H.E.R.O.’s Journey in Tech (13 May 2019) – Gates’s Law: How Progress Compounds and Why It Matter

May 13, 2019 Leave a comment

H.E.R.O.’s Journey in Tech (13 May 2019) – Gates’s Law: How Progress Compounds and Why It Matter

Companies

  • Pinduoduo wants you to buy a product together with 9,999 strangers; Pinduoduo is spending big bucks hoping to kickstart a new social shopping frenzy (KRA)
  • Chinese social apps Momo, Tantan and DingTalk suspend user posts amid government crackdown; Tantan is China’s biggest dating platform, with 90 million registered users and six million daily active users (SCMP)
  • So Young, More Beautiful – The Allure of China’s Plastic Surgery Market (PD)
  • Fanuc to build new plant to harness 5G and self-driving demand; Robot maker to invest $28m to mass-produce equipment for high-end lenses (Nikkei)
  • Delta to invest up to NT$13bn in Taiwan (TT)

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

  • Lazada extends e-commerce edge in Southeast Asia despite lull in overall visits to site; The Alibaba-backed e-commerce company scored the highest average monthly active users in Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand and Singapore (SCMP)
  • Tencent links up with the State Grid of China to build industrial internet infrastructure for the power sector (KRA)
  • Despite propaganda concerns, Tencent launches subscription-based video streaming app in Taiwan (KRA)
  • Masa’s $100 Billion Fund Plays a Game of Hot Potato; The trick in venture capital is finding someone to buy your stake for more than you paid. A listing would grant new sources of cash. (Bloomberg); SoftBank’s Market Value Slides $9 Billion as Uber IPO Flops (Bloomberg)
  • Apple Partner TSMC Starts Building Chips for the Next Generation of iPhones (Bloomberg)

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

  • Facebook files lawsuit against South Korea data analytics group; Social network says case against Rankwave relates to misuse of ad and marketing services (FT)
  • TV networks emerge as obstacles on YouTube’s hunt for ads (Reuters)
  • Amazon rolls out machines that pack orders and replace jobs (Reuters)

Asia Tech & Innovation Trends

  • Douyin competitor Kuaishou targets USD 4 billion in revenue and profitability in 2019 (KRA)
  • Fashion platform Mogu connects livestreamers and brands (TN)
  • China’s ‘data doors’ scoop up information straight from your phone; The security screeners scan more than your face, picking up MAC addresses and IMEI numbers (SCMP)
  • METI and JETRO to boost e-commerce support for Japanese firms via Japan Mall websites (JT)
  • Hotstar, Disney’s Indian streaming service, sets new global record for live viewership (TC)
  • India’s most popular services are becoming super apps; Companies like Paytm and Amazon bundle other services to give users an all-in-one experience (TC)

Global Tech & Innovation Trends

  • Markets Are 10X Bigger Than Ever (EG)
  • Bosch goes for platinum-light fuel cells (Reuters)
  • What’s next for the Marvel Cinematic Universe? Avengers: Endgame is not really the end. Spider-Man, Black Panther, Guardians and more-here’s a comprehensive list-and possibilities-of what’s coming at you from the superhero stables (Forbes)
  • MuleSoft chases Aussie transformation mania (AFR)
  • The investor who turned down Uber at a $5m valuation; ‘Aargh’ says Mark Suster, who went to Open Angel Forum in 2010 (FT)
  • As TV Industry’s $20 Billion Week Starts, Signs That Streaming Isn’t King Yet; The so-called upfronts are traditional television’s annual hype-fest, and a way locking advertisers into lucrative deals. They’re also a reminder of the medium’s continuing relevance (NYT)
  • AI arms race risks rise of uncontrollable killer robots; US, China and Russia poised to field unmanned weapons before global rules take shape (Nikkei)
  • Uber Is Too Mature and Immature; It has the hallmarks of a slowing, established company and the unprofitable economics of an upstart, making it hard for investors to love. (Bloomberg); Morgan Stanley Got Rich Clients Into Uber. Then the IPO Stumbled (Bloomberg)
  • French start-up targets hi-tech anti-pollution mask at Asia’s health-conscious consumers; Founder says US$220 price tag should not deter consumers who value their health above all else. (SCMP)

Life

  • Gates’s Law: How Progress Compounds and Why It Matters (FS)
  • Police arrest Kangde Xin’s major shareholder in a show of force to support regulator’s crackdown on corporate malfeasance; Police arrested Zhong Yu, the major shareholder and former chairman of Kangde Xin, after its auditor refused to sign off on the listed company’s cash position (SCMP)
  • Best World confirms allegations that CEO’s brother-in-law owns main customer in China (ST)
  • Degrees of Confidence (MH)
  • What Does It Mean to Be Great? Not What You Think. (ZR)

Filed under Innovation

About bambooinnovator
Kee Koon Boon (“KB”) is the co-founder and director of HERO Investment Management which provides specialized fund management and investment advisory services to the ARCHEA Asia HERO Innovators Fund (www.heroinnovator.com), the only Asian SMID-cap tech-focused fund in the industry. KB is an internationally featured investor rooted in the principles of value investing for over a decade as a fund manager and analyst in the Asian capital markets who started his career at a boutique hedge fund in Singapore where he was with the firm since 2002 and was also part of the core investment committee in significantly outperforming the index in the 10-year-plus-old flagship Asian fund. He was also the portfolio manager for Asia-Pacific equities at Korea’s largest mutual fund company. Prior to setting up the H.E.R.O. Innovators Fund, KB was the Chief Investment Officer & CEO of a Singapore Registered Fund Management Company (RFMC) where he is responsible for listed Asian equity investments. KB had taught accounting at the Singapore Management University (SMU) as a faculty member and also pioneered the 15-week course on Accounting Fraud in Asia as an official module at SMU. KB remains grateful and honored to be invited by Singapore’s financial regulator Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) to present to their top management team about implementing a world’s first fact-based forward-looking fraud detection framework to bring about benefits for the capital markets in Singapore and for the public and investment community. KB also served the community in sharing his insights in writing articles about value investing and corporate governance in the media that include Business Times, Straits Times, Jakarta Post, Manual of Ideas, Investopedia, TedXWallStreet. He had also presented in top investment, banking and finance conferences in America, Italy, Sydney, Cape Town, HK, China. He has trained CEOs, entrepreneurs, CFOs, management executives in business strategy & business model innovation in Singapore, HK and China.

Leave a comment