đ Twitter and the battle for "free speech"
đ Twitter and the battle for "free speech"
Plus, announcing our newest investment - Bounce!
trending đ
This weekâs tech news was dominated by one story: Elon Muskâs successful bid for Twitter. After weeks of back-and-forth, Twitterâs board accepted his offer of ~$44B, a 38% premium to the trading price before Musk disclosed his stake in the company.
Unsurprisingly, the announcement generated a lot of controversy. Itâs not often (ever?) that an individual spends this much to purchase a company with their own money, not as a strategic acquisition for an existing business. Jeff Bezos buying The Washington Post felt like a surprise, and that was only a $250 million deal!
Most of the debate centers around Muskâs intentions for Twitter. Heâs publicly stated he believes Twitter censors free speech, and that it should be more politically neutral - a viewpoint that many users agree with. An equally vocal contingent argues that Twitter does enough to protect free speech, and fear that weakening the companyâs content moderation will create an environment where hate speech thrives.
As a side note: underlying the debate about Twitter is a bigger disagreement about what âfree speechâ means. Where do we draw the line of what is and isnât Constitutionally protected?
Musk is also under fire for public statements critical of Twitter employees. In the most notable example, he posted a meme about the companyâs Legal, Policy and Trust Lead (though he didnât mention her name), a move that former Twitter CEO Dick Costolo called as âbullying.â To some, this is par for the course - public figures should expect commentary on their work. Others believe that Musk should be responsible for the barrage of abusive comments that the exec received from his followers.
The core of the issue seems to be this: Musk doesnât behave in the manner weâve come to expect from major CEOs. From a professional perspective, itâs unusual to see someone lead multiple companies at once (Tesla, SpaceX, Neuralink, The Boring Company). Heâs also smoked weed on a podcast, sold $10M in flamethrowers, beefed with other billionaires, and regularly tweets memes. He doesnât play by the rules, and sometimes gets in trouble for it - his infamous âfunding securedâ tweet about taking Tesla private at $420/share created major issues with the SEC.
Some are offended by Muskâs behavior, and / or argue that billionaires simply shouldnât own major tech platforms and media outlets. Others find him refreshingâor at least entertainingâand are optimistic that heâll turn around a business that hasnât quite lived up to its potential. In fact, Twitterâs stock has been basically flat since IPO in 2013. The company ended its first ever day of trading at $44 per share, and is being sold for $54 per share nine years later.
While the Board has approved the acquisition, itâs not done quite yet. CEO Parag Agarwal said on the companyâs All Hands meeting that it could take up to six months for the deal to close. Musk has to finalize the financing - as of now, he plans to pay $21 billion in cash (he sold $8.5B in Tesla stock this week), with an additional $13 billion in debt and $12.5 billion in loans against his Tesla stock. If Teslaâs stock price falls, Musk will have to put up more collateral to meet margin loan requirements.
Whatâs your take on Elon acquiring Twitter?
what weâre following đ
The âmagic metricâ that marketplace companies should be focused on.
Whatâs a good growth rate for your startup?
Snap is getting back into hardware with a new handheld drone.
A look at Netflixâs internal battle over content: how many shows is too many?
đ¨ New investment alert! This week, our team at a16z led the Series A in Bounce, a marketplace for consumers to access underutilized space in local businesses.
Bounceâs first product is luggage storage for travelers. In more than 1,000 cities worldwide, you can find and book a place to leave your bag for the day - and squeeze in some extra sightseeing time! Bounce also recently launched package acceptance. You can use a local business as a Ship-To address, and your package will be safely stored until you are able to pick it up.
These are the first of many services Bounce is launching to make life more flexible for consumers. The company was inspired by CEO Cody Candeeâs two years traveling the world with only a few suitcases. Bounce also generates much-needed income and foot traffic for local businesses, and has paid out more than $1M in revenue to SMBs during COVID.
Weâve been beyond impressed by the Bounce teamâs resilience. The company was almost killed by COVID, with revenues falling 99% overnight in 2020 - but they rebounded to grow almost 40x in 2021. The company now serves more than 10,000 customers per month. If youâre traveling soon, check them out!
Read more from Bounce CEO Cody Candee here and a16z GP Andrew Chen here.
Rough Draft Ventures launched RDV University - a six week summer incubator for student founders in New York. Applications are due 5/20, check it out here!
jobs đ
Bounce - Chief of Staff (Remote)
Affirm - Associate Product Manager (Remote)
TrueNorth - Biz Ops Analyst (Remote)
Roo - Market Launcher* (Remote)
Ribbon - Expansion Ops Associate (Remote)
ARK Investment Management - VC Associate (St. Petersburg, Remote)
Ludlow Ventures - Associate (Various)
Emerson Collective - Healthcare Venture Associate (SF)
Step - Finance & Strategy* (Palo Alto, Remote)
Dandy - Strategy & Special Projects Associate (NYC)
CoâStar - Chief of Staff (NYC)
*Requires 3+ years of experience.
internships đ
a16z - Crypto Intern (Remote)
Vial - Corp Dev Intern (Remote)
Morning Brew - Strategy & Ops Intern (Remote)
Kajabi - Community Engagement Intern (Remote)
Thirty Madison - Marketing Intern (SF)
Kapwing - Growth Marketing Intern (SF)
Checkr - Product Intern (SF)
Poshmark - PM Intern (Redwood City)
Bytedance - Product Ops Intern (Mountain View)
Ritual - MBA Business Development Intern (LA)
Atom Finance - Financial Products Intern (NYC)
puppy of the week đś
Meet Duke, a sixteen-month-old goldendoodle who lives in SF.
He enjoys sourcing new chew toys (from his momâs closet), rolling around at the park, and meeting new hoomans and furriends.
Follow him on Instagram @duke.golden.doodle!
All views are our own. None of the above should be taken as investment advice. See this page for important information.Â
Views expressed in âcontentâ (including posts, podcasts, videos) linked on this website or posted in social media and other platforms (collectively, âcontent distribution outletsâ) are my own and are not the views of AH Capital Management, L.L.C. (âa16zâ) or its respective affiliates. AH Capital Management is an investment adviser registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Registration as an investment adviser does not imply any special skill or training. The posts are not directed to any investors or potential investors, and do not constitute an offer to sell -- or a solicitation of an offer to buy -- any securities, and may not be used or relied upon in evaluating the merits of any investment.
The content should not be construed as or relied upon in any manner as investment, legal, tax, or other advice. You should consult your own advisers as to legal, business, tax, and other related matters concerning any investment. Any projections, estimates, forecasts, targets, prospects and/or opinions expressed in these materials are subject to change without notice and may differ or be contrary to opinions expressed by others. Any charts provided here are for informational purposes only, and should not be relied upon when making any investment decision. Certain information contained in here has been obtained from third-party sources. While taken from sources believed to be reliable, I have not independently verified such information and makes no representations about the enduring accuracy of the information or its appropriateness for a given situation. The content speaks only as of the date indicated.Â
Under no circumstances should any posts or other information provided on this website -- or on associated content distribution outlets -- be construed as an offer soliciting the purchase or sale of any security or interest in any pooled investment vehicle sponsored, discussed, or mentioned by a16z personnel. Nor should it be construed as an offer to provide investment advisory services; an offer to invest in an a16z-managed pooled investment vehicle will be made separately and only by means of the confidential offering documents of the specific pooled investment vehicles -- which should be read in their entirety, and only to those who, among other requirements, meet certain qualifications under federal securities laws. Such investors, defined as accredited investors and qualified purchasers, are generally deemed capable of evaluating the merits and risks of prospective investments and financial matters. There can be no assurances that a16zâs investment objectives will be achieved or investment strategies will be successful. Any investment in a vehicle managed by a16z involves a high degree of risk including the risk that the entire amount invested is lost. Any investments or portfolio companies mentioned, referred to, or described are not representative of all investments in vehicles managed by a16z and there can be no assurance that the investments will be profitable or that other investments made in the future will have similar characteristics or results. A list of investments made by funds managed by a16z is available at https://a16z.com/investments/. Excluded from this list are investments for which the issuer has not provided permission for a16z to disclose publicly as well as unannounced investments in publicly traded digital assets. Past results of Andreessen Horowitzâs investments, pooled investment vehicles, or investment strategies are not necessarily indicative of future results.Â
And let's not forget paying $44 billion to buy Twitter is nothing compared to the ~$500 billion Fiverr package that Mark Zuckerberg spent on his Meta rebranding. Hilarious times, truly.