11.9.2015
Good to Know: Online retailers are bringing their items to you in the real world just in time for the holidays.
THE SKINNY
Coming Up Short…
Late last week, mobile payments company Square announced its IPO price, which had people doing head tilts.
Why?
Well, Square says its price will be between $11 and $13 per share, which values the company at $4.2 billion. That’s obviously a ton of money, but people were originally expecting a $6 billion valuation.
What Does This Mean?
Two things. First, the company agreed that it would have to fork over additional shares to investors if its price came in below $18.55/share so that’ll probably happen. If Square’s shares go for about $12, it’ll be on the hook for about 5.3 million shares to investors. And for other “unicorns” aka companies valued at $1 billion or more, it’s not looking great for them. This could mean that if other private companies in the $1 billion club decide to go public, their valuation probably won’t be high either.
WHAT ELSE IS GOING ON?
When You Hate To Burst Someone’s Bubble…
Square’s latest IPO news had people saying that there’s a tech bubble, and that “ish” is about to blow. Venture capitalist Marc Andreessen sees things differently. Andreessen took to Twitter to sound off on what the Square news means to him. Put simply, he says that a tech bubble isn’t a thing at the moment. Basically, for a tech bubble to exist, there’d have to be a ton of excitement and things happening with no real rationale or justification in equity markets. Square’s “modest pricing” doesn’t quite live up to that type of hype. Don’t believe him? Andreessen dares you to compare and contrast what’s going on today with what happened in ’99.
When You Reinvent Yourself, Madonna-Style …
In the world of online streaming and digital music, some small, non-profit music stations aren’t going out like that. Rather than fighting the Internet and streaming services like Pandora, Spotify, Apple Music, etc., they’re taking a different approach. KXEP, a Seattle, Washington-based radio station that’s put acts like the Lumineers, Mackelmore and Ryan Lewis on the map, says it’s no longer just a radio station but is using the Inter-webs to transition into a community organization. These stations are taking a cue from online services and are building communities that turn to them for curated playlists by trusted sources that often help with the discovery of new artists. Nonprofit stations like KXEP are also turning to Internet platforms such as YouTube to expand their reach. If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em …
When You Can’t Control Them …
The U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is not getting into the online tracking business. The agency said that it won’t do anything to make it hard for the likes of Google, Facebook, and other internet companies to track what you do online. Naturally, Internet companies are happy about this since they rely on your information to make money. Privacy advocates, on the other hand, are understandably salty about the decision because they hoped the FCC would make it standard for online companies to recognize a “do not track” button while users are on their sites. But alas, the FCC said no and hopes that’s the end of that debate … at least as far as the FCC is concerned.
THE STREETS ARE TALKIN’
Verizon will soon start selling the Blackberry Priv, the first phone using Android mobile operating system that has a physical keyboard. Speaking of … reviews are in and let’s just say it’s a mixed bag.
Online search via text is played out like an 8-track. “Discovery engines” is where it’s at, according to Pinterest. Starting today, you can search Pinterest with images only. This new tool could mean more ad sales for the company.
When your love only grows … for Snapchat. The company says its daily video views are up to 6 billion. It’s catching up to Facebook, which says its video views are up to 8 billion on a daily basis.
Facebook’s trying things out with its new digital assistant, M. FB wants to use a single interface to replace all those web searches you tend to do. The company sees M as a one-stop shop so to speak. If things work out, all we’ve gotta say is … watch your back, Google.
Yahoo is enlisting management consulting firm McKinsey & Co. to clean things up. The Internet company wants McKinsey to tell it what parts of its biz to keep and which to chuck.
U.S. university MIT picked Hong Kong as the location for its new innovation center.