Nuggies: Mormon Silicon Valley & Dancing Markets
If you figure out what a monopoly is, please let us know.
Thursday, July 30th, 2020
Welcome to the 13th 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 legendary investor Warren Buffett, “Whether we’re talking about socks or stocks, I like buying quality merchandise when it is marked down.”
This Week’s Articles:
How Mormons Built the Next Silicon Valley While No One Was Looking, Adam Bluestein
This article takes a long-winded, expository look at the surprising startup ecosystem in Salt Lake City, Utah, which is dominated by Mormons. Although in most cases a thriving startup ecosystem outside of California or New York would be a great thing, Utah’s long Mormon history complicates things.
This article walks through a brief history of the startup ecosystem in Utah, how it came to be, what it looks like today, and some major implications. It’s long, but definitely worth a read.
Read it here
Investors Can’t Stop Dancing to the Market’s Tune, Bloomberg
On paper, you’d be crazy to invest in this market: valuations (compared to earnings) are at historic highs despite the fact that the economy is in recession. But when you consider the massive amounts of government stimulus and exceptionally low interest rates, there seems to be a case to invest. This quick article breaks down this relationship. If you have any questions—at all—about the current state of the markets and what is going on, this is a must read.
Read it here
The Antitrust Hearing, The Role of Congress, CEO Questions, Stratechery
In case you missed, yesterday the chief executives of Amazon, Apple, Google, and Facebook testified in front of congress over anti-trust concerns. In Stratechery, Ben Thompson argues for new laws tailored specifically to internet companies rather than trying to apply old anti-trust frameworks to modern companies. The article also includes relevant questions for each company.
Read it here
Auto Makers Rethink the Car With Swivel Seats, Self-Cleaning Buttons and Window Art, The Wall Street Journal
In non-Tesla auto news, this article provides a really cool glimpse into the future of what cars may look like once autonomous driving becomes mainstream. Volvo’s existing project imagines four configurations for cars in the future: the office, the living room, the party car, and the sleeping car.
Read it here
This Week’s Tweets:
This Week’s Wildcard (an extra, interesting nugget):
This Week’s Wildcard is a slide from a Blockbuster investor presentation in 2007. Looks like someone blew their 60-7 lead.
This Week’s Question:
How should regulators approach big tech? What is more important— protecting consumers or encouraging competition?
What are we listening to this week?:
This week we’re listening to No Pressure, Logic’s final album.
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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