👀 Why Apple Vision Pro Flopped, Stripe Decoupled, and TikTok Banned

Deep Dives / Resources 💬

1. Curated insights from Robert Greene’s work (multiple best-selling author): X post (1.6m views)
   

   
   

2. 30 Mental Models to Add to Your Thinking Toolbox, by Ann Laure Le Cunff: Free 6-pager

   

3. Access over 4500+ Mentors for Free (or become a Mentor to give back): Mentoring Club
   

News & Trends 📢

1. Stripe is decoupling its payments service from its fintech stack

   Stripe is the silverback gorilla in the payments space - having processed over $1 trillion in payments last year. It is now decoupling its payments service - which means customers can sign up to other services without being forced to use its payments facility. This modularisation is set to increase Stripe’s customer base and also allow the firm to more easily distribute upcoming upgrades (e.g. AI risk tools and embedded finance). More on why + impact: [Link]

   
   

2. How India’s richest billionaire (worth $100b+) is undercutting Netflix and Amazon ruthlessly

    
   

3. Can the Apple Vision Pro be considered a flop? Apple is slashing its demand forecast substantially

   Less than 3 months after launch, Apple is slashing its sales forecast by around half for 2024 and 2025. Most commentators are not surprised - given the $3500 price tag and reports of discomfort and lack of key apps. Some are calling the Vision Pro “the best marketing” for Meta’s $500 VR headset, Quest 3. This comparison review on YouTube has gone viral: Vision Pro vs Quest 3

   
   

   

4. Meta tumbles by a whopping 18% in a day, losing over $200b after investors spooked by Zuckerberg’s comments

   
   

5. Microsoft pulls its new “Dumbledore” AI model from the internet due to concerns around it “being toxic”

   

   
   

6. US govt to TikTok: “Divest in a year or you are banned!”

   

   The US has ordered China-based Bytedance, TikTok’s parent company, to divest TikTok within a year, or face a ban in the US. The US represents a major chunk of revenue and creator content for TikTok - around 70% of all US youth have a TikTok account. The path ahead remains unclear, especially given a potential lack of qualified buyers.
   TikTok CEO Shou Chew responds in force via a TikTok video 
   

7. Stanford researchers claim that AI can now predict political beliefs by simply scanning your face