H.E.R.O.’s Journey in Tech (10 August 2018) – When the disruptor becomes the disrupted: Seek co-founder Andrew Bassat on what happens when you get complacent + Warren Buffett’s Biggest Wins & Fails

H.E.R.O.’s Journey in Tech (10 August 2018) – When the disruptor becomes the disrupted: Seek co-founder Andrew Bassat on what happens when you get complacent + Warren Buffett’s Biggest Wins & Fails

Companies

• Flea market operator Mercari in search of new hit services; Former Japanese unicorn sinks deeper into the red on heavy US spending (Nikkei); After Mercari: Japanese asset managers see new era in venture capital investing (Reuters)
• Chatty multilingual robot assists guests at hotels in Japan; AI-infused ‘Unibo’ set to guide foreign tourists as 2020 Tokyo Olympics nears; The robot has found a home at tour operator I.S’s Henn-na Hotels, where it has been a hit since being introduced in April (Nikkei)
• Japan Triathlon Union is working with Weathernews ‘s Sports Weather Team to use meteorological data for sporting events, (Mainichi)
• Apple supplier Pegatron mulls India facility amid trade tensions; Taiwan company considers expansion outside China, warns of market uncertainty (Nikkei)
• When the disruptor becomes the disrupted: Seek co-founder Andrew Bassat on what happens when you get complacent (SmartCo)
• LiveTiles signs Microsoft AI partnership as its growth rate soars (AFR)

BATTSS – Baidu, Alibaba, Tencent, TSMC, Softbank, Samsung

• Alibaba scouting firms to feed apps; Thailand seen as strategic for supply (BP)
• Tencent to merge Doctorwork with Trusted Doctors to build its online and offline medical network in China; Tencent Doctorwork has been developing its AI and big data capabilities in partnership with hospitals and clinics across the country (SCMP)
• Tencent merges medtech investees to build an online-to-offline medical network (KRA)
• Spotify shares turn up on Samsung partnership (FT)
• WeWork gets another US$1 billion from SoftBank – this time in the form of convertible notes (SCMP)
• Cyberattack on iPhone chipmaker exposes big tech’s vulnerability; TSMC and industry peers race to overhaul security to fend off WannaCry virus (Nikkei)

FAANNMG – Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Nvidia, Netflix, Microsoft, Google

• Facebook adds quirky Messenger games to video chats (CNN)
• The next stop on Amazon’s journey toward world domination is your car (qz)
• Google’s New Facial Recognition Patent Wants To Stalk Your Social Media (CBI)

Asia Tech & Innovation Trends

• Chinese mobile game-makers made more than $600 million in the US market in the first half of 2018 (Technode)
• What China’s history of overseas tech IPOs says about the current wave; The number of Chinese tech IPOs is expected to rise in the near future in Hong Kong and the US (e27)
• Japan’s ‘mad scientists’ pursue a cyborg-friendly future: An emerging scientific field seeks to combine living tissue with metals and plastics (FT)
• Why Osaka Is Becoming The Hottest Spot For Startups In Asia (Forbes)
• Musical.ly investor bets on internet radio with $17M deal for Korea’s Spoon Radio (Techcrunch)

Global Tech & Innovation Trends

• Yelp Sees Boost in New Accounts, but Revenue Growth Is Uncertain (Barron’s)
• Megamergers are not a silver bullet for success; The answer for incumbents in any industry is to embrace the model of the disrupter (FT)
• Bots vs. Trolls: How AI Could Clean Up Social Media; Many tools exist that could help identify bad actors on social media. There’s just no consensus on how to use them. (WSJ)
• The Battery Pioneer Who, at Age 96, Keeps Going and Going; John Goodenough strives to ‘transform the battery world’ with a second breakthrough in speed and capacity (WSJ)
• Fraudsters using Shopify to scam people, and critics say the company isn’t doing enough to stop them; It’s dead simple for a criminal to set up a fake storefront using Shopify’s software; getting one up and running takes minutes (FP)
• Naspers creates new video on demand unit as Netflix rivalry heats up (Reuters)

Life

• Warren Buffett’s Biggest Wins & Fails (Visual)

• The 5M’s: How Emergence Evaluates Series A Pitches: Learn why Management, Market, Metrics, Moat and the M-Factor are all that matters. (Emcap)
• Natural Maniacs. There is a thin line between bold and reckless, and you only know which is which with hindsight. (Morgan Housel); Why Great Success Can Bring Out the Worst Parts of Our Personalities (HBR)