The 11th Hour Dispatch — Tuesday, September 25, 2018
BIG BUSINESS
Uh oh. Trouble in operational autonomy paradise. Instagram’s co-founders Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger have left their company to take “some time off to explore [their] curiosity and creativity again,” a move that, at least according to Bloomberg, is thanks to tension with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg about the social platform’s direction. Facebook purchased Instagram in 2012 for $1 billion (it’s now worth ~$100 billion) under promise that the Instagram would be able to operate independently from its parent. Because it grew so quickly and in many ways is outshining Facebook at the moment, it’s not difficult to imagine that the typically heavy-handed Zuckerberg would have his opinions on the platform’s future.
YOUNG MONEY
“Digital assistant” Cleo has secured $10 million in Series A funding to help the next generation not completely royally screw up their banking. The London-based startup only came to the U.S. six months ago, but it has already rallied over 350K American users, with a total of 600K across the U.K., U.S., and Canada. It is reportedly adding 30K new signups each week. This round is led by Balderton Capital and will be used to expand internationally to an additional 22 countries in the next year, specifically in Western Europe, the Americans, and Australia. Cleo operates primarily in Facebook Messenger as a chatbot that breaks down your spending habits and helps your face your financial demons all from a friendly-yet-a-bit-annoying instant message.
BINGE WATCH
Amazon Prime Video has added what will be the first female team to commentate NFL games. Journalists Hannah Storm and Andrea Kremer have signed a deal with the streamer to provide commentary and analysis for Thursday Night Football games this season. Their history-making game will be Thursday, September 27 (this week!) when the L.A. Rams take on the Minnesota Vikings. The duo is part of Amazon’s deal with the NFL to stream the eleven Thursday Night Football games broadcast by Fox for the next two seasons. Kremer, an Emmy Award winner sports journalist, is currently the chief correspondent of the NFL Network and a correspondent on HBO’s Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel. Formerly, she was a sideline and feature reporter for NBC’s Sunday Night Football, and she has worked over 25 Super Bowls. Storm currently anchors ESPN SportsCenter, and she was the first female host of CNN Sports Tonight. Prime subscribers now have four choices of broadcasts to choose from including Storm and Kremer’s. They can also tune into Fox’s broadcast featuring Joe Buck and Troy Aikman, a Spanish language version, or a U.K. English language team.
NOTHIN’ BUT ‘NET
This is solid advice.
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