Disney announced earnings this week, beating analystsâ expectations with strong performance across almost all of the companyâs business lines. I was particularly impressed by Disney+, which added nearly 12M subscribers despite raising prices.
The graph above (courtesy of Chartr) does an excellent job of illustrating why Disney+ stands out - the subscriber growth looks exponential compared to both market leader Netflix and newer entrants like HBO Max.
In an increasingly crowded streaming landscape, Disney+âs focus on kids & family is a differentiator. Disney not only has the strongest content library for this audience (with 85 years of movies!), but has proven an ability to create new đĽ content for streaming - like WandaVision, The Mandalorian, and Encanto.
Consumers are getting increasingly frustrated by the fragmentation of streaming services, and I expect to see some consolidation in this space (Iâm looking at you, Paramount+). But I see continued growth in Disney+âs future đŽ
news đŁ
đ Uber bounces back. Uber also reported earnings this week, impressing investors with an 83% YoY increase in revenue. The companyâs mobility business is approaching pre-pandemic levels, while delivery continues to see strong growth (and was EBITDA positive for the first time). Uberâs star-studded Super Bowl ad teasers, which highlight the companyâs expansion beyond food into other delivery products, are worth a watch - âUber Donât Eatsâ is a catchy slogan.
đ´ Peloton gets a new CEO. It was a rocky week for Peloton. The company announced a plan to cut costs and improve margins, which unfortunately included layoffs of 2,800 employees. Co-founder and CEO John Foley also stepped down - he was replaced by Barry McCarthy, the former CFO of Spotify and Netflix.
If youâre curious about Pelotonâs potential path to recovery, Iâd recommend checking out this presentation from activist investor Blackwells Capital (though maybe not if you work at McKinsey đŹ).
đ° DOJ charges âCrypto Couple.â Remember the 2016 hack of crypto exchange Bitfinex? The Feds arrested the couple allegedly responsible for stealing ~120K BTC (now worth $4.5B), and seized the remaining $3.6B in assets. Ilya Lichtenstein drew attention for being a former YC founder, but I found Heather Morgan more interesting - sheâs not only an amateur rapper and TikTok micro-influencer, but also a Forbes contributor. It goes without saying that Netflix is making a documentary about this!
MoviePass has returned from the dead đ˛! Founder Stacy Spikes, back at the helm after buying the company in bankruptcy court, announced the re-launch this week.
MoviePass 2.0 has a different vision - Spikes intends to build an âend to end cinematic marketplace powered by Web 3 technology.â Itâs unclear exactly what this means (more detail here), but the company is gauging interest in a crowdfunding campaign.
what iâm following đ
How Bored Ape Yacht Club members are licensing their NFTs.
Bumble made its first acquisition - Gen Z dating app Fruitz!
Why some tech companies are paying candidates for interviews.
Interested in SoCal startups? Check out the California Crescent Fundâs newsletter - itâs a student-run fund investing in student startups.
Biz Carson wrote an interesting profile on Sequoiaâs Roelof Botha, covering topics like how he became a public company CFO at 28 and why he almost quit venture.
This week, NFTs landed on two new creator platforms: OnlyFans and PearPop!Â
OnlyFansâ NFT integration is similar to Twitterâs - creators can add an NFT as their profile picture. But instead of uploading a screenshot, the NFT is verified with a link to the assetâs OpenSea page.
PearPop (a marketplace for creators to match with brands) launched a more complex NFT integration. Pearproof, the companyâs new product, allows creators to turn social posts into NFTs. As the post generates more engagement, the NFT âlevels upâ - giving owners access to special rewards from the creator.Â
Iâm interested to see which web2 social platforms successfully introduce NFTs. On one hand, creators could be an excellent channel for helping crypto go mainstream. The use case is compelling, as Iâve previously written about - many fans feel like theyâve âinvestedâ in a creator, and some spend hours each week (if not more!) engaging in fan communities. NFTs could help them get rewarded for this.Â
On the other hand, Gen Zers have been significantly less likely than millennials to buy NFTs. Theyâre concerned with the perceived environmental impact and donât like the high gas fees. Iâve also noticed a strong cultural distaste among Gen Zers for âcrypto brosâ - Discord, for example, received a shocking amount of pushback when it hinted at further NFT integrations.Â
Do you own any NFTs?
jobs đ
Cold Start - Ops Analyst (Remote)
First Round Capital - Research Lead* (SF)
Flexport - Biz Ops Associate (SF)
Emerson Collective - Associate, Growth Investing (Bay Area)
a16z - Seed Startup School Program Coordinator (Menlo Park)
Sequoia Capital - Associate, Customer Partnerships* (Menlo Park)
Kingdom Supercultures - Chief of Staff (Brooklyn)
Techstars - Investment Associate (NYC)
Orchard - Associate Product Manager (NYC, Austin)
Zenda Capital - Investment Analyst (Miami)
*Requires 3+ years of experience.
internships đ
Intern Scale - Software Engineering Interns (Remote) - Intern Scale matches interns with startups in their partner network!
thredUP - Community Marketing Intern (Remote)
Patch - MBA Advanced Analytics Intern (Remote)
Work-Bench - VC Intern (Remote)
Redesign Health - Growth Marketing Intern (Remote)
Flexport - Technical PM Intern (SF)
WhatsApp - MBA Market Specialist Intern (Menlo Park)
Cisco - MBA M&A and Venture Investments Intern (San Jose)
PayPal - Ventures Intern (San Jose)
Moonfare - Strategy & BD Intern (NYC)
Accelerate - Ops Intern (NYC)
puppy of the week đś
Meet Luna, a two-year-old Siberian Husky who lives in NYC.
She enjoys playing in the snow, hanging out with her friends at the park, and just generally being a queen đ
Follow her on Instagram @to.la.luna.and.back!
Hi! đ Iâm Justine Moore, an early stage consumer & SMB investor. Iâm currently Head of GTM at Canal. Thanks for reading Accelerated. Iâd love your feedback - feel free to tweet me @venturetwins.