RIP American Cheese.
Our newsroom for October 25th 2018: An Uber IPO might be in the works, millennials are killing old favourites, and AI meets banking.
Your Uber IPO is here. Maybe.
Ah, never a dull moment with Uber. Especially with rumours of a 2019 IPO (“Initial Public Offering”) buzzing around.
What’s an IPO? When large companies like Uber need more money to finance their operations, they can choose to sell shares to the general public. Because it’s the first time they raise cash this way, it’s coined as an initial public offering. Ahhh makes sense.
What’s the price tag? These are all rumours. But estimates are pointing towards a £90 billion valuation. That’s huge. Record setting, potentially. Even though Uber is loss making, these valuations are based on forward-looking figures like earnings and market share. And when you’re transforming the world of transport at breakneck speeds, big valuations are expected.
Let’s spruce things up around here? Before any IPO, you want your business and outlook to appear as optimistic as possible. It’s kind of like a job interview; Look fresh, emphasize your strengths, and have an awe inspiring answer to the “What’s your 5 year plan?”. The better it all looks, the higher the valuation. Simple.
Uber is doing exactly that. For starters, there are talks about an Uber buy-out of deliveroo to reduce competition in key food delivery markets. Secondly, Uber is looking to have full fledged food-delivery by drone services by 2021. Both of those would make UberEats dramatically more profitable and scalable. Finally, their forage into self-driving cars got a big win in recent months through a strategic partnership with Toyota.
What to expect? Ah, the golden question. Rumours and whispers will be aplenty, that’s forsure. But this is not a done deal, IPO rumours can fizzle into nothing and some IPOs take years to materialise. Buckle up, a £92 billion Uber ride might just be on its its way. Read more here.
Who killed the cheese?
From London to Paris to San Francisco, millennial tastebuds are shaking up the food and beverage industry.
A good ole’ Heineken used to be good enough, but millennial palettes prefer funky beers like peanut butter milk stout (this exists). And it needs to be responsibly sourced, recyclable and sold out of a trendy van.
Trends change, and some will adapt whilst others get lost along the way. And who’s the latest to fall victim to millennial preferences? American sliced cheese. Those orange-ish slices of goodness just don’t meet the needs of today’s young adults. Recently, McDonald’s has replaced the iconic cheese slice with a preservative free version. Other fast food giants in America, like Wendy’s, have opted for real cheddar. In both cases, they’ve reported higher sales.
This isn’t all bad for big business. Some have benefitted from the “micro-everything” trend. Especially in the European beer and liquor space. By gobbling up “more niche” producers, industry giants are profiting from changing tastes, but staying silent to preserve the grassroots appeal of craft brands.
Wait… My favourite hipster brands are owned by a big corporate? Yup. It’s possible.
Fun fact, George Clooney’s ultra-chic Tequila Casamigos is owned by Diageo in the UK. Your trendy pint of Camden Town Lager? It is entirely owned by AB-INBev. That delicious can of BeaverTown Pale Ale? Part owned by Heineken.
Whether it’s cutting edge tech, sliced cheese, or ice cold beer, if you don’t keep up, you might just melt away. Read more about this thirlling murder mystery here.
AI meets banking.
Oh the times they are a changing. And Artificial intelligence (“AI”) is leading the next wave of change in the business world.
AI is all the craze and is transporting us into a world where computers can complete tasks that traditionally required human thought and expertise. Exciting but also (a wee bit) scary.
This is especially true in financial services, a world filled with paperwork, processes and risk management. Imagine an AI mortgage assistant that could automate the application process, detect fraud, and predict a borrower’s likelihood of default. What about an AI-driven trader? One who sets trading parameters and sticks to them instead of getting lost in the moment and resorting to risky “casino banking”.
If you’re keen to see how banking can be flipped upside down with new technology, this article from Fortune will be right up your alley.
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This was originally sent to members of our waitlist on Thursday November 1st and prepared by the talented team at Fountain’s London office. Every week, we deliver three amazing stories from the world of business and investing.
