H.E.R.O.’s Journey in Tech (30 April 2019) – Meet Matt Calkins: Billionaire, Board Game God And Tech’s Hidden Disruptor; he runs Appian which sells software to help businesses build apps more quickly; What Buddhism Taught Me About Product Management

H.E.R.O.’s Journey in Tech (30 April 2019) – Meet Matt Calkins: Billionaire, Board Game God And Tech’s Hidden Disruptor; he runs Appian which sells software to help businesses build apps more quickly; What Buddhism Taught Me About Product Management

Companies

• Tantan, owned by Beijing-based Momo, was suspended from multiple app stores in the country (SCMP, Technode)
• Most Loved China Drug Stock Sells Hormones to Make Kids Taller; Changchun Technology will not be affected by the Chinese government’s ongoing move to drive down generic drug prices through a centralized bulk procurement program as its products are not on the list of the national medical insurance reimbursement list (Bloomberg)
• Xiaomi’s Lei Jun gives Lakala founder a 1kg gold bar to celebrate successful IPO; Lakala, a Beijing-based company that offers online and offline payment channels, remittances, and credit rating services, went public at the Shenzhen Stock Exchange after a failed previous attempt in 2017 (KRA)
• China’s Sohu Stock Sees a Win as Its Game Subsidiary Returned a Fat Dividend (Barron’s)
• China’s latest tech export: an Arabic-speaking, AI-powered news anchor from Sogou; Deal marks first time Sogou’s AI news anchor technology is being adopted by an international media organisation (SCMP)
• China’s electric car boom doubles BYD’s quarterly sales; Automaker faces profit squeeze with Beijing slashing green-vehicle subsidies (Nikkei)
• Trend Micro boosts channel partners’ business through its new channel program in India (CRN)
• Meet Senzar: The Moto Blind Spot Detection System that comes from Cub ElecParts which has branched out into aftermarket blind spot detection for RVs, trailers, and motorcycles (RA)
• China’s Trade War Is Taiwan’s Opportunity to Bring Cash Home; Delta Electronics has applied to invest $1.8 billion in production, research and design in Taiwan (Bloomberg)
• Webcash: Bookkeeping leaps into the 21st century; Entrepreneur connects accounts with banks for small companies (JA)
• WiseTech Global wants its acquisitions to be leaner (AFR)
• Pentamaster could benefit from rising Vertical Cavity Surface Emitting Laser (VCSEL) adoption in smartphones, which is projected to drive global VCSEL sales volume by 5x over 2017-23F (Edge)
• Shopee Indonesia adds flight ticket feature in partnership with Traveloka (KRA)

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

• Google purges Baidu-affiliated app developer from Play Store after ad fraud accusations (KRA)
• Taobao testing social e-commerce platform Taoxiaopu (Technode)
• Alibaba to pay $250 million to settle lawsuit over concealing pre-IPO warning on counterfeiting (Reuters)
• Alipay app ends menu translation mystery for Chinese (Age)
• Samsung profit tumbles 57% amid Galaxy Fold woes (MW)
• SoftBank’s cash has poured out — it’s starting to come back; Shares up 41% since December as ‘conglomerate discount’ finally begins to narrow (FT); SoftBank-backed WeWork to go public; Money-losing shared-office provider joins pool of tech startups preparing IPO (Nikkei, Bloomberg)

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

• Google Reminds Investors Rapid Growth Isn’t Guaranteed (Bloomberg); Alphabet’s Other Bets shows the cost of starting three businesses (qz); Google parent’s shares dive as YouTube changes, competition hurt revenue (Reuters); Alphabet revenue dented by cooling Google ad business (FT)
• Why the Apple card is the gleaming future of money (Wired)
• Amazon’s One-Day Shipping Is Hitting Trucking Stocks. It Shouldn’t. (Barron’s)
• Microsoft Forms Pact With VMware to Keep Up With Amazon (Bloomberg)
• How Microsoft learned from the past to redesign its future (Verge)

Asia Tech & Innovation Trends

• Startup set to launch China’s first commercial autonomous taxi; Beijing backing means vehicles can build safety record on open roads (Nikkei)
• China’s rocket start-ups go small in age of ‘shoebox’ satellites (Reuters)
• Swingvy looks to automate manual and cumbersome HR practices for small and mid-sized businesses by connecting HR, payroll, and employee benefits on a mobile-first online platform (KRA)
• Grocery delivery startup Honestbee hits cash crunch, eyes sale (TIA)
• Tiger Global has invested in NinjaCart, as well as Facilio, Fyle and CleverTap, all of which are B2B startups (LM)

Global Tech & Innovation Trends

• ‘Avengers: Endgame’ Makes Disney Invincible in 2019. Then What? The blockbuster film and other highly anticipated releases will make this year difficult to repeat, especially in the age of streaming. (Bloomberg); Disney’s stock rockets toward best month in 30 years as ‘Avengers’ adds to buying frenzy (MW); ‘Avengers’ Can’t Power Movie Theater Stocks Because We’re Living in a Streaming World (Barron’s); The ‘Endgame’ for Disney Stock Is a Netflix-Like Valuation (Barron’s)
• Uber Pitches Expansions While Investors Question Losses (Bloomberg)
• Autonomous vehicles make congestion pricing even more critical (TC)
• Here’s what investors need to know about how unicorn IPOs are really priced (MW)
• Toy-robot startup Anki, maker of Cozmo, shutting down (MW)
• PayPal and 3 Other Stocks to Play the Growing Mobile Commerce Trend (Barron’s)
• Adobe Stock Will Soar as Earnings Grow, Morgan Stanley Says (Barron’s)
• Roku Stock Slips and Recovers Ahead of a ‘Mixed Bag’ of Competitive Launches (Barron’s)
• Big Tech’s health fixation spreads into private areas; Recent years have seen problematic revelations about usage of data; Surveillance of healthcare data is big business (FT)
• Spotify has reached 100m paying subscribers faster than Wall Street expected, while diversifying from music into podcasts as it searches for a path to long-term profitability (FT, Reuters)
• Marriott to expand further into luxury home-sharing, hoping to vie with Airbnb (JT)
• Walmart’s AI-powered store of the future is nothing like Amazon Go; There are cameras. There is AI. And the similarities end there. (FastCo)
• EDA Finds a Common Framework for AI (EET)
• Bosch signs pact with Sweden’s Powercell to mass produce fuel cells (Reuters)
• Which Tech Company Is Uber Most Like? Its Answer May Surprise You (NYT)

Life

• Meet Matt Calkins: Billionaire, Board Game God And Tech’s Hidden Disruptor; he runs Appian which sells software to help businesses build apps more quickly (Forbes)
• What Buddhism Taught Me About Product Management (Medium)
• Marcus Aurelius: 3 Rules For Life (DF)
• The $13 Billion Lesson from Salesforce That Any Business Can Apply (Medium)
• Why We Believe in Magic (BC)
• Everyone’s Worried About a Bear Market. Here’s How to Spot One. (Barron’s)
• Emotional Fitness: 3 Essential Habits for Better Mental Health (NW)
• The Lies We Tell: We make up stories in our minds and then against all evidence, defend them tooth and nail. Understanding why we do this is the key to discovering truth and making wiser decisions. (FS)
• Decoding Difficult Conversations: My Interview with Negotiation Expert, Sheila Heen [The Knowledge Project Ep. #57] (FS)
• Has Warren Buffett got too big? For 30 years the billionaire investor outpaced the market but that all changed in the past decade. (AFR)
• Interview: The Qualitative Genius of Sean Stannard-Stockton (MF)
• Deloitte seen facing ban over IL&FS accounting fraud (DB)

H.E.R.O.’s Journey in Tech (29 April 2019) – On the need for hardship and the longing to grow; How to reduce digital distractions: advice from medieval monks

H.E.R.O.’s Journey in Tech (29 April 2019) – On the need for hardship and the longing to grow; How to reduce digital distractions: advice from medieval monks

Companies

• Xiaomi chief’s fund hunts for next big Indian-language app; With $1.2bn, venture investor eyes country’s unconnected rural population (Nikkei)
• Bandai Namco brings interactive gaming event as it taps Chinese market (Shine)
• Technopro Holdings sees revenue and profits surge (SI)
• Docomo profit warning marks end of an era for Japan telecoms (Nikkei)
• Seek takes equity stakes in FutureLearn and Coursera (AFR)

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

• Why Wechat mini-programs are the cutting edge of e-commerce (Technode)

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

• The rise and fall of Facebook’s memory economy (Wired)
• About 14.5% of Netflix subscribers say they are considering dropping the service in favor of Disney’s $6.99-a-month offering (MW)

Asia Tech & Innovation Trends

• Toyota abandons plan to install U.S connected vehicle tech by 2021 (Reuters)
• The ASEAN e-commerce paradox; there are doubts that e-commerce marketplaces, which rely heavily on perks such as providing subsidies on deliveries and free listing for sellers to draw in customers, can be a long term sustainable business model. (Star)
• Singapore’s Bet on Tech Startups Gains Ground With 150 VC Funds (Bloomberg)

Global Tech & Innovation Trends

• Burned by bitcoin — Son’s misadventure tells wider story; Japanese billionaire’s loss shows urgent need for regulation in nascent market (Nikkei)
• Luxury Ride-Sharing Platform Says 20% Of Teslas Faulty; Takes Out Ad In Times Square To Complain (ZH, GT)
• Lyft and Uber lure people with low fares, but how long will cheap ride-sharing last? (MW)
• SAP’s finances show it is growing into the cloud era (AFR)
• Intel puts modem business up for sale, held talks with Apple: WSJ (Reuters)
• Walmart Bets on TV Shows for Families, Date Night in Media Push (Bloomberg)

Life

• On the need for hardship and the longing to grow (Ascent)
• How to reduce digital distractions: advice from medieval monks (Aeon)
• Warren Buffett: ‘I’m having more fun than any 88-year-old in the world’; The legendary investor on luck, expectations and finding value in an overheated market (FT)

H.E.R.O.’s Journey in Tech (27 April 2019) – Amazon is reportedly building a high-fidelity music streaming service to rival Tidal

H.E.R.O.’s Journey in Tech (27 April 2019) – Amazon is reportedly building a high-fidelity music streaming service to rival Tidal

Companies

• China’s Ctrip now owns half of India’s MakeMyTrip following share swap with Naspers (TC)
• US slams Alibaba and its challenger Pinduoduo for selling fakes (TC)
• NetEase Kaola to open first factory store as it pushes further offline (Technode)
• Mario Kart Tour could be Nintendo’s biggest smartphone win (TNW); Nintendo’s Guidance Seen as a `Mockery,’ Sending Shares Lower (Bloomberg)
• Custom fit fashion retailer Zozo pulls out of overseas markets; CEO’s global ambitions shredded as German and US losses pile up (Nikkei)
• Nidec to add plant in China’s Dalian for electric-car motors; Japanese manufacturer plans $500m investment to build up new growth engine (Nikkei)
• Sony secures record profit as digital platforms thrive (Nikkei)
• Singapore Wealth Firm iFast’s Pre-Tax Profit Declines by 38% (Bloomberg)
• Wellington Airport goes live on Gentrack’s Veovo software (Reseller)

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

• Wirecard Still Raises Plenty of Questions; SoftBank offered financial backing this week to the German fintech darling. But does it really merit such a racy market valuation? (Bloomberg)

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

• Amazon is reportedly building a high-fidelity music streaming service to rival Tidal (TNW)
• Both Amazon, and the business models that assess the veracity of its reviews (which tend to sell advertising on their websites), rely heavily on algorithms. (FT)
• Save the Netflix Bears. The Market Needs Them. (Bloomberg)

Asia Tech & Innovation Trends

• Short video app Douyin campaign signals the arrival of vlogs in China (Technode)
• Kuaishou brings 3D cartoon characters to livestreaming with new AR feature (Technode)
• Chinese brands rule Indian smartphone market with 2/3rds of share: report (Reuters)
• Bill Gates is backing this Hong Kong biotech start-up that can screen for cancer through a sample of urine or blood. Here’s why (SCMP)
• Southeast Asia’s Grab cuts a familiar path with partnerships in logistics and travel; The new features will be rolled out across Grab’s Southeast Asian markets by the end of June (SCMP)

Global Tech & Innovation Trends

• Why Isn’t Hulu Better? (HBR)
• Slack’s complicated relationship with email, according to its IPO filing (qz); Slack Reveals Losses Amid Rapid Growth in Plan to Go Public (Bloomberg); Slack Pitches Would-Be Investors on a Few Big-Spending Customers (Bloomberg)
• How Uber changed Silicon Valley; Ride-hailing app inspired generation of tech companies to tackle real world challenges (FT); Uber Is a Growth Business That Has Trouble Growing (Bloomberg); Uber sets terms for IPO, posts $1 billion first-quarter loss (Reuters)
• Major Tech Firms Come Out Against Police Use of AI Algorithms (Bloomberg)
• Intel Tumbles, Setting Up Worst Day Since 2008 (Bloomberg)
• Tradeweb’s 50% Rally Sets Stage for Questions About Debt Market (Bloomberg)
• Yara, IBM to offer digital services to farmers (Reuters)

Life

• On Professional Failure (TSOL)

H.E.R.O.’s Journey in Tech (26 April 2019) – Microsoft Surpasses $1 Trillion Valuation

H.E.R.O.’s Journey in Tech (26 April 2019) – Microsoft Surpasses $1 Trillion Valuation

Companies

• US adds Pinduoduo to list of counterfeit facilitators (Nikkei); Pinduoduo founder calls for openness in e-commerce as battle with Alibaba and JD.com escalates (SCMP); Pinduoduo’s struggles are like ‘Yao Ming in elementary school’: CEO (Technode)
• Meituan unites with small ride-hailing players to take on Didi (KRA)
• Live streaming app Inke turns on parental controls (KRA)
• Terumo has grown rapidly in the Chinese market in recent years, selling guidewires, catheters and other interventional products, but not coronary stents (MTI)
• Nintendo Tie-Up Hints At Tencent’s New Strategy For Gaming In China (Forbes); Nintendo: flipping out; Obstacles ahead even with a rumoured cheaper version of Switch to come (FT); Nintendo Moves Toward Highly Anticipated Mario Kart Tour Release (Bloomberg); Nintendo Disappoints With Tepid Outlook, No Date for New Switch (Bloomberg)
• Innodisk with Uncompromising AIoT Solution for the Medical Field (PRNW)
• Vitrox 1Q profit up 16%, declares 4 sen dividend (Edge)

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

• Alibaba’s B2C platform Tmall aims to double sales volume by 2021 (KRA)
• Samsung looks to diversify with $116bn bet on logic chips (Nikkei)
• SoftBank and Google parent tie up on flying 5G stations for phone services using balloons and drones (JT)

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

• Amazon’s best weapons are sprawl and usefulness (Reuters)
• Amazon raises stakes for rivals with one-day delivery goal after profit surge (Reuters)
• Amazon’s Supercharged Growth Is Gone (Bloomberg)
• Microsoft Surpasses $1 Trillion Valuation (Bloomberg)

Asia Tech & Innovation Trends

• China’s dating apps are experimenting with livestreamed matchmaking (TNW)
• China’s New Nasdaq-Style Exchange Is Almost Ready, But Where Are The Unicorns? (Forbes)
• China’s e-commerce start-ups lose favour with private equity funds as Beijing-backed chip makers steal their thunder, study finds (SCMP)
• Founder Ren Zhengfei says Huawei should learn from Apple – and set higher prices (SCMP)
• Indonesian live auction platform WowBid raises USD 5 million (KRA)
• Grocery delivery startup Honestbee is running out of money and trying to sell (TC)
• AI-powered NeuroTags helps businesses eliminate counterfeits of their products from the market (e27)

Global Tech & Innovation Trends

• SalesLoft nabs $70M at around $600M valuation for its sales engagement platform (TC)
• Online learning startup Coursera picks up $103M, now valued at $1B+ (TC)
• Walmart unveils an AI-powered store of the future, now open to the public (TC)
• Disney Stock Is Rising Because It Might Buy Comcast’s Hulu Stake (MW)
• Government innovation in cloud drives another strong quarter for ServiceNow (Diginomica)
• Visualization Startup Hover Just Raised Another $25 Million To Digitize Home Renovation Planning (Forbes)
• Can Uber ever make money? A ride back through history offers sobering lessons (Economist)
• Grubhub profit better than expected, shares soar (Reuters)
• Slack Finds New Ways to Fit In at the Office, Ahead of Stock Debut (Bloomberg)
• Uber Aims for an IPO Valuation of as Much as $90 Billion (Bloomberg)

Life

H.E.R.O.’s Journey in Tech (25 April 2019) – Scientists develop an AI that can turn brainwaves into speech + Why Bill and Melinda Gates wash dishes together every night

H.E.R.O.’s Journey in Tech (25 April 2019) – Scientists develop an AI that can turn brainwaves into speech + Why Bill and Melinda Gates wash dishes together every night

Companies

• Salesforce nearly doubled its money in Zoom IPO, but company says it’s in for the long term (CNBC)
• Tencent-backed real estate platform Beike announces ambitious growth plans amid legal row with rival; Can newcomer Beike dethrone Fang.com as China’s top online property portal? (KRA)
• China’s digital music market expands with rising subscriptions; TME has a strong grip on the market, claiming 800 million users, three times more than Spotify, but less than four percent of those users pay for subscription compares with 45 percent (CGTN)
• In Japan, busy singles are turning to apps to find love; Linkbal Inc., an operator of an e-commerce portal website for matchmaking events, has offered the CoupLink online dating app since July 2016. (JT)
• Japanese team aims to test 3D-printed blood vessel transplants on kidney patients; 3D bioprinter developed by Shibuya Corp. (Mainichi)
• Robot king Fanuc risks missing out on 5G boom; After forecasting 60% profit drop, company faces new challenges as clients ditch metal casing (Nikkei)
• Pro Medicus share price hits an all-time high on seven-year contract with Duke Health worth $14 million (Yahoo)
• VGI and iClick Interactive Announce Marketing Technology Joint Venture to Address Thailand’s Booming Digital Marketing Space and Connect Brands in Southeast Asia with China Opportunities (Yahoo); VGI links with iClick to smooth the way for SE Asia brands in China (Nation)

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

• Tencent Trusted Doctors raises USD 250 million, bringing valuation past USD 1 billion (KRA)
• Tencent eyes silver generation with investment in video app for dancing grannies (SCMP)
• Alibaba Cloud takes 19.6% in Asia Pacific market, beats Amazon and Microsoft combined (KRA); Alibaba Pushes Its Cloud Unit Globally As It Trounces Amazon in Asia (Bloomberg)
• Samsung Plans $116 Billion Splurge on Chips to Take On Intel (Bloomberg)

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

• Facebook Says Settling FTC Probe Could Cost Up to $5 Billion (Bloomberg)
• Instagram is becoming Facebook’s sugar daddy (Reuters)
• Audible now offers live customer service through Alexa devices (TC); Amazon Launches Free Music Streaming to Juice Alexa-Device Sales (Bloomberg); Amazon’s Alexa Team Can Access Users’ Home Addresses (Bloomberg)
• Apple Stock Will Gain Because iPhone Users Spend More on Apps, Analyst Says; iPhone owners spend 10 times more than Android users on mobile apps (Barron’s)
• Amazon goes into luxury beauty (AFR)
• Microsoft tops $1 trillion as it predicts more cloud growth (Reuters); Microsoft is closing in on becoming a $10 billion-a-quarter cloud company (qz)’ Tech Trio Races Toward $1 Trillion Valuation on Cusp of Earnings (Bloomberg); Microsoft Sales Top Estimates Amid Flurry of Cloud Wins; Software maker’s 73% Azure revenue gain ‘blew away’ Street (Bloomberg)
• Will Netflix eventually monetize its user data? (Conversation); Here’s how new streaming services could really hurt Netflix; WarnerMedia, NBCUniversal, Disney shows make up 40% of Netflix’s viewing minutes (MW); Nobody Watches Netflix’s Original Shows, And That’s A Huge Problem (ZH)

Asia Tech & Innovation Trends

• Why China’s unicorns may not trot happily to market (FT); China tech groups delay IPOs as US tensions bite; Companies are also accepting lower valuations amid dwindling investor appetite (FT)
• Chinese companies face surging write-offs; After a global investment spree, impairments weigh on tech and energy companies (Nikkei)
• Didi reveals it is still making losses on many fares charged in China as it discloses costs breakdown (SCMP)
• The Chinese state-owned tech company supplying signal-boosting laser amplifiers to the world’s largest financial centres; Report reveals that Wuhan-based Accelink’s gear has been used in West for a decade (SCMP)
• Chinese regulator hints at better access for foreign cloud computing companies (SCMP)
• Made in China, Exported to the World: The Surveillance State (NYT)
• The Future of Shopping Is Already Happening in China; Traditional retail and e-commerce hold little interest for consumers who are wedded to smartphones and take their cues from influencers. (Bloomberg)
• China’s unchecked expansion of data-powered AI raises civic concerns; Local industry is growing fast but there are signs of a pushback (FT)
• Taiwan’s Top Stock Investor Sees Tech Frenzy Getting Extreme (Bloomberg)
• Cashless payments in Fukuoka accelerate, and large-scale commercial facilities introduce Melpay and Origami Pay (TC)
• Japan Has a New Emperor. Now It Needs a Software Update. (NYT)
• Japan lays bare the limitations of robots in unpredictable work; Forerunner in automation worried about progress being too slow rather than too fast (FT)
• AI becoming a viable way to bridge the gap in the doctor-patient ratio: mfine CEO Prasad Kompalli; mfine, which uses AI to enable users to link with doctors through live chat or video under a minute, has just bagged (e27)
• Indonesian social commerce platform TokoTalk raises US$3.2M; TokoTalk is a chat-based e-commerce platform built specifically for online sellers on social media such as Instagram (e27)
• AI-based visual training platform Chooch AI secures US$2.8M (e27)
• ai raises $17M to equip online retailers with AI smarts (TC)
• Go-Jek and Grab’s competing visions play out; Funding gap between the competitors reflects big philosophical differences between their investors; Go-Jek’s directors think too much capital is a drug; it enables founders to become profliga (FT)

Global Tech & Innovation Trends

• Scientists develop an AI that can turn brainwaves into speech (Age)
• Behind Airbnb’s bet on show business to hook travellers (Reuters)
• MongoDB to acquire open-source mobile database Realm for $39 million (TC)
• Securing the 5G future – what’s the issue? (Reuters)
• SAP shares hit high on Elliott’s $1.3b investment; SAP reported an adjusted operating margin of 24 per cent for the first quarter as it grapples with a catch-up transition to cloud computing (AFR); SAP/cloud services: mist opportunity; German group needs to integrate its acquisitions flawlessly to remain in the race (FT)
• iRobot Stock Takes a Hit Because There Are Too Many Robots (Barron’s)
• Sirius XM profit dented by Pandora acquisition (MW)
• This In-Ear Translator Can Interpret A Bilingual Conversation On The Fly (Forbes)
• Start-up makes robots small manufacturers can afford; Collaborative robots market expected to snowball to $12.3bn by 2025 (FT)
• PayPal’s Venmo Isn’t Enough to Drive Payment Volume Growth (Bloomberg)
• Apollo, Cerberus Consider Shutterfly Bids, Lifting Stock (Bloomberg)
• Explosions Threatening Lithium-Ion’s Edge in a Battery Race (Bloomberg)
• Slack Finds New Ways to Fit In at the Office, Ahead of Stock Debut (Bloomberg, Reuters)
• A $603 Million Deal Sheds Light on Cybersecurity Space (Bloomberg)

Life

• Why Bill and Melinda Gates wash dishes together every night (AFR)
• This Question Will Change Your (Reading) Life; What should you read next? Whatever books shaped the people you most admire and respect. (RH)
• How to train your brain to be resilient to failure (FastCo)

H.E.R.O.’s Journey in Tech (24 April 2019) – Nearmap Partners with HNTB to Use 3-D Aerial Imagery to Win More Business Against Larger Competitors

H.E.R.O.’s Journey in Tech (24 April 2019) – Nearmap Partners with HNTB to Use 3-D Aerial Imagery to Win More Business Against Larger Competitors

Companies

• Douyu files for US IPO: How China’s answer to Twitch is really not like the US game-streaming service at all (SCMP)
• Nintendo’s surge on China entry prospects has not deterred short bets by hedge funds (SCMP)
• Terry Gou’s replacement at Foxconn faces difficult path ahead; Big question is where the Taiwanese group’s growth will come from in future (FT)
• Atlassian Acquires From its PaaS Marketplace (SM)
• Nearmap Partners with HNTB to Use 3-D Aerial Imagery to Win More Business Against Larger Competitors (BW)

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

• Defective Galaxy Fold is another dent for brand Samsung; Delayed launch of foldable smartphone a bigger hit for company’s reputation than finances (FT); Samsung’s Reputation Founders on Rush for Lead in Folding Phones (Bloomberg)
• Didi-SoftBank taxi-hailing JV expands to 13 cities across Japan (Reuters); SoftBank to Consider Acquiring 5% Stake in Wirecard (Bloomberg)

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

• Facebook’s flood of languages leaves it struggling to monitor content (Reuters)
• JCPenney explains why it dropped Apple Pay (TC)
• Will Netflix Junk Bonds Wilt Amid the Content Wars? (Bloomberg)

Asia Tech & Innovation Trends

• China’s game makers face a shapeshifting boss (Reuters)
• Bytedance’s tutoring platform Gogokid laying off employees (Technode)
• China’s Bytedance says India TikTok ban causing $500,000 daily loss, risks jobs (Reuters)
• Mobile ad fraud spooking marketers: MMA; 22% of the mobile ad spends in India are subject to fraud, says survey (Forbes)

Global Tech & Innovation Trends

• AI is helping regulators keep tabs on new industrial farms and their waste discharging habits (TNW)
• Voiceflow, which allows anyone to make voice apps without coding, raises $3.5 million (TC)
• Salesforce.com acquisition of related company mixes complex transactions with a big writeoff (MW)
• Umicore: “Demand patterns for cathode materials have deteriorated in the past couple of months, in China and Korea in particular. In China, the demand for EVs has considerably decreased from the levels of the second half of 2018” (Barron’s)
• Roku Stock Will Keep Soaring Because People Will Keep Cutting the Cord, Analyst Says (Barron’s)
• How patients can turn their medical data into money; Wave of start-ups offer to aggregate information for research opportunities (FT)
• Why Spotify Stock Is Worth the Risk, According to a Top Shareholder (Barron’s)
• Audioburst raises $10M to build AI-powered infotainment systems for cars, ad solutions (TC)
• Porsche CEO Eyes Cooperation With Chinese Technology Giants (Bloomberg)
• Dassault Eyes U.S. Acquisitions Including Medidata (Bloomberg)
• Snap Enters Its Rorschach Phase: You See What You Want (Bloomberg)
• Elon Musk’s Chipmaking Claims Don’t Match the Reality (Bloomberg)

Life

• Short Seller Bonitas Targets Singapore’s Best World, Sending Shares Lower (Bloomberg)

H.E.R.O.’s Journey in Tech (23 April 2019) – Nearmap doubles valuation to $1.5b in three months; Every company Disney owns: a map of Disney’s worldwide assets

H.E.R.O.’s Journey in Tech (23 April 2019) – Nearmap doubles valuation to $1.5b in three months; Every company Disney owns: a map of Disney’s worldwide assets

Companies

• Chinese e-sports platform DouYu files for U.S. IPO (MW)
• Chinese Surveillance Camera Maker Hikvision Sees Growth Slow in 2018 and 1Q2019 (Caixin)
• TETCO, Trend Micro sign MOU to boost digital security solutions in Saudi schools (SG)
• istyle China Opens @cosme Official Online Store on China’s Largest General Trade E-commerce Website Tmall (NK)
• Netmarble stock price jumps as BTS hits another Billboard No. 1 (Investor)
• Nearmap doubles valuation to $1.5b in three months (AFR)
• Australians embracing robo-advisers; In October 2018, IRESS launched its first automated advice platform for WA Super. (AFR)

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

• Ant Financial’s money market fund Yu’e Bao shrinks to new low (Technode)
• Tencent pilots new anti-game addiction program that will lock out young gamers (KRA)
• Samsung delays foldable phone launch after display troubles (Nikkei)

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

• Your iCloud is actually AmazonCloud (qz)
• Bezos Disputes Amazon’s Market Power. But His Merchants Feel the Pinch; In recent years, third-party sellers have found it harder to compete and are paying Amazon a bigger chunk of their take. (Bloomberg)
• Amazon Launches Free Music Streaming to Juice Alexa-Device Sales (Bloomberg)
• Microsoft delves deeper into IoT with Express Logic acquisition (TC)

Asia Tech & Innovation Trends

• China’s AV edge? It’s the infrastructure (Technode)
• Chinese start-ups join rush to launch IPOs on Shanghai exchange’s new tech board (SCMP)
• Toyota to tie up with major Chinese automaker on fuel cell vehicles (JT)
• Panasonic cuts Tesla risk to stem further bleeding (Nikkei); Tesla and Panasonic freeze spending on $4.5bn Gigafactory (Nikkei); Panasonic shares surge in stark contrast to Tesla’s (Nikkei)
• How AI can make the world a safer place (TIA)
• Resurgent HappyFresh raises $20M for its online grocery service in Southeast Asia (TC)
• Go-Jek introduces e-commerce feature Go-Mall in partnership with JD; Go-Jek users can browse for goods ranging from electronics to fresh groceries. (KRA)
• Tokopedia introduces innovative social e-commerce feature (KRA)
• Singapore talking with more electric car companies after Dyson, but Tesla apparently not among them (JT)

Global Tech & Innovation Trends

• Dassault Eyes U.S. Acquisitions Including Medidata (Bloomberg)
• Porsche CEO Eyes Cooperation With Chinese Technology Giants (Bloomberg)
• Big Data Won’t Build a Better Robot (Bloomberg)
• Audioburst raises $10M to build AI-powered infotainment systems for cars, ad solutions (TC)
• Spotify, Universal Music Group, and the Question of Tech vs. Content (Barron’s)
• America’s Biggest Supermarket Company Struggles With Online Grocery Upheaval (WSJ)
• Nvidia says Tesla ‘inaccurate’ in self-driving comparison (MW)
• ‘People will die’: Sceptics doubt Elon Musk’s promise that self-driving Tesla robo-taxis will be on the road by 2020 (Age)
• This new US airport screening camera would see too much (qz)
• Uber Questions (Stratechery)
• Every company Disney owns: a map of Disney’s worldwide assets (TM)
• What Are Lyft, Uber, and Other Tech Startups’ IPOs Worth? It’s Anyone’s Guess. (Barron’s)
• Qorvo Stock Will Rally Because It Will Thrive in a 5G World, JPMorgan Says (Barron’s)
• Take-Two Is the Videogame Stock to Beat and Has Huge Upside, Analyst Says (Barron’s)
• ‘Persuasive technologies’ prompt child health fears; Companies need to get ahead of the issue before regulators do (FT)
• Move over TikTok: Bits is the new app that wants to launch comedy stars (FastCo)
• In the cloud: Why project planning unicorn Asana is watching Australia closely (Age)
• Tech Platforms Love Moving Fast — Except When Their Users Are in Trouble (Medium)
• Career-focused startup Zippia raises $8.5 million in Series A to use artificial Intelligence to help job seekers (PRNW, TS)

Life

• The Intangibles of Assessing Management Quality (SN)

H.E.R.O.’s Journey in Tech (22 April 2019) – Catalyzing Success: My Interview with Pioneer Founder Daniel Gross [The Knowledge Project Ep. #56]

H.E.R.O.’s Journey in Tech (22 April 2019) – Catalyzing Success: My Interview with Pioneer Founder Daniel Gross [The Knowledge Project Ep. #56]

Companies

• Zoom’s IPO Surges, But Company Still Has ‘a Channel Problem’ (CF)
• Subsidized Chinese makers squeeze Asia’s LCD industry; BOE helps push 65-inch panel price below $220, down 30% over past year (Nikkei)

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

• Why Tencent Shouldn’t Launch a Gaming Smartphone (MF)
• Samsung Stumble Risks Killing Foldable Phones at Birth; A botched launch could see the technology go the same way as Google Glass. (Bloomberg)

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

• Amazon and Google End Boycott of Each Others’ Video Services (Bloomberg)
• 3 fixes for Netflix’s “What to watch?” problem; How streaming apps can solve discovery (TC)

Asia Tech & Innovation Trends

• Chinese Airbnb rival Tujia aims for profitability in 2019 as it prepares for IPO; Tujia controls nearly half of China’s home-sharing market along with Alibaba-backed rival Xiaozhu. (KRA)
• About 80% of smart wearables are made in Shenzhen; And more than 92% of China’s smartphones are made in Dongguan. (KRA)
• To survive trade battles, China manufacturers deploy every weapon they can (Reuters)
• Who’s afraid of Huawei? Where Asia stands on China’s 5G tech giant (SCMP)
• The Kids Use TikTok Now Because Data-Mined Videos Are So Much Fun (Bloomberg)
• NTT to launch trial of farming support service with drones and AI tech in Fukushima (JT)
• Japan plans periodic reviews of tech giants to protect vendors (Nikkei)
• Aussie airport self-service tech firm raises $15m (AFR)
• Grab to integrate public transport data in Southeast Asian mega cities; Ride-hailer eyes train and bus fare payments (Nikkei)
• How Ola is ‘self-driving’ its way from just cab booking service to mobility giant (FE)

Global Tech & Innovation Trends

• The Future of Wearable Tech Is Called a Hearing Aid; Even if your ears are fine, you might want a device that translates 27 languages, tracks fitness, and monitors vital signs. (Bloomberg)
• Silicon Valley’s Grow-or-Die Culture Is Costing Us (Medium)
• The wave of unicorn IPOs reveals Silicon Valley’s groupthink (Economist)
• Don’t Worry, Be H(AI)ppy (EET)
• AI bots are creating mood music to get you through the day (AFR)
• AVs Need New Compute Platforms (EET)
• If your image is online, it might be training facial-recognition AI (CNN); Who’s using your face? The ugly truth about facial recognition (FT)
• Pinterest more like Box than Square (AFR)
• The Uber lord giveth but drivers pay price (AFR)
• Online start-ups target $120bn travel activities market; Newcomers backed by SoftBank, Sequoia and others take on Airbnb, TripAdvisor and TUI (FT)
• Booming e-commerce helped parcel delivery giant DHL Express weather the US-China trade war, says chief executive; Online orders made up for what ‘would otherwise be a subdued trading’ environment between China and the US, says CEO John Pearson (SCMP)
• Stackla to IPO as Bailador eyes start-up exits (AFR)
• Intel wastes no time in quitting rocky foray into 5G mobile (Nikkei)
• ‘Bar Is Higher’ as Tech Shares Soar, Singapore Wealth Fund Says (Bloomberg)
• With Driverless Cars Running Late, a Startup Tries Remote-Control Trucks (Bloomberg)
• What Does Uber Love More: Restaurants or Investors? Eateries are getting squeezed by delivery apps. Uber could give up profit to keep them happy, but that’s not what IPO investors want to hear. (Bloomberg)

Life

• The Most Powerful Lessons People Learn Much Too Late in Life (Medium)
• Keep Going: 10 Ways to Stay Creative in Good Times and Bad Paperback – April 2, 2019 (Amazon)
• The Meaning Paradox: Is Life About You or Other People? (DL)
• The Snow Leopard (Penguin Classics) Paperback – September 30, 2008 (Amazon)
• Amanda Palmer on Creativity, Pain, and Art (#368) (Tim Ferris)
• Catalyzing Success: My Interview with Pioneer Founder Daniel Gross [The Knowledge Project Ep. #56] (FS)

H.E.R.O.’s Journey in Tech (20 April 2019) – All shook up: Behind the rise of Atlassian, Australia’s $35b tech giant; Zoom, Zoom, Zoom! The Exclusive Inside Story Of The New Billionaire Behind Tech’s Hottest IPO + Memento Contendere: The Benefits of Intentionally Anticipating Our Struggles

H.E.R.O.’s Journey in Tech (20 April 2019) – All shook up: Behind the rise of Atlassian, Australia’s $35b tech giant; Zoom, Zoom, Zoom! The Exclusive Inside Story Of The New Billionaire Behind Tech’s Hottest IPO + Memento Contendere: The Benefits of Intentionally Anticipating Our Struggles

Companies

• Zoom, Zoom, Zoom! The Exclusive Inside Story Of The New Billionaire Behind Tech’s Hottest IPO (Forbes)
• iFlytek’s expenses swell in the first quarter of 2019 (Technode)
• Following $43 Million in Losses in 2018, NetEase Cloud Music Partners with Japan’s Nippon Columbia (DMN)
• Rakuten LIFULL STAY Offers Japanese Vacation Rental Inventories to trivago (WW)
• Nintendo picks Tencent for third shot at China game market (Nikkei)
• What To Expect If Taiwan’s iPhone Billionaire Wins The Presidential Election (Forbes)
• Power supply maker and energy management solution provider Delta Electronics has disclosed it has acquired a factory located in northern Taiwan at NT$2.568 billion (US$83.3 million). (Digitimes)
• All shook up: Behind the rise of Atlassian, Australia’s $35b tech giant (SMH); Atlassian’s Expanding Collaboration Product Portfolio Is Driving Strong Growth (Forbes)

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

• Baidu is reportedly incubating a music app to defend itself against ByteDance (KRA); Baidu reportedly seeks to revive music business with a music app, talent shows (Technode)
• Tencent’s document collaboration tool gained 30 million users within one year of launch (KRA)

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

• Google is a leader in artificial intelligence and machine learning, both areas that have huge untapped commercial opportunity. (AFR)
• Amazon and Google Are Playing Nice in Streaming Because They Have To (Barron’s)
• Google’s advanced tech director wants everything to be a computer; At TED, Ivan Poupyrev showed off a tiny new device for linking sensors to the cloud, part of his vision of embedding computing in everything we touch. (FastCo)
• Apple’s 5G move to spark Asian investment ‘boom’; Next iPhone launch will drive spending on network infrastructure, say Huawei and others (Nikkei)

Asia Tech & Innovation Trends

• Chinese Airbnb rival Tujia aims for profitability in 2019 as it prepares for IPO; Tujia controls nearly half of China’s home-sharing market along with Alibaba-backed rival Xiaozhu. (KRA)
• ByteDance’s Douyin teams up with big name film production companies (KRA); Douyin is slowing down, but China’s short-video stars are here to stay (Technode)
• Coming soon to China: the car of the future — hyper-connected, autonomous and shared (JT)
• With the power to change the world, here’s why the US and China are fighting over our 5G future (SCMP)
• The Bengaluru tech centre that’s powering Walmart (Forbes)

Global Tech & Innovation Trends

• Live streaming is overdue for an overhaul. Here’s why. (TNW)
• com’s CEO on diversity in tech and the future of tourism (TNW)
• A Q&A with Roland CEO Jun-ichi Miki on innovation, Waku Waku, and ‘sleeping musicians’ (TNW)
• Jumia’s successful billion-dollar IPO is a landmark-but it won’t gloss over lingering operational issues (qz)
• Consumer-Staples Stocks Are the Newest Dinosaurs as Shoppers Change; online shopping has gone from just 16% of core sales (excluding categories like gasoline and autos) to 23% today (Barron’s)
• How Podcasting Became a Big Business (Barron’s)
• Spotify’s Stock Is Risky Because the Music Industry Is Not Changing Fast Enough (Barron’s)
• GPUs Holding Back AI Innovation (EET)
• First Look At The Fastly IPO Filing (CB)

Life

• Barefoot billionaire: Sridhar Vembu built a tech giant you’ve never heard of (Age)
• When You’ll Believe Anything (MH)
• Memento Contendere: The Benefits of Intentionally Anticipating Our Struggles (NW)
• How to Cultivate Peace of Mind: 15 Pieces of Stoic Wisdom for Inner Peace (Medium)

H.E.R.O.’s Journey in Tech (19 April 2019) – Refused U.S. Visa Eight Times, Zoom CEO Eric Yuan Is Now a Billionaire + To Do Your Best Work You Must Fall in Love With Hard Work

H.E.R.O.’s Journey in Tech (19 April 2019) – Refused U.S. Visa Eight Times, Zoom CEO Eric Yuan Is Now a Billionaire + To Do Your Best Work You Must Fall in Love With Hard Work

Companies

• Refused U.S. Visa Eight Times, Zoom CEO Is Now a Billionaire (Bloomberg); Zoom Video CEO: I Don’t Know Why Our Shares Soared 72% After IPO (Fortune); ‘What a Crazy Valuation,’ Zoom CEO Says After Stock Soars on IPO (Barron’s); After just one day of trading, Zoom Video is the most highly valued tech stock by this metric (MW)
• AI firm iFlytek net profit up 24.71 pct in 2018 (Xinhua)
• Meituan scales down fresh produce business Ella Supermarket (KRA)
• Sony bulks up anime business in China (Nikkei)
• Industrial robotics giant Fanuc is using AI to make automation even more automated (TC)
• Taiwan presidential run by Terry Gou creates ‘uncertain’ future for Foxconn, analysts say (SCMP)
• Getac eyeing sharp growth in ruggedized PC market (Digitimes)
• HUB24 share price climbs higher on record March quarterly inflows (MF)
• Fast growth tracking app Life360 details ASX IPO plans (AFR)
• Kogan jumps 20pc on growth, subscription plans (AFR)

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

• Tencent wins key approval to sell Nintendo’s Switch in China (Nikkei)
• Tencent leads video conferencing service Little Fish’s Series C financing round (KRA)
• TSMC signals bottom of chip cycle as quarterly profits tumble (Nikkei)
• ‘Shooting for big game’: Softbank’s push for transport dominance (JT)

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

• Google & Amazon reach an agreement to bring their streaming video apps to each others’ platforms (TC)
• YouTube Music is now free with ads on Google Home devices (TC)
• Amazon launches ad-supported music service to Echo owners (TC)
• Amazon’s one-two punch: How traditional retailers can fight back (TC)
• Amazon, facing entrenched rivals, says to shut China online store (Reuters, Nikkei)
• Apple vs. Facebook Enters a New Era (Medium)
• Microsoft delves deeper into IoT with Express Logic acquisition (TC)
• Nvidia launches its Isaac SDK to help democratize AI-powered robot development (TC)
• How 5G drove moves by Apple, Qualcomm and Intel (Reuters)

Asia Tech & Innovation Trends

• Chinese internet giants test virtual banking in Hong Kong (Nikkei)
• Online platform connects the dots for aspiring landlords; Dot Residential offers casual investors to build a property portfolio (FT)
• Ruling LDP calls for law to prevent tech giants strong-arming vendors in Japan (JT)
• Japan puts self-driving transit buses to the test next year (Nikkei)
• Abyo Korea hopes to redesign delivery industry (Investor)
• Singapore Tourism Board partners Alibaba Group and Traveloka to shore up visitor numbers (KRA)
• Bionic Yantra: The robot giving patients a leg up; Bionic Yantra’s exoskeleton provides a fall-safe method of rehabilitation for those unable to walk (Forbes)
• ‘Simply appalling’: Live event ticket reseller Viagogo misled ticket buyers on price, availability (Age)
• Start-ups vie to lead India’s logistics revolution; Well-funded apps such as Rivigo aim to overhaul a logistics market that has hobbled the economy (FT)

Global Tech & Innovation Trends

• Tech IPOs show the money is in business services; Companies such as Zoom have reinvented enterprise tech for the cloud era (FT)
• NuvoAir raises $3M to help patients monitor respiratory diseases with AI (TC)
• CloudBees acquires Electric Cloud to build out its software delivery management platform (TC)
• Astroscreen raises $1M to detect social media manipulation with machine learning (TC)
• Phantom Auto raises $13.5M to expand remote driving business to delivery bots and forklifts (TC)
• Spotinst, the startup enabling companies to purchase and manage excess cloud capacity, acquires StratCloud (TC)
• Sift’s ‘news therapy’ app aims to promote understanding, not anxiety (TC)
• Zagat is perfectly positioned to fix the yelp review model (qz)
• Airbnb Leads $160 Million Investment in Startup Designing Apartments for Travelers (Fortune)
• With Self-Driving Cars Still Years Away, Phantom Auto Finds New Niche Teleoperating Robots (Forbes)
• This Startup Just Raised $21 Million To Bring Quantum Computing To Enterprise Applications (Forbes)
• Automakers invest heavily in electric vehicles despite still-low demand (Reuters)
• Qualcomm’s deal with Apple transforms 5G outlook; End to legal marathon boosts US supplier of next-generation technology (FT)
• Micron Stock Can Keep Surging Because AI Will Require More Chips, Analyst Says (Barron’s)
• For Wirehouses, a New World of Digital Tools (Barron’s)
• Aidoc, the AI solution for medical imaging analysis, raises $27M Series B (TC)
• Pinterest Stock Is Hot After Its IPO. Why You Should Keep Your Cool. (Barron’s)
• Lyft Investors Sue Over Slump, Claiming IPO Was Overhyped (Bloomberg)

Life

• To Do Your Best Work You Must Fall in Love With Hard Work (Medium)
• ‘Goodwill’ Write-Offs Are an Earnings Killer. How to Spot Trouble Coming. (Barron’s)
• The Golden Goose: How Dani Reiss Became A Billionaire Turning Canada Goose Into A Luxury Brand Powerhouse (Forbes)

H.E.R.O.’s Journey in Tech (18 April 2019) – How Setbacks Help Us Discover What We Truly Love: “The truth is, we just don’t know whether we actually are in love with the process until we experience the setbacks.”

H.E.R.O.’s Journey in Tech (18 April 2019) – How Setbacks Help Us Discover What We Truly Love: “The truth is, we just don’t know whether we actually are in love with the process until we experience the setbacks.”

Companies

• Meituan downsizes fresh grocery business a year after launch (Technode)
• Japanese semiconductor company Ferrotec Holdings has decided to shut down its business in Korea (KT)
• Terry Gou will resign as Foxconn’s chairman to run for president of Taiwan (TC); Gou’s Taiwan presidential bid raises Foxconn succession question; Founder’s key lieutenants face strategic challenge as iPhone shipments fall (Nikkei)
• CCL firm Ventec listed on TWSE, poised to grab 5G opportunities (Digitimes)
• Atlassian shares hit on Q3 guidance (AFR)
• ReadyTech up 18 per cent on debut; flagship product is a cloud-based student management system, which has a strong presence in TAFEs and mid-tier universities (AFR)

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

• Can Foldables Revive Flagging Smartphone Sales? Samsung And Huawei Bet They Can (Forbes); How Samsung engineered its folding phone; South Korean company’s innovations included batteries, hinge design and even glue (FT)

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

• How Instagram Is Turbocharging Facebook’s Earnings (Barron’s)
• Facebook and Snapchat turn to Chinese giants for growth tips; US social media experiment games and payment, straight from Tencent’s playbook (Nikkei)
• Amazon reportedly withdrawing from China (Technode)
• Apple in talks with potential suppliers of sensors for self-driving cars – sources (Reuters)
• Netflix casts India as its new star; US streaming giant launches aggressive plan as home growth slows (Nikkei)

Asia Tech & Innovation Trends

• Investors cool on Chinese education start-up; Tighter regulation and evidence of market fatigue hit stocks (FT); Investors turn cold on Chinese education start-up VIPKID; Fast-growing group connects teachers in US with vast pool of Chinese students (FT)
• Shanghai tech board to push semiconductor independence (Technode)
• China’s electric car makers face ‘critical’ maturity period over the next two years, KPMG says; Consolidation likely as electric car makers face tighter capital markets, end of government subsidies next year (SCMP)
• The man who ushered in China’s battery vehicle boom wants to do the same for fuel cells (qz)
• Douyin folds in e-commerce with mini-programs (KRA)
• Robo-Rigs: The Scientist, The Unicorn And The $700 Billion Race To Create Self-Driving Semi-Trucks (Forbes)
• Airbnb begins to recover in Japan, a year after crackdown (Nikkei)
• Big Tech to face antitrust law on user data in Japan; Tokyo looks to protect consumers from unfair privacy policies (Nikkei)
• Korea launches robo investing apps for 1st time. They not only provide financial advice, but also manage customer’s investments without human intervention. (Investor)
• AIA Singapore partners with WhiteCoat for telemedicine service (e27)
• Acquisitions are a way to grow: Carousell co-founder and CEO Quek Siu Rui with an outlook post-Naspers deal; The presence of Facebook Marketplace might accelerate further consolidation among classified marketplaces in Southeast Asia (KRA)
• Malaysian logistics startup TheLorry secures strategic investment from Unilever (KRA)
• InMobi wants to glue your attention to your lock screen; With its new ‘screen zero platform’ called Glance, the ad-tech company will push bite-sized videos, news items and games to consume without unlocking your phone, curated from its m (Forbes)
• Duterte, the economy and the elusive Philippines unicorn (Nikkei)
• Thai Baht’s Slide Fuels One of Emerging Asia’s Top Sector Rallies; Thai electronics parts makers jumped about 10% in April (Bloomberg)

Global Tech & Innovation Trends

• Aidoc, the AI solution for medical imaging analysis, raises $27M Series B (TC)
• Emotionally intelligent AI will respond to how you feel (TNW)
• PathAI raises $60 million for its computer vision-based pathogen detection technology (TC)
• Strong investor demand boosts Pinterest and Zoom IPOs (FT)
• Unpacking Pinterest’s IPO expectations (TC); Meet Pinterest’s Little-Known Third Cofounder, Who Has A $675 Million Stake (Forbes); Pinterest prices shares at $19 in ‘down round’ IPO (FT); Pinterest’s IPO Could Be Make or Break for Uber and Other ‘Unicorns’ (Barron’s)
• Zoom Video IPO: 5 things to know about the videoconferencing company (MW); Video conferencing start-up Zoom prices shares at $36; IPO sets market capitalisation at $10.5bn, ten times higher than last funding valuation (FT)
• Salesforce is buying MapAnything, a startup that raised over $84 million (TC)
• Aptiv takes its self-driving car ambitions (and tech) to China (TC)
• NXP eyes China’s auto radar market with investment in Hawkeye Technology (KRA)
• Back on trend? H&M makes AI, loyalty drive to ride fashion cycle (Reuters)
• Hey, Siri: from virtual assistant to BFF? If we end up befriending AIs, will we still want to set them mundane tasks? (FT)
• Roku Stock Rises After Analyst Says Disney+ Will Add $1 Billion in Value (Barron’s)
• Square Stock’s Rally Is Running Out of Steam, Analyst Says (Barron’s)

Life

• Chinese used car online seller Uxin’s share price plummeted 36% on Tuesday after a short-seller issued an report saying the company was notorious in China “as a cheat.” (Technode, JCR)
• How Setbacks Help Us Discover What We Truly Love: “The truth is, we just don’t know whether we actually are in love with the process until we experience the setbacks.” (Heleo)
• A Stoic’s Key to Living with Presence: Seneca on How to Manage Your Time (BP)
• How To Adapt The “Serenity Prayer” For Business Decision-Making (LinkedIn)

H.E.R.O.’s Journey in Tech (17 April 2019) – Linkbal Inc., an operator of an e-commerce portal website for matchmaking events, has offered the CoupLink online dating app since July 2016 that enables users to “get to know 1.5 million event attendees online”

H.E.R.O.’s Journey in Tech (17 April 2019) – Linkbal Inc., an operator of an e-commerce portal website for matchmaking events, has offered the CoupLink online dating app since July 2016 that enables users to “get to know 1.5 million event attendees online”

Companies

• Linkbal Inc., an operator of an e-commerce portal website for matchmaking events, has offered the CoupLink online dating app since July 2016. As the app enables users to “get to know 1.5 million event attendees online,” many of its users became members after attending actual events (Kyodo)
• Nidec to add 600 engineers with Omron unit purchase; Japanese motor producer expands footprint in EV industry (Nikkei)
• Sony becomes Uber’s newest rival in Japan (EG); Sony’s Next PlayStation Won’t Mean the Death of Physical Videogames (Barron’s)
• DB HiTek mass produces FHD image sensor for China’s CCTV makers (PN)
• Info Edge India, the Indian job board, has invested in Etechaces, an India-based financial technologies marketing company. (SI)

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

• Alibaba will let you find restaurants and order food with voice in a car (TC)
• Tencent’s auto intelligence arm teams up with weather data site (Technode, KRA)

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

• Amazon’s Twitch Clones Tencent Music’s Karaoke Platform; But what works in China probably won’t work in its core market of U.S. gamers. (MF)
• Microsoft’s new Xbox ditches discs, will offer only downloaded games (MW)
• Google to Block TikTok in India, Hurting Chinese Startup (Bloomberg)
• How the Disney-Netflix streaming war will create collateral damage (MW); Netflix promises more information on what people are watching (MW); Netflix is burning money and lacks a good business model, this tech investor says (MW)

Asia Tech & Innovation Trends

• The uphill road: battery limitations to test China’s electric vehicle ambitions (Reuters)
• A beta version of “CACICA” is released, which allows AI to visualize improvements to sites simply by installing tags. (TC)

Global Tech & Innovation Trends

• Zoom Video IPO: 5 things to know about the videoconferencing company (MW)
• US and China tech giants look increasingly similar; Apple is moving into payments, films and gaming to diversify from phones, much like Xiaomi branched out into entertainment and finance (FT)
• Zalando’s Return to Fashion Could Just Be a Fad (Bloomberg)
• Match Group restructures exec team with focus on Asia (TC)
• Dropbox challenger pCloud just became profitable (TC)
• Ro, a direct-to-consumer online pharmacy, reaches $500M valuation (TC)
• Leapwork raises $10M for its easy process automation platform, plans US expansion (TC)
• Walmart partners with subscription-based children’s clothing startup, Kidbox (TC)
• Get ready for a new era of personalized entertainment (TC)
• Nearly two dozen of SiriusXM’s talk shows come to Pandora as podcasts (TC)
• Logitech’s new remote ditches the touchscreen for Alexa (TC)
• Jack Dorsey says it’s time to rethink the fundamental dynamics of Twitter (TC)
• Expedia Stock Rallies as Media Moguls Barry Diller and John Malone Reach a Deal (Barron’s
• Disney and the Future of TV (Stratechery)
• Lex in depth: can Snap survive? As pressure from Facebook intensifies, the group has three years to make a profit before it will need to raise fresh funds (FT)
• Who Goes Public When? Tech Companies Maneuver to Stand Out in the Horde (NYT)

Life

• Let’s say you could choose between a life that is full of meaning but also includes suffering, or a life that is devoid of suffering but lacks meaning. Most people would choose the life of meaning. (Medium)

H.E.R.O.’s Journey in Tech (16 April 2019) – TransInfo: How China’s new highway for self-driving cars will boost its AV ambitions ; You Cannot Talk About Self-Improvement Without Talking About Values

TransInfo: How China’s new highway for self-driving cars will boost its AV ambitions ; You Cannot Talk About Self-Improvement Without Talking About Values

Companies

• TransInfo – How China’s new highway for self-driving cars will boost its AV ambitions (TNW)
• China challenges Samsung’s lead in foldable phone screens; BOE and other aspiring national champions drive rapid capacity expansion (Nikkei)
• Vast elderly, rural population power China’s dialect-related industries; iFLYTEK’s popular input mobile application is able to recognize 23 dialects in China, with more than 3 million users in the country. In the car system installed in many Toyota car models, for example, iFlytek provides a voice recognition system that understands Cantonese. (Xinhua)
• Meitu launches AI platform for developers as it drops phone business (Technode)
• Trend Micro Advances DevSecOps via Kubernetes Integration (CJ)
• Japan’s leading provider of conference rooms TKP is paying approximately 50 billion yen ($446 million) to jump into the shared office market, (Nikkei)
• Mercari’s cashless payment “Melpay” enables QR code settlement of taxi fares (TC)
• Apple supplier Foxconn to shift iPhone production to India (KRA)
• Minwise new business growth … Value of subsidiaries (ED)
• Cochlear shares rally on MRI-compatible hearing implant (AFR)
• Afterpay has steadily been taking over shopping centres over the past few years and the concept of splitting shopping payments into bite-sized chunks is becoming more accepted. (Age); US millennials’ debt fears help Afterpay beat expectations (Age)
• Info Edge India Ltd updates on investment in Etechaces (EB)
• Cyient Launches Solutions for 5G Deployment (EB)

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

• Tencent may launch a phone for its game lovers (KRA)

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

• Amazon Finds It’s Hard to Run a Real Sweepstakes in the Robocall Era (Bloomberg)
• Facebook and Amazon’s AI-selected ads show how businesses can tailor products to consumers in future (SCMP)

Asia Tech & Innovation Trends

• Cutthroat competition in China’s co-working office sector will see a survival of the largest (SCMP)
• AI can work to improve Hongkongers’ health, but only with a human touch (SCMP)
• China requiring anti-addiction parental controls for all short video apps (Technode)
• Chinese property-management SaaS vendor Qinlin Technology closes Series B round with funds from JD.com and Xiaomi; It’s a technology that unlocks doors for residents of large apartment complexes and serves them ads and group-buy opportune (KRA)
• China’s SenseTime sells out of Xinjiang security joint venture; Facial recognition group’s move follows scrutiny of treatment of Uighur people (FT)
• China’s Beidou navigation system to go global and create $300 billion market by 2020 (KRA)
• China’s Propaganda Quiz App Is Hiring Hundreds (Bloomberg)
• Toyota leads Japanese charge into tie-ups with Chinese startups (Nikkei)
• Fujitsu technicians finish designing Post-K supercomputer (JT)
• EventHub, an event-specific business SNS company, raises funds from Salesforce Ventures (TC)
• Toyota sells electric vehicle technology to Chinese startup Singulato (Reuters)
• This 25-Year-Old College Dropout Has SoftBank And Grab Backing His Plan For Oyo To Dominate Budget Hotels (Forbes)
• Grab faces local challengers in fast-growing Vietnam market; Ride-hailing groups vie to become ‘super app’ for consumers amid regulatory pushback (FT)
• ReadyTech gets a yellow light from investors for ASX listing (AFR)

Global Tech & Innovation Trends

• This Software Can Uncover the Questions CEOs Don’t Want to Answer; Amenity Analytics’ founders say their platform can even pick up on potential deceptions on earnings calls. (Bloomberg)
• Smart speakers’ installed base to top 200 million by year end (TC)
• Airbnb officially owns HotelTonight (TC)
• Autumn is coming: Expert says hype cycle will give way to ‘rich harvest’ of useful AI (TNW)
• Conversations with customers are an untapped data goldmine for businesses (TNW)
• The Robots That Manage the Managers; More companies are turning to AI-driven apps that aim to help newer bosses with reminders and tips on how to maintain a well-run office (WSJ)
• com buys Salesforce.org, and that’s the only straightforward part (MW); Salesforce to Buy Public Service Affiliate for New Markets (Bloomberg)
• Africa’s startup ecosystems are at a major turning point (qz)
• Stitch Fix Stock Slumps as Investors Worry About New Amazon Service (Barron’s)
• Spotify Stock Falls On News That Amazon Might Have Bigger Plans for Music (Barron’s); Spotify shares fall on report Amazon in talks to launch ad-supported music offering (Reuters)
• Hulu spends $1.43 billion to buy back AT&T stake, values streaming service at $15 billion (Reuters)
• Pinning a Narrow Moat on the Pinterest Board (Morningstar)
• Vimeo Snaps Up Video Creation Company Magisto For $200M (CB)
• As IBM Faces Falling Revenue, Red Hat Deal May Change Narrative (Bloomberg)
• Israeli Researchers Print 3D Heart Using Patient’s Own Cells (Bloomberg)
• Autonomous machines: industry grapples with Boeing lessons; Although computers may be more reliable than humans, new mistakes can be introduced into systems (FT)

Life

• Viking Saga: The Tale of Tor Hagen And His Voyage From Ousted CEO To Cancer Survivor To Cruise Ship Billionaire (Forbes)
• You Cannot Talk About Self-Improvement Without Talking About Values (Medium)
• The Cash Conversion Cycle Spread. Abstract: The cash conversion cycle (CCC) refers to the time span between the outlay of cash for purchases to the receipt of cash from sales. It is a widely used metric to gauge the effectiveness of a firm’s management and intrinsic need for external financing. This paper shows that a zero-investment portfolio that buys stocks in the lowest CCC decile and shorts stocks in the highest CCC decile earns 5 to 7% alphas per year. The CCC effect is prevalent across industries and remains even for large capitalization stocks. The CCC effect is distinct from the known return predictors. The returns of high-CCC stocks are more sensitive to the health of the financial intermediaries than low-CCC stocks. This suggests that the CCC-based strategy cannot be explained by the financial intermediary leverage risk. (SSRN)

H.E.R.O.’s Journey in Tech (15 April 2019) – Fully integrating AI and healthcare is closer than you think + These are Amazon’s 38 rules for success

H.E.R.O.’s Journey in Tech (15 April 2019) – Fully integrating AI and healthcare is closer than you think + These are Amazon’s 38 rules for success

Companies

• Applied Materials halts work for red-flagged Chinese chip maker; US chip tool leader pulls staff from San’an Optoelectronics following government listing (Nikkei)
• Koh Young America Opens new Office in Guadalajara, Mexico (iconnect)
• Life360 is one of the fastest-growing apps in the US, tapping into the concerns of parents and family members about what dangers could befall their loved ones when they are out and about, by recording their locations on a real time online map and up (AFR)

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

• Tencent launches new blockchain game merging concepts behind Pokémon Go and CryptoKitties (SCMP)

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

• Facebook’s reckoning? The global battle to regulate social media (FT)
• The End of iTunes: What It Means for You (TG); From Macintosh to Granny Smith: The rise and fall of Apple (VB)
• Why Google+ Failed; Google Plus didn’t fail because Facebook is invulnerable. It failed because of deep flaws embedded in it from the very start. (Medium)
• Tracking Phones, Google Is a Dragnet for the Police; The tech giant records people’s locations worldwide. Now, investigators are using it to find suspects and witnesses near crimes, running the risk of snaring the innocent. (NYT); Google’s Sensorvault Is a Boon for Law Enforcement. This Is How It Works. (NYT)
• Netflix Now Accounts for 10% of TV Viewing (Medium)

Asia Tech & Innovation Trends

• The $18 Billion Electric-Car Bubble at Risk of Bursting in China (Bloomberg); China’s Secret Weapon in the Electric Car Race; Local automakers are hoarding the country’s “new-energy vehicle” credits, giving them leverage when renegotiating joint ventures with western rivals. (Bloomberg)
• Asia’s tech champions zero in on main street banking (Reuters)
• Is 5G the ‘next big thing’ for investors? Gauge of China-listed 5G stocks shows 75 per cent jump in past 6 months. Red flags include US-China friction, policy changes in Beijing, costs for companies (SCMP)
• Apple supplier’s rescue leaves Japan red-faced (Reuters)
• Korea’s TOP100 winner eyes a fraud free future for the e-commerce industry; Lizuna’s ambition is to prevent account takeover fraud and provide safer online transactions (e27)
• Internet-only banks face murky future amid regulatory hurdles (Investor)
• Start-up to be ‘Facebook of online shopping’ (AFR)
• Philippines chases neighbors in Southeast Asian unicorn race; Tale of two ride-hailers — Micab and Grab — shows wide gap in funding and risk taking (Nikkei)
• Emerging Asia’s startups open own doors to success; 3D flashcards and voice-driven accounting find ways into low-income countries (Nikkei)

Global Tech & Innovation Trends

• Fully integrating AI and healthcare is closer than you think; Five examples of AI in healthcare and how this collaboration will grow more important in the coming years (e27)
• Pinterest’s frumpy midwestern charm could make it an international juggernaut (qz)
• Smart cities are an AI-powered dystopia that’s already happening (TNW)
• The problem with the tech IPO economy (qz)
• Uber IPO has 4 big red flags that should alarm you (MW); Uber Makes IPO Case That It’s About the Platform, Not the Losses (Bloomberg); Uber Has a New Growth Story, Just Not a Profitable One (Bloomberg)
• Here’s how Disney+ will take over the world (Wired)
• Back to the Old School With Zoho; the infinite store shelf, pioneered by Amazon, has turned the software world upside down (CRMB)
• Breaking the internet: New regulations imperil global network (JT)
• Online dating app Match expands in Asia hiring spree; Match taps growing market as it tackles competition from Facebook (FT)
• Western governments enter uncharted territory as they grapple with problem of harmful content on social media; Governments around the world, including the UK and Singapore, have moved to take a more active role in deciding what constitutes acceptable content (SCMP)

Life

• These are Amazon’s 38 rules for success (FastCo)

H.E.R.O.’s Journey in Tech (13 April 2019) – Salesforce and Other Business-Software Companies Are in a Sweet Spot

H.E.R.O.’s Journey in Tech (13 April 2019) – Salesforce and Other Business-Software Companies Are in a Sweet Spot

Companies

• China’s Ctrip to sell Japan rail tickets via app (Nikkei)
• Hikvision’s New Business Team To Develop Intelligent Solutions For Fentanyl-Related Substances Regulation (SI)
• EU clears Nidec purchase of Whirlpool unit subject to conditions (Reuters)
• Netwealth Group reports the largest quarterly increase in FUA since listing (KKM)

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

• Alibaba’s AutoNavi commercializes HD map by charging automakers license fee (KRA)

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

• Google Cloud takes aim at verticals starting with new set of tools for retailers (TC)
• Alexa, Siri, and Google Assistant are changing how we interact with the world by doing it for us (TNW)
• Google’s AI is growing up (qz)
• Google sees rays of Sun in new cloud dreams; Tech group takes page out of Java creator as it takes on Amazon and Microsoft (FT)
• Netflix Just Dropped $8 Billion in Market Value on Disney+ News (Bloomberg)

Asia Tech & Innovation Trends

• China to include businesses in credit score database plan; Record of SMEs’ misdemeanours to be included in databank and shared with commercial bank (FT)
• SenseNets: the facial recognition company that supplies China’s Skynet surveillance system (SCMP)
• China’s Ant Financial amasses 50 million users, mostly low-income, in new health plan (Reuters)
• TikTok owner Bytedance said to be planning Spotify-like music streaming app for overseas market; The Chinese company is currently the world’s most valuable unicorn with a valuation of US$76 billion (SCMP)
• Mobile game developer Kunlun to pay $50M for 3% shares in China’s Waymo rival (Technode)
• Didi steps up financial drive as it courts car leasing companies (TC)
• Japan’s quest for display king ends as Taiwan-led group buys JDI; State-directed effort to merge Hitachi, Toshiba and Sony units lacked vision (Nikkei)
• Kudo’s untold story: how it enabled Indonesia’s unbanked and got acquired by Grab (TIA)
• Grab faces $2bn payout to Uber if no IPO by 2023 (Nikkei)

Global Tech & Innovation Trends

• Salesforce and Other Business-Software Companies Are in a Sweet Spot, Analyst Says (Barron’s)
• Marvel, monsters and ‘Mandalorian’ coming to Disney+ app (Reuters); Disney already has a booming streaming service. It’s called Hotstar (CNN); Disney Stock Is Soaring Because Its New Streaming Service Might Be a Better Deal Than Netflix (Barron’s)
• Password manager Dashlane closes on $30M, adds former Spotify CMO to board (TC)
• Naspers-owned PayU doubles down on India with $70M deal to buy Wibmo (TC)
• Fintech Insurer Lemonade Valued At More Than $2 Billion After $300 Million Funding Deal (Forbes)
• Profits Can Wait As Freshworks Targets A Cloud Market Dominated By SAP And Salesforce (Forbes)
• Uber’s IPO is a lesson in the true cost of toxic culture (qz); Uber admits its culture is IPO risk (FT); Uber’s conflicting self-driving fleet vision (FT); Uber Freight Is a Surprisingly Big Business. Truckers Take Note. (Barron’s); Uber aims to maintain heavy spending to keep rivals at bay; Ride-hailing app’s ‘winner-takes-all’ strategy will continue to cost billions (FT)
• How Spotify Saved the Music Industry (But Not Necessarily Musicians) (Ep. 374) (Freakonomics)
• Why ‘Loot Boxes’ May Unlock Trouble for the Videogame Industry (Barron’s)
• Italian payments group Nexi to sell €1.3bn shares in IPO; Company to start public trading in Milan next week with initial market cap of €5.4bn (FT)
• Jumia becomes first African start-up to list in New York; E-commerce company dubbed ‘Africa’s Amazon’ valued at more than $1bn (FT)
• Pinterest’s myth-busting chief leads his ‘silent unicorn’ to IPO; Publicity-shy founder Ben Silbermann has long defied Silicon Valley stereotypes (FT)
• The Cash Party Is Almost Over for Unicorns Like Uber; Winners and losers have been determined by who can raise the most money, not necessarily those with the best product or service. (Bloomberg)

Life

H.E.R.O.’s Journey in Tech (12 April 2019) – Lessons in Persistence From Climber Tommy Caldwell + From Broke To Billionaire: How Fred Luddy Built The World’s Most Innovative Company ServiceNow

H.E.R.O.’s Journey in Tech (12 April 2019) – Lessons in Persistence From Climber Tommy Caldwell + From Broke To Billionaire: How Fred Luddy Built The World’s Most Innovative Company ServiceNow

Companies

• After a 600% Rally, ‘King of Deals’ Prepares for Post-Smartphone Future; Minebea, a key Apple supplier, says phones losing innovation. CEO plans to spend billions on connected auto, home deals (Bloomberg)
• Trend Micro provides flexible security for Microsoft Azure environments (IC); Trend Micro Releases Innovations that Increase Security for Google Cloud Platform, Kubernetes and G Suite Gmail (AO)
• @Cosme flagship store opens on Tmall (IRA)
• Bravura makes non-binding $172m bid proposal for GBST (AFR)
• Naukri parent company Info Edge invests Rs 6 cr in ShoeKonnect, another Rs 14 cr in Gramophone (YS)

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

• Alipay’s mutual aid platform Xiang Hu Bao aims to cover 1/5 of China’s population in two years (KRA)
• Taobao app adds foodie channel to tap on China’s food e-commerce growth (KRA)
• Cloud gaming to strengthen Tencent’s hand; Capturing a larger slice of China’s gaming market is a valuable goal as it is the largest (and still growing) gaming market in the world, estimated at over US$34 billion in 2018. (AFR)
• Factbox: SoftBank’s transportation bets (Reuters)
• Inside SoftBank’s push to rule the road (Reuters)
• Uber IPO filing reveals Softbank as largest shareholder (Nikkei)

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

• P&G Puts Ad Platforms Like Facebook, Google on Notice (Bloomberg)
• Google Cloud makes some strong moves to differentiate itself from AWS and Microsoft (TC)
• Inside Google Cloud Next, the conference for the search giant’s next big business (qz)
• The golden age of YouTube is over; The platform was built on the backs of independent creators, but now YouTube is abandoning them for more traditional content (Verge)
• Google sees rays of Sun in new cloud dreams; Tech group takes page out of Java creator as it takes on Amazon and Microsoft (FT)
• Famously unprofitable Amazon has nothing on Uber (qz)
• Jeff Bezos upended the smart-home industry by not listening to customers (qz)
• Amazon’s empire rests on its low-key approach to AI; Unflashy but high-powered machine learning powers everything from its fulfilment centres to the cloud (Economist)
• Amazon Japan Raises Prime Membership Price for First Time in 11 Years (Bloomberg)

Asia Tech & Innovation Trends

• Alibaba-backed used goods platform Idle Fish investing in content (Technode)
• Trade war gives China’s chip equipment makers room to grow; Beijing plays down its ongoing semiconductor ambitions amid U.S. push back (Nikkei)
• Tesla, Panasonic to seek productivity gains before new battery investments (Reuters)
• Indonesia’s Stock Exchange says Traveloka is most likely candidate for an IPO (KRA)
• Tech giant Zoho’s launch in Australia hit by red tape delays (Age)

Global Tech & Innovation Trends

• Why Slack’s IPO will have more in common with Spotify than Uber or Lyft (MW)
• Uber unveils IPO with warning it may never make a profit (Reuters); Uber Is Huge, Sprawling and Still Entirely Unproven; Investors are going to have a tough time figuring out how to value the company. (Bloomberg)
• Square Stock Rises as Cash App Downloads Keep Growing (Barron’s)
• Revealed: the cash cost of WeWork’s global expansion (FT)
• Disney CEO Iger gives three reasons why the company’s streaming service will be a success (CNBC)

Life

• Podcast #498: Lessons in Persistence From Climber Tommy Caldwell (AOM)
• From Broke To Billionaire: How Fred Luddy Built The World’s Most Innovative Company ServiceNow (Forbes)
• Bezos on why failure is not failure (FT); Jeff Bezos wants Amazon to fail more (CNN)
• Rupert Murdoch, the NFL, and the Negotiation That Remade TV (HBR)

H.E.R.O.’s Journey in Tech (11 April 2019) – The first research book written by an AI could lead to on-demand papers

H.E.R.O.’s Journey in Tech (11 April 2019) – The first research book written by an AI could lead to on-demand papers

Companies

• Pinduoduo’s reputation as fake seller endures as Apple seeks to halt sales (Technode)
• Chinese satellite operator shoots for June IPO; Move comes as Beijing urges state-owned enterprises to go public (Nikkei)
• China Travel Site Ctrip Plans Convertible Bond Sale, Sources Say (Bloomberg)
• Rakuten’s Mikitani Bets $5.5 Billion To Shake Up Telecom Industry (Forbes)
• Japan’s booking-site clampdown exposes industry’s arm-twisting; Powerful online players Rakuten, Expedia and Booking.com hold enormous clout over hotels (Nikkei)
• Trend Micro Releases Innovations that Increase Security for Google Cloud Platform, Kubernetes and G Suite Gmail (BI); VIVOTEK Enhances Protection In Its Cybersecurity Management Solution By Collaborating With Trend Micro (SI)
• Delta Electronics reports strong March revenues (Digitimes)
• Infosys has strengthened its ability to provide technology services in the area of mortgage processing by acquiring 75 percent of Stater NV, a wholly owned subsidiary of ABN Amro Bank NV (Forbes); TCS, Infosys likely to post strong quarterly revenue on surging outsourcing deals (Nikkei)
• Nearmap boasts expansion into Canada is “well underway” (MF)

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

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

• Why Google Is Expanding In Taiwan Again And Again (Forbes)
• Google’s Next Big Money Maker Could Be the Maps on Your Phone; Service was mostly ad-free for years. That’s changing now (Bloomberg)
• Google Cloud announces Traffic Director, a networking management tool for service mesh (TC)
• Google launches an end-to-end AI platform (TC)
• Google raises price of YouTube TV to $49.99, adds Discovery, Animal Planet (Reuters)
• Salesforce and Google want to build a smarter customer service experience (TC)
• The Fight for Smart Speaker Market Share (VC)
• Amazon Alexa now offers long-form news coverage in addition to Flash Briefings (TC)
• Amazon Workers Are Listening to What You Tell Alexa; A global team reviews audio clips in an effort to help the voice-activated assistant respond to commands. (Bloomberg)
• Amazon buys warehouse robotics startup Canvas Technology (Reuters)
• Microsoft worked with Chinese military university on artificial intelligence; Concerns raised on research that could be used for surveillance and censorship (FT)

Asia Tech & Innovation Trends

• Chinese plastic surgery app eyes $150m Nasdaq IPO; So-Young finds its niche with looks-conscious women (Nikkei)
• Didi will struggle to get back its groove; Safety fears dog China’s car-hailing leader as new challengers threaten its dominance (FT)
• 700 Japan banks rush to debut smartphone payment app in October; Launch moved ahead 6 months as government readies consumer incentives (Nikkei)
• Cloud pharmaceutical management service “9lione” beta version operation start, already over 130 stores are using (TC)
• A look at what’s behind Smilegate RPG’s IPO push (Investor)
• Customers benefit as Ola and Uber slug it out in India; Result of battle for dominance will show whether local knowledge or deep pockets matter more (FT)
• New York’s Via enters ride-hailing market in Indonesia; App takes on Go-Jek and Grab with focus on minivan taxis (Nikkei)
• Singapore’s Carousell raises USD 56 million from OLX parent company Naspers (TC, KRA)
• CleverTap lands $26M for its mobile-focused customer marketing service (TC)

Global Tech & Innovation Trends

• The first research book written by an AI could lead to on-demand papers (TC)
• PagerDuty IPO: 5 things to know about the DevOps company (MW)
• Sending money across borders is becoming cheaper and easier; Fintech start-ups are disrupting the international money transfer market (Economist)
• Jumia’s anticipated billion-dollar IPO has been delayed (qz); Here’s how Jumia’s IPO will go-according to investors who’ve backed global e-commerce giants (qz)
• Startup Front Shakes Up Pricing To Take Its Email Collaboration Mainstream (Forbes)
• Congress Is About to Ban the Government From Offering Free Online Tax Filing. Thank TurboTax. (PP)
• Waiting for WeWork profits no longer a labour of love (AFR)
• Zillow and its recent shift towards Opendoor’s model (KC)
• The big tech companies are smothering small start-ups; Minor changes to a platform’s algorithms can harm a business’s traffic overnight (FT)
• Uber and Pinterest try to lock down investors ahead of IPOs; Tech giants seek to avoid a fate like Lyft, which has traded below its offer price (FT)
• Taser stun gun maker files facial recognition patents; Axon has filed patents for technology that can guess a person’s race and age (FT)
• How ABB FIA Formula E championship built a fan base from scratch; The all-electric motorsport tapped into e-gaming and social media to attract young supporters (FT)
• IBM’s AI Knows When People Will Quit Their Job With 95% Accuracy (ZH)
• Qualcomm Targets AI Inferencing in the Cloud (EET)
• Wayfair Heads Into 36-Hour Sale as Piper Sees ‘Mind-Share Gain’ (Bloomberg)
• Zoom’s IPO Highlights Rapid Growth In The Videoconferencing Space (CB)
• Mailchimp Bootstraps To $600 Million Revenue (LinkedIn)
• Dote raises $12M and introduces live-streamed Shopping Parties (TC)
• Expanse, which lets its customers know when their digital assets aren’t safe, has raised $70 million in new funding (TC)
• Restaurant website builder BentoBox raises $16.4M (TC)
• GoDaddy acquires Sellbrite to launch cross-marketplace tools (TC)
• Online used car startup Shift adds another $40M, snags COO in road to IPO (TC)
• Snap Is Projected to Lose Users in the U.S. for the First Time (Bloomberg)

Life

• The Passion Paradox: A Conversation with Brad Stulberg (BS)

H.E.R.O.’s Journey in Tech (10 April 2019) – Why $1.5 Billion Startup Asana Ditched Email To Prove Its Own Work Management Strategy + Eric Schmidt – Lessons from a Trillion-Dollar Coach

H.E.R.O.’s Journey in Tech (10 April 2019) – Why $1.5 Billion Startup Asana Ditched Email To Prove Its Own Work Management Strategy + Eric Schmidt – Lessons from a Trillion-Dollar Coach

Companies

• China game-streaming firm Huya launches $343 million follow-on offering (Reuters)
• Trend Micro’s IoT Joint Venture Offers a New Approach to Tackling Weaknesses in Cybersecurity (DI)
• Netwealth share price on watch as it becomes ANZ Private’s preferred supplier (MF)
• Info Edge invests Rs 6 crore in Bizcrum Infotech; ShoeKonnect is a B2B marketplace that enables footwear brands, manufacturers, wholesalers and retailers to connect and transact with each other (BS)

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

• Alibaba’s Cainiao to raise delivery fleet wages 20% within 3 years (Technode)
• SoftBank bets on Asia’s travel market with investment in Klook (Nikkei)

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

• Selling with the enemy: Why rival retailers embrace Amazon.com (Reuters)
• Google Cloud’s new CEO on gaining customers, startups, supporting open source and more (TC)
• YouTube Is Developing Choose-Your-Own-Adventure Programs (Bloomberg)
• Netflix Could Actually Benefit From Increased Competition. Here’s Why. (Barron’s)

Asia Tech & Innovation Trends

• Tencent-backed plastic surgery app So-Young files for $150 million US IPO (Technode)
• Jia Yueting’s LeTV is RMB 12 billion in debt, may face delisting (Technode)
• How GitHub became a bulletin board for Chinese tech worker complaints (qz)
• No smoking, no tattoos, no bikinis: inside China’s war to ‘clean up’ the internet; While AI is used to remove banned content, many decisions are taken by humans, especially if they involve context (SCMP)
• Big data enters the fray in the war against cancer as pharmaceutical laboratories combine drugs like cocktails to kill cancerous cells (SCMP)
• Korean health care startup Sky Labs aims to launch its Cardio Tracker, or CART, a ring-type wearable device that detects a patient’s heart rhythm 24/7 using internet of things technologies. (Investor)
• Grab vs Go-Jek: Duel of digital ‘decacorns’ escalates in Indonesia; $10bn ride-hailers’ battle for food orders and e-payments threatens to leave both bruised (Nikkei)
• Cashfree, an India-based startup that specializes in making corporate banking services more accessible and easier to use, has closed a $5.5 million Series A round. (TC)
• An Asian rewards app that works with Alibaba and major online brands has snagged $45 million from Japan’s Rakuten Capital and other investors. (Bloomberg)
• Why Ola’s founder turned down a $11 billion deal with SoftBank (HBL)

Global Tech & Innovation Trends

• Why $1.5 Billion Startup Asana Ditched Email To Prove Its Own Work Management Strategy (Forbes)
• Pinterest’s ‘down round’ IPO reflects history of caution (FT); Pinterest Co-Founders to Glean Wildly Different Fortunes on IPO (Bloomberg)
• How Venmo works and what to know before you use it (MW)
• Unicorns Like Lyft Have a Ton of ‘Restricted’ Stock. Here’s Why That Matters. (Barron’s)
• Slack Is Fetching High Prices in Private Stock Deals Ahead of Public Offering (Bloomberg); Slack integration with Office 365 one more step toward total enterprise integration (TC)
• PubNub nabs $23M as its IaaS network hits 1.3T messages sent each month (TC)
• Machine Learning Will Dominate Investments, Greylock’s Sarah Guo Says. But It Won’t Be An Easy Sell. (Forbes)
• (Subscription) video killed the piracy stats (AFR)
• The Tech Disaster That Didn’t Happen; The world didn’t end when its GPS system reset. So why were so many people so prepared to believe that it would? (Bloomberg)
• Even Netflix Stock Seems Cheap Next to Roku (Bloomberg)

Life

• Eric Schmidt – Lessons from a Trillion-Dollar Coach (#367) (Tim Ferris)
• The Mastermind Behind BTS Has Built a $780 Million K-Pop Fortune (Bloomberg)

H.E.R.O.’s Journey in Tech (9 April 2019) – Subscription Is Blowing Up Aussie Traditional Models ; 76% is how much Microsoft ‘s cloud-computing business grew sales last year

H.E.R.O.’s Journey in Tech (9 April 2019) – Subscription Is Blowing Up Aussie Traditional Models ; 76% is how much Microsoft ‘s cloud-computing business grew sales last year

Companies

• Transsion, NetEase-backed music-streaming service Boomplay raises $20 million (Technode)
• Daifuku Pockets Indian Material Handling Equipment Maker Vega (CE)
• Shopee starts charging commissions in Vietnam as part of monetization plan (KRA)
• Zomato’s revenue soars on robust food delivery business; Zomato spent US$500 million in expenses over the year, dwarfing the US$80 million worth of expenses it recorded in FY 2018. (TIA)

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

• Youku still needs two more years to compete with Tencent Video and iQiyi, says company president (KRA)
• Tencent doubles down on healthcare, tests medical services on WeChat (Technode)
• Tencent is adding medical services to WeChat in its industrial internet push (KRA)
• WeChat opens up tagging function for ads on social Moments section (Technode)
• Tencent’s WeGame X service soft launches worldwide (Technode)
• SoftBank buys stake in hyper-accurate US weather service; Potential demand for real-time forecasts seen in airline and insurance sectors (Nikkei)

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

• FAANG’s $800 Billion Rally Has Mom and Pop Investors Cashing Out (Bloomberg)
• Amazon goes into luxury beauty (AFR)
• Apple’s Health Opportunity Could be Triple Smartphone Market (Bloomberg)
• Cybercrime groups continue to flourish on Facebook (TC)
• 76% is how much Microsoft ‘s cloud-computing business grew sales last year (Barron’s)

Asia Tech & Innovation Trends

• Panda TV’s demise makes way for gaming giant Tencent to dominate live streaming too (SCMP)
• Aeon to use facial recognition at 80 China self-serve stores; Smart supermarkets anticipate customer purchases upon store entry (Nikkei)
• Azoop, a second-hand truck trading service operator, raises 450 million yen to transform 15 trillion yen of transportation industry with IT (TC)
• Who was first to launch 5G? Depends who you ask (Reuters)
• Ola to Oyo: An emerging breed of internet-age Indian companies have global ambitions (Forbes)
• Why One Startup Founder Turned Down a $1.1 Billion SoftBank Deal (Bloomberg)
• Australian regulators cautiously embrace AI to boost compliance; Markets watchdog begins trials designed to tackle misconduct and improve regulation (FT)
• Power grid not ready for spike in electric vehicles (Age)
• In Southeast Asia, a land without Uber has an Uber for everything (SCMP)

Global Tech & Innovation Trends

• Pinterest seeks $11.3bn valuation in New York IPO; Online scrapbooking site plans to sell 75m shares at a price range of $15 to $17 each (FT)
• Subscription Is Blowing Up Aussie Traditional Models (CDOT)
• Roblox hits milestone of 90M monthly active users (TC)
• Spotify’s new ad metrics show what listeners do after they click (TC)
• The Argument For Schwab’s Subscription Model (Barron’s)
• How we get to the next big battery breakthrough (qz)
• Uber, ahead of IPO, sees some time before self-driving cars dominate the road (Reuters)
• The Future Of Enterprise Voice AI Is Genderless, In Your Car And (Hopefully) More Secure (Forbes)
• Investors should beware the behemoths rushing to market Lyft, Uber and Airbnb impress in almost every respect – but they do not make money (FT)
• Afterpay inspires US rival Sezzle to list on ASX (AFR)
• Call centres are set to go the way of the typing pool, according to the founder of pioneering UK job automation software company Blue Prism, but fears of a pending human jobs apocalypse are over blown. (AFR)
• Deliveroo’s subscription service shakes up $2.6b market (AFR, Age)
• The dawn of the deep tech ecosystem (BCG)
• Lyft Is Angry About Lockups (Bloomberg)
• This free software automates bankruptcy to help people clear their debts (FastCo)
• Avaya to Plan Auction After Getting Unsolicited Interest (Bloomberg)

Life

H.E.R.O.’s Journey in Tech (8 April 2019) – The technical landscape for processors and sensors for embedded computer vision applications has changed tremendously over the past five years and will continue to change dramatically over the next five years.

H.E.R.O.’s Journey in Tech (8 April 2019) – The technical landscape for processors and sensors for embedded computer vision applications has changed tremendously over the past five years and will continue to change dramatically over the next five years.

Companies

• Why Tencent Music Is Poised for Growth; The Chinese company is more than a music-streaming service. It’s a massive social network with strong tailwinds. (MF)
• Alibaba-backed parenting platform Babytree to branch out globally, grow international revenue over three years; Hong Kong-listed company wants revenue from international business to exceed a third of its China sales (SCMP)
• Trend Micro, Luxoft team up to protect networked cars from hackers (Star)
• Baring Private Equity Asia to acquire 30% in NIIT Tech for Rs 2,627 cr (BS)

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

• The team behind Baidu’s first smart speaker is now using AI to make films (TC)
• Tencent teams up with Hyundai for infotainment, not autonomous driving software (KRA)

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

• Why Facebook will have a hard time becoming the next WeChat (TNW)
• How Apple convinced us that AirPods aren’t ridiculous (anymore) (MW)
• Amazon’s Whole Foods price cuts aim to build a ‘Costco-like’ relationship with Prime members (MW)
• Amazon Go Faces Unlikely Challenge From Checkout-Free Startup (Bloomberg)
• Infographic: Microsoft’s Biggest Acquisitions (CBI)

Asia Tech & Innovation Trends

• TikTok’s next ambitious goal is to discover future music stars (TC)
• China’s virtual reality arcades aim for real-world success amid massive growth in market (JT)
• China’s US$10 budget phone maker seeks fortune in Belt and Road countries; Transsion plans to invest 3 billion yuan after its IPO on more factories, research and development, and new product lines (SCMP)
• The Asian brake behind Lyft’s juddering start (Nikkei)

Global Tech & Innovation Trends

• Big Tech must pay for access to America’s ‘digital oil’; In an era of data harvesting big web platforms are the new Saudi Aramco or ExxonMobil (FT)
• How rating everything from your Uber driver to your Airbnb host has become a nightmare (MW)
• Companies Take a Piecemeal Approach to Automation Tech (WSJ)
• Software, marketplaces and institutionalizing the wine market (AR)
• Could AI restore trust in banks? (AFR)
• The frightening future of robocalls: Numbers and voices you know (CNN)
• Businesses show no appetite for anti-terror AI tool (FT)
• Roblox games platform plans European expansion; US start-up has spawns community of developers, some of whom have become millionaires (FT)
• Roku Tumbles as Analysts See Competition From Apple and Amazon (Bloomberg)
• The technical landscape for processors and sensors for embedded computer vision applications has changed tremendously over the past five years and will continue to change dramatically over the next five years. (EET)

Life

H.E.R.O.’s Journey in Tech (6 April 2019) – Adobe’s growth to be fuelled by AI + 20 Ideas That Changed My Life

H.E.R.O.’s Journey in Tech (6 April 2019) – Adobe’s growth to be fuelled by AI + 20 Ideas That Changed My Life

Companies

• Online travel booking agency Webjet believes there will be plenty of growth in the B2B WebBeds business in 10 years time (Australian)

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

• Samsung warns its profits will drop 60% as smartphone demand slumps (CNN); Samsung profit plunge exposes smartphone king’s deeper problems; Excessive ambition, high costs and leadership void make it harder to fend off rivals (Nikkei)

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

• Amazon’s Whole Foods price cuts aim to build a ‘Costco-like’ relationship with Prime members (MW)
• Amazon Go Faces Unlikely Challenge From Checkout-Free Startup (Bloomberg)
• Apple Plus – brand versus subscription (BE)
• Apple Music’s U.S. subscriber count overtakes Spotify: source (Reuters)
• Microsoft ‘s partnership with Adobe to better integrate its sales and marketing software will enable the technology giant to compete with Salesforce (Barron’s)
• 3 Reasons Apple and Disney Won’t Dethrone Netflix in Streaming, According to an Analyst (Barron’s)
• Google Could Learn a Lot About You From Its New Gaming Platform (Medium)

Asia Tech & Innovation Trends

• KDDI set to launch smartphone payment service, joining rivals SoftBank and Docomo (JT)
• Panasonic makes first foray toward Indian EV charger network (Nikkei)
• Korean companies ready to exploit early adoption of 5G network; Retailer Shinsegae, amusement park Seoul Land go ahead for AR, VR services (Nikkei)
• Fast but patchy: Trying South Korea’s new 5G service; Reliability problems cloud benefit of quicker download speeds (Nikkei)
• Taiwanese travel startup KKday gives local tours a global reach; Millennials drawn to last-minute bookings and on the ground tips (Nikkei)
• Oyo to launch hotel business in Japan; Indian unicorn announces joint venture with SoftBank (Nikkei)

Global Tech & Innovation Trends

• Adobe’s growth to be fuelled by AI (Star)
• Boomplay, a Spotify-style music and video streaming service for African music and Africa, raises $20M (TC)
• Austria’s AI Brain Has a Plan to Take Down Waymo and Tesla (Bloomberg)
• Lego’s hopes new programmable robotics kit will see use in classrooms (JT)
• Fashion Resale Marketplace Poshmark Reportedly Eyeing IPO (CB)
• Firewall Leader Set to Expand; Palo Alto became a leading cybersecurity provider with its next-generation firewall appliance, forever altering the requirements of this essential piece of networking security (Morningstar)
• Payment `Disruptors’ Are Beating FAANG, Morgan Stanley Says (Bloomberg)

Life

• Trauma and How to Overcome It (TSOL)
• 20 Ideas That Changed My Life (SN)

H.E.R.O.’s Journey in Tech (5 April 2019) – How billionaire debutant Sanjeev Bikhchandani built himself a fortune; The new-age tycoon and founder of Info Edge has earned himself a a reputation to match

H.E.R.O.’s Journey in Tech (5 April 2019) – How billionaire debutant Sanjeev Bikhchandani built himself a fortune; The new-age tycoon and founder of Info Edge has earned himself a a reputation to match

Companies

• Alibaba-backed influencer platform Ruhnn takes a dive after Nasdaq debut (KRA)
• Cash-hungry news app Qutoutiao raises another USD 33m via public offering; The firm just had raised USD 171m from Alibaba (KRA)
• After booking huge loss, Tencent-backed Huya plans a share sale to raise USD 550m (KRA)
• Toei Animation: Dragon Ball Celebrates 30th Anniversary with Massive Wave of Merchandise (MW)
• Trend Micro’s Industrial IoT Joint Venture, TxOne Networks, Offers Sneak Peek of Solution to Securing Industrial Machinery (AO)
• How billionaire debutant Sanjeev Bikhchandani built himself a fortune; The new-age tycoon and founder of Info Edge has earned himself a a reputation to match (Forbes)
• MakeMyTrip unveils in-app live travel gameshow ‘Knock Knock’ (Forbes)
• VGI in Bt4.6 bn deal with Plan B to boost clout in outdoor advertising (Nation)

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

• Tencent partners with two banks in cloud business push (Technode)
• Tencent raises $6 billion in bond sale; proceeds for general purposes (Reuters)
• Samsung’s profit drops 60% on slump in panels and chips (Nikkei)
• Masayoshi Son Finds an Easy Way to Make $1 Billion a Year; The SoftBank tycoon’s move into alternative investing is smart, but the sheer size of his Vision Fund might make it harder to deliver U.S. exits. (Bloomberg)

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

• How start-ups have used Instagram to build $1bn businesses; Mattress company Casper and beauty brand Glossier leverage social media marketing (FT)
• Amazon says Alexa can now handle private patient information (MW)
• Amazon reportedly readying its Alexa-powered answer to AirPods (TC)
• Amazon puts a dent in Google’s ad dominance (MW)
• How Apple Arcade and other subscriptions could save-or sink-indie games; For better or worse, Netflix-like gaming services are a new wrinkle for independent creators. (FastCo)
• Microsoft Joins Tech Race to Clean Up Shipping With Big Data (Bloomberg)
• Netflix, Amazon and Disney fight for India’s online audience; The streaming giants are having trouble getting Indians to pay for content (Economist)

Asia Tech & Innovation Trends

• Freshcode hits home run in Korean food delivery scene (Investor)

Global Tech & Innovation Trends

• A Thriving Software Company You’ve Probably Never Heard of Has Beaten the Dow for a Decade (Barron’s)
• Tradeweb Jumps in Debut After 2019’s Second-Biggest U.S. IPO (Bloomberg)
• Snapchat launches Mario Party-style multiplayer games platform (TC); Snapchat eyes mobile gaming in an effort to woo users; New features aim to stem churn as group fails to turn a profit (FT)
• Wattpad, an online reading room, wants to print books; The Canadian startup thinks it can foretell which ones will sell (Economist)
• AI’s Nemesis is Cloud Storage Economics (EET)
• Walmart Unveils Voice-Activated, Google-Powered Grocery Shopping (Bloomberg)
• SeatGeek Fills New Enterprise Role as Overseas Opportunity Grows (Bloomberg)

Life

H.E.R.O.’s Journey in Tech (4 April 2019) – Pinduoduo burns through cash in attempt to buy future growth; E-commerce group’s sales and marketing expenses to woo customers wipe out revenues

H.E.R.O.’s Journey in Tech (4 April 2019) – Pinduoduo burns through cash in attempt to buy future growth; E-commerce group’s sales and marketing expenses to woo customers wipe out revenues

Companies

• Pinduoduo burns through cash in attempt to buy future growth; E-commerce group’s sales and marketing expenses to woo customers wipe out revenues (FT)
• The Apple-designed chip list consists of one built with Universal Scientific Industrial for Wi-Fi and Bluetooth (AI)
• Bilibili raises $824 million on strong demand for bond, share offering (Technode)
• Xiaomi forms chipmaking company to advance AIoT strategy (Technode)
• Trend Micro’s Industrial IoT Joint Venture, TxOne Networks, Offers Sneak Peek of Solution to Securing Industrial Machinery (BW)
• Toei Animation: ‘Dragon Ball Super’ Panel Reportedly Reveals Anime’s Comeback (CB)
• SiliconExpert and Zuken Team to Deliver Critical Component Data Intelligence to Engineers (Menafn)
• Foxconn shrinks Android arm and relocates staff as orders dry up; Tech giant shifts resources to newly launched automotive electronics (Nikkei)
• IRESS sees 50% surge in Q1 income protection sales (FR, MI)
• Pentamaster conserving cash to grow smart control business (Edge)

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

• Taobao introduces new ‘value for money’ promotion area to take on Pinduoduo (KRA)
• Yahoo spin-out Altaba is selling its entire Alibaba stake and closing down (TC); The Alibaba-Yahoo Saga Is Ending. A Major Holder of Chinese Web Giant Will Liquidate. (Barron’s)
• Tencent invests in e-commerce platform Youzan to boost enterprise business (Technode)

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

• Big brands zoom in for their Instagram close-ups; Paid advertising has become big business since the platform launched in 2017 (FT)
• Forget putting a ding in the universe: The incredible shrinking Apple (Age)
• Media Companies Take a Big Gamble on Apple. Executives have been burned by their previous dealings with big tech companies. But Apple’s promise of a billion devices worldwide was too good to pass up. Even for Rupert Murdoch. (NYT)
• What Chinese consumers think of Apple’s pivot to software (Technode)
• YouTube a gold mine, so why all the rubbish? (AFR)
• Amazon (sub)prime – Part II (FT)
• Amazon Schooled on AI Facial Technology By Turing Award Winner (Bloomberg)

Asia Tech & Innovation Trends

• Ruhnn, a loss-making Chinese startup that makes influencers, raises $125M in U.S. IPO (TC)
• Asia tech companies fuel $23bn convertible bonds boom; Flood of offerings in first quarter illustrates shift among fast-growing groups (FT)
• China scrambles to tap EV battery recycling opportunity; Wave of used lithium-ion cells a potential gold mine for battery makers and recyclers alike (Nikkei)
• Internet banks struggling to stay afloat; K bank, Kakao Bank suffer net losses for 2 straight years (KT)
• Verizon kicks off world’s first 5G, beating South Korea to the punch (Nikkei)

Global Tech & Innovation Trends

• Adobe brings content-aware fill for videos to After Effects (TC)
• Wayve claims ‘world first’ in driving a car autonomously with only its AI and a SatNav (TC)
• Onfido, which verifies IDs using AI, nabs $50M from SoftBank, Salesforce, Microsoft and more (TC)
• Dating Startups Aim For Disruption, But Good Ideas Can’t Buy Them Love (CB)
• Updater’s unicorn valuation on hold after prospective investor walks (AFR)
• Andreessen Horowitz Is Blowing Up The Venture Capital Model (Again) (Forbes)
• What tech hasn’t learnt from science fiction; Never mind the future: where are the books tackling Silicon Valley’s current challenges? (FT)
• Buy Intel Stock Because It Dominates AI and Autonomous Driving, Analyst Says (Barron’s)
• Fastest Electric Car Chargers Are Waiting for Batteries to Catch Up (Bloomberg)
• Shorts line up for a Lyft ride despite surge pricing (Reuters)
• A Hundred Days Later, Tech Stocks Poised to Erase Their Whole Rout (Bloomberg)
• Kamen Aims to Deliver AI to FedEx (EET)

Life

• How we think about the innovation hype cycle (II)
• Job and the Mystery of Suffering: Spiritual Reflections Paperback – March 1, 1998 (Amazon)

H.E.R.O.’s Journey in Tech (3 April 2019) – Kudan is developing programs that enable computers to perceive real-world objects in three dimensions. They have uses in everything from driverless cars to drones and even vacuum cleaners + The Model Thinker: What You Need to Know to Make Data Work for You

H.E.R.O.’s Journey in Tech (3 April 2019) – Kudan is developing programs that enable computers to perceive real-world objects in three dimensions. They have uses in everything from driverless cars to drones and even vacuum cleaners + The Model Thinker: What You Need to Know to Make Data Work for You

Companies

• Bilibili launches $621 million offering, as China techs tap markets after IPOs (Reuters)
• Goldman-Backed Chinese Online Pet Store Boqii Plans IPO (Bloomberg)
• Kudan is developing programs that enable computers to perceive real-world objects in three dimensions. They have uses in everything from driverless cars to drones and even vacuum cleaners. It works with other technologies such as artificial intelligence to enhance the autonomous and interactive experience (Bloomberg)
• Cyber Agent Launches Online Polling Service for Bicycle Racers, and Opens a Bicycle Channel on “AbemaTV” (TC)
• Trend Micro sees big opportunity in India’s hybrid cloud security needs (FE); Trend Micro and Luxoft Partner to Secure Vehicles and Mobility Services Against Cyber-attacks (BW)
• Toei Animation: ‘Dragon Ball’ 30th Anniversary Powers Up Major Licensing Surge (AM)
• Dynabook plans Taiwan branch to tap Foxconn supply chain (Nikkei); Apple’s Major Supplier Foxconn Takes One for the Team; The company’s inventories kept piling up, even as iPhone sales fell. That’s the price of loyalty. (Bloomberg)
• Machvision listed on TWSE; Machvision has joined Korea’s Koh Young and Malaysia’s Vitrox as the top-3 AOI suppliers in Asia, with the company now leading in both profitability and yield rates, according to Chairman Wang. (DT)
• How SEA’s Shopee is using data science to take their platform to the next level (e27)

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

• Taobao’s ‘e-commerce via live broadcast’ empire aims higher as annual turnover exceeds USD 15b (KRA)
• Tencent follows Google into cloud gaming with ‘Start’ pilot; Chinese tech giant is testing new service in Shanghai and Guangdong (FT)

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

• Does Apple even care about computers anymore? (qz)
• What Apple Needs for TV+ to Succeed (Medium)
• Netflix’s Dizzying Valuation Faces Biggest Test Yet; Disney, AT&T and Apple are coming, and this time they are really bringing the heat. (Bloomberg); Netflix looms large as theater owners assess industry future (Reuters); How Netflix decides what you want to watch (Age)

Asia Tech & Innovation Trends

• Shanghai tech board shows fresh approach to listings by admitting loss-making chipmaker (Technode); China’s IPOs Will Be a Gamble for the First Time in Years (Bloomberg)
• This Temasek-backed company has a strategy to help China’s state hospitals compete in the data economy; Haici is helping China’s state hospitals transition to online platform service providers (SCMP)
• Toyota’s Cue 3 robot can’t slam dunk or even dribble, but it shoots a mean 3-pointer (JT)
• Japan Carmakers Muddle Toward AV, MaaS (EET)
• Video chatting app operator Hyperconnect’s Azar sales jumped 68 percent in 2018 to reach a record high, while its net profit jumped 134 percent to 17 billion won (Investor)
• Singapore’s Biggest Online Mall Fights Alibaba With Blockchain (Bloomberg)
• India’s Mswipe raises $30M to grow its smart point-of-sale terminal business (TC)

Global Tech & Innovation Trends

• Okta brings identity management to server level (TC)
• Streaming accounted for nearly half of music revenues worldwide in 2018 (TC)
• Softbank-Backed Brain Corp. Expands Its Robot “Brain” Beyond Floor Cleaning To Autonomous Delivery (Forbes)
• Andreessen Horowitz rides the wave of Silicon Valley IPOs (FT)
• Care.com slumps after Best Buy suspends relationship (Reuters)
• Startup Segment Is Worth $1.5 Billion, Thanks to Companies’ Troves of Customer Data (Bloomberg)
• Walmart Unveils Voice-Activated, Google-Powered Grocery Shopping (Bloomberg)
• Autonomous cars to quadruple vehicle software revenues to $1.2 trillion by 2030: Continental (Reuters)
• Why some green investors are passing on Uber and Lyft (Reuters); Analyst slaps $42 target on Lyft – 42% below its IPO price – says buying it is a ‘leap of faith’ (CNBC)
• Startup Taps AI to Monitor Chips; ProteanTecs’s approach spans yield and test to fault detection (EET)
• Online catering marketplace ezCater gets another $150M at a $1.25B valuation (TC)

Life

• The Model Thinker: What You Need to Know to Make Data Work for You Hardcover – November 27, 2018 (Amazon); Becoming a Model Thinker: My Interview with Professor and Mental Model Expert Scott Page [The Knowledge Project Ep. #55] (FS)
• Founder Exposed: Opening Up About Startup Failures and Vulnerability (FR)

H.E.R.O.’s Journey in Tech (2 April 2019) – No escape? Chinese VIP jail puts AI monitors in every cell ‘to make prison breaks impossible’; Minority Report-style crime prevention with artificial intelligence is fast becoming reality; The Outlandish Story Of Ollie’s: A $5 Billion Retail Empire That Sells Nothing Online (But Is Beating Amazon)

H.E.R.O.’s Journey in Tech (2 April 2019) – No escape? Chinese VIP jail puts AI monitors in every cell ‘to make prison breaks impossible’; Minority Report-style crime prevention with artificial intelligence is fast becoming reality; The Outlandish Story Of Ollie’s: A $5 Billion Retail Empire That Sells Nothing Online (But Is Beating Amazon)

Companies

• Thunisoft – No escape? Chinese VIP jail puts AI monitors in every cell ‘to make prison breaks impossible’ (SCMP)
• Saudi Telecom Company Solutions to utilize Trend Micro products under its cloud offerings (SG)
• Nexon/Tencent/Bain: no stroll in the park; The price of acquiring NXC’s video gaming business could reach as high as $14bn (FT)
• Delta acquires Amerlux, enhances its IoT-based solutions for smart cities (EENE)

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

• Tencent Holdings to buy back 10 per cent of shares to shore up stock price (SCMP)
• As Facebook looks to WeChat, China’s digital world is wowing the West, and globalisation is no longer a one-way street (SCMP)

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

• Artificial Intelligence Should Boost Amazon Stock, Analyst Says (Barron’s)
• Alphabet and Apple take divergent paths in health; Drug companies bet technology can revolutionise the $65bn market for clinical trials (FT)
• When it comes to disclosing sponsors, your Google Assistant may be mute (Reuters)
• Unfazed by trade war, Google collaborates with Huawei on health care AI initiative; Huawei’s new Track AI product for diagnosing eye conditions was built with Google’s TensorFlow software (SCMP)

Asia Tech & Innovation Trends

• Startups power Shenzhen’s rise as high-tech hub; City produces more than half of China’s international patent filings (Nikkei)
• Digital Manufacturing Has A China Dilemma (Forbes)
• China drone maker EHang delays IPO plan, eyes private funding: sources (Reuters)
• How Japan’s Aging Society Paves The Way For The Era Of Digital Health Care (Forbes)
• EV battery sector emerges as S. Korea’s new growth engine (Investor)
• Jio Health combines online and offline healthcare in Southeast Asia, starting in Vietnam (TC)
• Now Zomato users can order from Bulandshahr, Rewari, Gurdaspur, others as food delivery expands to 213 cities (FE)
• Brisbane startup Explorate wants to become the shipping industry’s answer to Webjet (CM)
• S. family tracking app Life360 seeks investors for Australia IPO (Reuters)

Global Tech & Innovation Trends

• Minority Report-style crime prevention with artificial intelligence is fast becoming reality (SCMP)
• On-Demand Startups Are Hemorrhaging Tens of Billions a Year (Bloomberg)
• SambaNova Systems, A Startup In The Hot AI Hardware Space, Scores $150 Million Investment From Intel And Alphabet (Forbes)
• Schwab Subscription Move Could Change the Game (MW)
• Why New Technologies Take Decades to Change the Economy (Barron’s)
• Financial Times reaches a million paying readers (Reuters)
• Profit questions throw Lyft shares into reverse; Car-booking group’s stock falls nearly 12% to drop below Friday’s listing (FT)
• How Disney grew its $3 billion Mickey Mouse business-by selling to adults (FastCo)
• Airbnb to invest $100-200 million in India’s OYO – source (Reuters)

Life

• The Shadow Side of Greatness (JC)
• The Outlandish Story Of Ollie’s: A $5 Billion Retail Empire That Sells Nothing Online (But Is Beating Amazon) (Forbes)
• A Convenient Fortune: Soaring Stock Of Circle K’s Parent Company Creates New Billionaire (Forbes)

H.E.R.O.’s Journey in Tech (1 April 2019) – How AI Is Reshaping Healthcare Data; IKEA is getting into the FaaS (Furniture as a Service) game to become the “Netflix of Furniture”

H.E.R.O.’s Journey in Tech (1 April 2019) – How AI Is Reshaping Healthcare Data; IKEA is getting into the FaaS (Furniture as a Service) game to become the “Netflix of Furniture”

Companies

• China’s grocery delivery battle heats up with Meituan’s entry (TC)
• How a Dying Factory Became a Symbol of China’s Tech Might; BOE builds OLED display capacity for foldable smartphones (Bloomberg)
• Rakuten to book $990m profit from Lyft IPO (Nikkei)

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

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

• Google’s Revived Robotics Department Prioritizes Powerful AI; Fewer humanoid robots, more sophisticated software. (Futurism)
• How Netflix plans on owning your kids’ screen time; Inside the streaming giant’s modest-looking but no less ambitious animation studio. (FastCo)

Asia Tech & Innovation Trends

• Chinese tech faces an innovation reality check as the economy cools and start-ups stumble; Even after a banner year for venture capital funding, some investors predict that as many as 90 per cent of Chinese tech start-ups are doomed to fail (SCMP)
• Missing Unicorns Cast Doubt on Shanghai’s Tech Dream (Bloomberg)
• South Korea’s burned out millennials choose YouTube over Samsung (Reuters)
• Why Yatra doesn’t intend to go back to TV; The online travel aggregator was the first in its category to sign on Bollywood celebrities for big-bang advertisements, but says the medium turned into a double-edged sword (Forbes); Yatra’s eventful trip from buyer to buyout target (Forbes)
• Nykaa on its way to become the next billion-dollar Indian company (BS)
• Chasing the dream of seamless public-private transportation, Grab launches ‘trip planner’ in Jakarta; Rival Go-Jek pioneered a link up with Jakarta’s public bus network in 2015 but dropped the feature again (KRA)

Global Tech & Innovation Trends

• How AI Is Reshaping Healthcare Data (CBI)
• IKEA is getting into the FaaS (Furniture as a Service) game; IKEA Is Betting Millennials Would Rather Rent Furniture Than Own It (Barron’s)
• Artificial intelligence group DeepMind readies first commercial product; Device can diagnose a range of eye diseases in real time as accurately as the best specialists (FT)
• WeWork’s $1.9 Billion Loss Is A Typical Tech Bubble 2.0 Story (ZH); On-demand companies rewired our lives. Now they must survive Wall Street (CNN)
• If Only Blockbuster had Listened to Enron …How Blockbuster Blew a Chance to Dominate Video-On-Demand. (Medium)
• Robot ‘natural selection’ recombines into something totally new (Wired)
• When a rose is not a rose: Defining the theme of robotics, automation & AI (RG)
• 5G: Transforming Tomorrow with the Power of Data (RG)
• End of arm tooling: The secret sauce of collaborative applications (TRR)
• How Big Tech Is Finally Tackling Cybersecurity (CBI)
• 50 Future Unicorns (CBI)
• How the post Google, Facebook era could be ‘golden age’ for media (Age)

Life

• 4 practical facts about the human brain that can help you cultivate emotional resilience (FastCo)