6/17 TBC Insider Digest
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Insider Digest 6/17/21: Didi IPO, Semiconductor Big Fund, Content Platform Update, Cross Border Ecommerce, Unicorns
Housekeeping: We have another Zoom chat with Andy Tian of Asia Innovations, the company behind several hit live social apps outside of China, such as Uplive and Lamour. Basically … he was early in taking the Chinese playbook and exporting it abroad. The company was founded almost a decade ago and is at a pre-IPO stage. The link is the same Zoom we usually use and the time is 6-7PM PST Wednesday June 23! (Asia time Thurs 6/24 9-10AM)
Freya can send you a calendar invite if you email or DM her.
See you tomorrow Friday 6/12 6-6:45 AM PST / 9-9:45PM Asia time for our weekly chat on Zoom!
I only did a very superficial overview of Didi’s numbers here. The revenues, as you probably know by now, are presented differently from Uber / Lyft and so cannot be compared directly. I mostly spent time going over the antitrust history of Didi and decided that it is most likely going to be investigated. Luckily, it seems that I’m right, as Reuters is already reporting an investigation …
March 2021: Results from China's Semiconductor Big Fund I
Despite being an EECS major, I’m a bit of a newb when it comes to semiconductors. Anyway, it’s increasingly clear that while I’m probably never going to be an expert, I must at least acquire some basic competency as it is such a large part of the narrative these days. If you are in the same boat, you should at least read the first part of this post, so that you know what the famed national Big Fund’s strategy is. Hint: it’s not to invest in up and coming technologies, but to fortify existing strengths.
April 2021 Quest Mobile Update on Content Platforms
One of the more interesting questions in consumer internet these days is which model will win, Kuaishou or Douyin, and are they even really all that different? This Quest Mobile report, in my opinion, kinda makes the case that they are. Aside from demographics (Kuaishou is still stubbornly rural), statistics on how much engagement top creators get on the respective platforms and how much they create are actually noticeably different.
2021 Cross Border Ecommerce Trends & Opportunities
This will probably get updated a bit more as I consolidate more learnings, but with the success of Shein, it made me think about — what’s next? The below chart coincides with what many operators are telling me — furnishings, maternity, and pets are some places where they’re seeing lots of opportunity (and lots of action) when it comes to new brand creation. Can they apply the same book as Shein? I’m still thinking through that … what’s your reaction?
Unicorns: US vs. China
This was really just for fun. But I bet you didn’t guess that the US has birthed 132 unicorns so far this year!
Other Posts
Steven wants to know more about Plant Based Meat in China
Anton wrote a very detailed post on Xiaomi's IP strategy head interview - Technology licensing and implications of keeping Chinese electronics firms out of the US.
Welcome to our new members:
Hi from Lindsay (San Francisco) Product analyst in AI
Lawrence from Singapore research analyst covering Asian equities
Linda - based in SG a VC / growth investor working for an European family office
Anthony - analyst and partner at Alium Capital based in Sydney
That’s it! Please check the forums for amazing contributions from our members and join the WhatsApp group!
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