revenue nearly doubled year over year to $978 million. There’s a lot to be optimistic about. Actually, the future of retail and commerce we think is going to look a lot more like these independent brands than these sort of department stores that existed in the past.
Shop Pay is our accelerated checkout. We just announced it last week. We know that it not only helps merchants get more sales, it helps buyers convert better and much faster. Now we think that providing it to the Instagram and Facebook platforms means that our merchants can not only access new customers on those platforms, and frankly anywhere where customers are, but now can transact in a more efficient way. Shopify is becoming far more than an e-commerce provider.
Future of Retail Is Wherever Consumers Are
We are trying to build the world’s first retail operating system, which makes it as easy as possible and where the cost of failure is as low as possible, so more people can participate in entrepreneurship. We think the future retail is not online or offline or anywhere, in particular, it’s wherever consumers are. That’s what we’re trying to build. Seeing Shop Pay move into Facebook and Instagram is a really great way to demonstrate where the future of retail is happening.
We are trying to get to a point where we completely democratize entrepreneurship. We use a 100-year perspective and we want to build a 100-year company. We’re about 15 years into our journey right now and we have 85 years left to go. In the long run, we’re happy where Shopify is but frankly, on the topic of more participation in the equity markets, we think that is also entrepreneurial and we think that’s also democratizing.
Congress, in a political payoff to unions, have again introduced legislation to effectively make gig economy jobs like Uber, Lyft, DoorDash, etc. illegal. The difference this time is that since they now control the House, Senate, and the Presidency it could very well pass. The legislation is modeled after the gig killing bill that was passed in California and that was later overturned via initiative by the people. Unfortunately, at the national level there is no initiative process to overturn Congress.
Despite the job-killing nature of the bill the Democrat’s press release sings its praises:
“Top Democrats Introduce Bill to Protect Workers’ Right to Organize and Make our Economy Work for Everyone. Legislation addresses growing income inequality by protecting workers’ right to join a union and negotiate for higher wages and better benefits.”
The House bill was introduced by House Committee on Education and Labor Chairman Robert C. “Bobby” Scott (VA-03), Congresswoman Frederica Wilson (FL-24), Congressman Andy Levin (MI-09), Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal (WA-07), and Congressman Brendan Boyle (PA-02).
The Senate bill was introduced by Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Chair Patty Murray (D-WA) and Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY).
The bill mimics the California bill which Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said would effectively end Uber as we know it in California. The company is already losing money and it would be impossible for it to pay a minimum wage of $15 an hour plus benefits to all of its 1 million drivers. It also begs the question, does the Democrat party not realize that the very people who love Uber and who are independent contractors for Uber probably are also majority Democrat voters? After all, the gig economy was popularized by liberal San Francisco based Uber itself.
Without an initiative process at the national level, the only way to keep the millions of gig jobs alive and to keep rideshare and food delivery readily available would be for their voters to vote the majority party out of office. There really is no middle ground here. In the meantime, if this bill passes Congress and is signed by Biden the gig economy will become illegal.
The Biden administration has unveiled an ambitious plan to provide broadband access to all Americans, including those currently underserved.
The United States has struggled for years with a “digital divide,” a huge disparity between the internet access available in urban vs rural areas. In fact, some 35% of Americans (over 30 million) don’t have access to “minimally acceptable speeds.”
The Biden administration wants to change that, with plans to invest $100 billion to help close that gap, and ensure all Americans have access to broadband. In a fact sheet detailing the plan, the administration emphasizes the need to “future proof” broadband options, especially in underserved communities. It also emphasizes the importance of community and government-run broadband options.
Build high-speed broadband infrastructure to reach 100 percent coverage. The President’s plan prioritizes building “future proof” broadband infrastructure in unserved and underserved areas so that we finally reach 100 percent high-speed broadband coverage. It also prioritizes support for broadband networks owned, operated by, or affiliated with local governments, non-profits, and co-operatives—providers with less pressure to turn profits and with a commitment to serving entire communities. Moreover, it ensures funds are set aside for infrastructure on tribal lands and that tribal nations are consulted in program administration. Along the way, it will create good-paying jobs with labor protections and the right to organize and bargain collectively.
Neither of these options are likely to be popular with many ISPs, although they have only their own business practices to blame. Companies have, for years, done the absolute minimum necessary to reap the maximize profits, rather than put their customers first. For example, AT&T announced late last year it would shutter its DSL service, even though it had halted further rollout of its fiber, leaving millions of customers without any good options.
Should the administration’s plans come to fruition, it may finally close the digital divide and bring all Americans into the 21st century.
PayPal has taken the next step in its embrace of cryptocurrency, launching “Checkout with Crypto” to US customers.
The company recently began allowing customers to own, trade and hold cryptocurrency, but now customers can use their currency to make purchases in the US. At the time of purchase, PayPal will convert the cryptocurrency to a fiat currency, with no additional transaction fees.
“As the use of digital payments and digital currencies accelerates, the introduction of Checkout with Crypto continues our focus on driving mainstream adoption of cryptocurrencies, while continuing to offer PayPal customers choice and flexibility in the ways they can pay using the PayPal wallet,” said Dan Schulman, president and CEO, PayPal. “Enabling cryptocurrencies to make purchases at businesses around the world is the next chapter in driving the ubiquity and mass acceptance of digital currencies.”
PayPal’s move comes just a day after Visa announced it was accepting USD Coin for settlement transactions.
GroupM has revised its outlook on the US ad industry, expecting it to grow 15% in 2021, thanks in large part to stimulus spending.
2020 was a difficult year for advertisers, as the global pandemic impacted all sectors of the economy. GroupM had previously predicted a 12% growth in the industry in 2021.
The company is now predicting a 15% increase, thanks to increased spending as a result of the latest stimulus package. Even more significantly, this represents a 6% increase over 2019 levels, indicating the industry will fully rebound from the pandemic in 2021.
Our upgrade of expectations is primarily a reflection of the healthier-than-expected recovery of the economy from the depths of the pandemic paired with the significant impact of fiscal stimulus the federal government is providing to consumers. Digital advertising is the primary beneficiary of trends impacting the economy, both because new small businesses are forming at a record pace (even if collectively they may be losing share of activity within the economy) and because large businesses are increasingly focused on e-commerce, with spending shifts to digital media generally aligning with this trend.
GroupM originally factored the vaccine rollout into its projections, but the Georgia Senate races made the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 a reality, adding to the recovery.
GroupM’s report is welcome news for the advertising industry, and the economy at large.
As restrictions ease around the country, a new reports shows that 57% of all small businesses are fully open.
Small businesses were among the hardest hit as a result of the pandemic, with many lacking the infrastructure to move online or the resources to wait out long lockdowns. As restrictions ease, however, a slight majority have resumed full operations.
In its Small Business Recovery Report, Kabbage polled more than 550 small businesses. Of those polled 57% are now fully open.
Interestingly, one-third of the businesses said they were now either selling exclusively online or had significantly expanded their online sales. Online sales accounted for 57% of their total revenue, up from 37% before the pandemic.
The mass shift to sell online has changed the mindset of small businesses about adopting new technologies. Overall, 77 percent of small businesses agreed they’re more open than ever before to replace old systems and adopt new technologies to run their company more efficiently.
Understanding the status of small businesses and their future is an important step in understanding how to move forward.
“We knew the path to recovery would look different across businesses, but it’s clear there’s a stark difference between the largest and smallest of small businesses—which represent more than 80 percent of all companies in the U.S.,” said Rob Frohwein, Co-founder of Kabbage, an American Express Company. “As our economy recovers it’s imperative all small businesses, especially those most marginalized and vulnerable, have equitable access to financial tools, systems and stimulus programs to ensure we all rebound from this crisis together.”
Microsoft Advertising has released its 2020 year-in-review report, giving a glimpse of the state of online advertising.
The company blocked some 300,000 accounts from its advertising platform, a 30% increase from 2019. Microsoft also removed 1.6 billion bad ads, as well as 270,000 sites from its system.
Given the year that was 2020, it’s not surprising what Microsoft’s five key areas of focus were: the pandemic, political advertising, third-party government services, tech support scams and advertiser safety.
Microsoft emphasized its approach to advertising, one that uses a combination of artificial intelligence and manual reviewers.
Advertising fraud is fast-moving, and we continue to see new patterns surface globally. We take an all-hands-on-deck approach to ensure we continue to deliver the highest quality content possible. We constantly update and refine our policies to ensure we meet evolving needs. Our fraud detection technology makes use of a wide variety of signals and uses the latest machine-learning algorithms to find fraud patterns which can otherwise be difficult to detect. We also have a geographically distributed team of experts working round the clock to help us conduct detailed investigations on any new patterns we’re seeing, by making use of smart and scalable tools. Detecting fraud before it has a chance to reach customers is one piece of our approach.
We also address escalations and complaints from customers to quickly remove low-quality ads. In 2020, we received a total of ~50,000 complaints related to ads not being compliant per our advertising policies. We investigated each complaint and found ~ 65% of the reported ads to be in violation of Microsoft Advertising policies. Most of the complaints were related to trademark infringements. As we continue to roll out new products and make it easier for brands to engage with audiences, we made additional investments to protect and respond to advertisers’ concerns around trademark use and were able to reduce the trademark related complaints by ~ 25% year over year. We also received a few complaints related to unlicensed gambling sites, phishing, unauthorized government service provider websites, and other user safety concerns. We have a highly responsive operations team working 24/7 to promptly address concerns relating to our ads. In response to complaints, our operations team took down nearly 400,000 violating ads from our network.
Microsoft’s 2020 report shows the challenges the advertising industry faces, as well as provides insights into how to manage those challenges.
Facebook has announced a platform to help writers and journalists monetize their content at a time when news and media are under siege.
This last pandemic-filled year has been particularly difficult for news publishers and the media industry in general. In the midst of those challenges, Big Tech has been under increased scrutiny for how it uses and profits from news and media. Australia passed legislation to force Big Tech companies to pay for the news they use and the US is considering a similar bill.
Facebook has now taken the step of developing a platform designed to make it easier for writers and journalists to self-publish content and monetize it.
As writers, experts and journalists publish more of their work independently, we’re working to better support those efforts and make it easier for those content creators to build businesses online.
In the coming months in the U.S., we’ll introduce a new platform to empower independent writers, helping them reach new audiences and grow their businesses. We will start by partnering with a small subset of independent writers. The platform will include a variety of support focused on content creation and audience growth.
The social media giant hopes its new platform will be especially beneficial to independent journalists.
A large part of this initiative is aimed at supporting independent local journalists who are often the lone voice covering a given community. We’ll work to include them at launch, and build tools and services specific to their needs. Since 2018, we’ve invested $600 million to support journalism and we’re investing $1 billion in news over the next three years. We will continue to support publishers through the Facebook Journalism Project, our existing products and initiatives such as Facebook News, Accelerators, grants, subscriptions tools, Instant Articles and more.
Facebook’s new platform could be a critical game-changer for independent writers, journalists and experts, and may help the company answer its critics.
Twitter is testing a new feature that will let users watch YouTube videos in-line, without leaving the Twitter conversation.
Traditionally, clicking on a YouTube link in Twitter took a user to the YouTube video, leaving the Twitter thread behind. With Twitter’s new feature, users will be able to watch the video without leaving the thread.
Starting today on iOS, we’re testing a way to watch YouTube videos directly in your Home timeline, without leaving the conversation on Twitter. pic.twitter.com/V4qzMJMEBs
Mozilla, along with a coalition of companies, has sent a letter to the FCC asking for the reinstatement of net neutrality.
Net neutrality rules were passed during the Obama administration and repealed during the Trump administration. Net neutrality prohibits companies from treating different services or types of internet traffic by different standards, or setting up internet “fast lanes” for companies that pay more.
For example, AT&T customers were able to watch HBO Max — which AT&T owns — on their mobile devices without the streaming counting against their data plans. In contrast, competing streaming services did count. If this type of practice became widespread, it could cause users to gravitate toward or away from certain services, based solely on the whims of the carriers and internet providers with a financial motivation to push or punish a particular service.
In the case of AT&T, they announced they are dropping their preferential treatment of HBO Max as a result of California’s net neutrality legislation. While net neutrality was killed on a national level, individual states are free to impose their own rules, setting up a potential legislative quagmire.
Mozilla, ADT, Dropbox, Eventbrite, Reddit, Vimeo and Wikimedia have now sent a letter to the FCC asking the agency to reinstate federal-level net neutrality.
We are writing to express our support for the reinstatement of net neutrality protections through Federal Communications Commission (FCC) action. As leading internet-based businesses and organizations, we believe that these fundamental safeguards are critical for preserving the internet as a free and open medium that promotes innovation and spurs economic growth. Net neutrality enjoys bipartisan support among the American public, and many may need to rely on protections enforced by the FCC as more offices and classrooms continue to shift to online settings during the pandemic. By using its authority to restore net neutrality at the federal level, the FCC can help protect families and businesses across the country that rely on high-speed broadband access and help spark our recovery.
Net neutrality simply preserves the environment that has allowed the internet to become an engine for economic growth. The rules serve as protections that users have in their relationship with internet service providers, preventing ISPs from blocking, throttling, or prioritizing traffic for payment. And in an environment where users frequently lack meaningful choices between ISPs, net neutrality can ultimately encourage greater long-term investment across the network stack by promoting broadband buildout, faster service, and new applications.
While the current administration has not commented on its intentions, some experts believe it is only a matter of time before net neutrality is reinstated. Given the digital transformation underway, such legislation would go a long way toward protecting all users and companies.
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is extending the tax deadline by a month, until May 17, to help ease the burden on taxpayers.
The last year has been one of the hardest on taxpayers, thanks to the pandemic. Many taxpayers have lost jobs, or at least partial income. Many others have had to take on additional jobs or freelance gigs, further complicating their taxes. In addition, the IRS is already running behind in its efforts to process returns.
A press release issued by the Ways & Means Committee makes clear these various factors led to what is sure to be a welcome reprieve for taxpayers.
“This extension is absolutely necessary to give Americans some needed flexibility in a time of unprecedented crisis,” said Chairman Neal and Chairman Pascrell. “Under titanic stress and strain, American taxpayers and tax preparers must have more time to file tax returns. And the IRS itself started the filing season late, continues to be behind schedule, and now must implement changes from the American Rescue Plan. We are gratified that the IRS has recognized the need and heeded our calls for additional time, and while we are pleased with this 30-day extension, we will continue to monitor developments during this hectic filing season. We look forward to hearing directly from the Commissioner tomorrow afternoon to discuss how the IRS is managing this filing season and the justification for the duration of this extension.”
YouTube is rolling out a major new feature designed to protect content creators, warning them of potential copyright issues during upload.
Called “Checks,” the new tools is designed to save creators some headache and potential lost revenue by warning them of copyright issues before they go live with content. Many creators had previously resorted to uploading their videos as unlisted or private to check for copyright or monetization issues before going public.
Hey Creators! Today we’re rolling out a new step in the upload process on Studio desktop called “Checks” – which will automatically screen your uploads for potential copyright claims and ad suitability restrictions. This new step will help you minimize the number of videos uploaded with copyright claims and/or yellow icons and avoid surprises or worries.
More information can be found in the Help Center. In the meantime, the new Studio tool should be a big help to content creators.
In a world first, Uber will treat its UK drivers as “workers” after losing its case before the UK Supreme Court.
In February, the UK Supreme Court ruled that Uber drivers were entitled to more protections than they enjoyed as contractors. “Worker” is a classification unique to the UK, providing more protections than a contractor, but not reaching the status of an employee. Uber has been fighting similar battles in multiple jurisdictions, but the UK case was the company’s first major loss.
As a result, Uber has agreed to pay some 70,000 UK drivers minimum wage, as well as provide vacation pay and access to a pension plan.
Writing an op-ed piece for The Evening Standard, CEO Dara Khosrowshahi outlined the company’s policy evolution:
Our thinking on this issue has evolved over time, and I will be the first to admit that we’ve struggled to identify solutions that work for Uber and for those who earn on our platform.
Following last month’s UK Supreme Court ruling, we could have continued to dispute drivers’ rights to any of these protections in court. Instead, we have decided to turn the page. Beginning today, Uber drivers in the UK will be treated as workers.
It remains to be seen if the UK case will serve as a template for other countries and jurisdictions, but Uber’s willingness to make changes certainly will undermine its arguments in future cases.
Google is following Apple’s lead, cutting its Play Store fees in half for developers that earn less than $1 million per year.
Google and Apple have been under fire for their app store policies. What was once hailed as a gamer-changer, and praised for simplifying the business aspect of development, is increasingly viewed with suspicion and resentment.
Last year, Apple took the first step toward easing the fees developers were charged, cutting its commission from 30% to 15% for developers earning less than $1 million a year. With Apple’s small business program, however, once a developer crosses that threshold, they are removed from the program and charged the full commission.
Google has now announced its own initiative, also cutting its commission from 30% to 15% for developers earning less than $1 million annually. Google’s program has one major advantage over Apple’s, however. Rather than kicking a developer out of the program once they cross that threshold, Google continues to only charge 15% on the first million, while charging 30% on everything beyond the first million.
Sameer Samat, VP, Product Management, explained the company’s logic:
While these investments are most critical when developers are in the earlier stages of growth, scaling an app doesn’t stop once a partner has reached $1M in revenue — we’ve heard from our partners making $2M, $5M and even $10M a year that their services are still on a path to self-sustaining orbit. This is why we are making this reduced fee on the first $1M of total revenue earned each year available to every Play developer, regardless of size. We believe this is a fair approach that aligns with Google’s broader mission to help all developers succeed. We look forward to sharing full details in the coming months.
Google is to be commended for taking the approach it is. Hopefully Apple will follow suit.
Google and Microsoft are duking it out over the future of the news industry, at a time when both companies are under scrutiny.
Google and Facebook are vehemently opposed to a new bill that would level the playing field between news publishers and the search engines and social media platforms they rely on. Both companies initially opposed similar legislation in Australia, before finally acquiescing.
Unlike Google and Facebook, Microsoft has supported Australia’s regulators, and thrown its weight behind the efforts in the US. In written testimony for the congressional hearing, Microsoft President Brad Smith laid out the company’s stand:
Third, we need the government to act. This in part is because of the indispensable role the free press plays in our democracy and because progress in resuscitating news and journalism back to health is, at best, spotty. It is also because the problems that beset journalism today are caused in part by a fundamental lack of competition in the search and ad tech markets that are controlled by Google. As a result, there is a persistent and structural imbalance between a technology gatekeeper and the free press, particularly small and independent news organizations. This makes it very unlikely that the economic transformation needed to restore journalism to health can succeed at scale without new legislation and government support.
As noted above, this is not to make a statement about whether Google has acted unlawfully. We respect the company’s sustained creativity, investments, and determination. But as we learned first-hand from Microsoft’s own experience two decades ago, when a company’s success creates side effects that adversely impact a market and our society, the problem should not be ignored. And this typically requires government action.
Google didn’t take the criticism lying down, issuing its own statement that took a shot at Microsoft:
We also believe that this important debate should be about the substance of the issue, and not derailed by naked corporate opportunism … which brings us to Microsoft’s sudden interest in this discussion. We respect Microsoft’s success and we compete hard with them in cloud computing, search, productivity apps, video conferencing, email and many other areas. Unfortunately, as competition in these areas intensifies, they are reverting to their familiar playbook of attacking rivals and lobbying for regulations that benefit their own interests. They are now making self-serving claims and are even willing to break the way the open web works in an effort to undercut a rival. And their claims about our business and how we work with news publishers are just plain wrong.
This latest attack marks a return to Microsoft’s longtime practices. And it’s no coincidence that Microsoft’s newfound interest in attacking us comes on the heels of the SolarWinds attack and at a moment when they’ve allowed tens of thousands of their customers — including government agencies in the U.S., NATO allies, banks, nonprofits, telecommunications providers, public utilities, police, fire and rescue units, hospitals and, presumably, news organizations — to be actively hacked via major Microsoft vulnerabilities. Microsoft was warned about the vulnerabilities in their system, knew they were being exploited, and are now doing damage control while their customers scramble to pick up the pieces from what has been dubbed the Great Email Robbery. So maybe it’s not surprising to see them dusting off the old diversionary Scroogled playbook.
Needless to say, the two companies aren’t mincing any words, although Google’s words were far more pointed, accusing Microsoft of a self-serving attempt to take scrutiny off of its recent security issues.
The coming weeks are sure to be interesting as the two companies continue to square off.
Upwork has released its Economist Report: One Year Remote, finding many companies will continue with remote work thanks to its benefits.
The pandemic is attributed with forcing a decade of digital transformation in a year’s time. Companies large and small had to adapt quickly, and help employees work remotely. Many companies have embraced the change, committing to a remote or hybrid workforce moving forward.
According to Upwork’s Dr. Adam Ozimek, the transition to remote work may be more successful than many companies and executives realize. One of the biggest benefits has been an increase in productivity.
When workers are asked if productivity has gone up from working remotely, 61% say yes, and only 12.7% say no. While workers may be viewing their productivity in a self-serving light, Upwork’s survey of 1,000 hiring managers showed a positive view as well: 32.2% of hiring managers felt that overall productivity had gone up as of late April compared to the 22.5% that felt it had decreased.
Another benefit has been the ability to relocate to less expensive areas. Upwork estimates some 23 million people planned to relocate, thanks to the freedom remote work offers.
More companies are also open to the possibility of hybrid teams, made up of a combination of full-time and independent workers. The pandemic has helped many hiring managers become more comfortable with hiring independent freelancers, breaking down previous misconceptions and opening the door to a wider talent pool.
Not surprisingly, reduced cost was another big factor. Upwork estimates that employees who commuted to work by car saved roughly $4,350 this past year. On average employees have been saved approximately nine days of commuting in just a year’s time.
One of the most interesting findings of Upwork’s report is a greater understanding of perceived pain points and their true cause. In other words, some of the issues blamed on remote work are really a result of the pandemic, not remote work.
Parents, for example, have likely had to balance work with interruptions from children. This is not a product of remote work, but rather a result of many schools having been closed due to COVID. In a post-pandemic situation, kids will be at school, and remote work will mean fewer interruptions.
Upwork’s full report is well-worth a read and demonstrates the permanent effect this past year has had in transforming the workplace.
Gartner predicts that artificial intelligence (AI) will replace “gut feel” in influencing investment decisions by venture capitalists and early-stage investors.
Venture capitalists have long relied on a mysterious combination of data, KPIs and gut feeling to select which companies to invest in. According to Gartner, however, AI is poised to replace the ever-elusive gut feeling some 75% of investors.
“Successful investors are purported to have a good ‘gut feel’ — the ability to make sound financial decisions from mostly qualitative information alongside the quantitative data provided by the technology company,” said Patrick Stakenas, senior research director at Gartner. “However, this ‘impossible to quantify inner voice’ grown from personal experience is decreasingly playing a role in investment decision making. The traditional pitch experience will significantly shift by 2025 and tech CEOs will need to face investors with AI-enabled models and simulations as traditional pitch decks and financials will be insufficient.”
By 2025, AI will help investors transition to a quantitative process based on advanced analytics. Information will be gathered from a variety of sources, including Crunchbase, LinkedIn, Owler, PitchBook and others. This data can then be used by AI to assess a company’s viability.
“This data is increasingly being used to build sophisticated models that can better determine the viability, strategy and potential outcome of an investment in a short amount of time. Questions such as when to invest, where to invest and how much to invest are becoming almost automated,” said Mr. Stakenas.
Jamf’s latest quarterly results are good news for the company and for Apple, indicating increased demand for Apple products in the enterprise.
Jamf is a device management firm that specializes in supporting Apple customers. The company was founded in 2002, with the goal to “help organizations succeed with Apple.”
In its latest Q4 results, the company’s revenue hit $76.4 million, growing 34% year-over-year. Yearly revenue was $269.5 million, up 32%.
“We finished 2020 with high growth across every product, geography, and the top 10 industries we serve, demonstrating the strength and diversity of our platform,” said Dean Hager, CEO of Jamf. “As we look to 2021, we’ll continue to expand the breadth and depth of our Apple Enterprise Management platform to enhance our value to customers and accelerate further penetration of Apple in the enterprise.”
Jamf’s results are the latest indication of the inroads Apple is making. Years ago, Apple was known as the computer of choice for creatives, while Windows had a firm stranglehold on the enterprise market. With the iPhone, iPad and modern Macs, Apple has increasingly been prying its way into the market.
Tim Wu is joining the Biden administration, likely signaling increased scrutiny for Big Tech.
Tim Wu, a Columbia law professor, famously coined the phrase “net neutrality” and has been a vocal critic of the tech industry. Wu has also been a proponent of more aggressive antitrust action against Amazon, Facebook and Google.
He has been hired by the Biden administration specifically to work on Technology and Competition Policy.
Big Tech has been in the spotlight more and more over antitrust concerns. While ominous, Wu’s appointment isn’t necessarily a bad thing for tech companies. Steve Ballmer, former Microsoft CEO, said Big Tech should take a more proactive approach, embrace additional regulation and move forward with clear guidelines it can operate within.
“If I’m in these guys’ shoes, I say, come on, let’s get down there and let’s regulate me and let’s get it over with so I know what I can do,” Ballmer said in a “Squawk Box” interview.
“I’ll bet money that they will not be broken up,” Ballmer continued in his comments to CNBC.
“I also don’t think the case of Apple is the same as Google is the same as Amazon,” Ballmer added. “In a sense putting them all together makes good theater but it doesn’t necessarily mean good policy.”
