- Weekly Olio
- Posts
- Private Equity Hipsters Are Coming for Your Favorite Apps
Private Equity Hipsters Are Coming for Your Favorite Apps
Universe, 24H Stock Exchange, Luxury Beauty Market in India, and AI
Peeyush Jain & Mohit Garg
December 18, 2024
In partnership with
Salutations, Olio aficionados! 👋
Midweek greetings to all, as we unveil the 109th chapter of Weekly Olio—a delightful concoction of laughter, insight, and a sprinkle of mystery. Within these pages, you'll discover a handpicked selection of fascinating finds from the vast realms of the internet.
Keep your eyes peeled for this week’s Publisher’s Parmesan, arriving this Sunday!
This edition of Weekly Olio is brought to you by Analytica Investor.
DeFi’s $3 Trillion Opportunity
DeFi Technologies Inc. (CAD: DEFI & US: DEFTF) offers regulated, secure access to Bitcoin and Web3. Explore the digital economy with a leader in financial innovation and ETF/ETP solutions.
The Quote 💭
“In the beginning the Universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry and has been widely regarded as a bad move.”
The Tweet 🐦
In today’s online world, there aren’t many services you can’t access at night. Whether it’s ordering a bar of ice cream, buying a microwave, or booking movie tickets, you can get it done at any hour. The idea of fixed business hours is quickly fading away.
Except when it comes… x.com/i/web/status/1…
— Markets by Zerodha (@zerodhamarkets)
7:27 AM • Dec 2, 2024
In the United States, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has given the green light to a groundbreaking new stock exchange that promises to revolutionize the way we trade stocks by offering an unprecedented feature: round-the-clock availability. This innovative platform is known as 24-Exchange, or simply 24X. Beginning in 2025, 24X will provide investors with the opportunity to engage in stock trading.
The Infographic 💹
Consumption themes tend to capture interesting investment ideas. One such idea could be the rapid growth in India’s luxury beauty consumption. China’s luxury beauty spending took off once the GDP per capita crossed the $5000 mark. While India is not quite there yet, it has all the ingredients for a long and sustained growth curve in this segment.
This isn’t traditional business news
Welcome to Morning Brew—the free newsletter designed to keep you in the know on the business news impacting your career, company, and life—in a way you didn’t know you needed.
Note: this isn’t traditional business news. Morning Brew’s approach cuts through the noise and bore of classic business media, opting for short writeups, witty jokes, and above all—presenting the facts.
Save time, actually enjoy business news, and join over 4 million professionals reading daily.
The Short Read 📝
Intelligence Arbitrage - by Surya Dantuluri
Every ten years or so, a new strategy changes how we grow businesses. In the 2000s, Apple and Nvidia taught us to separate intellectual property from manufacturing. In the 2010s, Salesforce showed us how to use the cloud to make software a utility. With the rise of AI, there is another paradigm shift right around the corner. And unlike earlier, this change is being driven by private equity folks - who understand that AI can help build operating leverage in supposedly traditional and conservative businesses.
The article has three examples of companies where the deployment of AI has helped unlock operating leverage and higher margins. Who would have thought that a parking industry SaaS builder would find it profitable to directly manage parking lots instead of pushing software. Companies are quickly realising that instead of selling software, getting embedded in the operating layer and using that to deliver services unlocks immense value - something that software alone always struggles with. Welcome to the new age of building businesses with AI.
The Long Read 📜
Private Equity Hipsters Are Coming for Your Favorite Apps - by Bloomberg
A new breed of private equity firms focussed on acquiring and running stagnant apps/software businesses is emerging. One such firm is the Milan based Bending Spoons. Most recently, they acquired the note taking app Evernote. Past acquisitions include Dutch file transfer app WeTransfer and bankrupt events listing app Meetup. It has been around for over a decade and focussed on a particular archetype: distressed subscription software businesses with a steady cash flow.
Once acquired, the firm brings in its own coders and data scientists who add features at a rapid clip. In most cases, the team that is inherited in the acquisition is fired and the subscription prices are increased for customers. This is pretty much what happened with Evernote as well. Investors often compare Bending Spoons to Constellation Software or Barry Diller’s IAC. They are planning to spend $2B in the near future to acquire assets and maybe more in the coming years. Read the full article to learn more about a new breed of tech companies.
Get Your Team Booked on 3.8 Million Podcasts Automatically
It's 2025. Want to finally be a regular podcast guest in your industry? PodPitch will make it happen. Even the beehiiv team uses it!
The best way to advertise isn't Meta or Google – it's appearing on podcasts your customers love.
PodPitch.com automates thousands of weekly emails for you, pitching your team as ideal guests.
Big brands like Feastables use PodPitch.com instead of expensive PR agencies.
That’s all for this week. If you enjoyed this edition, we’d really appreciate if you shared it with a friend, family member or colleague.
We’ll be back in your inbox 2 PM IST next Wednesday. Till then, have a productive week!
Disclaimer: The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in the text belong solely to the author, and not necessarily to the author's employer, organization, committee or other group or individual.
Reply