132: Waymo IPO?, ByteDance CEO, Ford's F150 EV, Cloudflare Ports DOOM to Edge Network, Psilocybin vs Migraine, Mind Germs, Investing Games, and Leave a Comment
132: Waymo IPO?, ByteDance CEO, Ford's F150 EV, Cloudflare Ports DOOM to Edge Network, Psilocybin vs Migraine, Mind Germs, Investing Games, and Leave a Comment
One other idea. Maybe you could put a "comment here" box at the top and bottom of each email that links directly to the comments section. (I think you can do that anyway.) Reduce the friction.
[On Waymo's apparent fumbling and bumbling.] I regard Alphabet to be well run and top notch on execution with most of its efforts. They are not perfect of course, but who is. Waymo management developments are a bit disappointing and troubling.
I am not an expert in this space, but it seems that Waymo and Tesla have the largest leads.
One thought is that Waymo has gone as far as it can within GOOG and spinning it out to an IPO is the best way to get it focused management and accelerate its growth path. [Concept: Do we focus on the trivial many projects or the vital few projects.]
I hope that Sundar and Ruth Porat are considering this Waymo focus now! It would be foolish to waste time on this opportunity for Waymo.
Yeah, I'm unsure what is going on there. They certainly don't want to add capital in it despite the huge cash pile, preferring to raise external capital... Dunno. I'm in wait-and-see mode on Waymo. Lots of very impressive demos over the years, but also kind of lack of forward momentum, it seems.. Hard to tell from the outside ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Yeah. Makes sense. One idea that I had was perhaps the liability protection aspect. Perhaps GOOG wants to IPO it so that they can let it thrive, have focused management, but take the LIABILITY associated with any future autonomous vehicle accidents OFF of GOOG's books. I am pulling all of this out of my ear.. but kinda makes sense.
So, GOOG IPOs Waymo, lets the public market fund it, and there is a firewall between the liability of the car crashes and GOOG. And, GOOG might want a BRAND firewall for the same reason between itself and Waymo. I love the idea of Waymo... love it.. But, not at the risk of GOOG cashflow or public high trust brand.
The IPO/focus thesis makes sense, but at the same time, Alphabet seems to already be pretty much set up as a holding company and Waymo is probably way outside of the core, so I'm not sure if they would get that much focus benefits by spinning out.
Tu es Canadien alors? Quebecois? J'adore le Canada! J'ai pris connaissance de ton compte Twitter grace a Patrick O'shaunassy que je suis religieusement.
Ha! I think my brain was trying too hard to find a reference, now that you mention it, that's probably it...
I saw a little of the recent Doom, but haven't had a chance to play it (except briefly when trying a friend's VR headset, but that's very different since you can't run around to avoid feeling sick).
A great suggestion to comment here instead of a reply via email! I'm also happy to report I've subscribed to the annual paid plan. You've brought me a lot of value over the past few months I feel it's a bargain! Thanks, Liberty!
And yes, I think there's the potential for some cool stuff to happen if more of the emails I get move over to the comments, because I'm sure some of you would get along really well with each other, but email keeps you in silos.
One other idea. Maybe you could put a "comment here" box at the top and bottom of each email that links directly to the comments section. (I think you can do that anyway.) Reduce the friction.
Interesting idea! I just looked, and there's a "leave a comment" button built in the substack CMS that I can use. Could be a good reminder... 🤔
Thanks for the suggestion!
[On Waymo's apparent fumbling and bumbling.] I regard Alphabet to be well run and top notch on execution with most of its efforts. They are not perfect of course, but who is. Waymo management developments are a bit disappointing and troubling.
I am not an expert in this space, but it seems that Waymo and Tesla have the largest leads.
One thought is that Waymo has gone as far as it can within GOOG and spinning it out to an IPO is the best way to get it focused management and accelerate its growth path. [Concept: Do we focus on the trivial many projects or the vital few projects.]
I hope that Sundar and Ruth Porat are considering this Waymo focus now! It would be foolish to waste time on this opportunity for Waymo.
Thoughts?
Yeah, I'm unsure what is going on there. They certainly don't want to add capital in it despite the huge cash pile, preferring to raise external capital... Dunno. I'm in wait-and-see mode on Waymo. Lots of very impressive demos over the years, but also kind of lack of forward momentum, it seems.. Hard to tell from the outside ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Yeah. Makes sense. One idea that I had was perhaps the liability protection aspect. Perhaps GOOG wants to IPO it so that they can let it thrive, have focused management, but take the LIABILITY associated with any future autonomous vehicle accidents OFF of GOOG's books. I am pulling all of this out of my ear.. but kinda makes sense.
So, GOOG IPOs Waymo, lets the public market fund it, and there is a firewall between the liability of the car crashes and GOOG. And, GOOG might want a BRAND firewall for the same reason between itself and Waymo. I love the idea of Waymo... love it.. But, not at the risk of GOOG cashflow or public high trust brand.
The IPO/focus thesis makes sense, but at the same time, Alphabet seems to already be pretty much set up as a holding company and Waymo is probably way outside of the core, so I'm not sure if they would get that much focus benefits by spinning out.
Season 4 of Mad Men is great! The Summer Man is a great episode with Don's journaling. Following the pain of The Suitcase...
Yes! Loved seeing those two again. I had been long enough since my previous watch that lots of the details were delightful to re-discover.
Suitcase is such a classic.
Hi! I love reading your newsletter! Thank you for sharing your insights. It's always entertaining and insightful.
Thank you Sylvie -- I'm going to guess que tu comprends ceci basé sur ton nom. Merci du gentil message, et d'être abonnée. J'apprécie vraiment!
Tu es Canadien alors? Quebecois? J'adore le Canada! J'ai pris connaissance de ton compte Twitter grace a Patrick O'shaunassy que je suis religieusement.
Oui, je suis du Quebec. Je suis aussi fan de Patrick et Jim O’Shaughnessy (son père qui a aussi un exellent podcast et compte Twitter) 👍
I reckon the name simply refers to the fact that the Doomguy never speaks rather than the Alien tagline.
Although there is no nostalgia aspect, Doom 2016 does the series justice and is worth recommending.
Ha! I think my brain was trying too hard to find a reference, now that you mention it, that's probably it...
I saw a little of the recent Doom, but haven't had a chance to play it (except briefly when trying a friend's VR headset, but that's very different since you can't run around to avoid feeling sick).
A great suggestion to comment here instead of a reply via email! I'm also happy to report I've subscribed to the annual paid plan. You've brought me a lot of value over the past few months I feel it's a bargain! Thanks, Liberty!
Thank you very much! 💚 🥃
And yes, I think there's the potential for some cool stuff to happen if more of the emails I get move over to the comments, because I'm sure some of you would get along really well with each other, but email keeps you in silos.