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Month: October 2022

This Is Meta Frightening

This Is Meta Frightening

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Photo by James Yarema on Unsplash

If you’re wondering why Mark Zuckerberg has poured some $15B into his metaverse project despite seeing ‘no results,’ according to the tech press, we’re wondering why no one pays attention to the man behind the curtain. Following its developer conference, Meta was roundly slammed for not being further along, given the amount of money their Reality Labs received to develop it, to the point where Facebook’s ‘desperate’ metaverse push to build features like avatar legs has Wall Street questioning the company’s future, as Business Insider reported. The publication also asked “How many more warning signs does Mark Zuckerberg need to see before he pulls the plug on his metaverse?”

This just in: At least one big investor is calling for Mark Zuckerberg to throw in the towel on the metaverse, saying Meta ‘lost the confidence of investors’

Or does Zuckerberg see something we don’t? And where did all that money go?

Meta released a new metaverse-friendly headset, and the price tag aside, Meta’s New Headset Will Track Your Eyes for Targeted Ads, Gizmodo reported, coming yet one step closer to reading your mind. “Whether you’re resigned to targeted ads or not, this technology takes data collection to a place we’ve never seen. The Quest Pro isn’t just going to inform Meta about what you say you’re interested in, tracking your eyes and face will give the company unprecedented insight about your emotions.” Read More...

Don’t Say Gig: California AB5 & How It Will Affect Tech Globally

Don’t Say Gig: California AB5 & How It Will Affect Tech Globally

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Image by Pete Linforth from Pixabay

It looks like California Bill AB5 will be going into effect. To refresh your memory, “Known popularly known as the gig worker bill, it required companies that hire independent contractors to reclassify them as employees,” wrote Investopedia.

Upside: gig workers will now be entitled to minimum wages, health insurance, vacation time and other employee benefits. Downside: they no longer choose their schedules, may be barred from taking other employment. And who ultimately gets the bill for the increased costs? Enactment of the bill was temporarily delayed by trucker protests. “California truckers pledge to continue blockade of Oakland port over controversial labor law,” as it made it difficult for them to work as independent contractors, Fox News reported.

It affects tech, too – big time, so pay attention.

During the lockdowns, some countries required that employers continue to pay their employees, even in cases where the company would essentially need to cease functioning as a result of said lockdowns. If they laid the employees off, they were required to pay three months severance. Both of which drove many companies out of business, especially startups – so everyone was out of a job. Nothing like throwing out the baby with the bathwater. Read More...

The Dangers of Founder/C-Suite Myopia

The Dangers of Founder/C-Suite Myopia

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Image by OpenClipart-Vectors from Pixabay

The tech times, they are a-changing. Companies are laying off big time and basically across the board, meaning companies large and small, or are in hiring freeze mode. Google employees weren’t happy when they were told that their travel and swag budgets were being cut. Oh, in case you didn’t see the memo, the days of Tech Entitlement are over, too. The economy isn’t what it was during the halcyon days of tech and, news flash – the tech sector is not immune.

Speaking of behemoths, Amazon Abandons Home Delivery Robot Tests in Latest Cost Cuts, Reuters reported. Called Scout, “The slow-moving devices, accompanied by human minders during tests, were designed to stop at a front door and pop open their lids so a customer could pick up a package. Amazon said the battery-powered robots were part of an effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in its delivery operations.”

Amazon is feeling the slower sales, too. Then again, the lockdowns are over, and people can go past their doorsteps once again and shop. With many smaller stores shut down in the lockdown era. Amazon was a go-to, and boom! Hockey stick growth. Now, not so much and they’re cost-cutting too, given their now ‘slow growth.’ Did the company think they’d maintain lockdown-level growth or conditions forever? Even hockey sticks have an end point – something tech and tech investors could seemingly never quite grok. Read More...

That Wild, Wild Web: NOT a Tale of Web 3.0

That Wild, Wild Web: NOT a Tale of Web 3.0

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Image by PublicDomainPictures from Pixabay

Tech is and has been referred to as the wild, wild west since the early days of Web 1. Like those pioneers who ventures out into terra incognita when the west was being settled, those web pioneers didn’t know what they’d find, and even in their travels, they were making it up as they went along.

Head’s up: the same goes for investors. There’s no startup handbook, although there are books that bear that title. There’s no investor handbook, either. Which is why founders may hear one thing from one investor, get totally different feedback/advice from another. And yet different feedback/advice from a third, and so it may go, all the way down the line.

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