Hey Snackers,
It seems like everything is in short supply these days, from computer chips to cars and workers. Girl Scouts are having the opposite problem: 15M boxes of unsold cookies.
While Girl Scouts handled mountains of Samoas, the Fed handled inflation concerns. Stocks fell after the central bank indicated it expects higher interest rates by 2023, sooner than previously projected.
Can't be a backseat driver... when there's no frontseat driver. Waymo is the self-driving vehicle startup that was born out of Google's "moonshot factory." Google’s most successful moonshot is still a money-loser — but not when it comes to venture cash:
Waymo money... still problems. Waymo has driven millions of miles on public roads across the US. But Waymo and other self-driving companies have been criticized for moving slower than expected with commercialization. GM's Cruise, Tesla, and even Apple are all working on fully self-driving vehicles — in 2019, Elon said that self-driving robotaxis would be ready... last year. As of this month, Waymo has a big wheel up over the competition:
Niche products need mainstream roads... Waymo has something that its biggest competitor Cruise doesn’t: a maps app with 1B+ users. By integrating Waymo into Maps alongside providers like Uber, Lyft, and Lime, Google can "mainstream-ify" robotaxis. It could compete on pricing with OG rides, and even integrate Waymo One directly into Maps to reduce friction (cue: potential antitrust issues). It could also weave Waymo into other parts of its biz — like: Google Pay and Google Home for seamless booking.
An Apple a day... keeps the Apple doctor close. Since 2016, Apple has been secretly working on an ambitious healthcare project (code name: Casper). In 2019, CEO Tim Cook predicted that Apple’s greatest contribution to mankind “will be about health.” People were like: "????." Now it (kind of) makes sense. According to the WSJ:
Spoiler... It's not going great. Besides allowing you to track your steps, the Fruit's health efforts have mostly flopped so far. It's not the only tech giant racing into the $4T healthcare industry — and others are facing hurdles, too:
Apple wants to make the next big platform… for our bodies. But that could take a while. With iPhones, iPads, and MacBooks, Apple built an ecosystem for our minds (reality: endless TikTok scrolling). Watch is Apple’s big bet on an always-on platform for tracking your health. Getting the data is Step 1. If Apple can track it reliably and put it to good use, it could snag its next massive opportunity.
Authors of this Snacks own shares of: Apple, Google, and Amazon
ID: 1689276