Thursday Dec.26, 2019

Travis ubers into the sunset

_"The limit for online orders does not exist"_
_"The limit for online orders does not exist"_

Hey Snackers,

Because you maybe/probably/definitely forgot someone yesterday, last-minute subscription gifts should be your post-Snacks move (we all know a "monthly succulent delivery" kinda person).

Stocks chilled near record highs over the Christmas day off while Uber was busy moving a in different direction (more below).

Out

Uber's co-founder and ex-CEO has sold all his Uber stock (and quit the board)

Travis don't want a lot for Christmas... There is just one thing Travis needs: 100% separating himself from his old company. Former Uber CEO Travis Kalanick just made 2 major holiday moves:

  • The money: Ever since the "lockup period" ended on Nov 6th, allowing pre-IPO Uber shareholders to sell their stock, Travis has gradually sold his $2.7B worth. He's now a 0% owner of the company he once defined.
  • The power: Although he hasn't been CEO since getting ousted in 2017 (more on that below), he has remained a board member — He's stepping down from that corporate jedi council on Dec 31st.

Less super pumped... Travis founded Uber in 2009, leading it to become the most valuable private tech startup in the US (its peak value was $68B). But he lost his CEO-ship in 2017 and wasn't even invited to ring the bell on IPO day this May. Three issues caused his CEO-ousting:

  1. Scandal: That secret "Greyball" software it used to evade government regulators who were trying to study (and potentially stop) Uber.
  2. Culture: A bro-tastic workplace environment that was reported to ignore sexual harrassment complaints.
  3. #DeleteUber: Those first 2 (along with a seemlingly constant flow of negative PR) allowed rival Lyft to snag some of Uber's share of the ride-hail market.

"...To focus on his new business..." Those are the critical words we noticed in Travis' press release. His new startup, CloudKitchens, is a spinoff idea from Uber Eats: Renting out fully-equiped kitchen space for restaurants that only deliver. He's pouring his own $$$ (and $400M from Saudi Arabia) into the idea. This holiday breakup with Uber isn't just personal — it's also his bet on the future of food logistics.

Order

To adapt to never-ending ecommerce demand, warehouses are evolving

Packages that magically appear at your door... are actually the result of a million scrambling parts. While it only takes a few clicks to order something online, America's shipping infrastructure can only handle so many packages — and one element of the ecommerce supply chain is getting stretched extra hard: Warehouses.

Your tiny pack of toilet paper takes up prime real estate... Warehouses store the TP on the way to you, but there's hardly enough space for that. We've added 1B-square-feet of warehouses in America since 2013, but vacancy at the "hotel" where your packages chill before coming to you has hit an all-time low. And the price for warehouse space keeps rising.

Ecommerce is starting to change how cities are built... And you know we need a better urban design strategy when Old Navy has to partner with Postmates to deliver last-minute Christmas gifts. Here's what we're already seeing:

  • "The Airbnb for warehousing": Startups CubeWork, Flexe, and Flowspace offer up short-term space for retailers that need to deliver.
  • Delivery districts: DC is experimenting with entire package drop-off zones (nothing builds traffic like double-parked delivery trucks).
  • Vertical warehouses: The first 3-story warehouse in Seattle is now transforming deliveries from days to hours (a 4-story one is heading to Brooklyn).
  • Extra-vertical warehouses: Asia already has 20-story warehouses.

What else we’re Snackin’

  • Out: Nike's new $110 "True to 7" Colin Kaepernick shoe (with his silhoutte on the back) is already sold out. On day #1. Gone.
  • MPH: China's 1st high-speed railway IPO is approved to happen in Shanghai early next year (and it's already profitable)
  • Space Santa: What it's like to spend Christmas in space (wonder if zero-gravity cookies are also zero-calorie cookies...)
  • Ding: BMW is under investigation for "Sales Punching": When you get a dealer to register cars as "sold" even when they're still on lots, making your sales numbers look 👍
  • Streamerging: T-Mobile considered merging with cable giant Comcast, according to internal documents

Thursday

Disclosure: Authors of this Snacks own shares of Uber

ID: 1044732

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