Busted Tech: Shyp It Yo Own Damn Self!

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The ubiquitous Uber-for-X designation doesn't seem so ubiquitous anymore. That's because a lot of those companies have failed or are failing. Take Shyp, for instance, an on-demand logistics/shipping service where couriers came to your home, packaged your wares (Ebay anyone?) and shipped them for you. "Came" being the operative word. The company announced that it's retrenching back to SF, abandoning service in Chicago/LA/NYC. Choice quote (after getting $50mm in venture capital from Kleiner Perkins), "'Investors are looking to put capital into businesses that are cash-flow positive." Funny how that works. With so much "tourist capital" (read: sovereign wealth funds, pension funds, Fidelity Investments in the case of Snapchat ($SNAP)) flowing through venture capital, expect a lot more coverage of "busted tech" to come.

Funded E-Commerce & New Brick-And-Mortar (UNTUCKit)

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We don't get this at all.UNTUCKit, a company that sells shirts that you can...uh...leave untucked just got $30mm in funding from one of the most renowned venture capital firms on the planet, Kleiner Perkins. So, clearly we're just morons because this makes ZERO sense to us. The numbers must be kick-a$$ to justify a $200mm valuation. Now the company is going "clicks-to-bricks" and plans to open 15 brick-and-mortar stores. So who wins? Fratboys with cheap untucked button-downs and landlords looking to fill vacant space. Of which there are a lot. 

Mary Meeker's Internet Trends. This is Real Disruption, Summarized

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We may have to dedicate more time to this at a later point but for anyone who has some time to kill, we HIGHLY recommend this lauded report by Kleiner Perkins' Mary Meeker. The short version: smartphone growth is flat-lining as is internet growth (in the US, India on the other hand has only 27% internet penetration); 20% of mobile inquiries are via voice now - a mind blowing number (per Google); 25% of Americans own a wearable and 60% of consumers are willing to share their health data (with Google, Microsoft, Samsung and Apple best positioned to take advantage of it); US Net Debt to GDP is 77% as of 2016 and trending towards 105% by 2035 (US record surpassing WWII); household debt is back at peak levels last seen in Q3 2008 with student loans +144% and auto loans +44%.