Earlier this month, I ordered contact lenses from Hubble—a startup that sells them directly to consumers—using a fake prescription from a made-up doctor. I don’t actually wear contacts, but the company shipped them to me all the same. Hubble also delivered contacts to several friends and coworkers whom I had asked to try placing similar orders, with fake prescriptions from made-up doctors.
Over the weekend, Canada’s CBC News reported on GoalieUp, an on-demand app designed to solve a “uniquely Canadian problem.”
Just in time for the holidays, Amazon has acquired Blink, a venture-capital backed startup that makes home security cameras. The deal likely brings Amazon closer to its latest delivery ambition, of placing stuff from its warehouses directly inside your home.
Uber’s greatest innovation was never really the technology, though the technology is very good: It was branding itself a technology platform. Those magic words have accompanied Uber since its earliest days, when the startup launched its on-demand ride service in San Francisco and embarked on its quest to convince the world that, despite appearances, it wasn’t really a taxi company.
WeWork has quietly started recruiting for “Area 51 Paradise Ranch,” a private, secretive, “invite-only” startup incubator.
The Hubble contacts sitting in front of me are everything the ads promised: two weeks’ worth of soft, daily lenses in robin’s-egg-blue packaging. They arrived promptly, one week after I placed an order on Hubble’s website, and three days after the company notified me the contacts had shipped. The lenses were packed in cream-colored boxes and came with a five-step guide, illustrated in different shades of pastel. There’s only one problem: I don’t wear contacts, and I ordered these using a fake prescription from a made-up doctor.
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has repealed net neutrality, after a vote that split along party lines. Already, multiple state attorneys general have announced they will sue to save it.
The City of Love has lost any love for Airbnb.
At a dinner at the White House in mid-July, US president Donald Trump asked billionaire investor Leon Cooperman—twice—whether he thought Amazon was a monopoly.
Uber employees are lining up to sell their stock to Japanese technology giant SoftBank, which will buy up to 17% of outstanding shares for $33 each. The price represents a 30% discount to Uber’s last valuation, of nearly $70 billion, but for current and former employees, the SoftBank tender offer is a rare chance to convert paper wealth into actual cash.
Earlier this morning, Justin Caldbeck, a venture capitalist who left his job over alleged sexual harassment, took a moment to reflect on Twitter. “I applaud all the women who had the courage to speak out and ignite the #MeToo movement, including my accusers,” he wrote. “And props to @timemagazine for giving the movement and the women the recognition they so rightfully deserve. #silencebreakers #time.”
Amazon’s stock reached a new high this week after its Black Friday and Cyber Monday bonanza. The company’s market capitalization is hovering around $560 billion, behind only Apple, Alphabet, and Microsoft.
Expensify is a software company that automates the painful task of compiling expense reports. It does this using “SmartScan” technology that can supposedly glean details like merchant, date, and price from a picture of a receipt.
Beginning in 2012, the stuff Americans buy was supposed to get about 2% more expensive every year, according to inflation targets set by the Federal Reserve.
How are things at Uber? Fine. Fine! Nothing to see here. I mean, sure:
The Uber-Waymo trial scheduled to begin Dec. 4 has been postponed, after a bombshell allegation that Uber operated a covert unit tasked with stealing code and trade secrets from its competitors.
There are a lot of ways to track Amazon’s stunning ascent in global consumerism: its revenue, its market cap, its stock price, its ever-growing registry of Amazon Prime members. In honor of the holiday shopping season, here’s one more: Amazon’s annual Cyber Monday press release.
Worried you may have unwittingly viewed Russian propaganda on Facebook? Fear not! In its new role as the protector of American democracy, the social network wants YOU to know whether you liked content produced by Russian operatives!
Let’s talk turkey: Thanksgiving isn’t getting any cheaper.
In October 2016, hackers stole the personal data of 50 million riders and about 7 million drivers from Uber. Instead of reporting the breach, the company paid $100,000 to hackers to delete the data and keep quiet, in what became a yearlong cover-up.
Thanksgiving is about family, friends, and gratitude. It’s about celebrating America over towering plates of stuffing, turkey, and cranberry sauce. It is, of course, a commercial holiday, but we’re supposed to pretend that it’s not—at least until Black Friday, when pretenses and food comas lift.
For the first time, Calvin Klein is bypassing department stores to sell its newest underwear exclusively on Amazon this holiday season, the Wall Street Journal reports.
In 2017, Arianna Huffington became the public face of reform at Uber.
Tired of reading about the Uber-Travis-SoftBank drama? Try this working paper from John Horton at NYU Stern and two researchers at Uber Technologies Inc. It argues that it’s pointless for Uber to raise fares, because the market will relatively quickly return to an equilibrium where drivers aren’t making any more per hour than they were before.
