🚀 Battle of the Birds
Plus, which nostalgic online games are making a comeback?
Uber reported Q3 earnings this week, and published an interesting graph ⬆️ on the breakdown of gross bookings between mobility (ridesharing) vs. delivery (Eats).
Ridesharing is beginning to bounce back from COVID lockdowns, with 63% YoY growth in bookings. But food delivery, which was just a fraction of the company’s business pre-COVID, is still dominant.
While Uber’s expansion into food delivery was a prescient move, DoorDash is the undisputed leader in the space (with double the market share). All eyes will be on DoorDash’s earnings this week - stay tuned for updates!
news 📣
🛴 Return of the scooters. E-scooter startups are back in action! Bird went public via SPAC and is now trading at a market cap of $2.5B. The company’s revenue dropped 37% in 2020 due to COVID, but it expects a rebound to nearly $200M this year. Meanwhile, Lime raised $523M (convertible debt + loans). The company is doubling down on decarbonization, and plans to go public in 2022.
👟 Allbirds IPOs. D2C brand Allbirds had a successful public debut this week. After pricing above its initial range, the stock popped 91% on the first day of trading. The company ended the week at a $3.8B market cap, a substantial uptick from its last private round (at a $1.7B valuation). Another win? Allbirds managed to snag the ticker symbol $BIRD - scooter company Bird had to take $BRDS.
🤳 Pinterest gets into TV. Pinterest is launching a live shopping show! A new episode will air on the company’s app every weekday at 6pm ET. We don’t have too many details yet, but it sounds like the show will include a mix of celebrities and Pinterest creators. Keep an eye out for Friday’s episodes, which will feature exclusive products and special discounts from brands like Patagonia and Allbirds.
📊 Earnings updates. Earnings season continues - this week’s news:
Peloton plunged this week after a tough earnings report. As lockdowns lift, demand for at-home workouts seems to be softening - hardware revenue fell 17% YoY, and existing subscribers are less active.
Airbnb, meanwhile, reported the highest revenue and net income in the company’s history as travel bounces back. Interestingly, long term stays (28+ days) continue to be Airbnb’s fastest growing category.
Etsy exceeded analysts’ expectations, proving that it could retain the new customers who came to the platform for masks. As the holidays approach, Etsy is focused on being a gifting destination with fast and reliable shipping.
Zillow announced the end of its iBuyer business this week. To recap - the company started buying homes in 2018, with the vision of renovating + selling them for a profit (other players in this space include Opendoor, Offerpad, and Redfin).
But Zillow has struggled to flip homes due to labor shortages and supply chain issues. The company has also been unable to accurately predict future home prices, resulting in substantial earnings volatility. Several analyses suggest that Zillow frequently overpaid for properties and sold the majority for a loss in its largest markets.
The only bright spot? The company now needs to unload nearly 20,000 homes - this could present an opportunity for savvy buyers looking for deals 👀.
what i’m following 👀
Some thoughts from Olivia on the rise of the “expertise economy.”
Millennials are returning to Neopets - and are confronted with the demise of Flash.
In other nostalgic game news, FarmVille is back!
NYC’s new mayor has pledged to take his first three paychecks in Bitcoin.
Femstreet’s Sarah Noeckel on how to leverage community-led growth.
Ever wonder how much you’d make as an influencer? Karat Financial (which makes business cards for creators) released a new analysis on the monetary value of a follower.
Karat’s data comes from creators making high six figures, so your results may vary. However, I’m guessing it’s directionally accurate for most creators - TikTok and YouTube followers are worth substantially less than those on IG.
Why? The Karat team suggests that IG is the best platform for creators to sell their own products/services, which can be more lucrative than ads. I’ll be sharing thoughts on the differences between social apps in the next few days - follow me for more!
jobs 🎓
DoorDash - Associate Product Manager (Various)
Positive Sum - Head of Ops (Remote)
Truepill - Associate Product Manager (Remote, SF)
Patreon - Creator Programs Associate* (SF)
Amplify Partners - Associate (Bay Area)
Minted - Rotational Associate, New Product Development (SF)
Parafin - Biz Ops & Strategy Lead* (SF)
Roblox - Corp Dev Associate (San Mateo)
TikTok - Product Specialist, Creator Tools (LA)
Vise - Chief of Staff (NYC)
Temasek - Consumer Investment Associate (NYC)
*Requires 3+ years of experience.
internships 📝
Cowboy Ventures - Winter Intern (Remote)
Reddit - Data Science Intern (Remote)
Comet - Growth Intern (Remote)
Well Health - Winter BD Intern (Remote, Santa Barbara)
Comet - Growth Intern (Remote, SF)
Wing - Program Management Intern (Palo Alto)
Bytedance - Product Ops Intern (Mountain View)
Apple - Winter BD Analyst Intern (Cupertino)
NTWRK - Marketing Intern (LA)
BCG Digital Ventures - MBA PM Intern (Manhattan Beach)
Duolingo - Biz Ops & Strategy Intern (Pittsburgh)
cow of the week 🐮
Meet Elsie, a Highland cow who lives in the Wiltshire countryside (in England).
She enjoys playing soccer, hanging out with her sheep friends, and getting pats.
You can follow her on Instagram @elsiethehighlandcow!
Hi! 👋 I’m Justine Moore, an early stage consumer & SMB investor. I’m currently Head of GTM at Canal. Thanks for reading Accelerated. I’d love your feedback - feel free to tweet me @venturetwins.