Nuggies
Volume 09 - We're In the "$1500 for a Mirror" Stage of the Business Cycle
Thursday, July 2nd, 2020
Welcome to the ninth edition of Nuggies, an email newsletter that aggregates articles and commentary on business, economics, startups, and more, in bite-sized nuggets sent right to your email weekly. Created by and for college students.
Our quote of the week comes from Sun Tzu, “Opportunities multiply as they are seized”
This Week’s Articles:
Lululemon to Buy Mirror, a Fitness Start-Up, for $500 Million, New York Times
This article covers some exciting news from the mergers and acquisitions (M&A) space. Lululemon is buying Mirror, which sells a wall-mounted mirror/fitness machine, for $500 million. This will bolster Lululemon’s access to the content creation space, provide another means to market their clothing, and help them build community and loyalty with their customers. On top of that, Mirror is projected to pull in $100 million in revenue this year, and will likely turn a profit in 2021.
Read it here
Why Venture Capital Doesn’t Build the Things We Really Need, MIT Technology Review
This article takes an honest look at venture capital (VC), an industry that many have come to adore, to determine why it seems to only churn out flashy software companies. It looks at how VC is dominated by white men who are looking for white male founders who are building a product with a huge market opportunity. In this model, ideas that are less mainstream or less compatible with VC’s traditional company archetype fail to get funding. It’s a must-read for anyone interested in the VC space and the future of innovation in the US. If we keep funding the “Uber for this” or “Uber for that”, America will lose its spot on the forefront of global innovation.
Read it here
Goldman Sachs Says a National Mask Mandate Could Slash Infections and Save Economy from a 5% Hit, CNBC
Maybe Americans will listen if Goldman Sachs tells them to wear masks. In light of the recent surges in coronavirus cases, it is looking like a second wave of lockdowns is nearly inevitable. Investment bank Goldman Sachs, however, just issued a report that said a national mask mandate could save the economy from a 5% GDP hit. Their reasoning is that the reduction of infections spurred by this mandate would mean less severe lockdowns, if any at all, which will save us from losing productivity.
Read it here
This Week’s Tweets:
This Week’s Wildcard (an extra, interesting nugget):
Y Combinator is one of the most prestigious startup accelerators in the world. This week’s wildcard is their startup playbook, written by their president, Sam Altman. It's a super digestible, fun, and casual read if you’re interested in what makes a good startup.
https://playbook.samaltman.com/
This Week’s Question:
One of the exciting things about Mirror is the new channel to partner with influencers and content creators to build more personalized and engaging experiences. What are some industries that could be transformed through hardware-enabled content sharing (like Mirror or Peloton did with fitness)?
What are we listening to this week?:
This week the clouds are gone, our windows are down, our feet our up, and Mac DeMarco is spinning. This Old Dog is a classic album for a day at the park, a long summer drive, or waxing your surfboard on the beach.
Thank you for reading! Nuggies is created by Thomas Pero and Spencer Koehl, two undergraduate students at the University of Notre Dame.
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